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•These furnaces are large heated vessels, and they are lined with bricks of refractory materials.

•Iron pellets, limestone, and coke are mixed together and dumped into the top of the furnace.

•Air is preheated to 2000°F and this is used to ‘blast’ the mixture into the furnace. The coke ignites, and elevates the temperature of the mixture to 3000°F. This results in a reduction of the iron oxides, and separation of the slags.

•After some period of time (a few hours) the furnace is tapped, and the iron is drawn off to large ladles. This ‘pig’ iron typically has a impurity contents of 4% C, 1.5% Si, 1% Mn, 0.04% S, 0.4% P.

2.3.4 How To Make Steel

•Making steel is a process of reducing the following impurities in pig iron,

-manganese

-silicon

-carbon

-phosphorous

-sulphur

-etc

•This operation is commonly done in one of three furnaces,

-open hearth - flames are directly applied to the metal, and can be seen from the open hearth.

-electric

-basic oxygen - a blast of pure oxygen reacts with impurities

•The basic procedures with all of these furnaces is,

1.Charge (pour in) scrap iron

2.Pour in molten (pig) iron

3.Add lime

4.Run the furnace

5.Tap the furnace to remove the steel - care must be used not to pour the slag on the surface

6.Pour off the slag off

•Any oxygen left in the steel when solidified will combined with carbon. The result is small voids that are actually pockets of carbon monoxide gas. A killed steel will have all oxygen removed.