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Steelmaking is the second step in producing steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 from iron ore
Iron ore

Iron ores are Rock and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in colour from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red....
. In this stage, impurities such as sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
, phosphorus
Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
, and excess carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
 are removed from the raw iron
Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with coke , usually with limestone as a flux. Pig iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.5?4.5%, which makes it very brittle and not useful directly as a material except for limited applications....
, and alloying elements such as manganese
Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
, nickel
Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge....
, chromium
Chromium

Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is a steely-gray, Lustre , hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point....
 and vanadium
Vanadium

Vanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation....
 are added to produce the exact steel required.

rn steelmaking processes are broken into two categories: primary and secondary steelmaking.






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Steelmill Interior
Steelmaking is the second step in producing steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 from iron ore
Iron ore

Iron ores are Rock and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in colour from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red....
. In this stage, impurities such as sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
, phosphorus
Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
, and excess carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
 are removed from the raw iron
Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with coke , usually with limestone as a flux. Pig iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.5?4.5%, which makes it very brittle and not useful directly as a material except for limited applications....
, and alloying elements such as manganese
Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
, nickel
Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge....
, chromium
Chromium

Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is a steely-gray, Lustre , hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point....
 and vanadium
Vanadium

Vanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation....
 are added to produce the exact steel required.

Modern processes

Modern steelmaking processes are broken into two categories: primary and secondary steelmaking. Primary steelmaking uses mostly new iron as the feedstock, usually from a blast furnace
Blast furnace

A blast furnace is a type of metallurgy furnace used for smelting to produce metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as the material moves downward....
. Secondary steelmaking uses scrap steel as the primary raw material.

Primary steelmaking


Secondary steelmaking


History

The earliest means of producing steel was in a bloomery
Bloomery

A bloomery is a type of furnace once widely used for smelting iron from its iron oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron....
. Early modern methods of producing steel were often labour-intensive and highly skilled arts. See:
  • finery forge
    Finery forge

    Iron tapped from the blast furnace is pig iron, and contains significant amounts of carbon and silicon. To produce malleable wrought iron, it needs to undergo a Decarburization....
    , in which the German finery process
    German inventions and discoveries

    The following list is composed of items, techniques and processes that were invented by or discovered by people from Germany or German-speaking Europe....
     could be managed to produce steel.
  • blister steel and crucible steel
    Crucible steel

    Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making steel alloy by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon in a crucible....
    .


An important aspect of the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomics and cultural conditions in United Kingdom....
 was the development of large-scale methods of producing forgeable metal (bar iron
Wrought iron

Wrought iron is commercially pure iron. In contrast to steel, it has a very low carbon content. It is a fibrous material due to the slag Inclusion ....
 or steel). The puddling furnace was initially a means of producing wrought iron
Wrought iron

Wrought iron is commercially pure iron. In contrast to steel, it has a very low carbon content. It is a fibrous material due to the slag Inclusion ....
, but was later applied to steel production.

The real revolution in steelmaking only began at the end of the 1850s. The Bessemer converter was the first successful mass steelmaking process, followed by the open hearth furnace
Open hearth furnace

Open hearth furnaces are one of a number of kinds of furnace where excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of the pig iron to Steelmaking....
.

See also

  • Argon oxygen decarburization
    Argon Oxygen Decarburization

    Argon oxygen decarburization is a process primarily used in stainless steel steel making and other high grade alloys with oxidizable elements such as chromium, aluminum, etc....
  • Blast furnace
    Blast furnace

    A blast furnace is a type of metallurgy furnace used for smelting to produce metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as the material moves downward....
  • Decarburization
    Decarburization

    Decarburization is the process opposite to carburization, namely aimed at decreasing the content of carbon in metals . Higher grade steel is achieved when carbon content of a steel melt is increased....
  • Steel mill
    Steel mill

    A steel mill is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process....


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