Iron and Steel Making Process

Iron and Steel

The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age was
ushered in by two developments:
Growing scarcity of copper and/or tin
Increased processing temperatures

• Iron and Steel Characteristics?

• What is the difference?
 Iron vs Steel
• Bronze was an Alloy of Cu
– Arsenic or Tin most common alloying impurity
• Steel is an Alloy of Iron
– Carbon is the most common alloying impurity
• Iron and Carbon is probably the most useful
combination in the history of Society
• Terms you should know
– Forging – beating or hammering a material into
shape
– Casting – Pouring a liquid into a mold
 Forms
• Low Carbon 0-0.2%
– Wrought Iron
– Pure, Ductile, typically about as strong as
Bronze
– High melting point (>1500°C)
• Medium Carbon 0.2-2.1%
– Steel
– Very strong, hard, forgable,
– 1000X harder than pure Fe
– High melting point (>1400°C)
• High Carbon 2.3-4.3%
– Cast Iron or Pig Iron
– Low Melting Point, Brittle, Not Forgable
– Can only be Cast
 The Iron-Iron Carbide Phase

Wrought Iron
Diagram
Steel Cast Iron

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 Why is Steel Strong? Steel

Two Important phases of iron-

 - Ferrite (BCC)
- Austenite (FCC)

How much carbon can you

Austenite
dissolve in the Iron?
Ferrite very little (<0.02%)
Austenite Lots (up to 2.1%)

Why is that important?

When you heat Steel to 1000°C

what phase do you have?
Austenite with lots of
Carbon Ferrite

When you cool it what does the

carbon do?
It can precipitate into Carbide
particles. Strains crystal makes
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(hardens)
The Receiving hopper
Downcomer

Blast Blast Furnace

Furnace Gas to Cleaning

plant

Distributing
Charging Chute
Conveyor

Tuyere –For Water Cooled

Hot air Blasts Refractory lining

Hot air
Supporting Blast
Column
Tap hole
Slag Hole
Iron Trolley
Slag Trolley
Main reactions
in blast furnace
Products
Fe C Si Mn P S
Pig Iron 3,0- 0,5- 0,05- do
90-95% 0,5-3,0%
4,3% 3,0% 2% 0,1%

TORPEDO LADLE
ingot
Products
Chemical composition
MgO, MnO, FeO, CaS,
SiO2 CaO Al2O3
MnS, P2O5, BaS, atd.
Slags
26-40% 36-48% 10-20% negligible

Basicity: (CaO + MgO)/SiO2 = 1,0

– 1,5

CO2 CO H2 CH4 N2
Stock gas
0,2-
8-14% 23-32% 1-4% 55-60%
0,4%

- fly ash ( 3 - 30g/m3)

- 3800 - 4000m3 gas per 1t of coke
- fuel value 3700 – 4200 kJ/m3
Technology Development
 “azbil” Solutions for Steel Plant

Iron making Steel making Continuous casting Rolling Main products

Rail
Integrated Sheet pile
Open DCS
Shape
Pellet Coke Section mill Bar

Wire rod
Iron ore Sintered Limestone
ore Wire rod mill

Plate
Hot
direct Plate mill
Billet rolling
Hot metal Hot rolled coil
(HDR)
and sheet
Hot strip mill
Basic oxygen furnace
(BOF) Bloom
Cold rolled coil
and sheet
(also for plating)
Slab Cold rolling tandem mill
Blast furnace
(BF) Welded pipe
Butt welded pipe
Welded pipe mill
Scrap Electric arc furnace
(EAF) Seamless pip
Seamless pipe mill
Reheating furnace
Field Instrument Steel casting
& Control Valves
 A Suggestion at Tuyere of Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace

A Arithmetic and
Control
Entrance （ Cooling Unit （ DCS or
water ） Sequencer ）
B

Exit （ Cooling
water ）

ALARM （ Leakage
A － B （ Flow ratedetected)
difference) ＜
Damaged pipe, Cooling water
leakage ⇒Steam Explosion
Target （ Normal ）
A － B （ Flow rate difference) ＞
Most Important Monitor Point
Target （ Abnormal ）
High accuracy complies with reliable
ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking) Project

• Aim: design new steelmaking processes able to reduce by more

than 50% the CO2 emissions of the steel industry as compared
to the current benchmark route (integrated plant, BF-CC)
• Launched by the major European steel companies
• Supported by European Commission
• 48 partners, 59 M€ budget, 5-year duration
 Context: the European program ULCOS
Sep 04 Fev 06 today Sep 09
Phase 1
SP1 – New
SP1blast
-New furnace
Blast Furnace SP10SP10-New
– New C-based
C-based
steel
Steel
production
production

SP8-New
SP8 – New Advanced C-lean &&C-based
advanced C-lean C- SP11-New
SP11 adv.C-based
– New adv. C-basedsteel
Route
based route to steelto Steel .
production
Steel production

SP2 – SP2-New
New smelting reduction SP14
SP14-–
Smelting Reduction ULCOS
ULCOS--
SP12 – New natural
SP12-New gas-based
Nat Gas-based Process
Processfor
for Steel Production

SP3 – New natural

SP3-New NGgas route
Route to to steel
Steel Steel Production
steel production Steel Production

SP4 –SP4-Hydrogen steel

Hydrogen steel production
production
SP13 – New electricity-based
SP13-New Electricity-basedsteel
SP5 SP5-Electrolysis
– Electricity steelsteel production
production Steel Production
production
Phase 3
SP6 – CO2 Capture & storage for
-CO
steelmaking
2

SP7 – Biomass-based steel

SP7-Biomass-based Steelproduction
production
Phase 2

SP9 – Scenarios,
SP9-Scenarios,
sustainability,
sustainability,
innovation,
innovation,
training
training
& dissemination
& dissemination

Project Management
 SP10 - Top Gas Recycling Blast Furnace with CCS
(TGRBF CCS)
Coke + Ore Top Gas
CO2/CO/H2

• Concept: off gases separation

(VPSA process) off gases separation
– CO  recycled back into the (VPSA or PSA)
furnace (reducing agent)
– less amount of coke needed.
– CO2  CCS
Molten
Ore + Coke
• Pure O2 injection instead of
CO2
preheated air
– No N2  best for CCS
CO2 to CCS

Recycled CO to BF
Pig Iron
 SP11 - HISARNA with CCS
 CONCEPT: Melting cyclone + Ore Smelter
in one vessel Off Gas (CO2)
 Coal preheating and partial pyrolysis in a
Ore fines
reactor
 Melting cyclone (ore melting + pre- Coal
reduction)
 Smelter vessel (Ore → Iron final
reduction) CO2
 Hot coupled process Melting
cyclone (ore
 Ore melted and reduced without any melting)
intermediate gas treatment, cooling or
dedusting.
 Flexible process: Twin Screw reactor (coal Converter
preheating) (ore reduction)
 Partial substitution of coal by biomass,
NG or H2
 SP 13 - Alkaline Electrolysis
 CONCEPT: transformation of iron ore Fe2O3 ore suspended in
into metallic Fe and O2 using only Current from A to C the alkaline solution

electrical energy and low

temperature. Capture of
O2
 No need of coke ovens, melting or
reducing vessels (BF, converters,
shaft furnace).
 CO2 leanest process of steelmaking.
 No iron is presently produced
industrially by electrolysis.
2O-2 → O2 oxidation
 Most innovative route currently Fe → Fe reduction
+3
(O2 bubbles out)
being studied in ULCOS. (Fe layer)

 Electrolysis of other metals (Al, Ni, CO2

Aqueous solution of
Zn) already in industrial scale. NaOH (110°C)
 H2 for Iron and Steelmaking
• Main route defined

Generation of
hydrogen
H2 Ore Production of
WP4.1 Pre-reduction DRI liquid
liquid metal Casting Rolling HRC
with H2 steel
Iron in an EAF
ore
WP4.2
SP4

•H2O electrolysis
Nancy-Université
•NG Reforming

Low CO2 Emissions: from 200 to 400 kg CO2/t steel

 THE IRON AGE
• Bloom Iron video
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33LogIy-m
o
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IBFRy7GT
aY
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8vqiEyCSF
s
• Bessemer Process
– http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/3181
4-industrial-revelations-bessemer-converter-vi
deo.htm
• Iron
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0cuJKSQZ
0k