Complete Steel Making Process in easy steps ll. TATA VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Summary

In this detailed video, the presenter explains the intricate steel-making process step by step. Beginning with the basics, the video introduces the types of steel, including low, medium, and high-carbon steels, and dives into the essential stages of steel production, starting with mining iron ore. The process includes crushing and separating impurities through magnetic methods, then moving to the blast furnace where iron ore is converted into liquid iron. Following this, the video explains the conversion of pig iron into steel using either basic oxygen furnaces or electric furnaces, concluding with continuous casting to shape the steel. The video is informative for those interested in understanding the complete journey of steel production.

Takeaways

• 😀 Steel making is a process where iron ore and other raw materials are used to produce steel, with various stages involved like mining, blast furnace, and converting to liquid form.
• 😀 Steel is an alloy made primarily of iron and carbon. There are different types of steel, such as low-carbon steel, medium-carbon steel, and high-carbon steel, each with varying carbon content.
• 😀 Alloy steel contains more than two elements, while low-carbon steel has less than 0.25% carbon, and high-carbon steel contains between 0.6% to 1.4% carbon.
• 😀 Stainless steel contains other elements such as chromium and nickel, with chromium making up at least 1% of the composition.
• 😀 The steel-making process begins with mining, where iron ore is extracted from the earth. After extraction, the ore is crushed and separated to remove impurities using magnetic separation.
• 😀 The next step involves the blast furnace, a large chamber where iron ore, coke, and limestone are heated to produce molten iron, with the help of hot air blown in from the bottom.
• 😀 In the blast furnace, chemical reactions take place, including the reduction of iron ore to molten iron, with the release of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
• 😀 After the molten iron is produced in the blast furnace, it is converted into pig iron, which has a high carbon content and needs further refinement to become usable steel.
• 😀 Steel is then produced using two main processes: the basic oxygen furnace, where oxygen is used to convert pig iron into steel, and the electric furnace, which uses electricity to melt and refine scrap steel.
• 😀 The final steps involve continuous casting, where the steel is solidified into a usable form such as slabs, billets, or blooms, which can be further processed into products like plates, rails, or structural shapes.

Q & A

What is the steel-making process?

The steel-making process involves producing steel from raw materials such as iron ore, using various methods like blast furnaces and electric furnaces, and refining the iron to create different types of steel by adding carbon and other elements.

What is an alloy in the context of steel?

An alloy is a combination of two or more elements, where iron and carbon are the primary components in steel. Depending on the percentage of carbon, steel can be categorized into low-carbon, medium-carbon, and high-carbon steel.

What are the types of steel based on carbon content?

Steel can be categorized into low-carbon steel (with less than 0.25% carbon), medium-carbon steel (0.25% to 0.6% carbon), and high-carbon steel (with 0.6% to 1.4% carbon). Stainless steel, which contains elements like chromium, is also a common steel type.

How is iron ore processed before it becomes steel?

Iron ore is extracted through mining, then crushed and separated using magnetic methods to remove impurities. The purified ore is then used in a blast furnace to produce molten iron.

What is a blast furnace and how does it work?

A blast furnace is a large, vertical vessel made from heat-resistant bricks. It is used to convert solid iron ore into liquid iron by combining it with coke (a type of coal) and limestone. Hot air is blown into the furnace to facilitate the reactions that produce molten iron.

What reactions occur inside a blast furnace?

Inside the blast furnace, coke reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, while limestone breaks down into calcium oxide and carbon dioxide. The carbon monoxide produced then reacts with the iron ore, turning it into molten iron.

What is pig iron and how is it related to steel-making?

Pig iron is the product obtained from the blast furnace. It is a raw form of iron with high carbon content, typically ranging from 3.7% to 4.8%. It is further processed in a basic oxygen furnace or electric furnace to reduce its carbon content and produce steel.

What are the two main processes for converting pig iron into steel?

The two main processes for converting pig iron into steel are the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) process and the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) process. The BOF uses oxygen to remove carbon from pig iron, while the EAF uses electrical energy to melt scrap steel and convert it into new steel.

What is continuous casting in the steel-making process?

Continuous casting is a method used to solidify molten steel into desired shapes. After refining the molten metal, it is poured into molds and allowed to cool and harden into products like slabs, blooms, or billets.

What types of steel products are made after the steel-making process?

After the steel-making process, the products can be further shaped into slabs, blooms, billets, or specific items like rails, profiles, or plates depending on the intended use. These are then processed using methods like hot rolling or cold rolling to achieve final products.