Basics of Steel Making
Basics of Steel Making
Basics of Steel Making
Customer Technical101
Symposium
Today’s Topics
Steelmaking Flowline
Blast Furnace
Basic Oxygen Furnace: BOF
Vacuum Degasser
Continuous Casting
Hot Strip Mill
Pickler
Cold Strip Mill
Box Annealing
Temper Mill
Hot Dip Coating Line
Electrogalvanizing Line
Steelmaking Flowline
Blast Furnace
Pellets
Iron Ore
Electric Furnace
Sinter
Scrap
Oxygen
Ladle
Metallurgy
Continuous Casting
SHIPPING SHIPPING
ANNEALING
COLD STRIP MILL PICKLING
HOT STRIP MILL
SHIPPING
SHIPPING
TEMPER MILL COATING LINE
Blast Furnace
Recipe
IRON ORE +
LIMESTONE +
COKE +
HOT AIR
Blast Furnace Raw Materials
PELLETS
SINTER
CRUSHED
COKE
Blast Furnace
Input
• Iron ore, coke, limestone and heated air
Metallurgy
• Chemical reactions cause heating,
reduction and melting
• Impurities separate and float on top of
the molten iron as ‘slag’
Output
• Molten Iron (‘Pig Iron’) is cast into
Torpedo Cars
• Transferred to Basic Oxygen
Furnace (BOF)
Blast Furnace
Blast Furnace
Input
• Molten iron, scrap, and high purity
oxygen
Metallurgy
• Impurities are oxidized and some
separate / float on top of the molten steel
as slag
Output
• Molten steel is tapped into a ladle
• Transferred to the Continuous
Caster after chemistry adjustments or
vacuum degassing
Basic Oxygen Furnace: BOF
Metallurgy
• Vacuum degasser snorkels inserted into
ladle of molten steel
• Argon gas siphons molten steel through Inert Gas Inlet
a vacuum chamber
• Dissolved gases and carbon are
Ladle
removed
Output
• Ultra-low carbon steel
• Transferred to the Continuous
Caster
Continuous Caster
Input
• Molten steel from ladle is transferred
into a holding vessel (tundish) on top
of the Continuous Caster
• The tundish continuously meters
molten steel into a water-cooled,
oscillating mold via a Submerged
Entry Nozzle (SEN)
Output
• Solid slabs are torch-cut
• Slabs transferred to Hot Strip
Mill for Rolling
Continuous Caster
Hot Strip Mill
Input
• Slabs from the Continuous Caster
are reheated and placed on a rolling
table
• Six roughing mill stands reduce
slab’s thickness to 1.25” -
producing a bar
• The bar is sent through seven
additional 4-high finishing mill
stands to further reduce thickness
Output
• Hot bands from <0.1” to 0.375” thick
• Transferred to Pickler or shipped to Customer
Hot Strip Mill
Pickler
Input
• Hot bands of steel are processed
through a chemical bath to remove
surface oxides
Output
• Pickled (Oiled) Band - free of
surface rust and scale
• Transferred to Cold Mill or
Shipped to Customer.
Cold Strip Mill
Input
• Pickled Bands are rolled through five
mill stands (4 or 6-High)
Output
• Cold Roll ‘Full Hard’ coils with proper
thickness and surface finish
• Transferred to Box Annealing, Hot
Dip Coating Line or shipped to
Customer
Box Annealing
Input
• Cold rolled ‘Full Hard’ coils are
stacked, covered and a non-oxidizing
atmosphere is introduced
• A furnace is lowered over the cover
and fired to a prescribed cycle of time
and temperature
Output
• Annealed steel with improved
mechanical properties
• Transferred to Temper Mill
Temper Mill
Input
• Annealed coils
Output
• Cold Roll steel with continuous yielding,
improved flatness and a uniform surface
texture
• Thickness typically reduced <1%
• Shipped to Customer or
transferred to the Electrogalvanizing
Line
Hot Dip Coating Line
Input
• Coils are welded together for
continuous processing
• Continuous annealing in-line
• Continuous coating on both sides –
Zinc or Aluminum
Output
• Hot Dip Galvanized, Galvannealed or
Aluminized steel
• Shipped to Customer
Electrogalvanized Line
Input
• Cold Roll (Box Annealed &
Tempered) coils are welded together
and continuously processed through
the line
• Plating cells use electric current to
apply zinc to the steel
Output
• Electrogalvanized
steel
• Shipped to
Customer
Electrogalvanized Line
Questions?