Process for producing steel from iron ore and scrap

Steelmaking

Steelmaking

Steelmaking is the process of producing <a href="/en/Steel" title="Steel" class="wl">steel</a> from <a href="/en/Iron_ore" title="Iron ore" class="wl">iron ore</a> and/or <a href="/en/Scrap" title="Scrap" class="wl">scrap</a>. In steelmaking, <a href="/en/Impurity" title="Impurity" class="wl">impurities</a> such as <a href="/en/Nitrogen" title="Nitrogen" class="wl">nitrogen</a>, <a href="/en/Silicon" title="Silicon" class="wl">silicon</a>, <a href="/en/Phosphorus" title="Phosphorus" class="wl">phosphorus</a>, <a href="/en/Sulfur" title="Sulfur" class="wl">sulfur</a> and excess <a href="/en/Carbon" title="Carbon" class="wl">carbon</a> (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and alloying elements such as <a href="/en/Manganese" title="Manganese" class="wl">manganese</a>, <a href="/en/Nickel" title="Nickel" class="wl">nickel</a>, <a href="/en/Chromium" title="Chromium" class="wl">chromium</a>, carbon and <a href="/en/Vanadium" title="Vanadium" class="wl">vanadium</a> are added to produce different <a href="/en/Steel_grades" title="Steel grades" class="wl">grades of steel</a>. Limiting dissolved gases such as <a href="/en/Nitrogen" title="Nitrogen" class="wl">nitrogen</a> and <a href="/en/Oxygen" title="Oxygen" class="wl">oxygen</a> and entrained impurities (termed "inclusions") in the steel is also important to ensure the quality of the products cast from the <a href="/en/Liquid_steel" title="Liquid steel" class="mw-redirect wl">liquid steel</a>.<a href="#cite_note-deo-boom-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Process for producing steel from iron ore and scrap</div>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:SteelMill_interior.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:SteelMill_interior.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/SteelMill_interior.jpg/260px-SteelMill_interior.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="825" data-file-height="462" data-file-type="bitmap" height="146" width="260" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/SteelMill_interior.jpg/390px-SteelMill_interior.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/SteelMill_interior.jpg/520px-SteelMill_interior.jpg 2x" alt="SteelMill_interior.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="/en/Steel_mill" title="Steel mill" class="wl">Steel mill</a> with two <a href="/en/Arc_furnace" title="Arc furnace" class="mw-redirect wl">arc furnaces</a></figcaption></figure>
Steelmaking has existed for millennia, but it was not <a href="/en/Commercialization" title="Commercialization" class="wl">commercialized</a> on a <a href="/en/Mass_production" title="Mass production" class="wl">massive</a> scale until the mid-<a href="/en/19th_century" title="19th century" class="wl">19th century</a>. An ancient process of steelmaking was the <a href="/en/Crucible_steel" title="Crucible steel" class="wl">crucible process</a>. In the 1850s and 1860s, the <a href="/en/Bessemer_process" title="Bessemer process" class="wl">Bessemer process</a> and the <a href="/en/Open_hearth_furnace" title="Open hearth furnace" class="wl">Siemens-Martin process</a> turned steelmaking into a <a href="/en/Heavy_industry" title="Heavy industry" class="wl">heavy industry</a>. Today there are two major commercial processes for making steel, namely <a href="/en/Basic_oxygen_steelmaking" title="Basic oxygen steelmaking" class="wl">basic oxygen steelmaking</a>, which has liquid pig-iron from the blast furnace and scrap steel as the main feed materials, and <a href="/en/Electric_arc_furnace" title="Electric arc furnace" class="wl">electric arc furnace</a> (EAF) steelmaking, which uses scrap steel or <a href="/en/Direct_reduced_iron" title="Direct reduced iron" class="wl">direct reduced iron</a> (DRI) as the main feed materials. Oxygen steelmaking is fueled predominantly by the exothermic nature of the reactions inside the vessel; in contrast, in EAF steelmaking, electrical energy is used to melt the solid scrap and/or DRI materials. In recent times, EAF steelmaking technology has evolved closer to oxygen steelmaking as more chemical energy is introduced into the process.<a href="#cite_note-turkdogan-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a>

Steelmaking is one of the most <a href="/en/Greenhouse_gas_emissions" title="Greenhouse gas emissions" class="wl">carbon emission intensive</a> industries in the world. As of 2020<a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steelmaking&amp;action=edit" class="external text" target="_blank">[update]</a>, steelmaking is estimated to be responsible for 7 to 9 per cent of all direct fossil fuel <a href="/en/Greenhouse_gas_emissions" title="Greenhouse gas emissions" class="wl">greenhouse gas emissions</a>.<a href="#cite_note-:0-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a> In order to mitigate global warming, the industry will need to find reductions in emissions.<a href="#cite_note-:1-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a> In 2020, <a href="/en/McKinsey_&_Company" title="McKinsey &amp; Company" class="wl">McKinsey</a> identified a number of technologies for <a href="/en/Decarbonization" title="Decarbonization" class="mw-redirect wl">decarbonization</a> including hydrogen usage, carbon capture and reuse, and maximizing use of electric arc furnaces powered by clean energy.<a href="#cite_note-:1-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a>

Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and/or scrap.  In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon are removed from the sourced iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium, carbon and vanadium are added to produce different grades of steel. Limiting dissolved gases such as nitrogen and oxygen and entrained impurities in the steel is also important to ensure the quality of the products cast from the liquid steel. Steelmaking has existed for millennia, but it was not commercialized on a massive scale until the mid-19th century. An ancient process of steelmaking was the crucible process. In the 1850s and 1860s, the Bessemer process and the Siemens-Martin process turned steelmaking into a heavy industry. Today there are two major commercial processes for making steel, namely basic oxygen steelmaking, which has liquid pig-iron from the blast furnace and scrap steel as the main feed materials, and electric arc furnace steelmaking, which uses scrap steel or direct reduced iron as the main feed materials. Oxygen steelmaking is fueled predominantly by the exothermic nature of the reactions inside the vessel; in contrast, in EAF steelmaking, electrical energy is used to melt the solid scrap and/or DRI materials. In recent times, EAF steelmaking technology has evolved closer to oxygen steelmaking as more chemical energy is introduced into the process. Steelmaking is one of the most carbon emission intensive industries in the world. As of 2020 