iron and steel production.pdf

8/14/2019 Iron and Steel Production.pdf

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IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTION

MECN 4140 - Manufacturing Processes

Inter American University of Puerto Rico

Prof. Eduardo Cabrera Ruiz

Based on 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P Groover, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing3/e

Iron and Steel Production

Iron making - iron is reduced from its ores

Steel making iron is then refined to obtain desired purity

and composition (alloying)

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Iron Ores Required in Iron-making

The principal ore used in the production of iron and steel is

hematite(Fe2O3)

Other iron ores include magnetite(Fe3O4), siderite

(FeCO3), and limonite(Fe2O3-xH2O, where x is typicallyaround 1.5)

Iron ores contain from 50% to around 70% iron,

depending on grade (hematite is almost 70% iron)

Scrap iron and steel are also widely used today as raw

materials in iron- and steel making

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Iron Ore

Pellets

HematiteMagnetite

Limonite

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Other Raw Materials in Iron-making

Coke (C)

Supplies heat for chemical reactions and produces

carbon monoxide (CO) to reduce iron ore

Mineral Carbon Coke

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Other Raw Materials in Iron-making Limestone (CaCO3)

Used as a flux to react with and remove impurities inmolten iron as slag

Hot gases (CO, H2, CO2, H2O, N2, O2, and fuels)

Used to burn coke

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Iron-making in a Blast Furnace

Blast furnace - a refractory-lined chamber with a diameter

of about 9 to 11 m (30 to 35 ft) at its widest and a height

of 40 m (125 ft)

To produce iron, a charge of ore, coke, and limestone are

dropped into the top of a blast furnace

Hot gases are forced into the lower part of the chamber at

high rates to accomplish combustion and reduction of the

iron

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Blast Furnace

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Figure 6.5

Cross-section ofiron-makingblast furnaceshowing majorcomponents

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Chemical Reactions in Iron-Making

Using heated air (O2) with coke:

2C + O2 heat + 2CO

Using hematite as the starting ore:

Fe2O3 + CO 2FeO + CO2

CO2 reacts with coke to form more CO:

CO2 + C (coke) 2CO

This accomplishes final reduction of FeO to iron:

FeO + CO Fe + CO2

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Proportions of Raw Materials In Iron-Making

Approximately seven tons of raw materials are required to

produce one ton of iron:

2.0 tons of iron ore

1.0 ton of coke

0.5 ton of limestone

3.5 tons of gases

A significant proportion of the byproducts are recycled

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Iron from the Blast Furnace

Iron tapped from the blast furnace (calledpig iron)

contains over 4% C, plus other impurities: 0.3-1.3% Si,

0.5-2.0% Mn, 0.1-1.0% P, and 0.02-0.08% S

Further refinement is required for cast iron and steel

A furnace called a cupola is commonly used for

converting pig iron into gray cast iron

For steel, compositions must be more closely

controlled and impurities brought to much lower levels

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Steel-making

Since the mid-1800s, a number of processes have been

developed for refining pig iron into steel

Today, the two most important processes are

Basic oxygen furnace (BOF)

Electric furnace

Both are used to produce carbon and alloy steels

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Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF)

Accounts for 70% of steel production in U.S

Adaptation of the Bessemer converter

Bessemer process used air blown up through the molten

pig iron to burn off impurities

BOF uses pure oxygen

Typical BOF vessel is 5 m (16 ft) inside diameter and can

process 150 to 200 tons per heat

Cycle time (tap-to-tap time) takes 45 min

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Basic Oxygen Furnace

Figure 6.7 Basic oxygen furnace showing BOF vessel duringprocessing of a heat.

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Figure 6.8 BOF sequence : (1) charging of scrap and (2) pig iron, (3)blowing, (4) tapping the molten steel, (5) pouring off the slag.

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Electric Arc Furnace Accounts for 30% of steel production in U.S.

Scrap iron and scrap steel are primary raw materials

Capacities commonly range between 25 and 100 tons perheat

Complete melting requires about 2 hr; tap-to-tap time is 4

hr

Usually associated with production of alloy steels, tool

steels, and stainless steels

Noted for better quality steel but higher cost per ton,

compared to BOF

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Figure 6.9 Electric arc furnace for steelmaking.

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Casting Processes in Steel-making

Steels produced by BOF or electric furnace are solidified for

subsequent processing either as cast ingots or by

continuous casting

Casting of ingots a discrete production process

Continuous casting a semi-continuous process

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Casting of Ingots

Steel ingots= discrete castings weighing from less than one

ton up to 300 tons (entire heat)

Molds made of high carbon iron, tapered at top or bottom

for removal of solid casting

The mold is placed on a platform called a stool

After solidification the mold is lifted, leaving the casting

on the stool

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Ingot Mold

Figure 6.10 A big-end-down ingot mold typical of typeused in steelmaking.

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Continuous Casting

Continuous casting is widely applied in aluminum and

copper production, but its most noteworthy application is

steel-making

Dramatic productivity increases over ingot casting,

which is a discrete process

For ingot casting, 10-12 hr may be required for casting to

solidify

Continuous casting reduces solidification time by an

order of magnitude

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Figure 6.11 Continuouscasting. Steel ispoured into tundishand flows into awater-cooledcontinuous mold; itsolidifies as it travelsdown in mold. Slab

thickness isexaggerated forclarity.

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Steel

An alloy of iron containing from 0.02% and 2.11% carbon by

weight

Often includes other alloying elements: nickel,manganese, chromium, and molybdenum

Steel alloys can be grouped into four categories:

1. Plain carbon steels

2. Low alloy steels

3. Stainless steels

4. Tool steels

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End Lecture 3

Lecture 4

Virtual Field TripHuachipato in Chile

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Materia Prima

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Separacin por Densidad

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Trituracin

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Separacin por Magnetismo

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Sinterizacin

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End Lecture 3

Lecture 4

iron and steel production.pdf

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