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1.1iron Ores: Iron and Steel Making

1. Iron ore is extracted from rocks and minerals to produce pig iron, the main raw material for steelmaking. Common iron ores include hematite, magnetite, siderite, and limonite, with hematite being the most abundant at nearly 70% iron content. 2. In ironmaking, a blast furnace is used to produce pig iron from iron ore, coke, and limestone. The materials are charged into the top of the furnace and heated to nearly 1650°C by hot gases, reducing the iron ore to molten iron and forming a slag. 3. The molten iron and slag are tapped from the bottom of the blast furnace, with the iron containing over

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84 views5 pages

1.1iron Ores: Iron and Steel Making

1. Iron ore is extracted from rocks and minerals to produce pig iron, the main raw material for steelmaking. Common iron ores include hematite, magnetite, siderite, and limonite, with hematite being the most abundant at nearly 70% iron content. 2. In ironmaking, a blast furnace is used to produce pig iron from iron ore, coke, and limestone. The materials are charged into the top of the furnace and heated to nearly 1650°C by hot gases, reducing the iron ore to molten iron and forming a slag. 3. The molten iron and slag are tapped from the bottom of the blast furnace, with the iron containing over

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زينب عبد الخالق كامل
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Lecture No.

1 Iron and steel making


Manufacturing process

Iron and steel making

1.1Iron Ores
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically
extracted , also, it is the raw materials used to make pig iron, which is one of the main
raw materials to make steel. About 98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel
Iron ore is a combination of iron with oxygen and various other unwanted
substances, generally known as "gangue. The compounds of iron best suited to
smelting in a blast furnace are the oxides, although carbonates and silicates are
sometimes used. There are various types of iron ore, classified chiefly according to
iron (Fe) content (see Table 1 below). It is evident, then, that from the point of
richness, oxides are far superior to carbonates and silicates.

Table 1: Iron Ore Classification

Name Classification Theoretical Max. Iron


Content(%)
Hematite Fe2O3 70
Magnetite Fe3O4 72.4
Goethite FeO.OH 62.8
Siderite FeCO3 48.3

The impurities in iron ore fines include SiO2, Al2O3,S, P, MgO and CaO, As well as
varying amounts of components responsible for loss ignition

1.1.2 Iron Ores and Other Raw Materials


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, in which x is typically around 1.5). Iron ores contain from50%to around 70%
iron, depending on grade (hematite is almost 70% iron). In addition, scrap iron and
steel are widely used today as raw materials in iron- and steelmaking. Other raw
materials needed to reduce iron from the ores are coke and limestone. Coke is a high
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Lecture No.1 Iron and steel making
Manufacturing process
carbon fuel produced by heating bituminous coal in a limited oxygen atmosphere for
several hours, followed by water spraying in special quenching towers. Coke serves
two functions in the reduction process: (1) it is a fuel that supplies heat for the
chemical reactions; and(2) it produces carbon monoxide(CO)to reduce the iron ore.
Limestone is a rock containing high proportions of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The
limestone is used in the process as a flux to react with and remove impurities in the
molten iron as slag.
1.2 Iron making
To produce iron, a charge of ore, coke, and limestone are dropped into the top
of a blast furnace. A blast furnace is a refractory-lined chamber with a diameter of
about (9 to 11 m ) at its widest and a height of 40 m , in which hot gases are forced
into the lower part of the chamber at high rates to accomplish combustion and
reduction of the iron. Atypical blast furnace and some of its technical details are
illustrated in Figures 1.1 and 1.2 . The charge slowly descends from the top of the
furnace toward the base and is heated to temperatures around 1650 0C.

2
Lecture No.1 Iron and steel making
Manufacturing process

FIGURE 1.1 Cross section of blast furnace showing major components.

FIGURE 1.2 Schematic diagram indicating details of the blast furnace operation.
3
Lecture No.1 Iron and steel making
Manufacturing process

Burning of the coke is accomplished by the hot gases (CO, H2, CO2, H2O, N2,
O2, and fuels) as they pass upward through the layers of charge material. The carbon
monoxide is supplied as hot gas, and it is also formed from combustion of coke. The
CO gas has a reducing effect on the iron ore; the reaction (simplified) can be written
as follows (using hematite as the starting ore):
Fe2O3 ‫‏‬+ CO 2FeO ‫‏‬+ CO2
Carbon dioxide reacts with coke to form more carbon monoxide
CO2 +‫‏‬C(coke) 2CO
which then accomplishes the final reduction of FeO to iron
FeO ‫‏‬+ CO Fe ‫‏‬+ CO2
The role played by limestone can be summarized as follows. First the limestone is
reduced to lime (CaO) by heating, as follows:
CaCO3 CaO ‫‏‬+ CO2
CaO+SiO2 CaSiO3
The lime combines with impurities such as silica (SiO 2), sulfur (S), and
alumina (Al2O3) in reactions that produce a molten slag that floats on top of the iron.

1.3 The production of blast furnace


1. The iron tapped from the base of the blast furnace (called pig iron) contains more
than 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.
2. Slag: Blast furnace slag is a nonmetallic compound produced in the process. It
consists primarily of silicates, alumino silicates, and calcium-alumina-silicates.
Different forms of slag product are produced depending on the method used to
cool the molten slag. These products include air-cooled blast furnace slag
(ACBFS), expanded or foamed slag, pellets slag, and granulated blast furnace
slag.
3. Blast furnace gas:

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Lecture No.1 Iron and steel making
Manufacturing process
blast furnace produces large amount of gases furnace reaches approximately to 4
cubic meters for each kilo of coke used in the charge and this gas has a low
thermal value and used as fuel to heat the air blast furnace Towers, as well as It is
used in heating purposes and to generate steam and electricity. blast furnace gases
consist of:
 27% CO.
 12% CO2.
 (2.5-3) % H.
 (0.2-0.4) % CH4.
 (56-57) % N.

1.5 Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)


Direct reduction iron-making is a method for producing iron without using a
blast furnace. Direct reduction iron-making processes roughly fall into two classes,
natural gas base and coal base, depending on the reductant used. Reduced iron ore to
powder called sponge iron, which is used in the steel industry. Process consists of
two main interaction:
First: the oxidation of natural gas with the help of a catalyst and heat.
2 CH4 + O2 → 2 CO + 4 H2
Second: these gases pay in charged iron furnace, at a temperature between 800-900
°C, to produce sponge iron and the impurities removed by adding limestone as a slag:
Fe2O3 + CO + 2 H2 → 2 Fe + CO2 + 2 H2O

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