MME101 Materials Engineering Fundamentals

Lecture 26
A. K. M. Bazlur Rashid Part E: Processing and Applications
Professor, Dept. of Materials and Metallurgical Eng.
Bangladesh Univ. of Eng. and Tech., Dhaka-1000 2 – Production of iron and steel

Lecture outcome (LO)

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to

1. describe the overall iron and steel making scheme,

2. explain the process of iron making in the Blast Furnace, typical reactions
that take place inside, the raw materials used, and the product formed,

4. describe the overall refining scheme of making steel and explain different
types of steel making processes, and

5. describe the steel making routes used in Bangladesh.

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 1. Ferrous Metallurgy
❑ Historically, ferrous metallurgy is the foundation for virtually everything
we know about the structure and properties of metals.

Process Metallurgy Physical Metallurgy

Extraction and refinement Thermodynamics and kinetics of
microstructural transformations

Mechanical Metallurgy
Deformation behavior and failure mechanisms 3/35

2. Overview of Iron and Steel Making

Ironmaking
• Iron ore is converted to pig iron in the blast furnace by reducing the ore using coke.
• Dolomite is used as flux to produce low-melting-point slag by reacting with oxides of
impurities.

Steel making
• The pig iron is oxidised in steel making furnace by oxidising impurities present in the pig iron..
• The resultant liquid steel then undergoes deoxidation and degassing process to eliminate
dissolved oxygen and other gases.
• The refined steel then solidified into ingots/ blooms using ingot casting or billets using a
continuous casting machine.
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 to manufacture of different steel
products

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 3. Iron Making in Blast Furnace
TOP
(charging section) coke, iron ore,
limestone
• The Blast Furnace is a shaft-type furnace consisting
bell charging
mechanism of steel shell lined with refractory bricks.
• The hearth section of the furnace is filled with coke.
waste gas
STACK This is called coke bed, which controls the
temperature and quality of the product.
layers of iron refractory-lined
ore, coke and • Iron ore concentrates, coke and limestone are
steel shell
limestone charged up to the top of the furnace.
• Pre-heated pressurised air is blown through the
BOSH
tuyeres, situated above hearth.
hot pressurised air
molten slag • The coke reacts with oxygen to produce CO2 first,
which is then reduced by C to CO gas.
HEARTH molten iron
• This CO reduces iron oxides in steps to form iron.

slag hole tap hole 7/35

TOP
• Reduction of iron oxide to iron is completed at the stack
(charging section) coke, iron ore,
at a temperature of about 900 C.
limestone
• As the porous reduced iron descends, it starts to liquify
bell charging
mechanism and trickles down to the bosh, where it accumulates.
• At the bosh, SiO2 and MnO dissociate to elemental Si
STACK and Mn.
waste gas
• During its descend and storage at the bosh, the liquid
layers of iron refractory-lined iron absorbs these Si, Mn and C from coke.
ore, coke and steel shell
limestone • The gangue, ashes and other fraction of ore mixed with
flux to form slag, which being lighter, float at the top of
BOSH liquid iron and discarded continuously through the slag
hot pressurised air hole.
molten slag
• Liquid iron is collected periodically through the tap hole
molten iron
HEARTH into a ladle, which either cast into pig iron ingots or are
transferred to the steelmaking plant.
slag hole tap hole 8/35

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 Typical chemical reactions
𝐶 + 𝑂2 = 𝐶𝑂2 𝐶 + 𝐻2 𝑂 = 𝐶𝑂 + 𝐻2
𝐶 + 𝐶𝑂2 = 2𝐶𝑂 𝐶 + 𝐹𝑒𝑂 = 𝐶𝑂 + 𝐹𝑒
𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3 = 𝐶𝑎𝑂 + 𝐶𝑂2
𝑆𝑖𝑂2 + 𝐶 = 𝑆𝑖 + 2𝐶𝑂
𝑀𝑛𝑂 + 𝐶 = 𝑀𝑛 + 𝐶𝑂
3𝐹𝑒2 𝑂3 + 𝐶𝑂 = 2𝐹𝑒3 𝑂4 + 𝐶𝑂2 𝑃2 𝑂5 + 5𝐶 = 2𝑃 + 5𝐶𝑂
𝐹𝑒3 𝑂4 + 𝐶𝑂 = 3𝐹𝑒𝑂 + 𝐶𝑂2
𝐹𝑒𝑂 + 𝐶𝑂 = 𝐹𝑒 + 𝐶𝑂2 𝑆𝑖𝑂2 + 𝐶𝑎𝑂 = 𝐶𝑎𝑂. 𝑆𝑖𝑂2
3𝐹𝑒2 𝑂3 + 𝐻2 = 2𝐹𝑒3 𝑂4 + 𝐻2 𝑂 𝑃2 𝑂5 + 𝐶𝑎𝑂 = 𝐶𝑎𝑂. 𝑃2𝑂5
𝐹𝑒3 𝑂4 + 𝐻2 = 3𝐹𝑒𝑂 + 𝐻2 𝑂 𝑆𝑖𝑂2 + 𝐹𝑒𝑂 = 𝐹𝑒𝑂. 𝑆𝑖𝑂2
𝐹𝑒𝑂 + 𝐻2 = 𝐹𝑒 + 𝐻2 𝑂 𝑆𝑖𝑂2 + 𝑀𝑛𝑂 = 𝑀𝑛𝑂. 𝑆𝑖𝑂2

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Common iron-bearing ores

Oxide Ores Stoichiometry Iron Content (wt.%)

Magnetite Fe3O4 72.36%
Hematite Fe2O3 69.94%
Ilmenite FeTiO3 36.8%
Limonite FeO(OH) / HFeO2 62.85%

Ore Beneficiation sinter pellets

Processes
◼ Crushing
◼ Screening
◼ Blending
◼ Grinding
◼ Concentrating
◼ Classifying Physical form
◼ Agglomeration nodules briquettes
of iron ore 10/35

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 Blast furnace operation

Exhaust Gas
Furnace Charge
(ore, coke, limestone)
Dust
Removal

Preheated
Heat Charge
Exchanger
1/2 Fe2O3 + 3/2 CO = Fe + 3/2 CO2 1/2 Fe2O3 + 3/2 H2 = Fe + 3/2 H2O secondary
reduction
1/3 Fe3O4 + 4/3 CO = Fe + 4/3 CO2 1/3 Fe3O4 + 4/3 H2 = Fe + 4/3 H2O (~950 0C)
FeO & Fe

Hot Air CO H2
Blast
primary
FeO+C → Fe+CO reduction
C+H2O → CO+H2
1 2 → CO
C+ --O (~1650 0C)
2

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Blast furnace mass balance

Blast Furnace Gas

Raw Materials 9360 m3 , or 5680 kg
200°C  used as energy source to preheat
Ore = 1935 kg
Coke = 965 cold air, power the blowing engine,
Stone = 480 and electrification of the plant
400°C
Dust
90 kg
700°C
Slag
575 kg
900°C
 aggregate for concrete work
Preheated Air  making of Portland cement
 heat insulating materials
7240 m3 , or 3965 kg 1300°C
 asphalt roofing
1500-2000°C Pig Iron
1000 kg
 making of steels and cast irons
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 Blast furnace iron

Element Typical Pig Iron (wt.%) Typical Steel (wt.%)

Carbon 3.00 – 4.50 0.05 – 1.00
Silicon 0.50 – 4.00 < 0.50
Manganese 0.15 – 2.50 0.30 – 1.50
Phosphorous < 0.2 < 0.05
Sulphur 0.025 – 0.250 < 0.05

To produce steel from pig iron,

the impurity levels must be lowered by oxidation

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4. The Steelmaking Processes

❑ Steelmaking can be roughly defined as the refining or removal
of unwanted elements or other impurities from
• hot metal produced in a blast furnace or similar process, or
• melting of scrap and other forms of iron.

❑ Currently most of the liquid steel produced in the world is refined in an

oxygen steelmaking (OSM) process using a convertor-type furnace.
❑ A small amount of hot metal is refined in open hearth, cast into pigs
for use in an electric arc furnace (EAF) or other processes.

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 ❑ The major element removed in OSM ❑ After producing liquid metal in an OSM converter
process is C, which is removed by or an EAF, it is further refined in the ladle.
oxidation to CO gas.
❑ This is commonly called secondary refining or
❑ Other elements such as Si, P, S and ladle metallurgy, and the process includes
Mn are oxidised to form oxides and deoxidation, desulfurization and vacuum
transferred to a slag phase. degassing.

❑ In EAF steelmaking process,

the chemical reactions are similar but
generally less extensive.

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Overall refinement scheme of B/F iron to produce steel

❑ Oxidation of C, Si, Mn, P by exposing to oxygen and flux

Resulting steel containing high oxygen levels

❑ S removed in slag by fluxing

Linked to deoxidation

❑ Oxygen and other dissolved gases must be removed

Linked to deoxidation and vacuum degassing and other methods

❑ Ladle additions for fine chemistry control

Controls residual O, N, H, P, S and adds alloys (Mn, Nb, V, etc.)

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 Two principal steelmaking processes

Acid processes
• Cannot remove S and P
• Use costly pig iron having low S and P
• Cheap production process (low-cost acid refractories, e.g., SiO2, used)

Basic processes
• Can remove S and P
• Use cheap pig iron having high S and P
• Costly production process (expensive basic refractories, e.g., chrome-magnesite, used)

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Common refinement processes of B/F iron

Bessemer Open Hearth

Converter Furnace

Steelmaking Processes

Basic Oxygen Electric Arc

Furnace Furnace
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 The open-hearth (OH) process
• Large vessel – >200 tons
• Slower process (6-8 hr) – better control
• Can handle large scrap
• Both acid and basic process can be used

• A rectangular covered hearth (acid bricks covered with sand) was

used to contain the charge of pig iron or pig iron and scrap.
• The heat necessary was provided by passing burning fuel gas over the
top of the materials. The fuel gas and air were introduced alternately
(in about 20-minute intervals) through ports at each end of the furnace.
• The products of combustion passed out of the port temporarily not
used for entrance of gas and air and exited through the regenerative
system (checker-brick work).
• The bath was oxidized, and C, Mn and Si are reduced to as low a limit
as was possible .
A – molten iron D – valve to control gas/air flow • The high temperatures attained keep the final product molten and free
B – iron oxide bed E – exit to chimney of entrapped slag.
C – checker-brick works (regenerative chambers) 19/35

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Modern steelmaking processes

❑ The modern steelmaking processes include:

1. Basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) process ❑ The basic idea of employing ladles and
2. Electric steelmaking processes tundishes for either
1. refining or composition adjustment, or
❑ The concept of modern steelmaking: 2. for producing clean steels
• melt and perform preliminary refining in is to use the steel melting units for producing
steelmaking vessels (converter or EAF) steels without much bothering for final chemistry.
• perform final and complete refining (composition
adjustment, removal of gases, control of S, removal
of inclusions etc.) in a ladle (secondary metallurgy)
• pour into a tundish of a continuous caster to
produce billets or directly at the top of ingots to
produce ingot castings 20/35

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 The basic oxygen process (BOP/BOS/LD)
• Top blowing of high purity oxygen using a water-cooled vertical pipe
or lance onto the surface of the bath in a basic-lined converter.
• It reduced capital cost of the plants, time of smelting, and increased
labor productivity by a factor of 1,000 (as compared to OH)
• Modern furnaces produce steels up to 400 tons and in less than 40
minutes, compared to 10–12 hours in an OH.

Advantages • Top-blown basic oxygen process (BOP) or the LD process became

• more efficient heating
extremely popular all over the world for refining irons having high Mn
and low P.
• very flexible with respect to charge
• kinetics much faster than OH. • Now-a-days, it accounts for about 60% of world’s steel production.

Major disadvantages
To tackle these issues, bottom-blown oxygen furnaces
• limitations in handling high phosphorous hot metal and combined top- and bottom-blown converter processes
• inhomogeneity in bath temperature and composition were developed. 21/35

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The electric-arc process

Electrodes raised
• Availability of low-cost scrap and the lower capital cost of an
during lancing EAF compared to integrated steel production, lead to the
growth of the mini steel mills or scrap-based EAF
Oxygen lance steelmaking.

Pouring spout
• Mini-mills started producing lower quality long products
Slag Charging door such as reinforcing bars and simple construction materials.

Metal
O2 gas hose
• With the advent of thin slab casting, a second generation of
Floor level
EAF plants has developed which produce flat products.
Rammed hearth

• EAF can make better-quality steel due to precise process

Principal advantages control, and the ability to make ‘tailor-made’ slag during
• 100% scrap as well as solid or liquid PI the refining period.
with/without scrap can be used
• As a result, alloy steels and other special steels are almost
Principal advantages exclusively produced by this process.
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• availability and pricing of electricity
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 Secondary steelmaking processes (or, Ladle metallurgy)
❑ Primary steelmaking is aimed at fast melting of solid charge and rapid refining.
• capable at a micro level to arrive at broad steel specification
• but not designed to meet the stringent demands on steel quality,
and consistency of composition and temperature that is required
for very sophisticated grades of steel

❑ To achieve such requirements, many procedures for removal of

harmful impurities from metal is transferred from the steelmaking
plant to the ladle (which acts as a reactor) to raise the productivity
of steelmaking plants and improve the quality of steel.
❑ Common secondary steelmaking processes of liquid include
final refining, deoxidation, degassing, desulphurisation,
reheating, and alloy additions.

Ladle metallurgy 23/35

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5. Ingot and Continuous Casting

Ingot casting
• Liquid steel was batch cast into ingots of various sizes,
cross-sections and weights for further shaping by rolling
or forging, after reheating the solidified ingots.

• Major disadvantages:
(1) Low yield,
Liquid teeming to produce ingot casting (2) Long shrinkage cavity defect.

Shrinkage defects
in cast ingots
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Ingot casting
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 Continuous casting

LADLE

• Use of ‘bottomless’ mould

Torch
Cutoff • no mould stripping necessary
Point
• almost 100% yield
• further chance to remove
intermetallic inclusions at the tundish
• possibility of rolling without reheating
• possibility of increasing strength and
ductility by reducing grain size
during final cooling
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Channel Ingot / Pencil Ingots

• Most of the small-scale local steel manufacturers of
Bangladesh solidify their molten steel in channel or
Channel ingot pencil ingots.
• Such solidification practice is liable to defects and is
not allowed in any standard specification for rebar.

Pencil ingot
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 6. Steelmaking in Bangladesh
❑ Plant size in this country is so small that they can be categorised possibly as
‘micro steel mills’, rather than mini steel mills.

❑ Steelmaking practice is almost entirely scrap-based.

❑ To be viewed in the context of our proximity to India.

❑ Most of the steels manufactured are long products (steel rebars, angles, etc.).

❑ Currently, there are only 9 Corrugated Iron (CI) sheet (flat steel) manufacturers in
Bangladesh. Among them, AKS (Abul Khair Steel Mills), PHP Steels Mills,
KY Steel Mills (KDS Group), S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Ltd., and Karanaphuly Steels
(TK Group) are the top players in flat steel manufacturers.

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❑ Chittagong Steel Mills Ltd.

Open Hearth Furnace

❑ Very small steelmaking units started to grow in the private sector

• they used small electric arc furnace (EAF), imported from India
• gradually induction furnace (IF), also imported from India, replaced them

❑ At present almost all (except a few) steelmaking plants in Bangladesh use IF.

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 Chittagong steel Mills Ltd
• The only state-owned steel mill (administered by BSEC) in Bangladesh
• Commissioned in 1966-67 with 4 OH furnaces of 50-ton capacity each
• Estimated annual production capacity 140,000 ton, later increased to 250,000 ton
• Raw materials used: imported solid pig iron and scrap
• Major facilities: ingot pit, blooming mill, bar mill, sheet mill, thin plate mill, galvanizing shop,
heavy plate mill
• Closed in 1998-99.

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Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills (BSRM)

• Started as a re-rolling mill in 1952; started Induction
Furnace based steel melting practice in Bangladesh by
importing IF technology from India
• Presently has now 3 steel melting plants with an estimated
annual steel production of 24,00,000 tons.
Present total steel production capacity is
Abul Khair Steels (AKS) about 90,00,000 tons rebar/year, which is
expected to rise to 1.30 crore ton in 2027.
• Since 2015, it operates the first EAF-based
steel production in the country. Currently, the steel industry in
Bangladesh is worth BDT 55,000 crore
• Total production 15,00,000 tons/year (USD 6.2 billion).

Other notable steel makers in Bangladesh

• GPH Ispat (2020) – EAF based; capacity 8,00,000 tons/year
• KSRM (1984) – IF-based; capacity 8,00,000 tons/year 30/35

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 Steelmaking Scenario in 2024 31/35

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Induction furnace as a melting unit

• In 1996, BSRM of Bangladesh installed the first steelmaking unit

based on induction melting technology.
• Now, all industries of Bangladesh, bar a few, produce steel
using induction furnace.

• Very little, if any, refining takes place in the induction furnace.

The furnace is usually regarded as dead melting unit.
• Steel quality is directly related to quality of scrap. Hence,
the raw materials play an important role during steelmaking.
The induction furnace
• Inconsistency in input is directly reflected in output,
which justifies its coining as “Garbage in, garbage out.”
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 Nature of scrap

• Ship scrap
• Imported bundle scrap
• Local scrap

Bundle scrap #1 Heavy melting scrap

• Unknown, uncertain composition

• Variable chemical mix
• Presence of dirt, grease, oil, tramp elements

Shredded steel scrap Ship scrap 33/35

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Steel rebar manufacturing routes in Bangladesh

Con Cast Rod/

1. Scrap IF LRF Rolling
Billets Bar

Con Cast Rod/

2. Scrap IF Rolling
Billets Bar

Pencil Rod/
3. Scrap IF Rolling
Ingots Bar

Channel Rod/
4. Scrap IF Rolling
Ingots Bar

Rod/
5. Scrap Rolling
Bar

Con Cast Rod/

6. Scrap EAF LRF Rolling
Billets Bar

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 MME101 Materials Engineering Fundamentals

Lecture 27
Part E: Processing and Applications
3 – Ferrous alloys

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