Question

What are the three main stages of producing steel from Iron ore?

Answer 1

1. Smelting (Blast Furnace Stage): Iron ore is melted with coking coal and limestone in a blast furnace. The coal acts as a reducing agent, removing oxygen from the ore to yield molten pig iron.
2. Refining (Steelmaking Stage): Pig iron is purified in a steel-making furnace (such as a basic oxygen furnace). Excess carbon is burned off, and specific alloying elements are added to convert the metal into liquid steel.
3. Shaping and Casting: Molten steel is poured into continuous casting machines or moulds to form semi-finished products like ingots, slabs, blooms, or billets, which are then rolled into finished steel products.