Steel is made from iron and other elements in a process that involves purifying the materials in a reduction furnace, mixing them with other elements, and placing them in an electric arc furnace. The impurities are burned off, leaving only pure iron to work with. The iron and carbon are melted together to form steel, and the slag is rejected. The steel is poured into molds and cooled to solidify before being shipped for use.
Steel is an important ferrous alloy – or metal made from iron and other elements – that is used in many tools, parts and products. The steelmaking process begins with iron mining or using scrap iron and purifying the materials in a reduction furnace. Once purified, the materials are mixed with other elements and placed in an electric arc furnace which brings the elements together to create the steel. Before the steel is collected, the slag formed by the electric arc furnace is rejected. Steel is often poured into molds after the steelmaking process for whichever industry purchases it.
The steelmaking process begins with iron and scrap, which is fed into a direct reduction furnace. Iron is not pure in nature; instead, it is always combined with other elements, such as oxygen and sulphur. These other elements, known as impurities, make it impossible to bond iron to steel properly. By using a direct reduction furnace, the impurities are actually burned off, leaving only pure iron to work with.
Once the iron is pure, the steelmaking process really begins. The iron, combined with about 1% carbon, is placed in a larger and more powerful furnace called an electric arc furnace. This furnace is lined with large electrodes that heat the iron with electric shocks until the iron and the scrap melt together.
When the electrodes melt iron and carbon, the two elements combine to form steel. On the surface of the alloy steel, there is a layer of darker material known as slag. Slag is a mixture of impurities that cannot be reduced by the reduction furnace and is not usable in molds or other applications where steel is used.
The furnace is tilted in one direction to pour the slag layer, leaving only pure steel in the basin. The furnace is then tilted in the opposite direction to pour the steel into a tap hole which collects the molten steel for later use. This concludes the steelmaking process but not the steelmaking process.
The steel is then typically placed into molds for tools or parts, depending on the company purchasing the steel. The molten steel, in its liquid state, easily fills any mold. After enough steel has been poured into the mold, cold water is used to cool and solidify the metal. The steel product is then shipped to shops or businesses for use.
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