From Ore To Steel

FROM ORE
TO STEEL
Some opinions <fpom peadw
and the, pifei$ on ppeaioiu
editions:
It is c e r t a i n l y t h e m o s t i n s t r u c t i v e w o r k o n
iron and s t e e l m a n u f a c t u r e I k n o w , c o n t a i n i n g ,
as it does, in c o n c i s e f o r m all n e c e s s a r y a n d
up-to-date technical d a t a . Backed b y c o p i o u s
illustrations, which l e n d t h e m s e l v e s r e a d i l y to
e p i s c o p e / t r a n s p a r e n c y p r o j e c t i o n , t h e b o o k is
a v a l u a b l e aid for t h e t e c h n i c a l i n s t r u c t o r . It
is so well w r i t t e n t h a t o n e f e e l s i n c l i n e d t o
r e c o m m e n d it o n l y to t h o s e w h o s p e c i f i c a l l y
d e s e r v e it.
W e can a s s u r e y o u t h a t w e h a v e n e v e r b e f o r e
r e a d a b o o k on t h i s s u b j e c t w r i t t e n in such a
straight-forward manner, and we shall certainly
r e c o m m e n d it to all t h o s e s e e k i n g a g u i d e t o
this i m p o r t a n t field of t e c h n o l o g y .
This v a l u a b l e , e x c e l l e n t l y p r e s e n t e d a n d w e l l -
w r i t t e n £ o o k is p a r t i c u l a r l y s u i t e d for u s e in
v o c a t i o n a l t r a i n i n g c e n t r e s a n d technical schools.
On a c c o u n t of its v i v i d p r e s e n t a t i o n it w i l l
also p r o v i d e g o o d r e a d i n g for y o u n g p e o p l e
g e n e r a l l y i n t e r e s t e d in t e c h n i c a l t h i n g s . It will
undoubtedly be widely accepted and read.
Iron a n d s t e e l a r e b y f a r t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t
building m a t e r i a l s u s e d in all s p h e r e s of h u m a n
a c t i v i t y . T h e k n o w l e d g e of t h e p r o d u c t i o n a n d
p r o c e s s i n g of t h e s e m a t e r i a l s is as i m p o r t a n t in
our technical a g e as a k n o w l e d g e of l a n g u a g e s ,
h i s t o r y a n d a r t s . T h e b o o k is e m i n e n t l y s u i t e d
t o c o n v e y this k n o w l e d g e a n d to p r o m o t e ge-
n e r a l a p p r e c i a t i o n of technical e f f o r t . A t t h e
s a m e time it h e l p s to r e m o v e t h e p r e j u d i c e s
a n d e r r o n e o u s o p i n i o n s on e n g i n e e r i n g w o r k
still e x i s t i n g a m o n g t h e u n i n i t i a t e d . T h e t e x t
is s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d , e a s i l y c o m p r e h e n s i v e , c o n -
f i n e s itself to e s s e n t i a l s a n d is e x c e l l e n t l y
illustrated.
The important role now played by iron and

s t e e l in t h e w o r l d ' s e c o n o m y d e m a n d s t h a t all
y o u n g p e o p l e e n t e r i n g c o m m e r c e or i n d u s t r y
h a v e a r u d i m e n t a r y k n o w l e d g e of t h e o r i g i n s
a n d a p p l i c a t i o n s of t h e s e e s s e n t i a l m a t e r i a l s .
H e r e is an i d e a l t e x t b o o k f o r t h i s p u r p o s e . It
should b e r e a d b y all i n d u s t r i a l a p p r e n t i c e s a n d
trainees.
FROM ORE TO STEEL
The Pictorial Story of Iron and its Conversion to Steel
By
M . M . F. Toussatnt, Dipl.-lng., VDI, VDEli.

T r a n s l a t e d f r o m t h e G e r m a n b y F. A . R u d o l p h , B D O
Fifth E d i t i o n
W i t h 171 i l l u s t r a t i o n s a n d 6 f o l d i n g p l a t e s
1962
VERLAQ STAHLEISEN M . B. H . , Dt/SSELDORF

All rights reserved, especially that of translation into foreign languages
& 1962 by Verlag Stahleisen m. b. H., Diisseldorf
Of the 171 illustrations, 144 are b y courtesy of DEMAG

and its affiliated companies
Detailed a c k n o w l e d g m e n t s on page 176
Composed and printed b y : Miilheimer Druckereigesellschaft m.b.H., Miilheim (Ruhr)

Printed in Germany
Preface to first edition
It is not in vain that we live in the Age of Iron which, at the same time,
is an Age of Iron Culture. The l a y m a n is almost bound to reflect on what
iron actually is, and how it is extracted. Iron touches his life a hundred
times a day. Apart from the things he uses which are actually made from
this metal, and which would t a k e volumes merely to enumerate, thousands
of products are made with the help of iron and steel in the form of ma-
chines. In fact, e v e r y o n e from the schoolboy to the housewife should know
the w a y in which we are provided with the iron commodities of our
everyday use.
"From Ore to Steel" has been written for all those who h a v e little, or no
knowledge of the m a n u f a c t u r e of iron and steel, but w h o are eager to gain
some general knov/ledge without getting involved in too much detail. For
this reason, the descriptions given are as brief as possible. It is not
intended to impart more than a general survey of the subject, unnecessary
detail which would merely blur the view of the uninitiated has been omitted.
To provide the reader with a clear impression of the various types of blast
furnace plants, steelworks and rolling mills with their widely diversified
auxiliaries, the book has b e e n amply illustrated. The expert and all those
anxious to obtain more detailed information, are referred to the technical
literature published by the Verlag Stahleisen m. b. H., covering the entire
field of iron and steel metallurgy.
M. M. F. Toussaint
5
Preface to fourth edition
Since the publication of the third edition, in 1952, iron and steel production
capacity has expanded considerably, and a number of changes and im-
provements in the processes of iron and steel engineering — still in the
development stage at that time — h a v e been introduced and accepted.
This revised edition takes account of them, insofar as they are of im-
portance and interest to the reader for w h o m this book is intended. As
a result of the changes and improvements that h a v e taken place, whole
passages of the previous edition had to be changed and supplemented.
A chapter has been added on the history of the iron and steel industry, and
a glossary included of some of the more common technical terms in cur-
rent use. But the four colour folding charts are probabfe the most im-
portant addition. They convey to the reader a good idea of the principal
operations and items of equipment of blast furnace plants, steelworks and
rolling mills. As in the past editions, the n e w itlustrations and plates h a v e
been selected for their clarity in depicting technical details and processes.
M. M. F. Toussaint
Preface to fifth edition
The world's steel production is still substantially increasing. Improvements

are constantly being carried out as regards the processes connected with
metal production and the making and shaping of steel, with the object
of enhancing the quality of the products, increasing output and reducing
production costs. The fifth edition takes account of the innovations in-
troduced in this connection over the last few years. Various chapters h a v e
been added on the preparation of ore for smelting by dressing and sin-
tering, which plays such an important part today, and on the much dis-
cussed oxygen top-blowing processes used in the making of steel. Of the
four instruction charts originally included three w e r e revised in accordance
with the latest k n o w l e d g e available to the arts and sciences of engineering,
and two new ones added. The n u m b e r of illustrations has been increased
by 27 and the number of pages b y 32.
The fourth edition has been translated into English, French, Spanish,
J a p a n e s e and Arabic.
M. M. F. Toussaint
6
Contents
T h e P l a c e of I r o n a n d S t e e l i n t h e W o r l d Economy . !)
W h a t is I r o n ? — W h a t is S t e e l ? 12
H i s t o r y o f t h e l r o n a n d S t e e l l n d u s t r y 17
T h e P r o d u c t i o n of I r o n
Iron ores 26
How ore is mined and c o n v e y e d 27
i !
From mine to blast lurnace
Treatment of ore prior to smelting
40
Lime
Coke, grid gas and coal by-products . 41
The f u r n a c e blast 4!)
The blast f u r n a c e 52
The charging facilities 58
Blast f u r n a c e gas cleaning . . . . 59
Operation of the f u r n a c e ''1
Blast f u r n a c e by-products 65
O t h e r pig iron production processes f>'>
The iron foundry 71
T h e M a n u f a c t u r e of S t e e l
S t e e l m a k j n g processes 78
The basic Bessemer steelworks 80
The acid Bessemer steelworks
The LD process and other oxygen-blown steelmaking processes . 86
The open-hearth steelworks 94
Slags as by-products in the steelworks 99
Electric steelmaking and refining 100
V a c u u m casting 104
Continuous casting of steel 106
Dust extraction from waste gases arising in the steelworks . . . . 108
The steel f o u n d r y 110
Auxiliary steelworks facilities 112
Steel Finishing Processes
Shaping by hammering and pressing 115
Shaping by rolling 119
The blooming mill 120
The medium and h e a v y - p l a t e mill . . 124
The sheet mill '25
The wide strip mill 128
N a r r o w and medium strip mills
The semi-finishing mill
Section mills and wire rod mills 138
Tyre and w h e e l rolling mills 14.!
The production of tubes 144
The Iron and Steel Works's Heat and Power Economy 159
SteelEverywhere 162
7
COAL M I N E
^ C O K I N G PLANT
BLAST FURNACE PLANT
ELECTRIC
STEELMAKING PLANT
BASIC BESSEMER
SCRAP STEEL PLANT
O.H. STEEL PLANT
ROLLING MILLS
FROM ORE
TO STEEL
The Place of Iron and Steel in the World Economy
A flourishing iron and steel industry is essential to the vigorous economic

development of a country. It is, therefore, the e n d e a v o u r of e v e r y country
to h a v e its own firmly established iron and steel industry. This endeavour
was particularly evident after World W a r I, in which iron and steel played
such a conspicuous part, and in the ten y e a r s b e t w e e n 1920 and 1929 world
production of ingot steel advanced steadily from 72 to 120.5 million tons.
But with the supervening world economic crisis in 1929 there was a re-
trenchment to 50 million tons b e t w e e n 1930 and 1932. This was followed
by a gradual u p w a r d trend to 110 million tons in 1938, of which the United
States produced 29 million tons or 26.5 per cent, the former German Reich
23 million tons or 21 per cent, the Soviet Union 18 million tons or 16.2 per
cent, Great Britain 10.5 million tons or 9.5 per cent, and France 6.2 million
tons or 5.6 per cent. The remaining 21 per cent was distributed among
some t w e n t y other countries.
Today, eighteen y e a r s after a war which h a d a profound effect on the
economic structure of almost e v e r y country of the world, the situation is
v e r y different. In 1960 world production of ingot steel was distributed as
follows:
in million per cent of world

Countries tons production
United States of America 90.07 26.1
Soviet Union 65.30 18.9
Federal Republic of G e r m a n y 34.10 9.9
Great Britain 24.70 7.2
Japan 22.14 6.4
People's Republic of China 18.40 5.3
France 17.29 5.0
Italy 8.22 2.4
Belgium 7.18 2.1
Czechoslovakia 6.79 2.0
Poland 6.56 1.9
Canada 5.52 1.6
Luxembourg 4.08 1.2
Soviet Zone 3 85 1.1
Federation of Australia 3.71 1.1
Sweden 3.22 0.9
Austria 3.12 0.9
India 3.12 0.9
Other countries (producing below
3 million tons) 17.49 5.1
Sum total 344.90 100.0
9
T h e P l a c e of Iron a n d S t e e l in t h e W o r l d E c o n o m y
According to a protracted study carried out by the UN Steel Committee

of the Economic Commission for Europe, steel production will steadily
increase to about 630 million tons in 1972/75. This is a rise of 88 per cent
over 1960.
This enormous increase in the steel production rate will not only apply
to the classic steel producing countries but more and more to countries
which so far produced little or no steel. If one considers the steel consump-
tion figures in the various countries, the importance of steel for the socio-
logical structure of a country becomes at once apparent. It is in fact
directly related to a country's standard of living. It is no e x a g g e r a t i o n to
say therefore that the per capita steel consumption of a country is a
yardstick for the a v e r a g e standard of living of its population. The annual
per capita steel consumption figure in the U.S.A. (1957) is 568 kg, in the
Federal Republic of Germany 393 kg, in the Soviet Union 243 kg, in South
and Central America 42 kg, in China 16 kg and in India only 9.2 kg. It is
mainly for this reason that projects for setting up and developing iron and
steel production plants are today discussed in all parts of the world —
even in the so-called developing countries.
Increased steel production results in ever-new lines of industry springing
up so that more people can find employment and more consumer goods
be manufactured. As the standard of living of a country is raised, motor-
cycles and cars take the place of bicycles, big cars the place of small
cars — and again all this demands steel. The change from primitive huts
to brick and steel houses, the transition from washing laundry at the local
brook to automatic washing machines, the departure from the wooden
plough or pick to the steel plough and from the beast of burden lo the
ti actor, all lead to a higher demand for steel. And this demand for steel
will certainly grow tremendously w h e n the nations which h a v e not yet
reached the knife and fork and bicycle stage will view the achievements
o! civilisation as being a matter of course.
According to a forecast of the Institut fur Weltwirtschaft Kiel, the per
capita steel consumption in the y e a r 2000 of the entire population of the
world will be at least half the present per capita steel consumption in the
U.S.A., i. e. about 300 kg. By then the world population of 2,800 million
will h a v e been doubled. Accordingly the world's steel production figure
in the year 2000 will be almost 1,700 million tons.
With its considerable coal consumption, the iron and steel industry is the
most important customer of a f u r t h e r branch of basic industry, coal mining.
From the economic standpoint it is particularly important that it should,
for preference, use for coke production the inevitable "smalls" or coal
slack, for which there is little other market. Coal and iron are thus linked
by a common destiny; for any curtailment of blast furnace operations will
affect not only the heat and p o w e r bills of the iron and steel plants and
10
T h e P l a c e of Iron a n d Steel in the W o r l d E c o n o m y
mines (on account of the n e c e s s a r y curtailment of coking operations) but

also grid gas supplies and the r e c o v e r y of valuable cokery by-products.
These by-products themselves increase the value of coal by 12 per cent.
The world of iron thus dominates the entire economy, even our very
existence. Without iron and steel there would be no trade, no transport,
and none of the comforts which we h a v e come to associate with our
e v e r y d a y life. The following pages will bring us nearer to the domain of
iron and steel, with which coal is so closely associated.
The production of steel is a long and multifarious process, ft begins in
the ore and coal mines, continues through coke ovens, blast furnaces and
steelworks to the rolling mills, foundries and forges, and, in most cases,
involves a v a r i e t y of refining plants. And this is to be the course for us,
too. But before we start out along all the paths which the iron has to
travel, from ore mine to finished product, let a few words be said about
the composition and properties of iron and steel.
11
What is Iron? — What is Steel?
"Iron" is an element (the symbol in chemistry is Fe), which seldom occurs

in a pure form in its natural state. It is greyish white and much less strong
than what is generally called "iron". O r d i n a r y iron, engineering iron, is
an alloy; it consists largely of iron but contains other metals, such as
manganese, chromium and tungsten, in addition to non-metallic materials,
chiefly carbon, silicon, phosphorus and sulphur, which occur in v a r y i n g quan-
tities. Some of these are undesirable additions and some of them are added
intentionally, depending on the intended use of the iron, to increase ductility,
Fig. 1. The microstructures of iron and steel. Magnification: 400 X.

A = cast iron containing 3.5 per cent carbon.
Black g r a p h i t e v a n e s a r e c l e a r l y v i s i b l e . W h i t e a r e a s d e p i c t i r o n - p h o s p h o r u s c o m p o s i t i o n ; t h e p h o s -
p h o r u s c o n t e n t , in this c a s e 0.6 p e r c e n t , i n c r e a s e s f l u i d i t y , t h u s m a k i n g it e a s i e r to p o u r t h e iron.
B = steel containing 1.38 per cent carbon.

T h i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y h i g h - c a r b o n s t e e l is w i d e l y u s e d for t h e m a n u f a c t u r e of k n i v e s , razor b l a d e s a n d
s c i s s o r s , for which p u r p o s e it is h a r d e n e d .
C = same steel as B, but structure changed by hardening.

This s t e e l w a s h e a t e d to 750 J C a n d t h e n w a t e r - q u e n c h e d . Such c h a n g e s in s t r u c t u r e a r e of v i t a l i m p o r -
t a n c e for t h e s t e e l ' s p r o p e r t i e s sucii as h a r d n e s s , s t r e n g t h a n d d u c t i l i t y .
12
W h a t is I r o n ? -- W h a t is Steel?
tensile strength or hardness, to improve casting properties, augment

resistance to heat or rust, and so forth. The carbon content is ot prime1
importance because it is this which exercises the most decisive influence
on the properties of the iron (Fig. 1). It determines whether the iron is
malleable, w h e t h e r it is hardenable, easily meltable or brittle.
"Hot metal" produced by the reduction of iron ore in a blast furnace con-
tains about 2 to 7.5 per cent carbon. It can readily be melted and cast into
moulds to give it a certain shape, but it cannot be forged, rolled or pressed.
In other words it does not permit any kind of mechanical deforming by
hot or cold rolling. A distinction is made between "white" and "grey pig
iron". In white pig iron the carbon is retained in chemical combination
with part of the iron as carbide of iron (Fe 3 C). It is hard and brittle. New
fractures of white iron h a v e a silver-white colour. W h i t e iron is used
chiefly as an intermediate product in the production of steel in the steel-
works. In " g r e y " pig iron all or part of the carbon content is in the form
of graphite. Grey iron is softer and tougher than white iron and its frac-
tures are grey. Part of the grey iron is used as cast iron or grey cast iron
in the production of cast products. Another portion is converted into steel.
It follows from this that "cast iron" is iron which has been cast in moulds
to give it a certain shape. As a general rule it contains 2 to 4 per cent
carbon, 0.3 to 3 per cent silicon and 0.2 to 1.2 per cent manganese. The1
phosphorus and sulphur content must be very small; phosphorus makes
the iron fluid, but also brittle, whereas too high a sulphur content makes
the iron red short, that is, brittle at t e m p e r a t u r e s at which hot-working
operations are performed.
As mentioned earlier, ordinary cast iron is brittle and impossible to ma-
chine. In contrast with this, "malleable cast iron" is softer, tougher and
more ductile. It consists of iron of a certain composition which is packed
in a bed of red iron ore and heated to red heat for several days.
The use of malleable cast iron is restricted to castings weighing between

a few grammes and about 100 lbs. with wall thicknesses b e t w e e n V«" and
lV->". Restrictions of weight and dimensions are due to the physical and
chemical reactions during annealing, depending largely on the wall thick-
ness of the castings.
In many applications malleable castings are fully equivalent to structural

parts made of steel, the shaping of which by methods other than casting
is impossible or too expensive. Malleable castings h a v e proved extremely
successful in the construction of textile machinery, agricultural machinery,
vehicles of e v e r y description, and in the production of fittings.
13
Wild! IS I r o n ? W h a t is Steel?
C h i l l e d iron" castings are extremely hard on the surface. Such castings

aie used for rolls in paper factories, mills and rolling mills. They are made
by melting iron of certain compositions and casting the molten metal into
moulds constructed wholly or partly of cast iron. The parts to be h a r d e n e d
are solidified on contact with the cast iron nioufd capable of abstracting
heal rapidly, thus preventing normai graphitisation. The chilled surface
is very hard, while the other areas of the casting and particularly the
interior remain soft and tough.
Malleable iron" which can be formed in ail manner of shapes by forging,
hammering or rolling, contains less carbon than pig iron or cast iron, i. e.
between 2 per cent maximum and 0.01 per cent minimum.
"Steel" originally meant a malleable iron of high tensile strength that can
be hardened, as is essential for knives and tool steels used for machining
soller iron and other materials. But in recent y e a r s the term "steel", in
general parlance, has come to embrace all types of malleable iron. Conse-
quently, the German Committee of Standards has designated as "steel"
all malleable iron which is not submitted to special treatment to acquire
malleability. This definition was laid down because in practice it is ex-
ceedingly difficult to draw a hard and fast line b e t w e e n malleable iron
and steel, and because the dividing line is generally not appreciated in
loreign countries. Consequently, the term "iron" today only covers pig
iron or cast iron containing more than 2 per cent carbon. Iron containing
less than 2 per cent carbon is called "steel".
The designation used for the various grades of steef are based on the pro-
cesses employed in their manufacture, intended use and outer appearance.
According to the manufacturing process used, a distinction is made, for
instance, between acid Bessemer steel, basic Bessemer steef, oxygen steel,
open-hearth steel and electric steel. The n a t u r e and significance of the
various processes are described in a later section. The following designa-
tions are based on intended use:
"Cast, steel" is steel which has solidified from the molten condition in a
mould, similar to cast iron. However, due to its higher tensile strength
and greater ductility it is superior to cast iron. This is of special importance
for the fabrication of farge, h e a v y - d u t y machinery. " M a n g a n e s e iron",
which contains 12 per cent manganese, is a special type of cast steel,
which, on account of its high resistance to w e a r and pressure, is used, for
instance, for the teeth of dredger buckets.
Steel forgings" are produced direct from cast steel ingots or from blooms.
In days gone by, the hammer in the hand of the blacksmith sufficed for
W h a t is I r o n ? Wluil is S l o e l '
the production of all manner of forgings, but heavy-duty, power-driven

forging hammers and presses h a v e now supplanted the hand hammer lor
the production of the larger forgings. By far the largest part of the si eel
produced is, however, converted in the rolling mills io sheet metal, plate,
beams, girders, rails, strip, wire, tubes, sections and shapes ol all types.
In addition to grey cast iron and cast steel, forged and rolled steel are I he
most important materials used in the m a n u f a c t u r e of all machines, whether
they be for power plants, transport undertakings, mines or metal-working
factories, the chemical or any other industry. Enormous quantities ot rolled
steel are used for the fabrication of steel structures, in bridge building,
railway construction and lor other building applications. Designations lor
steel based on outer a p p e a r a n c e include flats, rounds, sections (Tees, I-beams,
channels, angles), plate, rail, wire, etc. Besides the usual, standard qualities
of "structural steels" there are n u m e r o u s special alloys, serving lor a wide
variety of purposes. They include:
"High-temperature steel", which is used in boiler manufacture, because

it retains its strength characteristics even at continuous temperatures in
the 500 to 600 C range. Molybdenum is the chief alloying constituent in
high-temperature steel.
"Heat-resistant steel", which, through the addition of chromium, nickel,
aluminium and silicon, can be made resistant to temperatures up to
1,300° C, and is mainly used for all types of industrial furnaces and ovens,
as well as for the resistance-heating strip and wire incorporated in nume-
rous household devices, electric cookers, electric irons, electric pads and
the like.
"Stainless and acid-resistant steel" obtains its special properties through
the addition of copper and chromium. A small copper addition retards the
rusting of steel in the open air, so that, without appreciable extra cost,
weather-resistant steels can be produced for the construction of bridges,
masts and residential houses. The addition of 12 per cent chromium
and more will virtually eliminate the rusting of steel. If nickel is added to
these chromium-containing steels, chemical resistance and toughness can
be further improved. N o w a d a y s this type of steel is used throughout, the
chemical and food-processing industries, lor building purposes and do-
mestic applications. Surgical instruments, dentures, kitchen utensils,
knives, forks and spoons, are today mass-produced from stainless steel.
"Tool steels" h a v e a higher carbon content than structural steels. They

are employed for machining all materials used in engineering, by turning,
planing, sawing, drilling, boring, filing, milling, pressing and stamping.
15
W h a t is I r o n ? - - W h a t is Steel?
However, an increased carbon content no longer suffices for present-day

requirements. Steels of extreme hardness, such as high-speed steels, are
now produced through additions of chromium, tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum
and vanadium, in varying amounts, in addition to suitable heat treatment.
16
History of the Iron and Steel Industry
It cannot be said for certain which people first engaged in the manufacture
of iron and steel. Evidence of iron production on German soil goes back
to as early as the beginning of the first millennium BC. It was at this time
that iron started to suppfant bronze, then the most widely used material,
and it gradually acquired a position of prime importance for the production
of w e a p o n s and equipment, such as spear heads, javelins, axes, swords,
knives, chiseis, sickies, shears, brooches (fibulas), hoes and plough shares.
The earliest iron production in G e r m a n y was in pit furnaces or low shafts

of cfay or quarry stone, catfed "bloomeries" or "bloomery furnaces", in
which the iron was extracted from its ores by the direct process. Having
been cleaned (washed) to remove as many of the earthy constituents as
possibie, the ores w e r e then smelted in these furnaces with the aid ol
charcoai, the necessary blast being provided by small hand-operated bel-
lows, if not — as was originally the case — by the wind itself. A lump
(bloom) of malleable iron, 4 in. to 8 in. thick, was produced, heavily in-
terspersed with slag. The slag was expelled to the greatest possible extent
through repeated heating and forging, and the "btoom" as then converted
direct into the finished product — weapon or item of household equipment.
Later on, when an artificial biast was provided by bellows worked by

water-wheefs, the height of the bloomery furnaces could be increased, to
accommodate more ore and charcoal. Larger cakes or "blooms" were
obtainabie from these furnaces than from the originai bloomeries. And
for this reason they could no longer be forged by hand. Hydraulic power
replaced elbow-grease for the operation of the forging hammers.
In Siegerland, evidence of iron production can be traced back far into the
time before Christ (cf. Fig. 2). And it is in Siegeriand that the earfiest
documentary evidence is to be found of the development of the "bloomery"
to the "bfast furnace".
Consequent upon the better utilisation of heat in the bloomeries, which
steadiiy grew in size and height, much higher t e m p e r a t u r e s were obtained;
the iron in the ore became fluid and collected at the base of the furnace,
while the remaining constituents of the ore floated as slag. This iron was
largely free of slag but had a high carbon content, since it absorbed more
2 17
Fig. 2. Smelting iron in the Siegerland 2,000 y e a r s ago.
F r o m a d i o r a m a in t h e G e r m a n M u s e u m , M u n i c h . T h e f u r n a c e s , 5 ft. to 7 ft. h i g h , w e r e l o a m a n d un-
s h a p e d - s t o n e s t r u c t u r e s e r e c t e d on a h i l l s i d e w h e r e t h e w i n d w o u l d c r e a t e a n a t u r a l b l a s t of air. O f t e n
a p r i m i t i v e roof w a s built o v e r the f u r n a c e .
carbon as a result of the intenser heat than in the original bloomeries.

Therefore, it was not malleable. To become malleable, it had to be "re-
fined", that is, the surplus substances — carbon, silicon, etc. — had to
be removed by oxidation.
As will be seen in Fig. 3, the early blast furnaces w e r e thick masonry

constructions. The refining process was carried out in a charcoal fire, si-
milar to the bloomery hearth, but with the difference that it was fed with
less charcoal and more air. W h e r e a s the process in the bloomery h e a r t h
was one of reduction, oxidising was done here through the surplus oxygen,
which means that the carbon and other impurities which had found their
w a y into the iron, w e r e substantially eliminated. And although the smelters
of that time w e r e not enlightened on the chemical reactions, t h e y k n e w
that by the refining action the undesired constituents of the crude iron
were removed, and the crude iron was converted into malleable iron, into
"steel".
The technique of casting iron was developed w h e n the blast f u r n a c e was

introduced. The iron recovered in the blast furnace was poured into
18
H i s t o r y of t h e Iron and Steel i n d u s t r y
moulds, mostly after remelting in small shaft, furnaces, in the same manner
as bronze had been cast in the past.
W h e r e a s , initially, the iron m a k e r s converted their output immediately to

finished products (by casting or forging), towards the end of the Middfe
Ages there was a gradual separation of production anct processing, by
which time there w e r e already highiy organised fraternities or guifds in
G e r m a n y who converted into finished products the steel obtained from
the smeiteries and forges. The towns of Sofingen, Remscheid, Ludenscheid,
Altena and N u r e m b e r g — to mention but a few — w e r e cradles of the
art of steef forging. It was here that knives, daggers, swords, scythes
and tools of aff kinds w e r e forged, or the rough forged steef converted
into wire and sheet for fabricating into all manner of commodities, suits
of armour and hefmets.
As we h a v e observed, matleable iron, steel, was formerly produced direct

from the ore. But this was only possible w h e n smaif quantities w e r e
handled. The situation changed with the emergence of the blast furnace.
An indirect course was adopted in steel-making, which proceeded via the
pig iron produced in the bfast furnace. The incorporation of this additionai
stage is still today more economical for the large-scale production of steel
than the direct method.
The blast furnaces needed a lot of charcoaf, supplies of which became

shorter as the demand for iron grew. In the middfe of the 18th century the
first successful attempts w e r e made in England to replace charcoal by coal,
in its coked state, tn G e r m a n y the first blast furnace to use coke was put
into operation at Gleiwitz in 1796. Nothing now stood in the w a y of getting
higher outputs per furnace, especfaffy as steam had been harnessed in the
Fig. 3. Blast f u r n a c e in
t h e 17th c e n t u r y .
From a p a i n t i n g b y J a n
B r e u g h e l d. A., D o r i a Gal-
l e r y , R o m e . O r e a n d char-
coal w e r e c a r r i e d in b a s k e t s
lo the f u r n a c e t h r o a t a n d
d i s c h a r g e d into t h e o p e n
top. O n t h e left t h e r e fs the
w a t e r w h e e l to w o r k t h e bel-
lows.
19
H i s t o r y of t h e Iron and Steel i n d u s t r y
meantime, and steam-powered blowers had b e e n built with capacities

greater than had been possible in the past. The first blast f u r n a c e s in what
is today the Ruhr industrial area w e r e erected towards the end of the
18th century. But it was only in the middle of the 19th century, w h e n in-
tensified industrialisation and the steady expansion of the railway n e t w o r k
led to increased iron and steel requirements, that the Ruhr's iron and steel
industry gained in importance. Smeiting plants, with their blast furnaces,
steefworks and rolling mills, mushroomed alongside coal deposits — coal
being the other reaffy important raw material in iron production. They
joined the winding towers at the coafmine pitheads as the modern land-
marks of the area. N u m e r o u s improvements h a v e been introduced in blast
furnace operation during the past 150 years, the aim of them all being to
mechanise production to the greatest possibie extent, to match the quafity
of pig iron produced to prevailing requirements and to step up output.
Whereas, 150 y e a r s ago, the daily production of a blast f u r n a c e w a s
fO cwts, or a ton at the outside, the modern f u r n a c e has a daily capacity
of 1,000, f,500 or even 2,000 tons of pig iron. Today blast f u r n a c e capacities
of even 4,000 and 5,000 tons are being considered.
As in the case of blast f u r n a c e s using charcoal, efforts w e r e also made in

the 18th century to replace charcoal by hard coal for the operation of
refining hearths. But m a j o r difficulties existed, because the close contact
of the coal with the iron forced the sulphur contained in the coal into the
iion and ruined it. tn f784 H e n r y Cort succeeded in solving this problem;
he invented a furnace in which only the ffame of the fuel, and not the
fuel itself, came in contact with the iron. The oxidising effect of the fire
gases on the moften iron was f u r t h e r e d by constant stirring of the iron
and the sfag ffoating on it. Iron bars w e r e employed for this purpose, being
introduced through a hole in the f u r n a c e door. Since this stirring is called
Fig. 4. P u d d l i n g iron.
From a painting b y Pieter
d e J o s s e l i n d e J o n g in t h e
Boymans Museum, Rotter-
d a m . O n e of t h e f u r n a c e
h a n d s is s e e n r e m o v i n g a
p u d d l e d ball b y m e a n s of
t o n g s for l o a d i n g on t h e
w a g o n in f r o n t of t h e f u r -
nace door. The second
workman keeps the wagon
in p o s i t i o n w i t h o n e h a n d
and holds the furnace door
o p e n w i t h the o t h e r b y
p u l l i n g a chain h o i s t .
20
H i s t o r y of the I r o n a n d S t e e l i n d u s t r y
"puddling" in English, the same term "puddeln" or the "Puddelverfahren"

is used in German. The puddlers' w o r k w a s extremely h e a v y and strenuous,
as will be seen in Fig. 4.
The further the process of oxidation (decarburisation) proceeded in the

puddling furnace, the more consolidated did the molten metal become,
steadily approaching the n a t u r e of steel. The puddler then divided the
pasty mass into several lumps, which w e r e removed from the furnace, one
at a time. These lumps w e r e placed under a hammer, which squeezed out
the greatest part of the slag content, and then often rolled in a rolling mill
with grooved rolls, which squeezed the soft wrought iron into bars of the
desired sizes and shapes. These bars w e r e then cut into 20 in. lengths,
bundled in lots of four, further refined and rolled to commercial products
in b r e a k i n g down or finishing mills.
The puddling method enabled steel production to be much increased, com-

pared with the old charcoal fire process. It was at Rasselstein n e a r Neu-
wied, in 1824, that the first puddling furnace was put into operation in
Germany. The earliest puddling f u r n a c e s in the Ruhr w e r e erected in 1826
by the "Mechanische W e r k s t a t t e H a r k o r t & Co.", in their plant at the old
fortress of W e t t e r . It w a s this firm, one of the original companies
making up DEMAG, which pioneered steelmaking in the Ruhr and ushered
in an industry which was to develop so tremendously in the following
decades.
W i t h the steady growth of industry there was an increasing demand for
steel. In spite of the great n u m b e r of puddling furnaces brought into ope-
ration, their production p r o v e d to be inadequate in the long run. There-
fore, n e w e r and faster methods of steelmaking had to be evolved. Again
an Englishman, namely H e n r y Bessemer, in the 1850s invented a revolu-
Fig. 5. First Bessemer converter with air blown

through the perforated bottom.
21
H i s t o r y of t h e Iron a n d Steel i n d u s t r y
tionary method of producing steel by blowing a blast of air through a pipe

inserted through the lid of a crucible filled with molten iron, the pipe
reaching almost to the bottom of the vessel. A number of difficulties w e r e
experienced in putting the method into practice, but the success w a s im-
mense, and the invention created a m a j o r sensation in all iron and steel
producing countries, since the Bessemer converter with perforated bottom
for blowing in air, which was developed from the crucible, Fig. 5, p r o v e d
itself capable of producing in t w e n t y minutes the same quantity of steel
that a puddling f u r n a c e could turn out in 24 hours. However, the n e w in-
vention had its drawbacks, because not all the undesirable impurities could
be removed from the pig iron; phosphorus, in particular, which is dangerous
for steel, remained in phosphoric iron. Bessemer employed a refractory
material with a high silica content for lining the converter; it was pro-
duced from ground quartz or sandstone, with an addition of clay. But this
silica prevented the phosphorus from finding its w a y into the slag. A
powerful "basic" slag was required to remove from the bath the "acid"
product of combustion, phosphorus pentoxide (P 2 O s ). Even the addition of
lime (basic) will not remove phosphorus from the metal in a vessel lined
with silica, as the silicic acid b r e a k s down the combination of the lime
with the phosphorus (calcium phosphate), and the converter's lining is
simultaneously attacked and, finally, destroyed. For this reason only pig
iron produced from ores f r e e from phosphorus, or having a low phosphorus
content, could be used for making the steel. But these ores are not readily
available, particularly in Germany.
Although it was recognised at an early stage that a "basic" substitute

would have to be found for the silica lining of the Bessemer converter to
Fig. 6. O n e of t h e
oldest b a s i c B e s s e m e r
s t e e l w o r k s w i t h con-
v e r t e r s a r r a n g e d in a
circle a b o u t a c e n t r a l -
ly l o c a t e d , h y d r a u l i c -
ally o p e r a t e d s e r v i c e
crane.
From a painting by Con-
s t a n t s M e u n i e r (1831-1905),
Musee des Beaux-Arts
Liege.
22
H i s t o r y of t h e I r o n a n d S t e e l i n d u s t r y
remove the phosphorus, it was not until 1878 that Sidney H. Thomas and
his cousin Percy C. Gilchrist found a suitable lining. Their idea was to
m a k e possible the use of phosphoric iron by lining the converter with a
material able to resist attack by various chemical compounds and steel-
making temperatures, while at the same time enabling phosphorus to be
removed from the metal. They used calcined dolomite, which is ground
and mixed with tar, this basic mass then being pressed under high pressure
into bricks, with which the converter is lined. The addition of lime to the
charge in a converter with such a lining will produce a slag so strongly
basic, that the separation of the phosphoric acid formed b y the burning
phosphorus no longer presents any difficulties. In 1879 the Thomas process
was first applied in Germany, Fig. 6. This and the Siemens-Martin process,
described in the next paragraphs, w e r e subsequently adopted on a larger
scale.
As opposed to the Bessemer or acid process, the refining done in a con-

verter lined with a basic refractory became k n o w n as the "Thomas" or
"basic" process. The word "converter" is n o w generally used to describe
the Bessemer or Thomas vessel.
During the first half of the last century attempts had been made to produce
steel by fusing pig iron and steel scrap in a r e v e r b e r a t o r y furnace. But
these experiments only yielded satisfactory results when Friedrich and
Wilhelm Siemens introduced a new gas-fired furnace which, by utilising
the w a s t e gas heat recovered in regenerators, enabled much higher tem-
peratures to be obtained in the r e v e r b e r a t o r y furnace than hitherto. In
1864 Emile and Pierre Martin, w h o had been working on similar lines,
w e r e also highly successful in the application of this type of firing. Since
then the process has been k n o w n in G e r m a n y as the "Siemens-Martin
process"; in the English-speaking countries it is generally referred to as
the "open hearth process". As in the case of the converter, an acid or
basic lining can be used in the open h e a r t h furnace, depending on the
phosphorus content of the pig iron to be processed. It is important to note
that with the open hearth process larger quantities of scrap can be charged
to the furnace. The scrap portion m a y amount to 80 per cent of the total
charge. At the present time most of the world's steel is produced b y this
process, which, together with converter-refining, has gradually forced
puddling furnaces out of existence.
W h e r e a s the conversion of pig iron in the converter t a k e s less time than

in the open hearth furnace, open h e a r t h steel is superior to basic Besse-
mer steel.
It is for this reason that more recent developments in the production of

converter steel are primarily aimed at improving quality and maintaining
a uniform composition in the steel produced. A revolutionary process in
23
this respect is the LD process developed in Austria in which pure oxygen

is blown at high velocity onto the bath of molten pig iron through a water-
cooled pipe called "oxygen lance". It is claimed that the steel obtained
by blowing with pure oxygen is of an excellent quality, poor in nitrogen
and equivalent to the best open-hearth steel.
The "LD process" is named after Linz and Donawitz w h e r e the process w a s
first used. Subsequently, a number of other oxygen-blown processes w e r e
developed chiefly with the object of processing iron with a high phosphorus
content.
The use of oxygen-blown processes is constantly spreading. Oxygen-blown
processes are replacing basic Bessemer converters and open h e a r t h fur-
naces on an ever-wider scale because they help to ensure a higher pro-
duction rate and supply steel of a quality which meets e v e r y requirement.
Since the production rate of open hearth furnaces has also been improved,
these furnaces will, no doubt, retain their significance as scrap users.
A process which is no longer used today but which should be mentioned

to give the reader a complete list, is the "crucible steelmaking process".
In order to achieve a more uniform physical structure of steel, Benjamin
Huntsman in 1740 invented a method of making steel by remelting the
v e r y u n e v e n product of those days in crucibles. This process was later
further developed, especially in Germany, and perfected as a means of
manufacturing high-grade steels. Crucible steels of excellent quality w e r e
produced, especially after it had b e e n discovered that the use of specific
materials for the crucible, and the addition of other metals, could influence
properties of the steel in certain directions.
Some sixty y e a r s ago the crucible steelmaking process was superseded

by the cheaper, quicker and even more exact method of production based
Fig, 7. Waterwheel-
driven rolling and
slitting mill.
From a painting by Leonard
D e f r a n c e (1735-1805), M u s e e
d e s B e a u x - A r t s , Liege.
24
on the use of the "electric steel furnace", which employs electric current
as the source of heat for melting the charge. The metallurgical process is
similar to the reactions produced in the open hearth furnace. Scrap is
mainly processed, to which pig iron is added to suit requirements.
Steel made in the electric furnace is distinguished by its exceptional purity.

M a n y different types of special steel can be produced by adding other
metals, such as nickel, chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, cobalt, vanadium.
The development of high-grade steels, which has proceeded on a broad
front, has only been made possible through the increasing application of
the electric steel process. In recent y e a r s the electric furnace is used on
an ever-wider scale for the production of commercial-grade steels prin-
cipally in locations with a cheap electricity supply.
Forgeable iron made in the bloomery furnaces, on charcoal fires and partly
even in puddling furnaces, was exclusively fashioned by forging with a
hand h a m m e r or in h a m m e r works by means of a waterwheel-powered
h e a v y blow hammer. Although rolling mills for fashioning metals w e r e
k n o w n in the Middle Ages, they w e r e used for softer metals such as lead
only. It was only w h e n water power and man-powered or animal-powered
capstans w e r e utilised for the rotation of rolls that it became possible to
roll even h a r d e r iron. The first iron rolling mills came into existence in
the 15th century, presumably first in Germany, then in France and in the
Liege area of Belgium. These mills w e r e used to roll previously forged
thick iron bars into flat strips which w e r e subsequently divided into narrow
strips on a slitting mill. The long square bars resulting from this process
w e r e forged into a multiplicity of primary and finished products.
The first steam-powered rolling mill w a s introduced about 1786 in England,
Europe's leading iron producing country at that time. Rolling and slitting
mills as well as plate mills w e r e employed primarily. The slitting mill was
only gradually replaced by light section mills rolling simple sections. In
1820 the m a n u f a c t u r e of rails by rolling was patented in England.
Even in the puddling period e n d e a v o u r s w e r e made to use heavier blooms
and iron bars for welding and rolling in order to produce larger and longer
rolled products such as rails. But even higher requirements w e r e made on
rolling mills with the advent of harder Bessemer and basic Bessemer steel
and increasing dimensions of steel ingots. Apart from this, demands for
larger quantities and a greater variety of rolled products became ever-more
urgent. Special mills such as universal rolling mills, tyre mills, loop mills,
tube mills and many other mills of special designs w e r e the result.
The introduction of the electric drive shortly after the turn of the century
gave a considerable impetus to the development of rolling engineering. It
led to increased mechanisation, higher product accuracy and last but not
least to automation of the entire rolling process.
25
The Production of Iron
Iron Ores
Apart from the small quantities of meteoric iron that crash to the earth
from outer space, nature provides us with no iron w h a t s o e v e r in the
finished state, only in the form of ore, that is iron in widely varied chemi-
cal combinations, with coarse impurities. Iron is separated from these ores,
changed to the required composition and then m a n u f a c t u r e d into a multi-
plicity of forms and shapes.
When the value of an iron ore is estimated, it is not only the iron content
which has to be considered, but also the mineral form in which the iron
appears and the composition of the slag-forming materials also contained
in the ores. The metallurgist refers to that portion of the ore containing
no metal as the "gangue". Some ores are more of a "basic" n a t u r e because
they contain a high p e r c e n t a g e of lime, w h e r e a s others are "acid" on
account ot their high silica content. Alumina and phosphates are the other
substances most likely to be present. The phosphorus content is of vital
importance, because when the ores are smelted in the blast f u r n a c e the
phosphorus is absorbed entirely in the iron, and phosphoric pig iron cannot
be used for several steelmaking processes, such as the acid pneumatic-
conversion or Bessemer method. It is, on the other hand, absolutely essen-
tial for the Thomas or basic Bessemer process. Sulphur in the ores is de-
trimental because sulphur renders the iron red short, which means that
it is brittle at red heat. If the sulphur is not removed by calcining the ores,
before smelting, sufficient lime or m a n g a n e s e ore must be introduced into
the furnace to enable it to be absorbed by the lime or transferred to the
slag along with the manganese.
Ore deposits occur at a number of places throughout the world. Ores are
found in Europe, Asia, North and South America, in Africa and on m a n y
islands. The distribution of the ore deposits is fairly irregular and does
not coincide with the pig iron production rate of the countries concerned.
For instance, in spite of their extremely high ore production of 90 million
tons (1960), the United States of America h a v e to import ore. The Federal
Republic of Germany, too, imports ore mainly from Sweden w h e r e about
20 million tons of ore are produced per annum. Other countries with an
26
T h e P r o d u c t i o n of Iron
important ore production are Venezuela (20 million tons), China (60 million
tons), France (67 million tons) and the Soviet Union (107 million tons).
The following are the most important ore grades used in the production
of iron:— M a g n e t i t e o r m a g n e t i c i r o n o r e , which is distinguished
by its high iron content of 60 to 70 per cent. It occurs with both a high
and a low phosphorus content.
R e d h e m a t i t e , having a 40 to 60 per cent iron content and likewise,
either a high or low phosphorus content.
S p a t h i c i r o n o r s i d e r i t e , having a 30 to 40 per cent iron content
and a low phosphorus content, much sought after on account of its manga-
nese content.
Since the ores mined in the Federal Republic are by no means adequate
in quantity or quality — to meet the requirements of the German iron and
steel industry, considerable supplies h a v e to be obtained from abroad,
from Sweden, N o r w a y , Spain, Morocco and Algeria-, even ores from Ca-
nada, Brazil, Venezuela, India and various African countries, are processed
in German smelting plants.
How ore is mined and conveyed
The method of winning the ore will depend on geological conditions.

W h e r e the deposits are at the earth's surface, the ore can be won in open
workings. It needs only to be blasted loose and is then loaded onto railway
trucks by large bucket-wheel excavators. By far the greatest part of the
high-grade ores in N o r t h e r n Sweden are mined b y this method. The
working is done in steps, the height of which ranges from 50 to 100 ft.
Pneumatic h a m m e r drills are employed to sink a series of vertical holes
in the individual steps. These holes are filled with an explosive material,
which is then ignited, Fig. 8. 10,000 tons of ore, and m a y b e very much
more, are loosened from the deposit each time a salvo is fired. Electrically-
operated shovel e x c a v a t o r s then load the ore on dump wagons, which are
moved up in trains to vertical shafts. Large ore crushers are erected above
these shafts, and, as the ore is dumped, t h e y reduce it to pieces having a
maximum edge length of 10 ins. It then drops into the shafts, at the bottom
of which it is loaded into railway wagons. These then transport it to the
harbours of Lulea in the Gulf of Bothnia or Narvik on the Atlantic Coast.
The Styrian orefield, Fig. 9, is w o r k e d in a similar manner to those of

Northern Sweden. At the present time the open workings there consist of
thirty steps, averaging 80 ft. in height and 700 y a r d s in length. The total
frontage being w o r k e d is thus something like 13 miles long. About thirty
excavators are used to load the blasted ore and rock onto railbound trans-
27
Fig. 8. Blasting o p e r a -
tions at o p e n o r e w o r k -
ings in N o r t h e r n Swe-
den.
C o l u m n s of s m o k e rise l i k e
a row of p o p l a r s f r o m t h e
b l a s t h o l e s as t h o u s a n d s of
Ions of o r e a r e f o o s e n e d
from t h e f a c e .
port or h e a v y - d u t y lorries. Some of these excavators, one of which can be

seen in Fig. 10, are of gigantic proportions, and they are able to shift
several cubic yards of ore at e v e r y lift; t h e y are crawler-mounted and
self-propelled, which means that they can k e e p up with the rate of ad-
vance, without rails and without having to be towed. The driver sits on
a comfortable, adjustable seat, and with a few small levers controls the
Fig. 9. P a r t of the S t y r i a n "Erzberg". T h e o p e n w o r k i n g s consist of 30 benches,

each 80 ft. high.
Fig. 10. A s h o v e l e x c a v a t o r l o a d s
t h e ore into s e l f - d u m p i n g trucks
which t r a n s f e r it to t h e d r e s s i n g
plant.
Fig. 11. W i n n i n g ore

u n d e r g r o u n d by m e a n s
of s c r a p e r s .
< haulage gallery
b venlilaling gallery
c s c r a p e r winch
d l o a d i n g chulcs
e scraper boxes
t h a u l i n g winch
mighty p o w e r of the machine, practically without effort. Excavators are

powered by a diesel engine or, in the case of high-capacity units, by
diesel-electric units.
Fig. 12. Blast h o l e s being drilled Fig. 13. S c r a p e r i n s t a l l a t i o n for l o a d i n g o r e

in t h e ore f a c e by m e a n s of p n e u - in a n ore m i n e (as p e r c in Fig. 11).
matic drills.
In some places, w h e r e the deposits are deep below the earth's surface, the
ores have to be recovered by an underground system of mining. In Fig. 11
is depicted a diagrammatic layout for one of the methods employed,
Working proceeds in rooms, which gradually increase in size and b e t w e e n
Fig. 14. T h e "collect-

ing s t a t i o n " in a mine.
M e c h a n i c a l deckers a r e u s e d
to t r a n s l e r t h e m i n e c a r s to
the cages.
30
Fig. 15. A h e a v y - d u t y skip winding
installation in dual a r r a n g e m e n t .
T h e f o u r s k i p s a s c e n d a n d d e s c e n d at a r a t e of
65 f t . / s e c . T h e s h a f t is 20 ft. in d i a m e t e r . T h e
c o a l w i n d i n g i n s t a l l a t i o n s h o w n in Fig. 27
operates similarly.
Fig. 16. A n electric w i n d e r at a mine.

This winder works automatically w h e n hoisting
o r e . It is o n l y c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e w i n d i n g e n g i n e
m a n w h e n h a n d l i n g p a s s e n g e r t r a f f i c , i. e. for
" m a n - r i d i n g " or w h e n t h e r o p e s a r e being
checked.
31
which individual pillars are erected. Blasting holes are drilled in the wall,
Fig. 12, and the loosened ore is then loaded into mine cars b y means of
scraper loaders. The w o r k i n g method generally employed is to drill and
blast alternately in one section of the rooms, while in the other section the
ore blasted is loaded and transported. The use of mechanical loading equip-
ment, as illustrated in Fig. 13, not only increases the output greatly but
also relieves the mine w o r k e r s of one of the most arduous duties to be
performed underground, the loading and hauling of the mine cars. W h e n
filled, these are hauled by a locomotive to the collecting station, Fig. 14,
w h e r e they are pushed into the cages and hoisted through the shaft to the
surface.
Revolving tipplers are employed to speed up the emptying of the cars as
they leave the mine; they take one, two or three cars at a time, discharging
them by rotating about their horizontal axis. As a general rule the ore is
dumped into a bricked storage bunker, from which it is extracted for
dressing or for direct loading into railway trucks.
The n e w e r pit plants, instead of having cages to take the mine cars,
generally employ two large skips to convey the ore. This means that the
mine cars do not h a v e to be carried as dead load. A schematic layout for
a skip hoisting plant of this kind can be seen in Fig. 15. Two completely
independent winders serve a single shaft. The electrically-powered win-
ders, Fig. 16, are installed in large, well-lit rooms near the shaft and are
Fig. 17. Skip discharging station.

To t h e r i g h t is t h e s h a f t a n d on its i m m e d i a t e l e f t a l a r g e bin into which t h e s k i p d u m p s t h e ore, A
s h o r t i n c l i n e d belt c o n v e y o r t r a n s f e r s t h e o r e f r o m this bin to a n o t h e r t r a v e l l i n g b e l t which d i s t r i b u t e s
the o r e a m o n g the b u n k e r s l o c a t e d below
32
each operated by a winding engine man. The hoisting ropes, at the ends
of which the skips are suspended, pass round large driving sheaves 20 to
23 ft. in diameter, and are brought into motion by the friction between
them and the wood treads of the sheave. If one skip is at the bottom of
the shaft at the collecting station, the other will be up above, at the
pithead. And while the one skip is being filled at the bottom of the shaft,
the other is being discharged at the top, Fig. 17. These operations take
only a few seconds, as they are performed fully automatically. Naturally,
safety devices are provided as protection against faulty operation. Of late,
much progress has been made in hoisting techniques, and now the entire
cycle of operations, i. e. filling the skips from a bunker, starting, stopping
and emptying them, can proceed fully automatically, throughout the entire
shift. All the winding engine man has to do is to k e e p an eye on the plant.
Control equipment and illuminated mimic diagrams k e e p him fully in the
picture on all operations and on the current positions of the skips.
Not infrequently, the ore extracted is mixed, to a varying degree, with

rock and earth — the so-called "dead rock". In order to k e e p the transport
and handling charges down, the ore is, therefore, subjected to dressing
prior to dispatch to the iron and steel works. A n y further treatment of the
ore for smelting is generally carried out at the iron and steel works itself.
From mine to blast furnace
On leaving the mine the ore is either transported direct by rail to the blast
furnace stockyards or it travels over long distances by sea or inland
w a t e r w a y s and has to be transshipped several times. Various types of
equipment are used for loading ore carriers. For example, at the Lulea
ore docks in Northern Sweden, the ore leaving the mines in self-dumping
trucks, travels onto a high gantry running along the quayside, where it
is discharged into bunkers, to be conveyed b y long pipelines to the
ships' holds.
An ore handling plant which is particularly interesting on account of its

size and capacity, can be seen in Figs 18 and 19; it has been constructed
at the port of Narvik to transfer ore from railway trucks to ocean-going
vessels. Owing to its favourable position, w a s h e d by the Gulf Stream, this
port is open all the y e a r round, and e v e r y day t w e n t y ore trains coming
from the aforementioned mining area of N o r t h e r n Sweden deposit their
load there. The a l r e a d y existing installations w e r e incapable of loading
the vessels with the desired expedition. As it was difficult to supply the
sixteen different varieties of ore to suit the smelting works' requirements,
inevitable delays occurred.
33
3
Fig. 18. Large-scale ore loading

facility at Narvik.
This i n s t a l l a t i o n c o m p r i s e s conveyor
b e l t s , t h e t o t a l l e n g t h of which is 3,500
y a r d s , a n d f o u r g r a b b r i d g e s w i t h an
i n d i v i d u a l c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y of 35 t o n s .
The o r e s t o r a g e y a r d is 100 y a r d s w i d e
a n d 800 y a r d s long.
Fig. 19. Ore delivered by belt

conveyors is discharged into the
ship's holds through vertically
adjustable delivery chutes.
Therefore, the main demand made on the n e w installation was that e v e r y

vessel, as it docked, should be able to load the desired type of ore.
This meant, on the one hand, that the loading of the vessels had
to be largely independent of the ore supply arriving by rail and, on the
other, that a storage y a r d had to be provided in which the ores could be
stored separately and loaded independently in the ocean-going freighters.
Each of these operations, loading the y a r d and the ships, has to be per-
formed fast enough for 4,000 tons to be handled per hour; moreover, facili-
ties had to be provided for the direct loading of ores on their arrival at
the plant, without passing the ores through the storage yard, in the event
of the variety delivered being that required for shipment.
34
Fig. 21. O r e u n l o a d i n g facility in an A m e r i -

can s e a port.
T h e o r e is r e m o v e d f r o m t h e s h i p s b y m e a n s of g r a b s ,
d i s c h a r g e d into b i n s of m o v e a b l e d e s i g n i n c o r p o r a t e d in
t h e t r a n s p o r t e r s a n d t h e n c e c o n v e y e d to h i g h - c a p a c i t y
e l e v a t e d b i n s from w h e r e it is r e m o v e d into r a i l w a y
wagons.
Fig. 20. T h e g i a n t t r i m m i n g g r a b o p e n s its

j a w s a b o u t 26 ft. to scoop u p o r e f r o m t h e
ship's h o l d .
The technical problem presented was solved through the construction of

a skilfully coordinated system of truck discharging devices, crushers, belt
conveyors and ore bridges. An electrical control station was incorporated
to ensure that the transshipment operations proceed smoothly and to pro-
vide, as far as possible, for a fully automatic service eliminating operating
errors. This control system permits the entire loading cycle, including
selection of the desired v a r i e t y of ore, to be regulated by pushbutton
operation. W h a t is more, the entire procedure is recorded, throughout
the various stages, b y lamps on an illuminated control panel. An ingenious
automatic device prevents faulty operation. Optical and acoustic warning
signals are channelled to the control station, from w h e r e trouble can be
detected and remedied.
35
Before the ores arriving from overseas ports reach the smelting works,
they frequently h a v e a long journey, by land or water, to the interior of
the country. For this reason gigantic transshipment facilities h a v e been
provided at a number of ports on the North Sea and Baltic coasts, above
all at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Emden, Stettin, Gdynia and Danzig, for the
purpose of reloading the ore from the ocean-going ships into river and
canal-craft or railway trucks. Mammoth ore bridges are used to pick up
the ore in the ships' holds by means of giant grabs and dump it in the
railway trucks, rivercraft or storageyards. The trimming grab, which is
depicted in Fig. 20, is a special type of two-piece bucket which is lowered
onto the ore heap in its open condition, the two jaws closing w h e n the
hosting ropes are pulled and seizing a load of ore from the heap. The grab
ascends as soon as the closing action has been completed. W h e n , over the
dumping position, the jaws are opened up by letting out the hoisting
ropes, two others — the holding ropes — hold the grab head in position.
Ore bridges, Fig. 21, are capable of handling up to 1,000 tons an hour w h e n
transferring ore from ocean-going ships to river and canal-craft or railway
ti ucks.
If the ore is to be transferred from ocean-going vessel to railway trucks,

it is advisable to make use of mobile hoppers b e t w e e n the ship and railway
I rucks. Such mobile hoppers greatly facilitate loading into the railway
trucks and, at the same time, they can be fitted with equipment to weigh
the ore as it is transferred. Interposed b e t w e e n the ship and railway, the
hopper not only fulfils its original purpose of weighing and distributing;
it enables the material handling capacity to be greatly increased. For the
weighing of the ore and the loading of the railway trucks are, to a certain
extent, independent of the unloading of the ship, so that delays in the
one operation do not interrupt the continuous flow of the other operation.
This is of vital importance, should there be a hold-up in the supply of
empty trucks or if, for some reason or other, the unloading of the ship
has to be suspended for a brief period. In the former case the ore bridge's
grabs continue to fill the hopper, and, in the latter, loading of the railway
trucks can proceed until the hopper has been completely emptied.
Naturally, bridges operated with trimming grabs can also be used to

handle coal and other bulk materials. In fact, they usually deal with two-
way traffic. For instance, at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Emden the bridges
transfer into sea-going ships the coal arriving from the Ruhr in barges and
reload ore from the former type of vessels into river-craft, for shipment
to the Ruhr smelteries.
In spite of the giant proportions of ore bridges, all their movements are
controlled by one man only, who, comfortably seated in the "crab", con-
tiols with but a few levers the bridge travelling, crab travelling and
36
Fig. 22. View of the ore stockyard and handling installations of a smelting works
h a v i n g its own harbour.
slewing motions, and the raising, lowering, opening and closing of the
grab bucket.
It will be evident that the most f a v o u r a b l y located iron and steel works
are those in the immediate vicinity of the w a t e r w a y s , since there is then
no need for further ore handling. Fig. 22 shows the loading facilities at
one such works. The ore has to be transferred from the barges, either to
the stockyard or to the concrete b u n k e r s located alongside the blast fur-
naces. The stockyard is needed to provide a constant supply for the blast
furnaces, even if shipments arrive at irregular intervals or sometimes are
interrupted altogether for longish periods. Three gantry cranes on the
wharf grab the ore from the barges and, if the lumps are small enough
to be suitable for immediate smelting, dump it on a 65 ft. wide intermediate
storage yard, w h e r e a s lumpy ore is first put through a mobile crusher,
37
after which it is transported to the intermediate storage y a r d b y belt con-

veyor. A v e r a g e handling capacities of the 20-ton cranes range from 70 to
200 tons an hour, according to the t y p e of ore dealt with — the low figure
applying to light ores and craft with small holds. Peak capacities of 300
tons/h per crane are obtainable w h e n h e a v y , fine ores are handled.
The two transporters spanning the stockyard c o n v e y ore from the inter-
mediate stockyard to the ore b u n k e r s or main storage y a r d and h a v e a
164 ft. span and a carrying capacity of 30 tons. On the waterside the main
girder projects 106 ft., and on the bunker side 86 ft., beyond the r u n w a y ;
the bridges h a v e a clearance height of 72 ft. above the stockyard ground
level. Since the crabs are at all times able to grab a full load from the
stockyard, their handling rate is extremely high. Some of the ore is dumped
by them into the b u n k e r s alongside the blast furnaces; some is dumped
into standard-gauge self-discharging b u n k e r cars, which travel on the top
of the bunker walls and distribute their charge among the pockets which
could otherwise only be reached if the bridge w e r e moved. Should the
stockyard bridge be out of action, the wharf cranes can be used to pick
up ore from the intermediate stockyard and load it into other self-
discharging cars for c o n v e y a n c e to the bunkers.
Ore arriving by rail in standard w a g o n s at the smelting plant, from harbour

or mine, is discharged into the blast furnace b u n k e r s or onto the stockyard
by means of w a g o n tipplers, or it is loaded into self-discharging cars b y
tipplers specially constructed for the purpose; these then bring it to the
bunkers.
Treatment of ore prior to smelting
In order to rid the ore of superfluous constituents and obtain benefits

during the subsequent smelting process, it is subjected to special treat-
ment. Depending on the grade of ore to be smelted, the degree of con-
tamination and the desired end product, this treatment consists of one or
several successive operations such as crushing, screening, roasting,
washing, flotation and magnetic separation. This removes part of the
impurities, chiefly silica, carbon dioxide and various sulphur compounds,
thereby enriching the ore by increasing the percentage of iron in the
residual material. In the case of the Siegerland ores, for instance, which
are highly valued on account of their m a n g a n e s e content, dressing permits
material having a 31.2 per cent iron and 6 per cent m a n g a n e s e content to
be upgraded to 45 per cent iron and 8.8 per cent manganese. This results
in enormous coke savings during the subsequent smelting operations.
Homogenising of the ore, too, is v e r y good practice to improve blast
furnace operation. The blast f u r n a c e operator is always e n d e a v o u r e d to
38
supply his furnaces with ore of a uniform composition and grain size.
Homogenising according to chemical composition is carried out by inti-
mately mixing ores of various analyses such as on ore beds. Homogenising
according to lump size is done by crushing coarse ore in ore crushers and
grinders and classifying it on screening lines.
The proportion of fine and v e r y fine ore whose direct smelting would
cause trouble in the blast furnace, is growing even at the point of pro-
duction. In addition, a considerably large quantity of fine-grained ore arises
during crushing and screening. Further, fine grain, iron-bearing bypro-
ducts such as flue dust, scale, roasted pyrites and sludge from roasting
are to be processed.
This fact forced operators to install large high-capacity sinter plants which
today generally consist of large, efficient induced-draught sinter machines,
the so-called sintering belts, on which the fine ore and the other iron-
bearing raw materials are sintered with an addition of coke breeze, i. e.
they are agglomerated b y fusing and baking. If sufficient crushed limestone
is added to the fine ore mix so that a lime-silica ratio as required for the
blast f u r n a c e slag is ensured in the sinter mix, a so-called "self-fluxing
sinter" requiring no further addition of lime in the blast furnace and giving
a highly fluid slag results.
In recent y e a r s the proportion of sinter in the "blast furnace burden" has

substantially increased and amounts to 35 to 40 per cent in the Federal
Republic of Germany. Some w o r k s use an even higher proportion of sinter.
In a number of other countries (Japan, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Belgium)
some furnaces are operated on sinter and coke only, a number of benefits
being derived in this manner. For instance, an increased input of sinter
appreciably reduces the consumption of coke and at the same time in-
creases the pig iron production rate.
In the preparation and beneficiation of certain ore grades, ore with a grain
size below 0.008 in. may arise. This so-called concentrate cannot be readily
processed by means of the usual sintering processes. Ore of this grain size
is, therefore, "pelletised", i. e. it is formed into small balls called pellets
having a diameter of b e t w e e n 5/s and 1 in. Subsequently, the pellets are
h a r d e n e d and burnt on the sintering belt. The sinter plant instruction chart
explains the various operations that t a k e place in a modern sinter plant.
Figs 23 and 24 show a number of details.
Before we follow the subsequent course the ore takes, let us examine
briefly the importance and origin of the other raw materials involved in
iron production — fluxes and coke — and also the air blast, which, to a
certain extent, can also be regarded as a raw material.
39
Lime
Silica and other gangue associated with the ore, finding their w a y into
the blast furnaces for smelting, together with fuel ash, cannot be fused at
all or with great difficulty only. If these components w e r e not induced to
combine into a more easily fusible compound — slag — through suitably
mixing the ores or b y adding "fluxes", they would fill the interior of the
furnace within a comparatively short time and stop operations. In most
cases limestone is used as flux. It must be as pure as possible. The presence
of gypsum, for example, is v e r y h a r m f u l because its sulphur content would
be absorbed in the pig iron. W h e r e it is intended to produce an iron high
in phosphorus for steelmaking in the basic Bessemer process, phosphate
rock or basic slag is used as flux. However, as we shall see later on, not
Figs 23 and 24. View

of a sintering plant
bay with sintering belt
working to the Mc-
Dowell-Dwight - Lloyd
system.
Further details are given
in t h e a t t a d i e d " S i n t e r i n g
P l a n t " i n s t r u c t i o n chart.
only the blast furnaces but also the steelworks h a v e to m a k e constant use
of slag-forming fluxes w h e n pig iron is converted to steel. As a general
rule, burnt lime is employed for this purpose.
The large limestone quarry, as depicted in Fig. 25, is operated in much the
same manner as an ore mine. The q u a r r y floor is a hive of activity; drilling,
blasting and loading operations proceed with clockwork regularity. Giant
w a g o n tippler hoists haul w a g o n s filled with rock in a never-ending stream
up an inclined track 100 y a r d s long and, at the top of it, discharge their
loads into a crushing plant. Shaking grizzlies, screens and belt conveyors
transport the crushed limestone to loading points or calcining kilns.
Limestone and other fluxes are transported from the quarries to the blast
furnaces in the same w a y as ore, viz., by rail or partly by rail and partly
by w a t e r w a y .
Coke, grid gas and coal by-products
Heat and carbon are required for making iron in the blast furnace, carbon
playing an important part in the chemical processes. Both are supplied
from coke fed into the furnace with the ore and flux. Coke is used, and not
coal, because most kinds of coal would cake in the furnace, and this would
greatly hamper operation. Moreover, higher combustion temperatures can
be obtained with coke, because it is not so inflammable as coal. Addi-
tionally, valuable by-products are recovered through the previous coking
Fig. 25. V i e w of one of E u r o p e ' s l a r g e s t l i m e s t o n e q u a r r i e s w i t h e q u i p m e n t u s e d

to e x t r a c t , h a n d l e and p r e p a r e t h e l i m e s t o n e .
of the coal; these would otherwise be lost, as its volatile contents would
escape with the top gas if the coal w e r e burnt in the blast furnace.
The coal is coked in long, n a r r o w chambers constructed of r e f r a c t o r y
bricks like retorts which are h e a t e d from the outside. As a general rule the
chambers are about 35 ft. long, 11 ft. 6 in. high and 1 ft. 6 in. wide, and
it is usual for 50 to 70 of them to be arranged in w h a t is k n o w n as a "bat-
tery", gas flues passing up and down b e t w e e n e v e r y two chambers. Fuel
is provided by the gases escaping from the h e a t e d coal.
The sequence adopted at the coking plant, such as shown in the sectional
diagram, Fig. 26, is that first the coal arriving from the mine, Fig. 27, which
is usually lower-grade fines, is conveyed to the coal service bunker, a
Fig. 26. Schematic d i a g r a m of a c o k e o v e n a n d its a n c i l l a r y m a c h i n e r y .

a = c o m p o u n d c o k e o v e n w i t h w a s t e gas r e c i r c u l a t i o n ; b L - c o k e o v e n c h a r g i n g c a r ; c = p u s h i n g
m a c h i n e w i t h i e v e l l e r b a r a n d door e x t r a c t o r ; d — c o k e g u i d e a n d d o o r m a c h i n e on c o k e s i d e ; e — c o k e
q u e n c h i n g c a r ; f = c o k e w h a r f ; g — belt c o n v e y o r ; h = coal s e r v i c e b u n k e r ; i = q u e n c h i n g t o w e r .
i-
h
a,
e
f
c
g
Fig. 27. Coal mine with coking plant.
L e f t : T h e s h a f t i n s t a l l a t i o n w i t h t h e s h e d . R i g h t : T h e coal
w a s h i n g p l a n t w i t h l o a d i n g f a c i l i t i e s for w a s h e d a n d c l a s s i f i e d
coal b e n e a t h it. O n e x t r e m e r i g h t : T h e c o k i n g p l a n t w i t h
various auxiliary equipment.
large storage b u n k e r erected at the front end of or in the centre of the

coke oven battery. In order to obtain coke of e v e n quality, the coal is
usually crushed and blended before being fed to the bunker. The coal is
transferred from the b u n k e r to the hopper of the coke-oven charging car,
which is able to travel the length of the oven battery, Figs 26 and 28. The
driver stops the car w h e n it is over an empty oven, raises its covers by
a control device on the car and discharges the coal. W h e n the oven is
filled, the covers are closed and the coal distributed evenly by a recipro-
cating "leveller b a r " attached to the "pusher machine" (c) in Fig. 26. The
carbonising period is 20 to 24 hours, so that, if a 70-oven battery is
operated, approximately three ovens h a v e to be filled and emptied every
hour. W h e n an oven is emptied the doors at either end are first opened
b y an extractor on the pusher machine (c) and b y "door-machine" (d);
"coke-quenching car" (e) is then advanced to the oven. And n o w the
pusher machine's ram, Fig. 29, discharges the entire coke from the oven
into the quenching car, Fig. 30. Loaded with red-hot coke the car travels
under the "quenching tower". H e r e the coke is quickly cooled through
water being sprayed from large sprinkler units; this p r e v e n t s it from
burning through contact with air. It is then t r a n s f e r r e d to "coke w h a r f " (f)
and guided through gates at the lower end to a belt conveyor (g), which
transports it to the screening and loading plant. The screening unit separa-
tes the fine coke, since this is unsuitable for the blast f u r n a c e process. As
43
Fig. 28. Coke oven

charging car which can
be travelled the entire
length of the oven
battery to permit the
individual ovens to be
filled.
Fig. 29. Pushing ma-

chine with leveller bar
and door extractor.
"BMl
MR I'M!
is demonstrated in Fig. 27, the coke is t a k e n in high-capacity "self-dumping

cars" from the screening plant to the iron and steel works. Depending on
the location of the coking plant and the blast furnace plant, the coke m a y
even be removed to the blast f u r n a c e by means of belt conveyors.
As already stated, the coke ovens are fired by gas produced during coking.
But only about half the quantity produced is used for this purpose. Ori-
ginally, the other half w a s employed partly as a by-product of secondary
44
Fig. 30. The coke quenching

car has discharged the load
of coke onto the wharf. Above
the car can be seen the de-
vice for opening the doors
and guiding the coke cake
("d' in Fig. 26).
value for firing boilers and partly e v e n "bled", i. e. allowed to burn in

the air.
The grid gas system w a s developed to put to better use this surplus coke-
oven gas, which has a high calorific value and is, in properties and com-
position, equivalent to town gas. Although its beginnings date back almost
to the turn of the century, it has been only during the past thirty-five y e a r s
that the large-scale grid gas system emerged in Germany. Technical ad-
vances in the construction of high-pressure gas mains, essential for car-
rying large volumes of gas over hundreds of miles, provided the necessary
basis. Today, giant gas holders, the largest of which is 350 ft. high and has
a capacity of approximately 10,500,000 cu.ft., are used for storing gas
generated at the various mines and smelting plants. At the present time
n e w methods are being tried out for the large-scale storage of gas under-
ground. Compressors, the size of which is c o n v e y e d in Fig. 31, force gas
produced in the Ruhr through a complex system of long-distance mains,
extending north and west to the Dutch frontier, east as far as Hanover, and
as far as M a n n h e i m in the south. Connecting mains linking with the grid
systems of Central Germany, the Saar, Belgium, Holland and France, h a v e
either been constructed or are in the planning stage.
The sale of coke-oven gas in G e r m a n y has increased so immensely thai

it is n o w a d a y s several times greater than the total production of domestic
45
Fig. 31. View of the compressor bay of a long-distance gas supply plant.
T h e s e c o m p r e s s o r s f o r c e 200,000 c u b i c y a r d s of c o k e o v e n gas into t h e l o n g - d i s t a n c e gas m a i n p e r h o u r .
gas-works. No less than 87 per cent of the gas now being consumed in the
Federal Republic is g e n e r a t e d in the Ruhr mines and smelteries. About a
third of it is used by the iron and steel industry, and chemical plants t a k e
a tenth. Other important consumers are the glass and ceramics industries
and the engineering industry. A n o t h e r 10 per cent finds its w a y to local
gas-works; together with their o w n production it is distributed to count-
less households, commercial and industrial undertakings.
Grid gas must exhibit a consistent, u n f o r m quality if consumers are to
make full use of its v a l u a b l e properties. Also, it must contain no com-
ponents h a r m f u l to the pipe system, industrial gas f u r n a c e s and other gas-
consuming plant or equipment. For this reason, b e f o r e gas leaves the
cokery to be fed into long-distance mains it is s u b j e c t e d to a cleaning
process to remove hydrogen, sulphide, n a p h t h a l e n e and steam. This r e m o v e s
the sulphur content — about 12Vl> ozs. p e r cu.ft. — which is r e c o v e r e d b y
various processes as crude or p u r e sulphur.
Fig. 32 (right). Blast furnace surrounded

by framework supporting the top struc-
ture and inclined hoist. In the foreground
can be seen the roofed-over tapping
platform.
46
In order to make the fullest use of the gas produced w h e n hard coal is
coked, efforts are being made to divert gas used for firing coke ovens to
swell the grid supply. Cokeries operated in conjunction with smelting
plants thus d r a w off low-grade top gas coming from the blast furnaces and
use this to heat the coke ovens. Special gas generating plants h a v e b e e n
erected at cokeries not operated jointly with a smeltery; they produce a
lean gas suitable for firing the ovens, and the coke-oven gas which this
lean gas replaces is diverted to the grid supply.
As will be appreciated, grid gas, a cokery byproduct, has become a factor
of outstanding economic importance. Grid gas and coke — produced
simultaneously — are intimately associated with the m a n u f a c t u r e of iron
and steel from ore. W h i l e coke is used in the blast furnace, grid gas, in
addition to numerous other applications, plays a vital role in the pro-
cessing of steel.
Gas distilled from the coal in the ovens contains constituents whose pro-
perties are not essential to combustion nor, consequently, to the gas
consumer, but they are of particular importance to the economy as a
whole. These materials are, therefore, recovered from the crude gas by
various extraction processes and are now of primary, instead of their
former secondary, importance. Crude tar, the inital product to be sepa-
rated from the gas, amounting to approximately 70 lb. per ton of hard
coal coked, is collected in large tanks. To start with, water, light oil and
carbolic oil are driven off through continuous distillation at atmospheric
pressure. In the subsequent v a c u u m distillation, the tar extracted from
the light oils is separated into pitch, a n t h r a c e n e oil, w a s h oil and naph-
thalene. In terms of weight, 53 to 58 per cent of crude tar consists of pitch,
which is mainly used as a binder for briquette manufacture. But consider-
able quantities of it are also employed for the production of road tar and
roofing felt tar, by dissolving it in h e a v y tar oils. In a solution of light
tar oils, pitch is used for the m a n u f a c t u r e of paints and protective coatings.
Between 20 and 25 per cent of crude tar in terms of weight, becomes
anthracene oil. Carbon black and some important raw materials used in
dye manufacture are recovered from the centrifuged, solid precipitates
of this oil. Refined anthracene oil forms the basis of so-called technical
tar oils, which include impregenating and fuel oil, benzol w a s h oil and
other special-purpose oils. Carbolineum, w e e d killers and lubricating oil
are among the other special products m a n u f a c t u r e d from tar oil.
The crude tar constituent following anthracene oil, so-called w a s h oil, is

used in cokeries and gasworks to w a s h out benzol h y d r o c a r b o n s from
crude gas; it also serves as an addition in the m a n u f a c t u r e of other tech-
nical oils.
Naphthalene is recovered from n a p h t h a l e n e oil and carbolic oil, its various
derivatives being employed for the m a n u f a c t u r e of coal tar dyes and for
48
numerous other industrial applications. Carbolic oil, from which naph-

thalene is removed, together with phenolic lyes, obtained through pro-
cessing light oils, serve as initial material for phenols, (phenol, cresols,
xylenes), admixtures employed in the chemical processing of synthetic
resins, man-made fibres for textile m a n u f a c t u r e (nylon, perlon), medica-
ments, disinfectants and insecticides, dyestuffs, explosives and so forth.
Light oil is first freed of phenol, and part of it, together with carbolic oil,
from which phenol is removed, is processed into a w i d e range of products,
such as the engine fuel benzol, and important raw materials for the chemi-
cal industry, including pyridine, toluol and xylene, to mention but a few.
This slight d e p a r t u r e into the field of chemical engineering has been made
for the express purpose of showing that, through their mammoth coke
requirement, iron smelting plants stimulate other important branches of
industry, supplying them with raw materials of inestimable importance
for present-day economy. Fine examples are the plastics industry, which
continues to m a k e rapid progress on all fronts, and the pharmaceutical
industry, which produces a v a r i e t y of medicaments from tar products,
some of the better k n o w n of which are salicylic acid and aspirin, sul-
pbonamides and synthetic vitamins. A decline in iron production, with
its attendant reduction in coal tar yield, would, of necessity h a v e an
adverse effect on the organic chemical industry.
The furnace blast
The air requirement of blast furnace plants exceeds b y far that of other
plants, for an enormous volume of air has to be blown into the furnaces
for the combustion of the large quantities of coke charged. The air has
to be compressed to 9 to 22 lb. per squre inch to enable it to overcome
the resistance encountered in the pipelines and hot blast stoves, and
in the blast furnace itself. Something like 90,000 to 110,000 cu.ft. of air,
relevant to the atmospheric state, are needed for the production of one
ton of iron. A modern blast furnace, having a daily capacity of 1,000
tons, thus requires up to 110 million cu.ft. of air e v e r y day. A plant
operating several blast furnaces with a total daily production of 5,000
tons of pig iron, would, therefore, need approximately 20,000 tons of
air daily, which occupy 550 million cu.ft. This means that the air weighs
much ,more than the solid raw materials fed into the blast furnace, or
four times as much of the pig iron produced, surprising as this may
seem to the uninitiated.
In the past, piston blowers w e r e exclusively used to supply these colos-

sal quantities of air constantly required by the blast furnace. Gas en-
gines, operated on w a s t e gas from the top of the blast furnace, w e r e
4 49
Fig. 33. Blower for sup-

p l y i n g b l a s t to t h e b l a s t
furnace.
In this i n s t a l l a t i o n t w o t u r b o -
b l o w e r s of c e n t r i f u g a l d e s i g n
a r e u s e d to d e l i v e r 660,000 c u b i c
m e t r e s p e r h o u r each.
used to p o w e r them. More recent plants generally use turbo-blowers

which operate like large fans, Fig. 33. Turbo-blowers are p o w e r e d by
steam turbines or electric motors and recently even by gas turbines.
The steam or electricity required in this process is supplied b y the
works power station which uses the top gas coming from the blast
furnaces as a fuel. This goes to show that the various facilities of an
iron and steel works are closely linked insofar as their heat and ener-
gy economy is concerned. Another n o t e w o r t h y example of putting heat
to economic use is contained in the next chapter, while the smelting
works' power economy as a whole is dealt with at length in the pen-
ultimate chapter of this book.
If the air from the blowers w e r e delivered to the blast f u r n a c e just as
it is, it would cool the f u r n a c e interior, and extra heat would be needed
to make good this loss. Therefore, the blast is heated before delivery
to the furnace to obtain economy of fuel. "Hot-blast stoves" are used
for this purpose; they are heated by the waste gas from the top of the
furnace. These hot-blast stoves, Figs 34 and 35, which are also referred
to as Cowper stoves, after their inventor, are cylindrical towers 17 to
26 ft. in diameter and of almost the same height as the blast furnace.
With the exception of the gas and air inlets, they are refractory-lined
in a chequer fashion (see chart "The Blast Furnace"). The chequer brick-
work is first heated through the combustion of blast f u r n a c e gas. W h e n
sufficient heat has been stored, the gas supply is shut off and the blast
50
Fig. 34. G r o u p of h o t b l a s t (Cowper)

s t o v e s for a b l a s t f u r n a c e unit.
At t h e b o t t o m of cach hot b l a s t s t o v e t h e r e a r e
(wo p i p e s w i t h slide v a l v e s for f l u e gas o u t l e t .
In t h e c e n t r e of each p a i r of p i p e s c a n b e s e e n
a f u r t h e r p i p e with slide v a l v e for cold b l a s t
i n l e t . On the o p p o s i t e side t h e r e a r e t h e f e e d
p i p e s for gas a n d c o m b u s t i o n air.
Fig. 35. Gas a n d air f e e d line w i t h

shut-off slide v a l v e s l e a d i n g to h e a v y -
d u t y b u r n e r c o n n e c t e d direct to h o t
blast stove.
sent through the chequerwork in the opposite direction. By direct con-

tact with the red hot bricks the blast absorbs heat and leaves the hot-
blast stoves at a t e m p e r a t u r e of b e t w e e n 1,000 and 1,100L1 C. Depending
on local requirements, the t e m p e r a t u r e m a y be reduced b y adding cold
blast b e f o r e the blast is delivered to the blast furnace. In the meantime
51
another stove is heated b y blast f u r n a c e gas, so that a n e w heat source

is available w h e n the bricks of the first stove no longer radiate sufficient
heat. Since heating takes longer than cooling, two of the stoves are
generally "on gas" and one "on air", w h e r e a s a forth stove serves as
stand-by, for use w h e n one of the others is being cleaned or u n d e r
repair.
The reversal of the hot-blast stoves from gas to air is effected by means
of control and shut-off elements which are automatically operated in
a predetermined sequence. The burners are so designed that intimate
mixing b e t w e e n gas and air takes place at the burner head. All control
operations associated with blast heating and blast supply to the blast
furnace are supervised from a central control station.
Modern blast furnaces require only one hot-blast stove for heating and
one for heat radiation, because the fuel gas is compressed in the stoves
by means of fans which accelerate the heat absorption of the bricks.
Change-over from gas to blast, and vice versa, is effected about e v e r y
hour. A third Cowper, which m a y be used with a second blast furnace,
is installed as a stand-by. This explains the black cylindrical towers
with domed heads, an outstanding feature of the blast furnace plant.
With the advent of heat-resisting steels, hot-blast stoves h a v e also been

made of steel. They consist of tubular coils through which the blast
passes; the tubes being heated externally by top gas. One unit of this
type is capable of replacing two r e f r a c t o r y bricklined Cowper stoves.
The system of periodically heating and cooling heat exchangers, featur-

ed in the hot-blast stove, is also referred to as " r e g e n e r a t i v e " heating,
while the second method, by which the exchange of heat proceeds con-
tinuously, is k n o w n as " r e c u p e r a t i v e " heating. Both systems are covered
in a later chapter on open-hearth f u r n a c e s used for steelmaking.
The blast furnace
As can be seen in Fig. 32 and "The Blast Furnace" chart, the blast fur-
nace is a vertical stack, usually from 65 to 100 ft. high, lined with re-
fractory bricks. These bricks must not only be highly resistant to heat
but also to the chemical and physical action of the melting and molten
matter coming in contact with them. The furnace consists of a lower
cylindrical section, the "hearth", above which there is the broader cone-
shaped "bosh". Then there is the stack tapering u p w a r d s into the "fur-
nace throat", i. e. the opening through which the raw materials are
charged. The stack has to be of tapered shape to ensure that the "stock"
can readily move d o w n w a r d s into the largest space as its t e m p e r a t u r e
52
increases, and because the gases developing in the lower hot zone of
the f u r n a c e taking up a larger amount of space than in the colder top
portion of the stack. In consideration of the particularly high stresses
exerted on the lower portion of the furnace, attempts are made to keep
this portion and thus the complete f u r n a c e stack free from additional
loads. The "top structures" are t h e r e f o r e frequently supported by a
separate framework built around the furnace so that the furnace proper
need not carry any additional loads over and above its own deadweight.
The heated blast enters the furnace through so-called "tuyeres" spaced
around the upper part of the hearth; t h e y are copper nozzles connected
to the blast supply. These t u y e r e s would melt if they w e r e not cooled
by water. Moreover, they are enclosed in bronze or cast-iron "cooling
boxes", through which there is also a flow of cold water. In addition,
n u m e r o u s cooling boxes are built into the f u r n a c e walls, because even
the best r e f r a c t o r y bricks would not be able to withstand for long the
extreme heat if they were not intensely cooled. Particularly in the
vicinity of the h e a r t h and bosh, cooling is absolutely imperative as
there are t e m p e r a t u r e s of up to 1,800° C. The upper section of the blast
furnace is generally sufficiently cooled by the air circulating round the
stack or by spraying water. A considerable quantity of cold w a t e r is
needed to cool a blast furnace, in fact, something like 9,000 to 11,000
gallons for e v e r y ton of pig iron made. A blast f u r n a c e with a daily
production capacity of 1,000 tons, therefore, needs 9 to 11 million gal-
lons of cooling w a t e r e v e r y day.
The gases forming in the blast furnace, which up to the middle of the
last century w e r e allowed to burn to w a s t e in the furnace top, are
n o w a d a y s fully utilised. It has long been realised that they are a good
and cheap fuel. They are piped off at the top of the stack. A special type
of "bell and h o p p e r " system is employed for closing the top. It is
designed to p r e v e n t the escape of gas and stop pressure fluctuations in
the gas pipe. This point is dealt with in detail in the next section.
The charging facilities
During the past thirty years, blast furnace capacities h a v e been con-
siderably increased; in some cases as much as 2,500 tons of pig iron are
produced in a day. The quantities of raw materials required for pro-
cessing are correspondingly large. W h e n w o r k i n g to full capacity, a
1,000-ton-a-day blast f u r n a c e consumes about 2,000 tons of ore (may
be considerably more or less, depending on the ore content), 700 tons
of coke and up to 500 tons of limestone, i. e. an a v e r a g e of 3,200 tons
of raw materials a day — enough to fill 60 20-ton railway trucks, Fig. 36.
53
These quantities fluctuate considerably, depending on the type and com-

position of ore used and the grade of pig iron to be produced. But they
will suffice to impart a general idea of the vast amounts of raw ma-
terials consumed e v e r y day by a plant operating several blast furnaces,
and of the extensive loading, storage and conveying equipment re-
quired to handle them. Since the a r r a n g e m e n t s for delivering raw ma-
terials to the blast f u r n a c e b u n k e r s h a v e a l r e a d y b e e n dealt with in
detail, we need n o w only examine the "charging equipment" used to
transfer these materials from the b u n k e r s to the blast furnaces.
Apart from the less important t y p e s of charging equipment, three
systems are employed, "bucket charging", "skip charging" and "belt
charging". In the first two named cases, the raw materials are generally
conveyed to the f u r n a c e throat by inclined hoists, sometimes, w h e n
buckets are used, b y vertical hoists. The equipment illustrated on the
instruction chart is of the bell charging type. This type of charging
system is being used to a growing extent with n e w installations. Bucket
charging systems are less suited for high-capacity plants. Skip charging
facilities make use of a bin system, located in front of the blast furnace,
which consists of a large n u m b e r of bins to permit separate storage of
the various grades of ore. By means of special apron gates the ore can
be removed in controlled quantities from the bins into cars arranged
beneath them. Since it is imperative that the weight of the various ores
and fluxes should be in a precise proportion to each other, if a given
composition of pig iron and slag is to be achieved, the cars are fitted
with weighing equipment. As an example, ten different grades of ore
from ten different bins, together with the respective fluxes, can be filled
into the buckets in accurately weighed quantities.
The mixture of ore and fluxes is referred to as the " b u r d e n " and the cars
by means of which the burden is made up are k n o w n as "scale cars".
Fig. 36. T h e b l a s t f u r n a c e w i t h a d a i l y p r o d u c t i o n c a p a c i t y of 1,000 t o n s of hot

m e t a l h a s to b e s u p p l i e d w i t h 3,200 t o n s of solid r a w m a t e r i a l s daily. T h i s q u a n -
tity is e q u i v a l e n t to 160 20-ton truck l o a d s of m a t e r i a l . A d d i t i o n a l l y , a b o u t 2,800
tons of air a r e b l o w n into t h e f u r n a c e .
2,000 t o n s of o r e = 100 20-

lon r a i l w a y w a g o n s
700 t o n s of c o k e = 35 20-
ton r a i l w a y w a g o n s
500 Ions of l i m e s t o n e = 25
20-ton r a i l w a y w a g o n s
54
Fig. 37. Scale car travelling beneath

bins.
With t h e aid of a p r o n f e e d e r s c o n t r o l l e d q u a n -
tities of o r e a r e r e m o v e d f r o m t h e b i n s into the
scale car which c a r r i e s its load lo t h e l o a d i n g
point for i n c l i n e d hoist s k i p s .
The scale car driver opens the bin gates drawing predetermined quan-
tities of ore from the various bins. Each time a gate is opened, the
weighing beam for the respective grade of ore is released and material
filled in until the scales are in balance. W h e n the b u r d e n is prepared,
the car travels over the lower part of the inclined hoist discharging the
burden through the bottom gates into the skips below. Only one man is
required to operate the scale car. At a speed of 500 to 700 ft. per minute,
15 to 20 skips can be filled with material of a given composition in an
hour. The p r o c e d u r e adopted for filling coke into the skips is as follows.
The two bins n e a r e s t the inclined hoist are used for coke, while the
other bins are used for ore and additions. Each coke bin bottom incor-
porates a gauge for lump coke and a hopper for fine coke. The coke
coming from the bin first finds its w a y to a vibratory screen w h e r e the
dust and coke fines unsuitable for blast f u r n a c e operation are removed
and passed into special containers. From the containers the coke fines
are periodically passed into the skips of the fines hoist arranged parallel
to the tracks of the charging skip hoist. The coke fines are carried to
a storage bin from w h e r e they are removed, as and w h e n required, into
railway w a g o n s b e n e a t h it for transfer to the sinter plant. The run of
lump coke is automatically stopped b y the v i b r a t o r y screen w h e n a
sufficient quantity of coke has b e e n w i t h d r a w n . The measuring hoppers
are provided with a gate at their bottom ends. W h e n the gates are
55
opened the coke runs into the charging skips waiting beneath. All opera-
tions are fully automatic, being sequenced in accordance with a pre-
determined programme.
W h e n filled, the skip travels u p w a r d s and, at the top end of the track,
is tipped into the bell system. The f u r n a c e top has two cones located
one above the other, the "furnace-top bells". Through a "distributor",
Fig. 39, the discharged material falls onto the upper bell; this is then
lowered, so that the burden or the coke drops onto the lower bell. W h e n
two loads h a v e been dumped on the lower bell, it is lowered, and the
burden slides into the furnace. Each time a load is discharged, the distri-
butor above the upper bell rotates part of a full turn in accordance with
a given schedule. This ensures an e v e n distribution of the stock and
eliminates trouble in f u r n a c e operation, such as "channelling", u n e v e n
operation in the furnace and so forth.
The charging installation's engine house is mostly mounted on a high

framework. The hoist, Fig. 40, is installed on the top floor, while the
winches for the two furnace-top bells are located on the bottom floor.
Additionally, the winches for the coke fines hoist and the stock indica-
Fig. 38. Skip d u r i n g u p w a r d

trip on i n c l i n e d hoist of b l a s t
f u r n a c e charging facility. S e c o n d
skip (not visible) m o v e s d o w n -
ward at t h e s a m e time. In t h e t o p
right of t h e p i c t u r e can b e s e e n
t h e p i p e w o r k for r e m o v i n g b l a s t
f u r n a c e gas.
56
Fig. 39. Bell a n d h o p p e r a r r a n g e -

m e n t of a b l a s t f u r n a c e charged
b y m e a n s of skips.
tors, by means of which the "stock level" in the furnace is measured,

are accommodated in the engine house.
Notwithstanding the m a n y independent operations involved in charging a

blast furnace, only one man is required to operate a modern charging unit,
viz. the scale car driver who initiates the entire charging operation by
means of a push button. Luminous panels, Fig. 41, clearly visible from the
Fig. 40. Hoist of b l a s t

furnace.
57
Fig. 41. Control station of

a blast furnace charging
facility using skips.
On left a luminous control panel
permitting the furnace operator
to f o l l o w t h e e n t i r e s e q u e n c e of
c h a r g i n g o p e r a t i o n s . O n r i g h t in
background can be seen the
h o i s t of Fig. 40.
Fig. 42. Mimic control

diagram of a charging
facility for four blast fur-
naces using belts.
The four blast furnaces are
s h o w n o n t h e left in t h e dia-
gram and the bins with the
discharge and weighing units
as w e l l as t h e h a n d l i n g l i n k s
on t h e r i g h t . All c h a r g i n g o p e r -
ations are carried out automa-
t i c a l l y in a c c o r d a n c e w i t h a
predetermined p r o g r a m m e but
m a y also be manually con-
trolled from the control sta-
tion. T h e p e r f o r m a n c e of t h e
v a r i o u s o p e r a t i o n s at t h e f u r -
n a c e t o p is r e n d e r e d v i s i b l e in
t h e c o n t r o l s t a t i o n b y m e a n s of
two television screens.
control stand, provide detailed information on operational progress. They

indicate the position of the skips, the number of skip loads on the bell, the
position of the distributor, the position of the bells, the charging and
discharge positions of coke batchers and coke fines containers, the location
of the fines hoist skip and, finally, the f u r n a c e ' s stock-level.
58
A further step to automation is the use of belt charging. Due to its high
handling rate, one belt conveyor is capable of charging several furnaces.
In this w a y it is possible for one man to operate a complete blast furnace
plant consisting of several blast furnaces from a central control point, Fig. 42.
Blast furnace gas cleaning
Various references h a v e already been made in this book to "blast furnace

gas", a by-product occurring during the smelting process. This gas contains
a high percentage of "flue dust", i. e. particles of entrained fine ore, lime
and coke breeze and so forth. This dust can amount to more than 20 grains
for each cubic foot of gas, i. e. up to 150 tons of flue dust are carried off
e v e r y d a y from the blast f u r n a c e charge, in the case of a unit with a daily
production capacity of 1,000 tons. Since gas with such a dust content
would prove highly detrimental w h e n used to generate heat or power,
the dust content in the gas is reduced to the maximum extent which
is economically possible. The blast f u r n a c e gas cleaning process is
illustrated in the attached "Blast Furnace" instruction chart. Primary clean-
ing is done b y permitting the gas, travelling at high speed in vertical
piping, to enter larger spaces and change its direction of flow. The slower
rate of flow in the larger spaces, i. e. in the "dust catchers", causes a high
percentage of the dust particles to drop, so that on leaving the dust catcher
the gas contains only a small amount of dust.
Next the gas flows through "cyclones" following the dust catcher. This is
a v e r y simple method of further dust separation. Its basic principle is that
the gas enters the body of the cyclone tangentially at a high velocity and
is thus given a rotary direction. In the natural course of events, the dust
particles tend to flow in a straight line and impinge on the container wall.
The velocity of the particles is thus checked and they slide down the wall
into the dust collector. The gas is piped off from above. The dust collecting
in the hopper-shaped bottom of the dust catchers and cyclones is removed
into trucks, pressed into briquettes or sintered before it is returned to the
blast furnace. Subsequent to this primary cleaning operation the gas is
subjected to a secondary cleaning process. Various s e c o n d a r y gas cleaning
processes are in use today. In the Halberg-Beth d r y - c l e a n i n g p r o -
c e s s the gas is sucked through hoses made of cotton, wool or synthetic
fibre, the dust sticking to the inside walling of the hoses. The hoses are
suspended in chambers in groups of up to 40 hoses and are removed from
the primary gas flow at certain intervals of time so that they can be
cleaned b y knocking and flushing with clean gas.
Fig. 43 shows a Lodge-Cottrel w e t c l e a n i n g f a c i l i t y using a wet
"electric precipitator". W i t h this system the gas previously cleaned in
59
Fig. 43. Gas c l e a n i n g p l a n t h a v i n g a c a p a c i t y of t h r e e t i m e s 120,000 c u b i c y a r d s

of g a s p e r h o u r .
T h i s p l a n t c o m p r i s e s six 13-ft. d i a m e t e r c y c l o n e c o l l e c t o r s , t h r e e 20-ft, d i a m e t e r s c r u b b e r s a n d t h r e e
electric secondary cleaners.
cyclones flows through a so-called "scrubber" which is in the form of a

vertical large-size cylinder. A large n u m b e r of jets provided in the cylinder
sprays a fine mist of w a t e r on the slowly rising gas. As the jets spray the
water in various directions, the gas is subjected to an intensive whirling
action. The w a t e r mist collects so much dust that the gas has a dust con-
tent of less than 0.5 per cu.ft. w h e n it leaves the scrubber. The highly
polluted water is collected in a tank below and from there proceeds to
a settling pool. H e r e the dust settles and the w a t e r is returned to the
scrubber.
From the scrubber, the gas flows to the electric precipitator. It cannot be
the purpose of this book to describe in detail the highly complicated physi-
cal action to which it is h e r e submitted. Let it suffice to say that a powerful
electro-static field produces the well-known luminous discharge (corona
effect) causing the dust particles in the gas to settle on sheet metal panels.
Now the gas only contains 0.001 to 0.005 grains of dust per cubic foot and
is thus perfectly suitable for use in the smelting works. The dust sticking
to the sheet metal panels is flushed off from time to time.
60
For reasons of safety, all gas-cleaning units, such as the crude gas pipelines,
cyclones, scrubbers and electrical precipitators are provided with explo-
sion flaps, which open automatically should the gas pressure rise above
the permissible level. This explains the many small "bleeders" to be seen
on the pipes.
Operation o! the furnace
Having acquainted ourselves with the blast furnace and its more important
auxiliary equipment, we shall now see how the plant is operated and pig
iron made.
For initial operation of the furnace, the h e a r t h is filled with wood and
coke, followed in the stack above it by layers of burden. If hot air is now
blown through the tuyeres, the coke burns and the resulting hot gas rises
through the ore and coke in the stack, to the f u r n a c e throat. Thus, the
moisture and carbon dioxide are expelled from the burden in the upper
layers. The remaining iron oxides descend into the space vacated by the
burnt coke. The iron oxides are graudally "reduced", i. e. oxygen is re-
moved from them by the rising gas and burning coke. W h e n freed, the
iron liquefies, absorbs carbon, and trickles down the furnace to gather in
the hearth. All other residues of the burden also become liquid and, on
account of their lower specific gravity, float on the surface of the molten
iron in the form of slag. The fluxes, particularly limestone, cause the slag
to become highly liquid and enable it to attract a large part of the sulphur
contained in the ore and coke, which would otherwise find its w a y into
the iron.
Broadly speaking, coke has the following duties to perform in the blast
furnace:
1. To g e n e r a t e the h e a t necessary to bring about the chemical reactions in
the f u r n a c e and melt the iron and slag.
2. To supply the carbon required to "reduce" the ore, i. e. to remove oxygen
from the iron oxide (FeO). This reduction is obtained partly directly and
partly indirectly. Direct reduction is effected through the coke in the
lowest, hottest part of the furnace. W i t h the help of chemical symbols,
these reactions are expressed as follows: FeO + C = Fe + CO. In-
direct reduction is effected t h r o u g h the carbon monoxide according to
the reaction: FeO + CO = Fe + CO,2, resulting from the incomplete
combustion of coke (2 C + O a = 2 CO).
Naturally, the blast f u r n a c e process is not quite as simple as it has been
here depicted. N u m e r o u s chemical reactions are brought about during the
various smelting stages, and it is the task of the metallurgist, by a correct
61
2,000 kg of ore (45 per cent Fe)
500 kg ^ 700 kg of coke
of limestone
4,000 kg of blast furnace gas
100 kg of flue dust
2,800 kg of air
1,000 kg of hot metal 900 kg of slag
Fig. 44. Solid materials and g a s e o u s substances p r o c e s s e d in the blast f u r n a c e

related to the production of 1 ton of pig iron (approximate figures). The total
weight of material charged to the blast f u r n a c e corresponds to the total weight
of pig iron and b y p r o d u c t s m a n u f a c t u r e d .
selection of ores and fluxes, i. e. by a suitable preparation of the burden,

to control the process so that the desired composition of iron and slag
is produced b y the simplest and cheapest method. Fig. 44 shows a "ma-
terial balance sheet". It indicates in rough figures, the quantities of ma-
terials charged to the blast furnace and the resulting amounts of pig iron
and byproducts.
The molten iron — pig iron — collecting in the hearth, is t a p p e d off
every three to four hours through the "taphole", w h e r e a s the slag
generally flows off through the "slag notch", located at a higher level.
Not unlike the tuyeres, the slag notch is water-cooled. The taphole
is plugged with clay and opened with a pneumatic taphole drill, Fig. 45.
Quite often, a drill is only used for the preliminary drilling and t h e n the
remainder is burnt a w a y with an o x y g e n lance. A f t e r a sample has b e e n
taken, Fig. 47, the dazzling stream of molten metal, Fig. 46, is cast into
"pigs", which serve as raw material for iron foundries, or it is caught in
refractory-lined portable ladles, Fig. 48, in which, in its molten state, it is
taken to the steelworks. W h e n the iron is completely extracted from the
blast furnace, the taphole is closed again with the aid of an air or elec-
trically-operated. "taphole gun". Fig. 46 shows such a machine suspended
62
Fig, 45. Opening the blast Fig. 46. The moften metaf Fig. 47. Several samples are
f u r n a c e taphole by m e a n s of flows along a runner formed t a k e n of each cast for ana-
an air-operated drili. in the sand to the pig bed or lysis in the laboratory.
into a hot metal ladle.
f r o m a g u i d e r a i l . T h e m o l t e n m e t a l f e d t o t h e p i g b e d is r u n t h r o u g h a
l o n g r u n n e r i n t o n u m e r o u s m o u l d s f o r m e d i n t h e s a n d , Fig. 49, w h e r e it.
" s o l i d i f i e s " i n t o " p i g s " . T h e m a k i n g of t h e m o u l d s in t h e s a n d b e d a n d
t h e p r e v i o u s l o o s e n i n g a n d s m o o t h i n g o u t of t h e s a n d a r e d o n e e i t h e r b y
h a n d or b y a "pig b e d d r e s s i n g m a c h i n e " .
In p l a c e of t h e s a n d b e d , t h e " p i g c a s t i n g m a c h i n e " is n o w f r e q u e n t l y
u s e d . T h i s c o n s i s t s of a s e r i e s of " m o u l d s " , l i n k e d t o g e t h e r t o f o r m a n
e n d l e s s c h a i n , F i g . 50. E a c h m o u l d is f i l l e d a s t h e c h a i n m o v e s r o u n d s l o w l y .
W h e n the filled m o u l d s reach the r e t u r n end, the solid pigs are tipped out
directly into a waiting r a i l w a y w a g o n .
Day after day and year after year, blast furnaces are active without a
b r e a k . U n l e s s a b l a s t f u r n a c e h a s t o b e p u t o u t of s e r v i c e f o r o t h e r r e a s o n s ,
it c a n b e o p e r a t e d i n c o n t i n u o u s d u t y f o r t e n y e a r s , o r e v e n l o n g e r in
i n d i v i d u a l c a s e s . A f t e r s u c h a " c a m p a i g n " , it h a s t o b e b l o w n o u t , h o w e v e r ,
b e c a u s e heat, t e m p e r a t u r e fluctuations and chemical reactions attack the
b r i c k w o r k t o s u c h a n e x t e n t a s t o r e n d e r its r e p l a c e m e n t i m p e r a t i v e . T h e
ore charges are then gradually reduced until the entire furnace content
h a s b u r n e d itself o u t . F o l l o w i n g a c o o l i n g - d o w n p e r i o d , t h e f u r n a c e is
given a t h o r o u g h o v e r h a u l and relining.
A n u m b e r of e n d e a v o u r s w e r e m a d e in r e c e n t y e a r s t o e n h a n c e t h e e c o n o -
m i c s of t h e b l a s t f u r n a c e w h i c h is still t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p i g i r o n p r o -
ducer today. As stated earlier furnace operation, output and coke consump-
t i o n r a t e a r e a f f e c t e d b y v a r i o u s f a c t o r s i n c l u d i n g u n i f o r m l u m p s i z e of
t h e o r e , u s e of s i n t e r e d o r e a s w e l l a s c o r r e c t d i s t r i b u t i o n of b u r d e n a n d
c o k e in t h e f u r n a c e . W h a t h a s b e e n said a b o u t t h e ore applies e q u a l l y
w e l l t o t h e c o k e . E n d e a v o u r s in t h i s f i e l d a r e a i m e d a t a m u c h c l o s e r g r a i n -
size belt t h a n h a s h i t h e r t o b e e n the case. T h e b r e e z e arising d u r i n g c o k e
c r u s h i n g is u s e d i n t h e s i n t e r p l a n t .
63
Fig. 48. Hot metal ladles.
Fig. 49. The metal flows

into the r e a d y pig bed.
Fig. 50. In a s t e a d y stream

the molten iron flows into
the moulds of the pig
casting machine.
As is well k n o w n oxygen plays a prominent part in modern steel pro-

duction methods (blowing with oxygen-enriched air, LD process, LD-AC
process — see page 86). As a result of this, high-capacity oxygen genera-
tion plants w e r e built which are capable of producing oxygen at a cost
that renders its use for enriching the blast economical. In this w a y substan-
tial increases in the production rates of blast furnaces could be obtained.
64
For the same reason, water vapour is frequently added to the blast to keep
the moisture content uniform irrespective of the weather. Increased gas
pressure at the blast furnace top also results in increased production and
savings in coke. In m a n y places tests to replace the coke by some cheaper
fuel h a v e been successful. In some instances, crude oil or natural gas are
blown through the tuyeres at an increased blast temperature.
The aforementioned measures h a v e resulted in substantial production
increases even from old plants. It is not unusual, therefore, that a furnace
that formerly produced 500 tons of hot metal per day, today produces
700 tons. Coke consumption figures h a v e been reduced in almost equal
proportions. Consumption rates of less than 700 kg/ton of hot metal are
no exception today, this figure having formerly been in the range of 900 kg.
Blast furnace by-products
Reference has already been made in this book to top gas as a "blast furnace
by-product". Its thermal content — about 110 B.Th.U. per cubic foot —
is n o w a d a y s largely utilised by burning the cleaned gas in the firing systems
of steam boilers, in gas engines, Cowper stoves, calcining furnaces, slag
cement kilns, coke ovens and so forth. Additionally, mostly mixed with
coke oven gas, it is used for firing mixers, open-hearth furnaces and ingot
reheating furnaces in forges and rolling mills. Details of how the available
heat is distributed are given in the penultimate chapter of this book.
Every ton of pig iron recovered produces 12 cwts to one ton of blast fur-
nace slag. Unless this slag can be sold or put to profitable use as a by-
product, it is a nuisance, as its discharge on dumps entails costs. Smelting
plants, therefore, had to find a m a r k e t for this waste product. The problem
was approached in several ways. W h e n the slag has left the blast furnace,
it is either permitted to solidify in moulds, conveyed to the dump in special
trucks and discharged to be put to further use later on — or it is disinte-
grated to fine-grained sand through the action of water, steam or air. It
m a y also be processed by other methods, to suit its future uses. Conse-
quently, a number of different types of auxiliary shops h a v e sprung up
alongside the smelting plants, which process slag into various kinds of
marketable commodities and which help to reduce appreciably pig iron
manufacturing costs.
Calcareous slag is mainly used for slag cement and Portland blast furnace
cement production, w h e r e a s slag with a low lime content is frequently
processed into road construction materials, paving setts, Fig. 51, railroad
ballast, stone chips and concrete aggregates. Honeycombed slag and slag
wool are among the more recent products of blast furnace slag. Owing to
its resemblance to natural pumicestone, honeycombed slag is usually re-
5 65
Fig. 51. H e r e a slag l a d l e a r r i v i n g f r o m t h e b l a s t f u r n a c e is e m p t i e d i n t o a pre-

v i o u s l y p r e p a r e d p o u r i n g b e d for l a r g e p a v i n g slabs.
ferred to as pumicestone slag. It is produced b y introducing a small quan-

tity of w a t e r to the slag. The resulting steam causes the slag to swell into
a lumpy, porous mass. Through crushing and screening several grain sizes
are obtained, which are used as insulating material or, mixed with cement,
for the production of blocks, prefab panels and concrete products.
Slag wool is a high-grade heat insulating material. It is produced b y sub-
jecting a shallow stream of suitable slag to the action of a steam jet. This
causes the slag to disintegrate into long, fine filaments, and to t a k e on an
appearance similar to cotton wool. Slag wool is mainly used for lagging
pipelines, but it can also be employed for sound-proofing purposes.
More recently, powdered blast furnace slag has been used as an agricul-
tural lime fertiliser. Metallurgical lime not only provides the soil with
lime but with other nutritive substances and important prophylactics
against certain plant diseases. Finally, blast furnace slag is used as stowing
gob in underground mining and for other filling jobs.
Other pig iron production processes
In the last few decades a number of other pig iron production processes
h a v e been developed. These processes v a r y to such an extent that t h e y
can hardly be forced into a single category. So far none of these processes
has gained m a j o r economic importance, the economics of the blast f u r n a c e
66
process still being unmatched. However, it can be expected with some

certainty that one d a y the one or the other of these processes will gain
economic importance under a given set of raw material and energy con-
ditions. This will apply mainly to iron production in the so-called develop-
ing countries w h e r e the various sources of energy are not so closely linked
as in G e r m a n y for instance. No doubt, in Germany a departure from the
blast f u r n a c e process would result in m a j o r disruption of the entire energy
structure.
The search for n e w ironmaking processes was prompted, inter alia, by the
growing proportion of fine ore and, above all, by endeavours to get away
from the coke indispensable for the blast furnace process, suitable coking
coal being in some countries not available at all or becoming increasingly
scarcer. Lignite, n a t u r a l gas or crude oil, are amongst the fuels given
p r e f e r e n c e in places with an abundant supply of these fuels. In some
instances these processes are employed with the object of obtaining
"sponge iron" or hot metal balls as a replacement lor scrap which is be-
coming e v e r m o r e expensive and scarce. From the variety of ironmaking
processes, some are briefly discussed in the following.
T h e s h o r t - s h a f t o r " l o w - s h a f t f u r n a c e " . W h e r e an ade-

quate supply of coke of suitable strength for blast furnace operation is not
available, while suitable coal for the production of coke with a lower
strength such as semi-coke is plentiful, the short-shaft or low-shaft furnace
can be put to good use for the production of pig iron. In order to ensure
quick chemical reaction and low top t e m p e r a t u r e s with a charging height
of b e t w e e n 16 and 23 ft., rapid heat transfer from the hot furnace gases to
the burden materials is an important prerequisite. An extremely small-size
charge (0.4—1.2 in.) helps to increase the surface of the burden materials
and accelerates heat transfer. For technical reasons, the hearth diameter is
limited to about 10 ft. so that a daily production of 150 tons is the maximum
possible. The short-shaft or low-shaft furnace seems to h a v e a promising
f u t u r e in developing countries having deposits of coal unsuitable for the
production of blast f u r n a c e coke.
T h e " e l e c t r i c r e d u c t i o n f u r n a c e " . It has been illustrated that

for e v e r y ton of pig iron produced in the blast furnace, approximately
700 kg of coke are required. More than half of this coke, and the effect of
the air blast, are needed to bring the b u r d e n up to reaction temperature.
The balance of the coke is used for the reduction, in which process carbon
monoxide (top gas) is produced. It is obvious that this comparatively high
coke consumption is a m a j o r obstacle to ore smelting in countries with
only limited coal resources. For this reason, mainly in countries where
cheap hydro-electric p o w e r is available, experiments h a v e been made to
bring the f u r n a c e charge up to a reduction t e m p e r a t u r e of approximately
67
1,200° C by the use of electrical energy. Something like 50 per cent of

the coke can thus be saved.
The first electric pig iron f u r n a c e s w e r e constructed on lines similar to
the blast furnace. The t u y e r e s w e r e merely replaced by electrodes so to
say. But it soon became evident that the tall stack was superfluous, and
the "low-shaft f u r n a c e " succeeded its taller brother. The low-shaft f u r n a c e
was provided with a roof to retain the valuable reduction gases. The elec-
trodes w e r e introduced through the "roof" into the furnace shell, Fig. 52.
Pig iron m a n u f a c t u r e by the electric method — which has certain ad-
v a n t a g e s over the blast f u r n a c e process — is practically confined to coun-
tries w h e r e electric p o w e r is particularly cheap.
Since no air is blown into the electric furnace, reaction gases can develop
freely and are of high quality (having about 2,500 heat units per cubic
metre as compared with 800 to 1,000 heat units of the gases in the blast
furnace operated on coke). Thus they are not only suitable for heating
but for various chemical uses. For the same reason, carbon carriers, such
as anthracite, carbonised lignite, low-temperature coke, peat coke and even
brown coal can be used in place of a permeable metallurgical coke. As
electric low-shaft furnaces do not require an air blast, there is no need
for hot blast stoves and blowers.
Naturally, the electric low-shaft furnace is most suited to replace the clas-
sical process of iron production in the blast furnace w h e r e prices of metal-
lurgical coke are high and costs of low-grade coal and electric current
are low. Germany has abundant deposits of bituminous coal with good
coking characteristics, and electric p o w e r costs are so high that the elec-
Fig. 52. T h e roof

of an e l e c t r i c pig
iron f u r n a c e .
68
trie low-shaft f u r n a c e for pig iron production is not an economic proposi-

tion. The f u r n a c e can be put to profitable use, however, in countries where
hydro-electric power is cheap, such as in Canada, Italy, the Scandinavian
countries, Spain and some of the Central and South American states.
Endeavours are being made e v e r y w h e r e to reduce the power consumption
in electric smelting. Plants of suitable design are already in operation. A
decrease in power requirements m a y be attainted by the s t r a t e g i c -
U d y p r o c e s s , for instance, in which a mixture of ore, coal and flux
is fed to a "rotary kiln". After the charge has been preheated and pre-
reduced, it enters the electric arc furnace w h e r e smelting is completed.
The power consumption of this process is only about 50 per cent of the
normal figure, i. e. it is reduced from about 2,500 k W h per ton of pig iron
to about 1,200 to 1,500 k W h .
The D w i g h t - L l o y d - M c W a n e p r o c e s s operates on similar lines.
In this process a mixture of fine ore, fine coal and flux, is ground and
pelletised in correct composition before the pellets are dried and pre-
reduced on a sintering belt and passed to the electric smelting furnace
w h e r e reduction and smelting are completed.
The largest electric low-shaft furnaces in operation today h a v e a daily
production capacity of 250 tons of pig iron; various types h a v e been deve-
loped. All in all, however, only an insignificant fraction of the world's pig
iron is produced by electric processes.
The S t i i r z e l b e r g i r o n r e d u c t i o n p r o c e s s uses a rotating
r e v e r b e r a t o r y furnace which is batch-charged and fired with the aid of
pulverised coal or oil burners at one end of the furnace, Fig. 53. The fur-
nace rotates about its longitudinal axis during the entire reduction period.
It can be lifted up to 90 degrees to permit iron and slag removal.
As a rule, pyrite roasting residues or other ores unsuitable for normal blast
f u r n a c e processing on account of their high sulphur, zinc or lead content,
are used as raw materials. The iron produced in the Stiirzelberg furnace
has a high degree of purity. Expensive lump coke is not required, and
coke breeze, anthracite and — in certain conditions — even lignite, can
be used for reduction. Although this method is unsuitable for the mass
production of pig iron, it has its uses w h e r e certain special conditions
obtain.
The W i b e r g p r o c e s s which w a s used in Sweden already some forty
y e a r s ago, was originally conceived to render the extraction of iron less
expensive than in the well-known electric pig iron furnaces. Lump ore
rich in Fe, charcoal and electric energy, w e r e employed in the process. At
a later stage, charcoal w a s replaced by coke and then part of the coke
b y gas oil or other hydrocarbons. The iron is recovered in the form of
"sponge iron", which is a high-grade charging material for electric arc
furnaces and open-hearth furnaces.
69
Fig. 53. R o t a r y f u r n a c e for

s m e l t i n g p y r i t e r e s i d u e s in
t h e p o u r i n g position.
Quite a number of further methods for the production of sponge iron h a v e

been developed on the basis of the W i b e r g process and the H o g a n a s pro-
cess, which is e v e n older. All these processes fall into the category
of d i r e c t - r e d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s because they aim at the pro-
duction of iron by the direct reduction of iron ore without going through
the molten stage. The number of patent applications for processes of this
nature is extremely great. More than t w e n t y different pilot plants are at
present in operation. However, only one process has so far b e e n successful
in operation on a commercial scale. This process is the H Y L p r o c e s s ,
developed by H o j a l a t a y Lamina Mexico, which is also sometimes referred
to as Kellogg process. In this process, the "reductant" is produced by
"reforming" natural gas with the help of w a t e r vapour, the reformed gas
being passed at a predetermined cycle through four reduction retorts filled
with high-grade ore, thus reducing the ore to sponge iron, H 2 0 and C O ,
being separated out at the same time. Subsequently, the iron sponge is
melted down in the electric arc f u r n a c e together with 30 to 50 per cent
scrap. A 200-ton per day and 500-ton per day plant are in operation in
Mexico.
70
Direct reduction of iron ores by the R N p r o c e s s is a joint development

of the Republic Steel Corporation and the National Lead Co., USA. The
process uses coal, low-temperature coke etc., for the reductant. As with the
Krupp-Renn process ore of any composition mixed with coal fines is fed
to a rotary kiln and travels through the kiln counter-current to the flow
of heat. The kiln operates at a t e m p e r a t u r e of about 1,050° C, which is
below the melting point of the sponge iron and the gangue of the ore. The
product is iron sponge containing 85 to 90 per cent metallic iron. Magnetic
separation is employed to remove the g a n g u e from the iron sponge. The
product is then prepared for open-hearth or electric furnace feed by com-
pacting in a briquetting press. A high-capacity pilot plant producing 50 to
75 tons of sponge iron per day is in successful operation.
The K r u p p - R e n n p r o c e s s is used primarily for treating highly sili-
ceous, low-grade ores. A mixture of ore and solid fuel (coke and coal) is
fed into a long-shaped, slightly inclined horizontal rotary kiln, w h e r e it
is heated. In this way, the iron oxides are reduced into metallic iron. An
additional firing system operated on powdered coal or fuel oil helps to
control the process. The t e m p e r a t u r e in the kiln is sufficient to convert
the gangue in the ore and the ash in the reductant to a viscous high-silica
slag, but is not high enough to melt the sponge iron obtained from the
reduction of the ore. In this process, the particles of reduced iron weld
into pellets 0.06—2.0 in. in size. The pellets become imbedded in the pasty
slag and are discharged from the kiln together with the slag. After cooling
the product is crushed and the pellets are separated magnetically from
the slag. The pellets are suitable for remelting in the open-hearth furnace
or electric f u r n a c e w h e r e t h e y m a k e up about 30 per cent of the total
charge, or, if t h e y feature a high sulphur and phosphorus content, they
can be used in the blast furnace for reduction into pig iron.
The largest plant so far built comprises six rotary furnaces each 120 yd.
long. They are scheduled to produce about 500,000 tons of pellets annually.
The iron foundry
Only a small percentage of all pig iron produced is used in the manufacture
of f o u n d r y products. By far the m a j o r part of pig iron proceeds to the
steelworks for conversion into steel. Before a detailed description is given
as to what happens to the bulk of the iron during its conversion into steel,
an iron foundry is briefly discussed.
As a rule, the iron f o u n d r y is completely separate from the blast furnace.
The iron coming from the blast furnace is, therefore, not cast into foundry
moulds direct. Quite apart from various technical difficulties, this is due
to the fact that the foundry's pig iron requirements v a r y considerably in
71
respect of quantity and quality and it would be highly problematic to

adjust these requirements to the blast furnace production schedule. Iron
foundries are operated as independent enterprises, or they form part of
engineering works. They obtain their raw material in the form of pigs cast
either in a blast furnace pig bed or in a pig-casting machine. The remelting
of pig iron is performed in a cupola. The composition of the cast iron can
be controlled by charging a mixture of pig iron and greater or lesser pro-
portions of cast iron scrap. The computation of the proportions in which
the various grades of pig iron are mixed to produce a given grade of cast
iron, is referred to as the "mixture".
Like the blast furnace, the "cupola" is a shaft furnace, though it is consi-
derably smaller. Pig iron, scrap and coke as a fuel, are charged at the top,
Fig. 54. In recent y e a r s the blast supplied to the cupola is heated in some
foundries, as is usual in blast furnace practice. The thermal energy con-
tained in the cupola's waste gases, in the form of CO, and the specific
heat of the waste gases are utilised to heat the blast, required for the
cupola, to a t e m p e r a t u r e of 400 to 500° C. In addition to an increased
"melting rate", coke is saved, and the undesirable sulphur content in the
cast iron is reduced at the same time. The molten iron, collecting in the
Fig. 54. E l e c t r i c a l l y o p e r a t e d m o n o r a i l hoists u s e d for charging s e v e r a l c u p o l a s .

T h e buckets s u s p e n d e d f r o m t h e h o i s t s t r a v e l u n d e r n e a t h t h e v a r i o u s b i n s f r o m which w e i g h e d q u a n -
tities of m a t e r i a l s a r e d r a w n t o m a k e up the d e s i r e d " m i x t u r e " . W i t h the aid of a s e l e c t o r switch, t h e
h o i s t s a r e s e n t to a n y f u r n a c e of t h e p l a n t .
72
Fig. 55. Layout of an iron foundry-
equipped for various moulding me-
thods.
] = sand bins; 2 = sand preparation machine; 3 = compressor house; 4 = belt conveyor for moulding sand; 5 = roller conveyor for moulding boxes;
6 = slinger for the rapid filling and simultaneous ramming of the moulding sand; 7 = slewing crane for shifting moulding boxes; 8 and 9 = cooling tunnels
for cast moulds; 10 = turnover moulding machines; 11 = core making shop; 12 = jolt-squeeze moulding machines; 13 = roller conveyors for moulding
boxes; 14 = drying stove; 15 = cupola; 16 = recuperator; 17 = electric f u r n a c e ; 18 = transfer ladle; 19 = monorail hoist f o r the transport of ladles;
20 = ladle; 21 = suspension cranes covering the entire foundry; 221 = grab for clearing moulding pits and handling moulding sand; 23 = hand-moulding
shop for large, floor-moulded castings. Behind it there is the fettling shop; 24 = pattern store. Behind it there is the mechanical cleaning shop.
The Production of Iron
Fig. 56. Mechanised

iron f o u n d r y sand
p r e p a r a t i o n plant.
well of the cupola, is run off through a taphole, caught in ladles and poured
into moulds.
Sometimes, in modern iron foundries, as one is shown in Fig. 55, t h e r e
are electric melting f u r n a c e s in addition to the cupolas. These are used
to process the iron premelted in the cupolas. The main object of this pro-
cess (refining) is to desulphurise, deoxidise and degasify the iron. Thus
high-grade cast iron of great strength can be obtained from a low-grade
iron charge, consisting of cast iron scrap and ordinary iron scrap.
As a rule, the molten metal is cast in sand moulds. Since well-prepared
sand was found to influence greatly the quality of the finished castings,
Fig. 57. Cross section through

a finished mould for a belt
pulley.
a = cope; b — drag; c = core;
d — runner; e = riser.
74
Sg;
I
Fig. 58. Two moulders placing "cores' into the Fig. 59. Moulder ramming
mould for a large casting m a d e in the floor of the moulding sand with a
the foundry. pneumatic rammer.
a v a r i e t y of "sand preparation machines", Fig. 56, w e r e designed to ensure

thorough mixing of the sand with the binder, betonite, clay or organic
substances.
Before a mould (Figs 57 and 58) can be made, it is necessary to h a v e a
"pattern" made — of wood, metal or plastics — to the shape of the desired
casting. "Moulding sand" is rammed, Fig. 59, squeezed, jarred and slung
round the pattern and inside the "moulding box" so thai: a cavity — the
actual mould — is left w h e n the pattern is carefully withdrawn from the
moulding box, made in two or more parts. It is by filling this cavity with
molten metal that the casting is produced. If the casting is to h a v e hollows,
suitably shaped "cores" of sand or other substances are inserted into the
mould cavity.
Much skill and a good impression of space are often required to produce
moulds, for the pieces to be cast are frequently of complex shape and h a v e
many hollows of widely v a r y i n g forms, which must all be correctly located.
Even if a core or part of the mould moves only slightly, the entire casting
may h a v e to be scrapped. For this reason, greatest care and skill must be
exercised w h e n the various sections used in making the mould are with-
drawn and replaced.
"Moulding machines", Fig. 60, in which the sand is automatically rammed
and the moulding box mechanically withdrawn, are f r e q u e n t l y used for the
Fig. 60. Jolt-squeeze moulding machines.
Tire m o u l d i n g s a n d is d r a w n f r o m t h e h o p p e r s o v e r
each m a d i i n e . T h e h o p p e r s a r e c o n v e y o r - i e d w i t h
f r e s h s a n d f r o m the s a n d p r e p a r a t i o n p l a n t . In t h e
f o r e g r o u n d t h e r e is a c o n v e y o r for the m o u l d i n g
boxes.
Fig. 61. From the cupola the molten

metal flows into a barrel-type ladle sus-
pended from a monorail hoist.
production of moulds in large quantities. Moulding machines produce

clean and uniform moulds at a much faster rate than even the most skilful
moulder. In modern mass production foundries, the transport of moulding
sand, moulding boxes and finished moulds is extensively mechanised. As
76
can be seen in Figs 61 and 62, the ladle with the molten metal is carried
from the cupola on the hook of a monorail hoist and transported from
mould to mould.
For the casting of large and h e a v y pieces, accordingly larger casting ladles
are used which are crane-handled from the tubular furnace to the mould
either partly or completely let into the floor, Fig. 63.
A f t e r the castings h a v e solidified, they are removed from their moulds.
The sand is turned over and p r e p a r e d ready for re-use, adding betonite
in the process. Runners, risers, fins of metal round the joint line and so
forth, are removed from the castings by means of saws, grinding wheels
or pneumatic chisels. A n y moulding sand still sticking to the outside of
the crude castings is removed by wire brushing, sand blast or by tumbling
in revolving barrels. All these operations are referred to as "fettling". In
recent years, fettling shops h a v e been gradually mechanised as it became
increasingly more difficult to recruit labour to do this arduous work and
to stop the danger of silicosis. The finished castings then proceed to the
machine shop or they are dispatched to the customer. They may also be
painted, enamelled or metal-plated as a protection against rust or merely
for finishing.
Fig. 62. T h e b a r r e l l a d l e c o n t a i n i n g h o t m e t a l is u s e d to fill smaller p o u r i n g ladles

which t r a v e l from m o u l d to mould.
Fig. 63. P o u r i n g h o t m e t a l m a d e in t h e c u p o l a f u r n a c e into a l a r g e mould.

The Manufacture of Steel
Steelmaking processes
Components such as carbon, silicon, manganese, phosphorus and sulphur
make it impossible to process pig iron by rolling or forging. However, if
these impurities are either removed or reduced in quantity, pig iron is
converted into malleable iron. For this conversion, the oxygen contained
in the atmospheric air or in the ores is used. Oxidation occurs w h e n a
substance combines with oxygen, so that this process, to which the metal-
lurgist refers as "refining", actually amounts to combustion. In the process,
the oxides escape partly in the form of gas and partly in the form of solids
entering the slag as it forms. In the original refining method, pig iron, to
which ore is added, is refined at t e m p e r a t u r e s below the melting point of
steel. Thus all the undesirable elements are oxidised in the manner
described. However, the slag is not segregated and remains in the refined
iron when the product is in the pasty condition. W h e n the refining process
is completed, the slag is queezed out by intensive working under a ham-
mer. With the slag removed, the iron welds together and is k n o w n as
"wrought iron". As has already been mentioned in the historical section,
the process of manufacturing wrought iron is k n o w n as "puddling", because
the pasty mass has to be continuously "puddled", i. e. rabbled. Puddling
is no longer employed today. A much higher degree of efficiency is
achieved with processes in which the melting t e m p e r a t u r e is exceeded
and the end product obtained in the liquid state. The malleable iron thus
produced is today generally referred to as "ingot iron", "mild steel" or
just "steel". Mild steel is produced in a converter by the acid and basic
Bessemer processes in a crucible or rotating furnace using oxygen-blowing
techniques, or in a hearth-type furnace. The latter can be r e v e r b e r a t o r y
as in the open-hearth process, or electric as in the electric steemaking
process.
In the a c i d B e s s e m e r p r o c e s s , molten iron is charged in a pear-

shaped tiltable vessel, the "converter". Compressed air is then blown
through the vessel's perforated bottom. The atmospheric oxygen causes
the carbon, silicon and m a n g a n e s e in the iron to oxidise. A f t e r a blowing
time of about t w e n t y minutes, the "pneumatic conversion" of molten iron
to steel is complete.
78
T h e M a n u f a c t u r e of Steel
As the acid Bessemer process failed to remove phosphorus from pig iron,
the b a s i c B e s s e m e r ( o r T h o m a s ) p r o c e s s was evolved to
permit the conversion of a highly phosphoric iron into steel. The basic
Bessemer process differs from the acid process in that its converter is lined
with calcined dolomite instead of with silica bricks. A lining of calcined
dolomite can resist a steelmaking t e m p e r a t u r e without premature wear
and thus allows the addition of lime to the charge to form a calcereous
slag that will absorb the phosphorus from the iron. As the ores available
in the W e s t European countries give a pig iron that contains more phos-
phorus than is desirable in steel, the acid Bessemer process is only of se-
condary importance, w h e r e a s large quantities of steel are manufactured
by the basic Bessemer process. An essential feature of both the acid and
basic Bessemer processes is that no external heat application is required,
the necessary heat being obtained through the oxidation of silicon,
manganese, carbon and phosphorus contained in the iron itself.
Refining of pig iron and melting down of scrap by the o p e n - h e a r t h
f u r n a c e p r o c e s s takes place in a gas or crude oil-fired open-hearth
furnace. Analogous to converter practice, the lining can be acid as in the
acid Besemer process, or basic as in the basic Bessemer process. Again
as in the basic Bessemer process, basic open-hearth furnaces remove phos-
phorus from the bath. The oxygen for oxidation is supplied in part by the
combustion air fed in with the gas, and partly by an iron ore addition to
the bath. Pig iron can be charged in a solid or liquid condition. To obtain
economy in heat, it is of course highly desirable to convey the "blast fur-
nace metal" direct to the steelworks. An important feature of this process
is that the open-hearth consumes steel scrap in any percentage in the
charge.
In the e l e c t r i c f u r n a c e s t e e l m a k i n g p r o c e s s , electricity
is used as a source of heat. The material charged to the electric furnace
can be solid or liquid. The main a d v a n t a g e s of the electric furnace are
the rapidity with which it melts and above all, the possibility of properly
controlling and a d j u s t i n g the steelmaking or refining process. For this
reason, it is preferably employed in the m a n u f a c t u r e of high-grade steels.
The steel produced b y the basic Bessemer process, i. e. basic Bessemer

steel, comes up to the quality requirements specified for m a n y applications
but due to its high content of nitrogen and phosphorus also incorporates
some disadvantages which render it unsuitable for a number of jobs, such
as for the m a n u f a c t u r e of plate with good welding properties, which play
such an important role today. The LD process eliminates these disadvan-
tages by using p u r e o x y g e n instead of air for blowing. It is for this reason
that the LD process is preferred to the basic Bessemer process in new
plants. The LD process is even in competition with the open-hearth process
as the steel produced by it is at least equivalent to the steel produced by
79
the open-hearth process and affords the additional a d v a n t a g e of lower

capital and processing costs. It is estimated that the production of oxygen-
blown steel in the area of the European Coal and Steel Community, which
amounted to only 1.2 million tons in 1959, will increase to about 17 million
tons in 1963, while the production of basic Bessemer steel is expected to
fall by 4.3 million tons to 30 million tons. At 27 million tons the production
capacity for open-hearth steel will remain unchanged in spite of the overall
increase in capacity.
The basic Bessemer steelworks

Basic Bessemer steelworks are operated in close conjunction with blast fur-
nace plants so that the "blast f u r n a c e metal" supplied in ladles is still in the
molten condition. Instead of simple ladles, as shown in Fig. 48, cylindrical
ladles which are referred to as "torpedo ladles" are sometimes used today.
These ladles are closed on all sides, thus preventing excessive loss of heat
on the w a y from the blast furnace to the steelworks. By means of an elec-
tric tilting mechanism, the torpedo ladles are discharged into the mixer
installed in the steelworks, Fig. 64. The "mixer" is a large holding vessel
which equalises any variation in the composition of the individual blast
furnace metal casts and serves at the same time as a buffer to compensate
fluctuations in demand and supply. It is generally of cylindrical shape and
has a holding capacity of 1,500 tons. To conserve the heat in the slag and
maintain the iron in the molten condition for long periods of time, the
mixer is fired with coke oven gas or blast f u r n a c e gas.
To remove hot metal from it, the mixer is tilted about its horizontal axis
and the metal poured into the ladle. A crane then lifts the ladle and dis-
charges it into one of the converters arranged in a row. The converter may
be tipped by electric means or by means of a gear rack engaging the gear
mounted on one converter "trunnion". At its lower end the vertical gear
rack is connected with a piston which is moved up and down in a cylinder by
means of water pressure. A hydraulic control unit permitting quick upright-
ing and tipping as well as slow-motion tilting such as for slag removing
work, is used for controlling the tipping motion. The lining and bottom
Fig. 64. The h o t m e t a l b r o u g h t in from t h e blast f u r n a c e by

m e a n s of a " t o r p e d o l a d l e " is p o u r e d into a s t a n d a r d h o t m e t a l
ladle b e f o r e b e i n g discharged into o n e of t h e t w o i n a c t i v e
m i x e r s s e e n in t h e b a c k g r o u n d .
O n t h e r i g h t can b e s e e n a s l a g chute ( a c c o r d i n g to 7 in the "LD-AC S t e e l w o r k s "
i n s t r u c t i o n chart) w i t h t w o o p e r a t o r s r e m o v i n g t h e s l a g f l o a t i n g on the h o t
metal.
80
The M a n u f a c t u r e of Steel
charging blowing pouring slag pouring steel
Hcj. 65. Positions a s s u m e d b y t h e basic B e s s e m e r c o n v e r t e r .
nf the converter are of dolomite, which is pulverised and pressed into

bricks, or formed into a perforated bottom, the "pin-hole plug", and calcined
in a special plant, described later. The bottom, which has to be r e n e w e d
more frequently than the lining, can be exchanged by means of a special
"converter bottom jack car". Compressed air supply to the converter is
through one of the two trunnions and then through a pipe into the space
below the pin hole plug. W i t h the converter slightly tilted, lime is dumped
into it from the hopper. Then, as can be seen in Fig. 65, the converter is
turned down to the horizontal position so that the hot metal now charged
is away from the tuyeres in the converter bottom and will not clog them.
When the converter is swung around to the upright position, the air blast
is turned on, and a thrilling spectacle starts, Fig. 66. With a roar, the air
blast sweeps through the interior of the converter, emitting — with a
deafening noise — a tremendous sheet of flame and smoke from the con-
verter's mouth and ejecting showers of sparks formed of slag and iron
particles, which impinge on the chimney walls. The first elements oxidised
are silicon and manganese, then carbon and phosphorus. The entire "blow"
lasts about 15 minutes. The vessel is then once again brought forward
to the horizontal position, the blast turned off, and the slag removed by
tilting it into a "slag car" positioned b e n e a t h the vessel, Fig. 67. Depending
on the composition of the steel desired, a certain amount of iron alloys
rich in manganese and carbon (spiegeleisen or ferro-manganese), previously
heated or melted in a special furnace, is added by means of a ladle sus-
pended from a crane. The purpose of this addition is, inter alia, to bring
82
the steel's carbon content to the desired figure. After the addition has been
made, the blow is continued for a short period before the steel is poured
into a truck-mounted ladle.
Hoppers and funnels are provided for the supply of fluxes. A "telpher line"
brings the fluxes to the hoppers and delivers the crushed limestone and
ore which are funnel-fed into the converter. Tipping boxes, mounted on
cars, and funnels are used to charge scrap into the uprighted converter.
Large scrap is charged by means of a special charging machine with the
converter in the horizontal position. The charging machine travels on the
charging floor, picks up the "charging boxes", one at a time, thrusts them
into the converter and turns them to dump their scrap contents into the
vessel.
Thus all auxiliaries are available to control the composition of the steel.
Every converter has a control pulpit from which all operations and their
sequence can be controlled and supervised. The control pulpit is equipped
with h a n d w h e e l s to operate the blast valve, oxygen valve and ratio regu-
lator for the air-oxygen mixture. The instrument panel incorporates the
indicators for air-blast rate, o x y g e n volume and mixture ratio, the pressure
gauge is for blast air-oxygen and mixture, and the volumeters for flux feed.
Fig. 66. W i t h a r o a r a p o w e r f u l s h e e t
of f l a m e is e m i t t e d f r o m t h e c o n v e r t e r
as it s w i n g s to a n u p r i g h t position.
Silicon, m a n g a n e s e a n d p h o s p h o r u s
a r e o x i d i s e d as t h e t e m p e r a t u r e in
t h e v e s s e l rises.
Fig. 67. P o u r i n g slag f r o m a tilted

c o n v e r t e r into a c a r r i a g e - m o u n t e d slag
mould.
A steel transfer car takes the ladle with the molten steel to the casting
pit, w h e r e cast-iron mounds, the "ingot moulds", are lined up in long rows.
Here the ladle is crane-lifted off its car and transported over the moulds.
Following the opening of a stopperhead in the bottom of a ladle, a steady
stream of molten metal flows into the ingot mould immediately beneath
it, Figs 68 and 81. "Teeming" proceeds b y moving the ladle from mould
to mould, or by placing the moulds on cars which, made up into "drags",
pass under the ladle. A steel casting car can be used to fulfill the func-
tions of both the ladle crane and the steel transfer car. The casting car
receives the steel from the converter and transfers it to the moulds located
in the pits; teeming then proceeds as previously d.ecribed. The ingot moulds
which are open at both ends and tapered to facilitate stripping from the
ingots, are placed big-end-down on iron plates called "stools". Stripping
of the moulds from the ingots is effected with the aid of a "stripper", which
Fig. 68. F r o m t h e c r a n e - s u s p e n d e d c a s t i n g l a d l e t h e steel is p o u r e d into t h e m o u l d s

p l a c e d on cars.
consists of a crane fitted with a stripping device, Fig. 69. The stripper jaws
engage lugs, cast on the outside of the mould on either side and exerts
an u p w a r d pull on the mould, while a ram applies pressure to the ingot
and holds it on the stool until the mould has cleared it. While still red hot,
the ingots proceed to the rolling mill which is dealt with in subsequent
chapters.
As a rule, the ingots are of square cross section with rounded corners.
Ingots e a r m a r k e d for rolling into sheet or strip h a v e a rectangular cross
section as this is more readily adapted to the finished product. The
rectangular, flat ingots are referred to as "slabbing ingots". Ingots used
in the m a n u f a c t u r e of tube m a y be polygonal or round in section. The
steel m a y be cast "down-hill" or "up-hill". The former practice is accom-
plished by allowing the steel to run directly into the mould from the ladle.
In "up-hill casting" (bottom pouring) the molten steel is cast into a vertical
funnel lined with refractories, passes down through refractory runner
bricks, and finally emerges to enter the bottom of various moulds through
outlet bricks. "Up-hill casting" requires more time for preparation since
the r e f r a c t o r y lining and the fountain and the runners h a v e to be replaced
after each cast. On the other hand, up-hill casting results in ingots with
a better surface than produced in down-hill casting.
A group of moulds p r e p a r e d for up-hill casting or group teeming normally
consists of two to six moulds or, if small ingots are to be cast, of up to
32 moulds. The steel which solidifies in the central runner and in the ver-
tical runners is referred to as "sprue". The sprue is returned to the open-
hearth furnace for remelting.
The refining action in the steel, i. e. the combustion of carbon b y the
oxygen supplied with the air does not stop w h e n the steel is discharged
into the ladle. Even in the mould a lively reaction takes place until the
sleel has solidified. This is due to a large amount of oxygen having been
liberated in the metal during the converter blowing process. The ascending
product of reaction, i. e. the carbon monoxide, causes the steel to boil,
i. e. the steel is of an effervescent nature. The structure and chemical com-
position of "rimming" steel varies over the ingot cross section. Depending
on further processing and uses this m a y h a v e a d v a n t a g e s or disadvantages.
If a uniform composition of the steel over the entire cross section of the
ingot is to be ensured, the steel has to be "killed", i. e. the chemical re-
action must be interrupted. For this purpose a deoxidising agent, mostly
silicon or aluminium, is added to the ladle during the tapping operation.
Both silicon and aluminium are capable of instantly binding oxygen.
The stripping of ingot moulds requires exceptionally high pressures. Hence,
strippers h a v e to be extremely powerful. Frequently stripper cranes are
used to load and transport the moulds and ingots, if suitable dogging
cranes are not available. Stripper and dogging cranes in action are always
85
Fig. 69. Stripper crane stripping the mould
from a solidified ingot.
an impressive sight, for, directed by invisible forces, they pick up and

carry the ingots and moulds as if b y h u m a n hands; a task which is
certainly beyond h u m a n effort, on account of the exceptional heat of the
ingots and moulds to be handled.
Two more recently developed processes for the casting of steel are the
"vacuum casting" technique used for improving the properties of the steel,
and the "continuous casting" process employed for mechanising the casting
operation. The processes are discussed on pages 104 to 108.
The acid Bessemer steelworks

Acid Bessemer steelworks are equipped in much the same m a n n e r as basic
Bessemer steelworks, the only difference being that the former's conver-
ters are not basic but acid-lined. The lining consists of ground quartz or
sandstone, with a small addition oi clay. Unlike basic-lined bottoms, acid-
lined bottoms are not b a k e d but merely dried. As has already b e e n ex-
plained, only pig iron low in phosphorus can be processed in acid-lined
converters. As no lime is added to the charge, equipment for charging lime,
as required in the basic Bessemer process, is not necessary here. Since,
apart from the differences mentioned above, an acid Bessemer steelworks
features nothing extraordinary compared with the basic Bessemer plant,
it is not proposed to give further details or reproduce more illustrations.
The LD process and other oxygen-blown steel-making processes

This chapter includes some metallurgical considerations in order to m a k e
the "oxygen-blown steel-making processes" more readily comprehensible.
As stated earlier, the heat required for melting and raising the t e m p e r a t u r e
of the bath in the open-hearth f u r n a c e is generated by gas or oil firing.
86
Refining, often a matter of s e c o n d a r y importance in the open-hearth fur-

n a c e because of the small proportion of pig iron charged, is effected by
the oxygen introduced into the f u r n a c e with the combustion air. Refining
in the basic Bessemer converter is effected by the oxygen in the air blast
introduced from below through the bath. In this process, a certain amount
of heat is produced b y oxidation, the larger portion of which, however, is
carried a w a y with the waste gas due to the large quantities of useless
nitrogen contained in the bath. The quantity of heat generated is generally
sufficient to raise the t e m p e r a t u r e of the bath to the required level, but
is hardly enough to melt any large amount of scrap. Thus, the two classical
steel-making processes (the electric f u r n a c e process m a y be considered
equivalent to the open-hearth f u r n a c e process in this approach to the
problem) h a v e different functions to fulfill which, basically speaking, are
inherent in the two processes, viz. making steel from scrap in the case of
the "open-hearth f u r n a c e " and refining molten pig iron into steel in the
"basic Bessemer converter". Even the fact that n o w a d a y s larger propor-
tions of pig iron than was formerly the case are melted in the open-hearth
f u r n a c e does not, in principle, alter this. The use of a higher percentage
of pig iron in the charge is n e c e s s a r y because there was no suitable process
which allowed the charging of large proportions of molten p j iron and at
the same time produced steel with a low nitrogen content, equivalent to
that obtainable in the open-hearth furnace. The a d v a n t a g e of using a high
percentage of molten pig iron in the charge depends largely on the pre-
vailing m a r k e t situation, i. e. the price relationship b e t w e e n ore and scrap
and, metallurgically speaking, lies in the fact that the percentage of trace
elements such as copper, tin and chromium in the molten pig iron charge
is considerably lower than in a scrap charge. In order to incorporate all
these a d v a n t a g e s in the basic Bessemer process, two improvements mainly
had to b e effected:
1. The thermal balance of the converter h a d to be improved so as to

obtain optimum utilisation of the heat produced b y oxidation.
2. Metallurgical conditions had to be improved generally, i. e. the nitrogen
content in the steel had to be reduced and dephosphorisation improved.
A v a r i e t y of improvements w e r e introduced, some of which w e r e quite

successful. These improvements included enriching the blast with oxygen
or adding steam or carbon dioxide to it. But only the blowing of pure
oxygen on top of the bath solved at once all the problems involved. The
heat economy of the process w a s m a r k e d l y improved so that considerable
amounts of scrap can be melted. In addition, the nitrogen content obtained
in the steel is not infrequently lower than that of open-hearth steel. This
is due to the fact that the bath no longer comes in contact with the air.
To obtain optimum dephosphorisation, the slag must be easily fusible. As,
however, in the basic Bessemer converter such a slag is produced only
87
The Manufacture of Steel
towards the end of the blow, s e c o n d a r y dephosphorisation has always

been a problem. W h e n o x y g e n is blown onto the surface of the bath,
however, the extremely high t e m p e r a t u r e generated at the point of impact
causes the lime to liquefy right at the beginning of the process and de-
phosphorisation to start at a far earlier stage. Moreover, as the process
can be operated both on scrap and ore, it is largely independent of tem-
porary upswings in scrap prices or availabilities on the raw material market.
The heat input for melting down approximately 3 tons of scrap is the same
as that required for melting 1 ton of ore including iron oxide reduction
and slagging the gangue. This score of a d v a n t a g e s over the other pro-
cesses k n o w n so far resulted in the wide-spread application of the so-called
"LD process" named after the Austrian town Linz and Donawitz w h e r e
the Vereinigte Osterreichische Eisen- und Stahlwerke (VOEST) and the
Alpine Montangesellschaft respectively are situated. The benefits derived
from the process encouraged metallurgists and designers alike to occupy
themselves with the further development of the process so that today
there are many variations all based on the use of p u r e o x y g e n for refining
hot metal.
The LD p r o c e s s m a k e s use of a converter which, in contrast with the basic
Bessemer cc rverter has a non-detachable bottom, blast supply through the
bottom being dispensed with. For the same reason the oxygen-blown con-
verter need not be belly-shaped and does not require the lateral charging
or discharge opening of the classic converter. The LD converter is rather
axially symmetrical. It is generally referred to as "crucible", Figs 70 and 71.
In order to facilitate slag-free tapping, the LD crucible is f r e q u e n t l y pro-
vided with a "pouring spout" to allow the slag and steel to be properly
separated and sound killed steels to be manufactured. W h e n the blow is
complete, the steel is d r a w n off through the pouring spout before the slag
is run off through the crucible mouth. The water-cooled pipe through
which the oxygen is blown vertically onto the hot metal in the crucible is
referred to as oxygen lance. It is a d j u s t a b l e for height and can be removed
from the crucible w h e n it is to be tipped for charging or discharging
operations.
Fig. 70. Simplified diagram of an LD crucible.
88
Fig. 71. P o u r i n g hot m e t a l

into a 100-ton LD crucible.
The "LDAC steelworks" instruction chart shows the most important equip-
ment and the work flow which is similar to that in the basic Bessemer
steelworks. Merely the p o w d e r e d lime supply facilities (32 and 33) are not
required in the basic Bessemer steelworks.
Endeavours to intensify and accelerate the chemical reaction between the
slag and the bath h a v e led to the construction of the rotary vessel into
which an o x y g e n lance is introduced from one side whilst the vessel is
rotating about its longitudinal axis. The O b e r h a u s e n " G r a e f R o t o r " , Figs 72
and 73, which rotates with a speed of about 0.5 rpm during the refining
operation, even uses two lances, one which is submerged in the bath, and
the other for feeding an additional stream of oxygen into the Rotor in
Fig. 72. C r a d l e - m o u n t e d r o t o r which

can b e r o t a t e d a b o u t its v e r t i c a l
axis.
89
Fig. 73. Rotor in v a r i o u s operating posi-
tions.
A = c h a r g i n g hot m e t a l ; B = c h a r g i n g s c r a p a n d
a d d i t i o n s ( s p a r e v e s s e l r e c o g n i s a b l e in b a c k g r o u n d ) ;
C ~ truck w i t h p r i m a r y a n d s e c o n d a r y l a n c e s in-
t r o d u c e d in r o t o r ; D — r o t o r w i t h e x h a u s t h o o d for
w a s t e g a s e s v i e w e d f r o m t h e o p p o s i t e side.
order to burn completely the CO gases formed during decarburisation. In

this manner the chemical heat produced in the process can be harnessed
to melt large, additional quantities of scrap. The scrap charge rate can
thus be even higher.
The lining of the Rotor consists of tar-dolomite ramming compound which,
similar to the lining of the Kaldo crucible, has to be replaced more fre-
90
Fig. 74. Kaldo v e s s e l c a p a b l e of

r o t a t i n g a b o u t its l o n g i t u d i n a l axis
a n d of tilting a b o u t its h o r i z o n t a l
t r a n s v e r s e axis.
quently than that of a standard LD crucible. This is due to the higher

stresses resulting from more intensive heat and the agitation of the bath.
In order to ensure that operation need not be interrupted when a rotor
requires relining, the rotor plant comprises two exchangeable vessels. The
active vessel is mounted on a cradle so that it can be rotated, slewed and
tilted. Charging, blowing, slag removal and tapping, can thus be carried
out in the most convenient positions. When a vessel requires relining, the
cradle is run into a predetermined position so that the vessel can be placed
on a truck. Next, the cradle is turned through 180 degrees to pick up the
relined vessel.
The K a l d o r o t a r y f u r n a c e , Figs 74 and 75, was developed by Bo
Railing at the Domnarvet works of Stora Koppersberg Berglags AB. It fol-
lows slightly different lines. The vessel is rotated at a higher speed (up to
30 rpm) to accelerate refining and uses only one lance for blowing oxygen
onto the surface of the bath. In this way, refining and secondary com-
bustion are carried out simultaneously.
Fig. 75. K a l d o v e s s e l in v a r i o u s o p e r a t i n g positions.

A = c h a r g i n g h o t m e t a l ; B = c h a r g i n g s c r a p by m e a n s of a truck e q u i p p e d wi111 w e i g h i n g m a c h i n e ;
C = d i s c h a r g i n g m o l t e n m e t a l into c a s t i n g l a d l e .
A B C
Both processes are eminently suited to deal with high-phosphorous iron,

especially when the "two-slag practice" is employed. This means that a
small quantity of fresh slag is introduced w h e n the phosphorus-bearing
first slag has been d r a w n off. This slag is brought to a high iron oxide
content, thus ensuring excellent dephosphorisation. The second slag is left
in the vessel because it is high in iron but still sufficiently low in phos-
phorus to serve as first slag.
As stated earlier, the straight LD process can be employed for refining
molten pig iron with a phosphorus content of up to 0.5 per cent only.
Development work on the LD converter was carried out at various quar-
ters to make this relatively simple vessel even suitable for basic Bessemer
pig iron. This was the advent of the L D A C p r o c e s s (named after ARBED
and Centre National de Recherches, Metallurgiques, Liege) shown in the
instruction chart. In this process "powdered lime" is blown onto the sur-
face of the bath at the same time as the oxygen, in order to obtain quickly
a reactive slag that ensures fast dephosphorisation. A similar process, the
OLP (Oxygene-lance-poudre) process was developed in France which
merely differs from the LDAC process in method of operation and type
of lime feed. The two processes are usually operated with two slags in
order to obtain a low-phosphorus steel in an economic manner.
A special process, the so-called PL p r o c e s s (Phonix lance), has been de-
veloped by Phonix-Rheinrohr. This process holds an exceptional position
in that it uses the classical basic Bessemer converter to produce a steel
with a quality equivalent to that obtainable by the other processes. By
making resort to an artifice, steels which are low both in nitrogen and
phosphorus are produced. It is a well-known fact that during the carburisa-
tion period, i. e. w h e n CO is formed in the bath, no nitrogen from the air
blast passes into the bath and some of the nitrogen in the bath is even
Fig. 76. Basic B e s s e m e r

onverter with oxygen
l a n c e o p e r a t i n g to PL
process.
Fig. 77. Lance truck u s e d

in PL p r o c e s s . L a n c e in
w o r k i n g position.
92
driven out due to flushing. It is for this reason that bottom blowing is
interrupted as long as there is still sufficient carbon left in the bath (about
0,2 to 0.3 per cent). The converter is then tilted into the horizontal position
and an oxygen lance introduced at an oblique angle for blowing oxygen
into the bath, Figs 76 and 77. In this way, a slag rich in FeO is quickly
formed.
At the end of the last blowing operation the converter is once more re-
turned to its vertical position, bottom blowing resumed and the remaining
carbon removed without any nitrogen passing into the bath. The highly
reactive slag helps to effect dephosphorisation in a short time. Refining
times are again fairly short. But the obvious advantage of the process is
that existing basic Bessemer converters can be used to make high-grade
steels.
It is not possible at this stage to predict which process from the variety
of processes described in this article will win pride of place, especially
as there is so far no proper basis for comparison. Apart from metallurgical
results, the economics ol a process based on initial and operating costs
are a determining factor in the long run.
Fig. 78. Polyp grab loading scrap in

the scrap yard of a steelworks.
93
The open-hearth steelworks
An open-hearth steelworks is conspicuous, e v e n from a distance, b y its

extensive stockyard, w h e r e scrap metal is brought in by rail and piled in
large heaps. O v e r h e a d cranes, covering the entire yard, unload the scrap
from the railway wagons, load the charging boxes and c o n v e y the loaded
boxes to a point within the range of the f u r n a c e charging cranes.
"Lifting magnets" h a v e proved v e r y useful in this work. A lifting
magnet consists of a circular magnet case, of special-grade cast
steel, in which is inserted a copper or aluminium wire coil. If an elec-
tric current, cable-fed from the crane operator's cab, is sent through the
coil, the magnet is energised and attracts and holds all magnetic metals
within its effective range. W h e n the current is switched off, the magnet
is de-energised and the metal released. It goes without saying that not
only scrap can be gripped but also steel ingots, plates, girders, rails and
so forth. Circular and rectangular lifting magnets h a v e been designed for
these applications.
In addition to the lifting magnet, the polyp grab is f r e q u e n t l y used for

scrap loading, Fig. 78. In place of the usual two grab jaws or clamshells ol
conventional automatic grabs, the polyp grab has five, six or eight jaws
which, like the fingers of a giant hand, p e n e t r a t e the scrap pile and pick
up a bundle of it. All types of scrap, including the v e r y bulky varieties,
are handled with ease by the polyp grab. In fact, the polyp grab has
become indispensable today for handling steel scrap with a high m a n g a n e s e
content, which cannot be handled b y lifting magnets owing to its being
non-magnetic.
Particularly large pieces of iron or cast steel scrap h a v e to be b r o k e n up

to go through the doors of the open-hearth furnaces. "Skull cracker cranes"
used for this purpose, pick up an 8- to 10-ton steel ball by means of a
magnet and drop it on the pieces to be crushed.
Scrap metal which is v e r y voluminous in proportion to its weight, such as
cans, tins, buckets, wire, hoop-iron and the like, does not sufficiently load
the capacity of the furnace charging machine, takes much time to be
charged to the furnaces and has an a d v e r s e effect on the f u r n a c e operation,
as the charging doors h a v e to be r e p e a t e d l y opened only to admit a few
pounds of scrap. For this reason, electric or hydraulic "scrap balers" are
used to press the scrap into bales, in which form it takes u p considerably
less space and can be easily charged to the f u r n a c e with the help of a
charging machine. The bales are packed so tightly that they will not fall
apart, even if dropped several times. Yet they are not impervious to gas
and thus do not impede furnace operation. By means of a lifting magnet
or polyp grab, the "baling chamber" of a scrap baler is filled with light,
bulky scrap. One ram then applies pressure from above to this scrap in
94
Fig. 79. F u r n a c e b a y of an open-hearth steelworks. The f u r n a c e s are charged by
m e a n s of floor-based charging machines.
the baling chamber, while another ram applies pressure from the side and
also ejects the finished bale t h r o u g h the door.
Besides scrap, the charge of an open-hearth f u r n a c e includes solid or liquid
pig iron. "The Open-Hearth" instruction chart should now be referred to
as it shows a cross section through a modern open-hearth steelworks.
M a g n e t cranes unload the railway w a g o n s seen on the lower left in the
instruction chart and load the scrap or pigs into the charging boxes stand-
ing on the "box ledge" higher up to the right. Monorail hoists from the
auxiliary scrap and pig stockyard, located beyond the open-hearth shop,
also deposit loaded boxes on this ledge and return empties to the loading
point. In the f u r n a c e bay, Fig. 79, can be seen the open-hearth furnaces
on the right with their spouts extending into the casting bay, further to
95
Fig. 80. P o u r i n g h o t
m e t a l into a n open-
hearth furnace.
the right. As for the basic Bessemer process, the hot metal is d r a w n from
a mixer and poured via a runner from the crane ladle into the furnace,
Fig. 80. The solid charge — pigs, scrap and additions — is charged by
charging cranes or floor-operated charging machines. These h a v e a hori-
zontal beam, the "peel", the end of which engages one of the loaded
charging boxes standing on the box ledge. The peel with the box is then
swung round, brought in front of an open f u r n a c e door, pushed into the
furnace and rotated to dump the box contents onto the hearth. All motions,
such as picking up boxes, longitudinal and t r a n s v e r s e travel, raising and
lowering, slewing and dumping, are controlled by the crane operator w h o
can observe all operations from his cab and can look into the f u r n a c e
when the doors are open. Naturally, the furnace doors are only opened
when a box is to be run in and dumped, cold air having an a d v e r s e effect
on the working of the furnace. The crane then replaces the empty box
Fig. 81. Steel ingots, b e i n g t e e m e d w i t h t h e aid of a

c r a n e - s u s p e n d e d ladle.
96
on the box ledge and picks up another loaded box, standing alongside, to
dump its contents into the furnace.
Open-hearth furnaces are built in various sizes, with capacities ranging
from 10 to 500 tons. As a rule, they are fixed though they m a y be mounted
so as to be able to tilt. Gas-fired f u r n a c e s h a v e "ports" at both ends for
admitting the air and gas for combustion to produce a flame that will heat
01 melt the metal charge. The hot combustion gases pass out of a furnace
through "flues" in the opposite end of the furnace. The gases then flow
into a " r e g e n e r a t o r " which, similar to the hot-blast stoves of blast fur-
naces, consists of checkered r e f r a c t o r y brickwork. In the regenerative
chambers the gases give up part of their heat. W h e n the r e g e n e r a t i v e
chambers h a v e stored sufficient heat, the direction of waste gas and air
flow is reversed with the aid of a special reversing mechanism. As the
incoming air now flows through the first set of regenerators and is heated
so as to enter the furnace at a high temperature, the hot burnt gases pass
through a second regenerator which previously g a v e out heat and now
once again absorbs heat. Since the w a s t e gases still contain a considerable
amount of heat after leaving the regenerators, they are passed through a
"waste heat boiler" before they are conducted to the stack. By the time the
gases reach the stack, they h a v e given up practically all their heat. From
the waste gases of open-hearth furnaces, waste heat boilers generate
something like 650 to 1,150 lb. of superheated steam (350° C) at a pressure
of 230 lb./sq.in. per ton of steel.
If the steelworks is operated in conjunction with the blast lurnace plant or

coking plant, coke oven gas or coke oven gas mixed with blast f u r n a c e
gas is used. It available, "natural gas" can also be employed. More recent-
ly, oil firing, sometimes in conjunction with coke gas or natural gas firing,
is preferred. Related to its heat content, natural gas is the cheapest fuel for
the open-hearth furnace.
When the refining process in the open-hearth furnace has sufficiently ad-
vanced, ferro-manganese or spiegeleisen — as in the other processes —
and if special steels of specific composition are to be manufactured, other
metals such as nickel, chromium or their ferro alloys are added. The
linished steel is directed through the taphole into a ladle suspended from
a crane, which carries it to the ingot moulds, Fig. 81. Teeming proceeds
in the usual manner.
In open-hearth practice, too, the use of o x y g e n is finding ever-wider ac-
ceptance. Two basically different processes are in use. In the one process
the combustion air is p a r t l y replaced by p u r e oxygen, i. e. the natural
oxygen content of the combustion air is enriched. In this way, higher com-
bustion temperatures are obtained, the waste gas volume (smaller propor-
tion of nitrogen) and the heat losses being reduced at the same time. This,
again, serves a dual purpose because fuel consumption is decreased and
98
furnace capacity increased. The second possibility exists in blowing the

oxygen through a "lance" direct onto the bath in order to accelerate the
refining rate (carbon combustion). In this way, the melting periods can be
appreciably shortened. If no o x y g e n is used, the production of deep-
drawing steel grades requires long refining periods until the desired low
carbon content is ensured. The introduction of the oxygen lance presents
no difficulties. It can be introduced either through the furnace door or it
may consist of a water-cooled lance in the furnace roof blowing vertically
onto the bath. Frequently, the two types of oxygen application (during
combustion and refining) are used at the same time.
Slags as by-products in the steelworks
Basic Bessemer slag, amounting in terms of weight to 25 per cent of the

hot metal charge, contains about 15 to 18 per cent phosphoric acid. Finely
ground, the slag is an excellent soil conditioner and, under the trade name
of "ground basic slag", much in demand for agricultural applications. As
is well-known, phosphorus is a chief food element of plant life. Before the
steel is poured out, the slag is run off into a special mould, Fig. 67, where
it cools down. The slightly tapered mould, open at both ends, is placed on
a car with removable platform. W h e n the slag has solidified it is conveyed
to the slag yard. A crane, equipped with special crane slings, removes the
mould, places it on one side and then lifts the platform with the slag and
dumps the latter on the yard, w h e r e the "slag cake" usually breaks up
into more or less large pieces. A second, "grab-equipped trolley" of the
c i a n e transfers the slag to the bins of the slag mill as and when required.
From the mill the finely ground slag is conveyed to an automatic bagging
unit w h e r e it is filled into paper bags.
Fig. 82. Schematic dia-

g r a m of a tiltable elec-
tric-arc f u r n a c e .
99
Fig. 83. 70-ton electric-
arc furnace.
T h e roof w i t h t h e elec-
t r o d e s h a s b e e n s w u n g to
o n e s i d e so t h a t t h e b a s k e t
w i t h the s c r a p charge can
b e d u m p e d into t h e f u r n a c e .
Open-hearth slag can also be used as a soil conditioner provided its phos-
phorus content is high enough. However, similar to basic Bessemer slag,
it is frequently added to the blast furnace burden on account of its iron
and manganese content.
Electric steelmaking and refining

In the past, steel with maximum strength characteristics was made in
crucibles. V e r y pure steel scrap w a s placed in the crucibles and melted
down together with any necessary additions. A lid made the crucible air-
100
tight. Owing to the presence of silicon in the walls of the crucible, the
charge w a s largely reduced and the well-known high quality of crucible
steel obtained. W h e n larger ingots w e r e required, such as for rolls, swages,
gun barrels and so forth, several furnaces had often to be discharged
simultaneously as the heats of h u n d r e d s of crucibles w e r e needed to pro-
duce a single steel ingot. Hence, the capacity of crucible furnaces was
gradually increased, and the pouring of the m a n y crucibles became an
involved process, requiring much labour.
At the turn of the century, the electric furnace gained a footing in steel-
making plants and gradually supplanted the old crucible furnace. The
Heroult principle of electric steelmaking, Fig. 82, has been the most suc-
cessful. It employs electric arcs which are struck b e t w e e n the carbon or
graphite electrodes, inserted through the roof and the steel.
The opinion previously held that steel of uniform quality including only
v e r y little slag could only be m a n u f a c t u r e d in small furnaces has not been
substantiated. Past experience has shown that high-quality steels, capable
of meeting e v e n the most exacting specification, can also be made in large
furnaces. As a result of the p o w e r f u l currents adopted in these large fur-
nace units, the bath is intensively stirred and the interface contact between
the slag and the steel greatly improved. Furthermore, "slag inclusions"
w e r e eliminated as metallurgists learnt to control the metallurgical pro-
cess. Thus, the original 2- to 5-ton furnaces w e r e gradually abandoned in
favour of units of up to 200 tons capacity.
"Electric-arc f u r n a c e s " require a less selective charge than crucible fur-
naces. High-quality steel can even be m a d e from a low-grade charge,
though more time is needed than for a p u r e charge. The electric-arc fur-
n a c e is particularly suited for the m a n u f a c t u r e of alloy steels, as the
alloying elements (chromium, vanadium, tungsten and molybdenum) are
added u n d e r reducing conditions that give a high efficiency of recovery.
The importance of this fact, particularly for re-melting alloy steels, requires
no emphasis. The metallurgical superiority of the electric furnace is gener-
ally recognised today. As gases cannot enter the f u r n a c e and the ingress
of atmospheric oxygen is practically avoided, the conditions inside the
electric furnace are not oxidising. Thus the steel does not undergo any
change during the refining process, and the h a r m f u l elements such as phos-
phorus, sulphur and oxygen can be safely removed so that only a few
traces of them are left in the steel. The metallurgical processes can be
closely controlled b y the smelter. Samples can be t a k e n and adjustments
made at any time of the process. For this reason, high-grade carbon and
alloy steels are today almost exclusively made in electric furnaces.
Electric furnaces are not only operated on solid charges, but also on liquid
charges of basic Bessemer, LD or open-hearth steel, which t h e y refine. It
is also for this reason that the capacity of electric f u r n a c e s has been in-
creased so as to correspond to the large capacities of modern steelmaking
101
Fig. 84. 90-ton electric f u r n a c e m pouring position.
f u r n a c e s . In t h e p r o c e s s , t h e l i q u i d s t e e l c h a r g e is r i d of its e x c e s s i v e p h o s -
p h o r u s a n d s u l p h u r a n d is g i v e n t h e h i g h q u a l i t y of e l e c t r i c s t e e l . A s n o
e l e c t r i c p o w e r is r e q u i r e d f o r t h e m e l t - d o w n , t h e m a n u f a c t u r e of h i g h -
g r a d e s t e e l s b y t h i s m e t h o d is f r e q u e n t l y c h e a p e r t h a n t h e p r o d u c t i o n of
high-grade steels f r o m a solid charge.
T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of " b a s k e t c h a r g i n g " h a s h e l p e d t o i n c r e a s e t h e p r o d u c -
t i o n c a p a c i t y of e l e c t r i c - a r c f u r n a c e s , a s t h e e n t i r e s c r a p c h a r g e c a n b e
p l a c e d in o n e o p e r a t i o n , Fig. 83. A f t e r t h e f u r n a c e h a s b e e n t a p p e d a n d
t h e b o t t o m a n d b a n k s p a t c h e d , t h e " f u r n a c e r o o f " is r a i s e d t o c l e a r t h e
102
"shell" and moved to one side of the furnace, or the shell is run out from
under the roof, or the roof is swung to one side. Next the basket, filled
with the charge, is lowered to the bottom of the furnace. Within a few
seconds, the buckle of the straps, forming the bottom of the basket, is
destroyed by the heat in the f u r n a c e and the straps can be removed from
under the charge by lifting the basket. In this manner, the furnace can
be filled up to the rim and its capacity 100 per cent utilised. Even with the
largest furnaces, the entire charging operation takes only a few minutes.
W i t h o u t top charging, the operation of large-capacity furnaces on solid
charges would, for various reasons, h a v e hardly been an economic pro-
position. In tapping a heat, the electric furnace is tilted. For this purpose,
the f u r n a c e is fitted with arched rockers in the form of a cradle, Figs 82
and 84.
The variety of high-grade steels produced in electric-arc furnaces is ex-

tremely great. In addition to high-grade structural steels, spring steels,
heat and creep-resistant steels, magnetically hard (for permanent magnets)
or non-magnetic steels, chemically-resistant steels of e v e r y description,
steels for turbine blades, v a l v e steels and large guantities of various tool
and high-speed steels for cutting tools and non-cutting deforming tools
are produced.
The cost of electric p o w e r largely decides the use of electric furnaces for
the m a n u f a c t u r e of ordinary commercial steel. Lower melting loss, com-
pared with other steelmaking processes, is a point in favour of electric
furnace practice and one of the reasons w h y it is employed for the pro-
duction of standard qualities in countries with cheap hydro-electric power
supplies.
As there are m a n y different h e a t t r e a t i n g m e t h o d s t o e n h a n c e
t h e q u a l i t y o f s t e e l , it will not be possible within the scope of
this book to discuss them in detail. "Heat t r e a t m e n t " constitutes a highly
complex, specialised field calling for careful study and a great deal of
experience if its intricacies are to be mastered. Broadly speaking, a distinc-
tion is made b e t w e e n cementation, hardening, annealing, quenching and
tempering.
"Blister steel" is made b y packing the steel into a bed of carburising com-
pound, p r e f e r a b l y charcoal, and heating it for periods of about two to three
weeks. The term "case h a r d e n i n g " is usually applied to the process of
rapid carburising followed by hardening. If steel is heated to a certain
t e m p e r a t u r e — the hardening t e m p e r a t u r e — and quenched in water or
oil, h a r d e n e d steel is obtained. For certain reasons, however, the steel
must be reheated to a t e m p e r a t u r e lower than the hardening temperature
in order to decrease its hardness to a greater or lesser degree. The process
of re-heating is referred to as "tempering".
103
"Annealing" is a process of heating steel objects uniformly throughout,

holding them at a suitable t e m p e r a t u r e followed by cooling at a slow rate
with the object of removing stresses.
In the "quenching and tempering" process, the steel product to be treated
is heated to h a r d e n i n g t e m p e r a t u r e and quenched in oil. Subsequently, it
is tempered to so high a t e m p e r a t u r e that no or only little hardness is
left in it. The object of this process is to refine the steel structure rather
than h a r d e n it.
Vacuum casting
Even if the conversion of hot metal into steel is carried out with extreme
care it can h a r d l y be avoided that the steel contains a certain amount of
gas which, u n d e r particular conditions, can h a v e detrimental effects. The
quality of the steel is especially a d v e r s e l y affected by h y d r o g e n and
oxygen as well as b y nitrogen. For this reason, e n d e a v o u r s are made to
remove the gases to the largest possible extent during the casting process.
In the "vacuum casting process" the steel is cast in an evacuated vessel.
W h e n the steel is to be cast into ingots, a mould is placed into the de-
gassing vessel. W h e r e the steel is to be degassed continuously, a casting
ladle is placed into the degassing vessel. On entering the v a c u u m the steel
is split up into innumerable drops which expand in the v a c u u m until they
explode to give up their gases. V a c u u m casting w a s developed to render
possible the production of ingots for h e a v y forgings subject to particularly
high requirements and for the m a n u f a c t u r e of high-grade cast steel. So far
vacuum casting is only applied in a few works. The same holds true for
the other processes including a process shown in Fig. 85 which is primarily
used for degassing commercial-grade steel. The degassing vessel "a" is
Fig. 85. Diagram showing steel degassing facility.

a d e g a s s i n g v e s s e l ; b = l a d l e w i t h steel to b e d e g a s s e d ; c ~ h e a t i n g
clement.
104
submerged into the ladle "b" containing molten steel before it is evacuated.
The action is similar to that of suction lift. Atmospheric pressure forces
the steel up to a certain level in the degassing vessel. The degassing vessel
can be emptied and charged simply by lifting and lowering, the vacuum
being maintained in the process. In this w a y certain quantities of steel are
removed from the ladle, degassed and returned to the ladle. The lifting and
lowering/filling and emptying operations last half a minute and are re-
peated until the desired degree of degasification has been ensured. The
h e a t e r "c" heats the degassing vessel to steel melting temperature prior
to its first use and ensures that this t e m p e r a t u r e is maintained throughout
the entire degassing process.
pouring ladle
tundish
moulds
spray chambers
f e e d e r rolls
Fig. 87. On the casting platform of a c e n t r e p o s i t i o n of

strand cutting
continuous casting plant. device
T h e s t e e l f l o w s f r o m t h e c a s t i n g l a d l e into the
tundishes and from there into the moulds.
billet t i l t i n g device
Fig. 86. Schematic diagram of a conti-

nuous casting plant (system Junghans-
Mannesmann).
105
Fig. 88. View of a continuous casting plant casting
four strands at the same time.
Continuous casting of steel

The continuous casting process marks an important a d v a n c e in the casting
of steel. "Continuous casting" combines in a single operation w h a t formerly
involved the casting of crude steel into ingots weighing some tons, heating
in soaking pits and primary rolling on a blooming mill to produce slabs,
blooms or billets.
On continuous casting plants the steel is poured from the casting ladle
direct into continuously lowering strands of the desired cross section
otherwise produced on the blooming mill. As can be seen in Figs 86 to 89
the liquid metal is poured into a "tundish" and thence into one or several
water-cooled moulds driven d o w n w a r d s with the cast for a short distance
and then returned smartly u p w a r d s in a "stripping stroke". As the forma-
tion of the shell is a continuous process, with the descent of the dummy
bar, a continuous length of cast bloom is formed with a liquid center and
solid exterior. This immediately enters cavity-walled spray chambers which
are fed with cooling water. Rolls incorporated in the spray chambers guide
and support the cast during its passage. Over the following section the
cast is cooled by the air in the atmosphere and finally gripped b y the
"withdrawal rolls", hydraulic pressure being applied in the process.
As the completely solidified cast material descends, cutting is performed by
burners mounted on carriages so as to move d o w n w a r d s with the strand
to effect a square cut. W h e n the cut is complete, the cut length is lowered
at high speed to the bottom of the machine w h e r e it is deposited into a
quiver-like basket in which it is lowered further and tilted onto a roller
table for onward transport. The complete process is repeated in two or
Fig. 89. View of an eight-strand con-

tinuous casting plant.
106
several strands until the casting ladle is completely discharged. The num-
ber of strands, the strand cross sections and the casting rate are coordi-
nated in such a manner that the casting of an entire melt takes no longer
than 40 to 50 minutes. After this period the steel m a y no longer be hot
and fluid enough to ensure a sound cast.
As compared with mould casting, continuous casting leads to improved
quality due to greater homogenity, provided operations are properly car-
ried out. The recovery, too, is better than in mould casting since no "top
discards" and "sprue" arise.
The strands cast on a continuous casting plant m a y h a v e square, rectangu-
lar or round cross sections. Rectangular slabs lend themselves particularly
well to continuous casting because only a few rolling operations are re-
quired to make them into perfect plate and strip. But continuous casting
plants are also used for making semi-finished products so that not only
the soaking pits and blooming mills but also the semi-finished rolling mills
are eliminated.
Although the number of continuous casting plants in operation today is
still comparatively small, it can be predicted with some certainty that on
account of its technical and economic a d v a n t a g e s the process will be
widely accepted in the next few years.
Dust extraction from waste gases arising in the steelworks
The extraction of dust from waste gases is a special problem in steel-

making which has been caused by the increased use of oxygen. Although
this problem is well-known in all lines of industry, it has made itself par-
ticularly manifest with LD and basic Bessemer steelworks. Apart from
coarse dust such as lime, slag and "spittings", the dust contained in the
waste gases generated by oxygen-blown steelworks chiefly consists of the
finely distributed iron oxide which is ill reputed for its red fume. The
tillers developed for the separation of this dust operate on the same
principles as those employed for flue gas cleaning (p. 59). W h e r e a s the
problem of dust extraction in oxygen-blown steelworks has been tech-
nically solved to a large extent, special difficulties are encountered with
the basic Bessemer converter. This is due to the vast volumes of waste
gas arising almost in the form of explosions in a v e r y short period of time
and to the exremely high t e m p e r a t u r e of these gases. However, a number
of solutions h a v e been indicated which are being pursued by the iron and
steel works working in partnership. No doubt the costs involved will be
quite considerable. It can thus be expected that this important problem
which is such a nuisance to the population will be t a k e n care of in a few
years time.
108
Fig. 90. M a k i n g t h e
mould for a large
casting.
Fig. 91. A l a r g e - s c a l e
c a s t i n g b e i n g cast f r o m
t w o ladles.
109
The steel foundry

About 98 per cent of the steel produced in steelworks finds its w a y to
the rolling mill in the form of ingots for processing into plate, rails, beams,
strip, wire rod, etc., or to the forge w h e r e it is shaped into crankshafts
and n u m e r o u s other engineering parts. If, h o w e v e r , the finished piece is
intricately-shaped and cannot be obtained by rolling or forging, the steel
is poured into a r e f r a c t o r y mould which is of the desired shape, Figs 90
and 91. The process of casting steel bears analogy to the casting of iron
previously discussed. The moulds, too, are made in a similar manner,
though the moulding compound used in making moulds for large and com-
plicated castings requires to be more heat-resistant and must consist of
a mixture of loam, h e a v y sand, unburnt clay and pulverised fire clay.
Sawdust or some other easily combustible material which will burn w h e n
the finished mould is intensively dried is added to the moulding mixture
to render it permeable to gas. As is the case in making cast iron, small
steel castings are made in undried moulds. Engineers h a v e learnt to
cast thin-walled and complicated shapes in steel. It is, therefore, com-
mon practice today to make highly-stressed items of engineering equip-
ment of cast steel, w h e n e v e r cast iron will not meet the specifications.
Molten steel for making large castings in the steel foundry is generally
supplied by open-hearth furnaces. Thin-walled castings, however, are
frequently made from steel produced in the Bessemer converter, as this
steel is hotter and can fill the smallest cross sections. Thin-walled, highly
stressed steel castings are used for all types of valves and fittings, such
as for pipelines. Since only small batches of these parts are usually re-
quired, small-capacity converters, capable of supplying highly fluid steel,
are generally set up in existing foundries. The hot metal required in the
converter charge is melted in the foundry cupolas before it is poured into
the converter by means of a ladle crane. Operation then proceeds in a
Fig. 92. A casting being cleaned with a pneu-

matic chisel.
110
Fig. 93. Two two-stage

turho-compressors sup-
plying air in a basic
Bessemer steelworks.
Each m a c h i n e compresses
118,000 c u . m of air p e r h o u r
to a p r e s s u r e of 4 a t m .
gauge.
Fig, 94. Pressure wa-

ter plant for operating
hydraulic tilting me-
chanism of converters.
The plant comprises three
w a t e r a n d t e n air c y l i n d e r s ,
three triple-plunger pumps
and two compressors.
111
Fig. 95. Air s e p a r a t i o n p l a n t producing
3,200 cu.m of o x y g e n p e r h o u r .
manner similar to that of large-capacity converters. If castings of special
quality are required, the v a c u u m casting process described on p a g e 104
is sometimes used.
In recent years, the electric furnace, too, has established itself in the steel
foundry. Electric f u r n a c e steel is not only hot and thus suitable for filling
small cross sections, but also v e r y pure and thus capable of producing
sound castings. Alloy and stainless steel castings are n o w a d a y s almost
entirely produced from steel made in electric furnaces. Since electric fur-
naces are readily adjustable to production requirements, they are likely
to gain further ground in steel foundries in the future.
Cleaning of castings", i. e. removal of gates, risers, fins of metal round
the joint line, adhering moulding sand and core-binding material, is effected
by means of torches, saws, grinding wheels, pneumatic chisels, Fig. 92,
wire brushes and sand blast in a m a n n e r similar to that employed in the
iron foundry.
Auxiliary steelworks facilities

The operation of a steelworks requires many auxiliary facilities of which
the blower plant for the operation of the converter is mentioned first. Not
112
Fig. 96. Tar dolomite plant with automatic grain classifying, batching and electric
central control equipment.
1 = b u c k e t of t e l p h e r s y s t e m b r i n g i n g in r a w 13 = h e a t e d b a t c h i n g bin
dolomite 14 = p u g mill
2 = storage bin for raw dolomite 15 = tar boilers
3 = e l e v a t o r for black d o l o m i t e p r e v i o u s l y 16 = tar batching unit
c r u s h e d in c r u s h e r 4 17 = h y d r a u l i c r o t a r y t a b l e brick p r e s s e s
5 = feeders 18 = converter bottom ramming machine and
6 = bell mills converter bottom vibrator
7 = bucket elevator 19 = converter bottom vibrator
8 = classifying machine 20 = t a n k w a g o n for t a r
9 = h e a t e d c l a s s i f y i n g b i n f o r black d o l o m i t e 21 = tar storage tank
10 = b i n for g r e e n d o l o m i t e w i t h h e a t i n g 22 = tar pumps
facilities 23 = truck for m o v i n g c o n v e r t e r b o t t o m s i n t o
11 = air s i f t e r b a k i n g f u r n a c e 24
12 - ball mill 25 = e l e c t r i c c o n t r o l f a c i l i t y w i t h m i m i c dia-
gram
unlike the blast f u r n a c e blowers, these blowers, Fig. 93, generally are
turbo machines p o w e r e d b y electric motors or steam turbines.
For tilting the converters, LD crucibles or open-hearth furnaces, a p r e s -
s u r e w a t e r s y s t e m is needed which supplies the pressure w a t e r for
the tilting mechanism. Fig. 94 shows such a pressure w a t e r system which
consists of a pressure w a t e r accumulator, one or several pressure water
pumps for feeding w a t e r to the accumulator and one or several compressors
8 113
Fig. 97. V i e w of t a r dolo-

m i t e p l a n t w i t h p u g mills
in f o r e g r o u n d .
for supplying compressed air. Depending on the size of plant, the pressure
water accumulator consists of one or several w a t e r cylinders with a bat-
tery of air cylinders, the ratio of the w a t e r volume to the total volume
being 1 : 10. Starting and stopping is effected by a control unit as a func-
tion of the water level in the accumulator.
Unless the oxygen-blown steelworks receives the oxygen from outside
supply sources, an " a i r s e p a r a t i o n p l a n t " . Fig. 95, supplying
oxygen with a purity of 99.5 per cent is required.
B r i c k - m a k i n g p l a n t s supplying r e f r a c t o r y bricks for lining open-hearth
furnaces can be located at some distance from the steelworks, since they
supply hard-burnt bricks which can mostly be stored for an unlimited
period. Tar dolomite bricks for lining converters, crucibles and rotors must,
however, be m a n u f a c t u r e d on the spot, at the steelworks, because t h e y
are not burnt prior to use in the vessels and will not stand storage oi
long journeys. Dolomite, calcined in "shaft kilns" at a t e m p e r a t u r e oi
about 1,600 C, is generally supplied in lumps. Next, it passes through
the d o l o m i t e p l a n t w h e r e it is made into shaped bricks, perforated
converter bottoms or casting compound. The dolomite plant of a steel-
works, Figs 96 and 97, is a factory in its own right in which operations are
extensively automated. The sequence of operations is initiated and super-
vised by an electric control system coupled with a mimic diagram on
which the sequence of all operations can be readily followed.
114
Shaping by hammering and pressing
W e h a v e already learnt that by far the greater part of the steel produced
in steelworks (about 98 per cent) is teemed into ingots which are given
their final shape in the rolling mill or forging shop. The casting of steel
is limited to shapes which are too complicated or difficult to forge, press
or roll. During rolling or forging, the steel is intensively k n e a d e d and
compressed so that its quality is improved and it becomes stronger, tougher
and, to a certain extent, more flexible. "Hammering" is one of the oldest
crafts in the world and needs no further explanation. Power hammers have
gradually replaced manual effort. Forging h a m m e r s are generally powered
by steam or compressed air. O f t e n weighing m a n y tons, the hammer follows
the control motions of the hammer-driver easily and rapidly. The heavy
blows of the h a m m e r set up vibrations in surrounding installations and
are, at times, intolerable, particularly with large units. For this reason,
the heaviest forgings are produced on a "forging press". Hydraulically
powered, it is free from impact. It exerts a steady squeeze, which penetrates
Fig. 98. Air-operated ham-

mer used for forging small
pieces in t h e forging shop
of an engineering works.
115
Steel F i n i s h i n g P r o c e s s e s
Fig. 99. A h e a v y s t e e l
ingot b e i n g w i t h d r a w n
from the reheating fur-
n a c e . T h e i n g o t is co-
v e r e d w i t h a l a y e r of
"scale".
more deeply than does the sudden blow of a h a m m e r whose effect is con-
fined to the surface of the workpiece. Hammers hold the field, however,
w h e r e medium-weight and small forgings are required in large quantities
because they operate faster than presses. The w o r k done b y forging ham-
mers is mainly concerned with steel processing such as in engineering
works, h a r d w a r e factories and in small m a n u f a c t u r i n g plants, Fig. 98. Iron
and steel works, with which we are solely concerned here, only forge very
large pieces such as propeller shafts for ships, crankshafts, gun barrels,
high-pressure steam boilers, seamless hollow forgings for high pressures
and so forth, which are made direct from cast steel ingots. For doing this
work, hydraulic forging presses with capacities of up to 15,000 tons are
used. In addition, presses are required for bending and shaping plates
employed in the shipbuilding and automotive industries and for similar
applications. These presses are capable of exerting forces of 50,000 tons
and more, the energy being supplied b y a pressure w a t e r plant as described
on page 113.
Before it is hammered or pressed, the piece is h e a t e d to forging tempera-
ture in a reheating furnace, which either has a movable hearth to permit
the ingots to be run in and out, Fig. 99, or is designed so that the end of
the ingot protrudes slightly from the furnace to enable the chain of a crane-
suspended turn-over device to be passed under it. The heated ingot is then
brought into position under the press and is forged into the desired shape,
Fig. 100. In the process, the oxidised surface of steel on the hot ingot comes
off in the form of black leaves to which the metallurgist refers as "scale".
The forging which is suspended from two cranes is manipulated by elec-
trically-operated turning devices.
Fig. 100. F o r g i n g a l a r g e s t e e l ingot in a h y -

d r a u l i c f o r g i n g p r e s s . T h e p r e s s is c a p a b l e of
e x e r t i n g s q u e e z e s of 2,000, 4,000 a n d 6,000 tons.
116
Fig. 101. Forging
a piece in a hy-
draulic forging
press with the
aid of a mani-
pulator.
"Manipulators", electrically or hydraulically p o w e r e d mobile and slewable

turning devices are sometimes used instead of cranes to place and mani-
pulate the work. Fig. 101 shows such a manipulator operating in conjunc-
tion with a forging hammer. The manipulator takes hold of the ingot in
a pair of powerful clogs and lifts, swivels and rotates it in the forging press
or under the hammer, in the same manner as the smith manipulates a small
forging, Fig. 98.
Large hollow forgings are made on h e a v y - d u t y forging presses. The ingot
received from the steelworks is first pierced by driving a drift into it from
the top. The hollow forging is then placed on a mandrel and forged into
shape under the press. During forging, the mandrel rests on stout trestles.
After each squeeze the piece is lifted slightly and revolved through a small
angle by the electric manipulator. In this way, the ram gradually reduces
the wall thickness of the hollow forging, thus increasing its diameter.
Some steel plants m a n u f a c t u r e small forgings in large quantities. Typical
examples are railway axles and forgings for automotive engineering appli-
cations. For this purpose, electro-hydraulic presses are n o w a d a y s used.
They generate their own pressure w a t e r and operate similarly to steam
or air-powered hammers,
More recently, " e x t r u s i o n p r e s s e s " h a v e been employed for the hot
finishing of steel. In this process a billet heated to about 1,250° C and com-
pletely covered with powdered glass is introduced into the cylindrical "con-
tainer", the size of the billet depending on the size and force of the press.
The container is closed at its front end b y means of a heat-resistant steel die
incorporating a particular shape to give the finished extrusion the desired
cross section, In front of the die t h e r e is a pad made of pressed glass
powder. A hydraulically p o w e r e d ram is advanced against the blank from
the opposite side compressing it in such a m a n n e r that the material is
forced to flow through the die. In this way a rod with the desired cross
section is made. The pressing operation takes only a few seconds. The
118
powdered glas melts in contact with the hot steel, thus acting as a lubricant
b e t w e e n the blank surface and the internal surfaces of the container and
the die.
The extrusion process is well suited for the production of solid and hollow
sections of any desired shape including those which are impossible to form
by rolling. Designers and architects alike can thus resort to special sec-
tions which, formerly, could only be made b y riveting and welding together
several sections or by machining from the solid.
Shaping by rolling
By far the m a j o r i t y of steel ingots cast in the steelworks (about 97 per cent)
passes through a "rolling mill", w h e r e it is rolled into sheet, plate, rails,
beams, tubes, strip, wire rod, a variety of sections or forging blanks. As
can be seen in the bottom left-hand corner of the "Rolling Mill" instruction
chart, a rolling mill, in its simplest form, consists of two rolls, mounted
one above the other. The necks of the rolls run in bearings supported in
two housings. The drive rotates the rolls in opposite directions so that a
piece entering the mill is drawn, squeezed and stretched between the top
and bottom rolls, provided the distance b e t w e e n the rolls is smaller than
the piece. The more times the piece is passed through the rolls, and the
smaller the distance is set b e t w e e n the rolls, the thinner and longer does
the piece become. If the body of a roll is encircled by a depression called
the groove, the piece is forced to t a k e on the shape of the "pass" formed
by the grooves of the two rolls.
A rolling mill m a y h a v e two or more rolls. The best-known designs are

the "two-high", "three-high" and "four-high mills". On two-high mills the
direction of rotation of the rolls has to be reversed after each pass to
ensure rolling alternately in opposite directions. This explains the designa-
tion "two-high reversing mill". The "double-duo mill", featuring two pairs
of rolls in a single stand, is a variation of the two-high mill. In this arrange-
ment, the direction of rotation of the rolls need not be reversed, as the
sets of rolls rotate in opposite directions. The double-duo mill cannot be
used for rolling h e a v y pieces. It is employed for rolling light bars and
rounds. The three-high mill consists of three rolls mounted one above the
other. The piece first passes b e t w e e n the middle and bottom rolls and then
returns between the middle and top rolls. The direction of roll rotation
is not reversed.
The smaller the diameter of a mill roll, the more easily it can bite into
the piece and reduce the thickness. However, a thin roll is unavoidably
a w e a k roll, as it easily bends u n d e r load. N o w even the slightest deflec-
tion has an adverse effect w h e n sheet and strip are rolled. For this reason,
119
the smaller "work rolls" are backed up over their entire effective length
by larger "back-up rolls". Four-high mills are used for rolling sheet and
strip that h a v e to be subjected to h e a v y draft and require to be of uniform
gauge over their entire width.
In the m a n u f a c t u r e of rolled products from stainless, heat resistant or
similar special steel the surface quality of the initial ingot and semi-
finished product is of p a r a m o u n t importance if the finished product is to
be free from surface flaws caused by scale or other impurities. It is for
this reason that the ingots or semi-finished products are subjected to plan-
ing, turning or grinding operations. More recently, the surfaces of the
bloom are cleaned by means of hot scarfing machines instead of by ma-
chining. During its passage through the machine the hot bloom is scarfed
by oxygen on all sides so that its surface is burnt out to a certain depth.
As mentioned earlier, this process is usually applied to special steels only.
Insofar as commercial-grade steels are concerned, it is sufficient to grind
out, chisel out or scarf out by means of a hand scarfer the defective areas
in the blooms or semi-finished products.
The blooming mill
Steel has to be rolled hot to be sufficiently plastic. The red hot ingots
leceived from the steelworks are first placed in a "soaking pit", Fig. 102.
Soaking pits are fired with gas or, more recently, heated electrically. Elec-
tric heating avoids scale formation on the ingot surface, an important
tactor particularly with high-grade steels. Soaking pits are used either to
heat the ingots to rolling t e m p e r a t u r e or maintain them at rolling tem-
perature. "Soaking pit cranes" charge the ingots into the pits. Powerful
tongs, controlled by the crane operator, grasp the ingots one at a time and
place them in the pit, while the pit cover is moved sideways, Fig. 103.
The length of time the ingots remain in the soaking pit depends on various
factors such as steel quality, size of the ingot and heating rate. Naturally,
cold ingots, received from storage or dressing, stay in the pit for a much
longer period than ingots charged in the red hot condition.
Soaking pits are generally located near the rolling mill. W h e n the ingot
has been brought up to rolling temperature, it is removed from the soaking
pit by the pit crane and placed on a remote-controlled "ingot b u g g y " which
carries it to and deposits it on the end of a "roller table", Fig. 104. The
roller table consists essentially of a number of rollers set horizontally one
behind the other for the purpose of transporting the stock, i. e. a red hot
ingot in our case. Set in motion, the rollers transport the ingot to the
mill, w h e r e it is d r a w n b e t w e e n rotating rolls and forced through
the first groove, Figs 105 and 106. W h e n the ingot leaves the roll
120
stand it is much reduced in cross section and appreciably lengthened. The

rolls are brought closer together, i. e. the bottom roll remains in position
whilst the top roll is "screwed down" a little. Several steel fingers rise
misteriously from b e t w e e n the rollers of a table and turn the "bloom"
through a right angle before it is again introduced b e t w e e n the narrower
gap of the reversed rolls for the second "pass". This operation is repeated
Fig. 102. S o a k i n g pit

bay of a l a r g e rolling
mill and schematic dia-
g r a m of a s o a k i n g pit.
On the right t h e r e is
t h e track a l o n g which
t h e ingot b u g g y , seen
in t h e b a c k g r o u n d , trav-
els to t h e rolling mill.
Fig. 103. A steel ingot b e i n g

lifted out of a s o a k i n g pit
b y m e a n s of a s o a k i n g pit
crane.
121
several times, the piece being guided into successively smaller passes by
means of rams. Everything proceeds at so high a speed that the bloom
hardly cools off, especially as h e a t is g e n e r a t e d in the bloom during rolling
through the squeezing action which is accompanied b y considerable in-
ternal friction. W h e n the reduction is completed, the n o w v e r y long and
thin bloom runs onto the roller table behind the mill w h e r e it is cut to
specific lengths b y a "shear", Fig. 107. Cranes or other handling equipment
transport the blooms to the stockyard or immediately to other rolling mills
Fig. 104. I n g o t b u g g y
in p o s i t i o n to p l a c e
Ihe red h o t ingot on
the roller table.
Fig. 105. D i a g r a m m a t i c l a y o u t of a t w o - h i g h
r e v e r s i n g b l o o m i n g mill w i t h i n d i v i d u a l l y
m o t o r - d r i v e n rolls.
T h e rolls a r c c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e m o t o r s b y u n i v e r s a l -
j o i n t s h a f t s . O n t h e left c a n b e s e e n t h e r o l l - c h a n g i n g
device.
Fig. 106. A s t e e l i n g o t b e i n g r o l l e d d o w n
in a t w o - h i g h r e v e r s i n g b l o o m i n g mill.
122
where t h e y are processed into sections of all types, rails, sheet, plate, wire
rod, tubes and so forth. It is evident that a 20 in. thick ingot cannot be
rolled into, say, 1/8 in. gauge w i r e in a single rolling mill. Hence, a variety
of rolling mills is required for which the blooming mill performs a p r i m a r y
function.
The medium and heavy-plate mill
As a rule, plates are rolled from flat-section ingots called "slabbing ingots".
These ingots usually weigh b e t w e e n 5 and 20 tons and can weigh up to
40 tons. In one special case, 165-ton slabbing ingots are rolled into armour
plate of up to 12 in. thickness in a DEMAG-built giant rolling mill which
has rolls 44 and 64 in. in diameter X 17 ft. long. In general, h o w e v e r ,
rolling mills for the production of h e a v y and medium plate ranging in
thickness from 1/8 in. to 2 in. are designed to cope with plate 6 ft. 6 in.
to 13 ft. wide and up to 130 ft. long. The roll stand has two w o r k rolls and
two back-up rolls. It is common practice today to provide a pair of vertical
rolls in front of or behind the horizontal rolls to roll the edges of the
plates accurately to size. A roll stand having both horizontal and vertical
rolls is referred to as a "universal mill".
The mill housings which are 39 ft. high and weigh 240 tons each give a
good idea of the size of a h e a v y - d u t y plate mill, as shown in Fig. 108. The
mill is driven by two electric motors developing a total of 25,000 HP.
H g . 107. I n g o t s h e a r c u t t i n g o u t
b l o o m to pre-set l e n g t h .
A runoul lable transfers the pieces to
s t o r a g e . T h e c r o p e n d s cire p u s h e d off
Ihe roller l a b l e a n d d r o p inio a buckei
to b e r e t u r n e d to t h e s t e e l w o r k s .
124
The finished plates are straightened in a "leveller" located behind the mill
stand before t h e y are run onto a "cooling b a n k " across a roller table,
Fig. 109. W h e n cool, the plates are inspected for defects. Finally, they are
cut to size in the "finishing department". If so required, the plate mill can
also be used for the production of thick plates, an intermediate product
called "slabs". Slabs constitute the starting material for the manufacture
of thin gauge sheet.
The sheet mill

A considerable increase in the demand of sheet metal, such as required
for the m a n u f a c t u r e of automobile bodies etc., during recent decades, has
Fig. 108. Universal plate mill consisting of a four-high reversing stand with hori-
zontal, 13-ft. long rolls and a vertical-roll stand directly linked
W o r k roll d i a m e t e r : 3 ft. 3 i n . ; back-up roll d i a m e t e r : 6 f t . ; back-up r o l l w e i g h t : 110 t o n s .
Fig. 109. C o o l i n g b a n k of a
rolling mill for h e a v y a n d
medium plates.
encouraged n e w w a y s to be found to simplify and speed up the rolling of

sheet which, previously, had b e e n comparatively expensive and involved
a great deal of h e a v y work. A f t e r n u m e r o u s experiments, a v e r y efficient
continuous wide strip mill resulted which will be dealt with in the following
section. But development work on two and three-high mills was also con-
tinued with the object of obtaining larger outputs and more uniform qua-
lities at reduced labour costs through extensive mechanisation. Fig. 110
shows a modern three-high sheet mill, on which all operations from
"sheet bar" (see page 137) feed to finished sheet delivery — are fully
mechanised. The operators are merely required to shift control levers. From
their control chairs they are able to observe and control all operations.
High-speed, fully mechanised front and back roller tables, automatic
"screw-down gear" and signalling units, eliminate h e a v y physical work
and permit simplified and safe operation.
With sheet less than 11 to 14 gauge thick, as required for automobile

bodywork, tin can production and electrical engineering applications
(transformer and dynamo sheets), the reduction in thickness per pass, i.e.
the "draft" is v e r y small. Moreover, such sheets cool v e r y quickly. For
this reason, the sheets are "doubled", i. e. two, four, eight or e v e n sixteen
sheets are rolled down in one pack. The sheets in a finished pack are
firmly stuck together and h a v e to be pulled apart.
Since the quality of hot-rolled sheet is not good enough for certain appli-
cations, a large percentage of the sheet is re-rolled on "cold reduction
mills". The purposes of cold rolling are to reduce the sheet to the required
gauge and impart a structure and surface finish that make it suitable for
the manufacture of car bodies, steel furniture, refrigerators, gas and elec-
tric cookers and containers of all types. Cold-rolled sheet has a perfectly
smooth surface and, therefore, lends itself to nickel and tin plating, gal-
126
vanising, varnishing and so forth, essential for certain applications. Cold

rolling is performed by t h r e e or four-high mills.
Fig. I l l shows a modern cold rolling mill for sheet. The broken-down and
annealed sheets from the hot mill are first sent to the "pickling shop",
w h e r e the hard, oxidised surface of steel produced in the hot rolling pro-
cess is removed by dipping in diluted muriatic or sulphuric acid. Following
pickling and washing, the sheets are passed through a cleaning and drying
machine and then to a four-high cold reducing mill, w h e r e they are re-
duced in thickness by 30 to 50 per cent in a few passes; the percentage
reduction depending on the composition of the material involved.
The h e a v y deformation effected on cold rolling mills is evidenced by
changes in the physical structure of the sheets and accompanied by in-
creased hardness and brittleness. Consequently, cold-rolled sheets are
annealed and cleaned on a rotary brush. Next, they are given one to three
light skin passes on a "temper mill", the thickness reduction being only
V2 to 2 per cent. A f t e r skin rolling, the sheets h a v e bright surfaces and
proceed to the leveller. As a protection from damage and corrosion, the
sheets are given a coating of grease on a greasing machine before they
are finally sheared to size.
Fig. 110. F u l l y me-

chanised t h r e e - h i g h h o t
rolling mill for s h e e t .
The wide strip mill
As has already been mentioned, development w o r k in sheet rolling led

to continuous reduction, i. e. to the continuous rolling of wide strip in a
series of successive mill stands. A continuous wide strip mill complete
with auxiliary equipment is a plant of tremendous proportions, so that it
might be as well to use the "Rolling Mill" instruction chart attached to
this book to follow the course t a k e n by a strip — from the steel ingot
to the finished sheet. Hot rolling on a wide strip mill proper is preceded
by breaking down on a slabbing mill. W h e n the steel ingots from the steel-
works h a v e been brought to uniform t e m p e r a t u r e in the soaking pit, they
are fed to the slabbing mill, Fig. 112, w h e r e t h e y are reduced to slabs
approximately 20 ft. long and 4 to 8 in. thick. The surfaces of the slabs are
carefully checked in the slab y a r d and are "scarfed" by flame scarfing
equipment, Fig. 113. In this way, defective areas are burnt out to obtain
first-class strip. Several slab ingots, piled on top of each other, are then
taken by crane to the "unpiler", w h e r e an ingot pusher advances the slabs,
one at a time, onto a roller table which conveys them to the pusher-type
furnaces. Ingot pushers then thrust the slabs, one at a time, into the fur-
nace w h e r e they are heated to rolling temperature. The heated slabs leave
the furnaces at something like 1,250 C, Fig. 114, before they pass through
a scale breaker. The "scale b r e a k e r " is a two-roll stand which breaks up
the scale on the slab surface. It is followed by high-pressure w a t e r jets —
using 1,500 lb. per sq. in. pressure — to get the scale away.
The slab is then reduced in four "roughing stands" to a thickness of ap-
proximately "V-i in. Similar to the universal mill, e v e r y roughing stand has
Fig. 111. Four-high

cold reduction mill
for rolling plate up
to 6 ft. 6 in. wide.
128
a pair of vertical rolls located ahead of it. and a descaling high-pressure

spray following it. N o w the roughened and elongated slab rushes towards
the finishing mill like a flat, glowing snake. But before the metal enters
the finishing mill, it passes u n d e r a "crop shear" which trims the irregular
ends and runs through a "descaling s p r a y " in which scale is removed once
more by spraying. W h e r e a s in the roughing train the metal is issued from
each stand so that processing takes place in only one stand at a time, it is
in all six stands of the finishing mill at the same time, the speed increasing
from stand to stand, Fig. 115. W h e n the strip — n o w reduced to B. G. 16 —
Fig. 112. T h e s l a b b i n g i n g o t s b r o u g h t in f r o m t h e s t e e l w o r k s on small trucks a r e

p l a c e d i n t o s o a k i n g pits b y m e a n s of a t o n g c r a n e . In t h e l e f t of this p i c t u r e a
s l a b b i n g i n g o t r e m o v e d f r o m t h e s o a k i n g pit is p l a c e d on an u p e n d e r which is
u s e d to d e p o s i t t h e s l a b b i n g i n g o t on t h e roller t a b l e l e a d i n g to t h e s l a b b i n g mill.
Steel Finishing P r o c e s s e s
Fig. 113. T h e slabs pro-

d u c e d on t h e slabbing
mill a r e c l e a n e d b y
m e a n s of s c a r f i n g ma-
chines b e f o r e t h e y a r e
fed to t h e w i d e strip
mill.
leaves the last stand of the finishing mill, it travels at a rate of some 40 ft.
per second. The issuing strip is sprayed from above and below with cooling
water and then wound on a "coiler". Following the last finishing stand is
a rotary shear for cutting the roll product into sheets, if so desired. The
sheets proceed automatically from the mill to a piler.
Since all operations are fully mechanised, only v e r y few operators are
needed to run such a mill. The operators merely adjust or control a number
of apparatus, measuring instruments and signalling devices. The high pro-
duction capacity of mills of this n a t u r e which can be as much as 2 million
tons per annum is mainly to be attributed to extensive automation and
continuous rolling.
A conveyor carries the coils from the coiler to a storage building. The
gieat bulk of the product is further reduced and refined in the cold rolling
mill. For this purpose, the oxide skin must first be removed by means of
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid in a pickling plant, Figs 116 and 117. To
permit continuous operation in the pickling plant and subsequent rinsing
and drying plant, the strips which are up to 600 yards long are welded
or otherwise joined together. After the drying unit, the welds or joints
are cut out again and the perfectly clean strips pass through a trimming
shear which neatly trims the edges of the strip on both sides. Before it is
recoiled, the strip is given a protective coating of oil.
Strips to be converted into tin plate n o w pass through a four-high reversing
mill or (as can be seen on the chart) through a five-stand continuous four-
high train in which they are reduced to extremely thin tin plate. The
rolling speed of the reversing mill can be increased to 1,000 yd. per
minute. The speeds on the continuous train can even be increased to
130
Fig. 114. A slab coming from the slab heating f u r n a c e going t o w a r d s the scale
b r e a k e r stand a r r a n g e d a h e a d of the continuous wide strip mil].
6,500 ft. per minute. Thickness gauges of advanced design continuously

control the strip thickness. Before the strip proceeds to electrolytic de-
greasing and cleaning baths followed b y a drying unit, it is once again
welded together. Finally, a dividing shear cuts the strip into lengths of
several miles which are coiled on a coiler located behind the shear.
Vigorous cold w o r k i n g m a k e s the steel v e r y hard and brittle so that it is
unsuitable for further processing. Its grain structure must, therefore, be
corrected once more by annealing at t e m p e r a t u r e s ranging from 650 to
740° C. The annealing bay, Fig. 118, is equipped with several annealing
f u r n a c e s in which two, t h r e e or four wide strip coils are stacked on top
of each other. An "inner cover" is placed over the stack and the "annealing
131
Fig. 115. Six-stand finishing mill of a continuous wide strip mill.
bell" over the whole assembly. Blast f u r n a c e or coke oven gas is burnt
in the cavity b e t w e e n the inner cover and the annealing bell, causing the
inner cover to heat up and impart this heat to the wide strip coils. During
the annealing process, inert gas is circulated b e t w e e n the coils by means
of a fan, thus ensuring uniform annealing t e m p e r a t u r e throughout the
stack and preventing scale formation. A f t e r annealing, the annealing bell
is removed and a cooling bell placed over the stack. The p r o c e d u r e is n o w
reversed, i. e. the h e a t is gradually absorbed from the wide strip coils and
the intense heat radiated by the inner cover is prevented from affecting
the coils adversely.
Continuous furnaces are sometimes used instead of bell-type annealing
furnaces. In these furnaces, the coils pass through a long tunnel.
The annealed strip is still not ready for dispatch. It requires to be rolled
once again, preferably on a two-stand temper mill w h e r e the strip is given
a v e r y slight reduction of no more than Va to 3 per cent. This produces
the desired degree of hardness and an absolutely smooth, clean surface
finish.
If "tin plate" is to be produced, the steel strips are welded together for
the third time, i. e. the end of one strip is welded to the beginning of the
next, so there is no interruption as the strips pass through the automatic
132
Figs 116 and 117. Part

view of a pickling line.
The v a r i o u s u n i t s of this
lino a r e e x p l a i n e d in t h e
"Rolling Mill" instruction
chart.
133
electro tinning plant, Fig. 119, after they h a v e been edge-trimmed on a

side trimmer. Next, the strips are built up into coils again in order to be
sold to sheet package factories or to be sent to a combined levelling and
cutting machine, which levels the strip and cuts it into sheets of any desired
length. In this process, sheets with surface defects or off-gauge sheets are
automatically sorted out b y electronic control means. The equipment
features extremely accurate operation and is capable of detecting defects
which are not recognisable with the bare eye. If particularly h e a v y tin
plating is required, the strip is cut into sheets immediately after the skin-
pass mill for transfer to the hot dip tinning plant.
Processing hot-rolled strip into car body sheets is a somewhat simpler oper-
ation since the reduction in thickness is not so great as with tin plate and
tinning is not required. Three or four stands, or one reversing stand,
Fig. 120, will be a d e q u a t e for cold rolling and one for tempering.
The cold rolling of wide strip can also be done on Sendzimir mills. These
mills h a v e work rolls of only IV4 to \ZU in. diameter which, as can be seen
in Fig. 121, are backed by two slightly larger rolls; these in turn are backed
by three still larger rolls. Four sets of backing roller bearings, the shafts
of which are mounted in saddles within the mill housings, back up the
second intermediate rolls. As the sets of backing roller bearings are thus
supported by the mill housing over the entire length of the shafts, roll
deflection is negligible, and a strip of uniform thickness across its entire
width is obtained. Fig. 122 shows such a unit named the "Sendzimir rolling
mill" after its inventor. One reel each is located in front of and behind the
mill housing to k e e p the strip in tension and coil it at the same time.
Fig. 118. Bell-type an-

n e a l i n g f u r n a c e s for
w i d e strip coils.
This s h o w s an e m p t y b a s e ,
a b a s e w i t h coils s l a c k e d
011 it, Ihree b a s e s wilh i n n e r
c o v e r s in p o s i t i o n a n d t h r e e
f u r n a c e s c o m p l e t e w i t h an-
nealing bells.
134
Fig. 119. T i n n i n g line

for tin strip.
T h e a c t u a l t i n n i n g p l a n t can
b e s e e n in t h e top r i g h t of
this p i c t u r e . In t h e f o r e -
ground arc the various units
for p r e p a r i n g a n d f e e d i n g
the slrip.
Fig. 120 (below). Four-

high r e v e r s i n g strip
mill for car b o d y strip
u p to 60 in. wide.
The Sendzimir mill can be employed to particular a d v a n t a g e in rolling

alloy steel strip as its v e r y small-diameter w o r k rolls permit a h e a v y re-
duction per pass and a large total reduction in thickness. Furthermore, the
strip can be rolled to extremely close tolerances of a few tenths of a
thousandth part of an inch.
135
Fig. 121. A r r a n g e m e n t of rolls on a

Sendzimir mill. Driven rolls are shown
hatched.
Narrow and medium strip mills
In many blanking, stamping, forming and pressing shops it is more prac-

tical to use long strips than large sheets since strip can pass automatically
through presses, punchers, shears and so forth. The heat treatment of strip
is also simpler and cheaper and, as past experience has shown, there is
less waste than with sheets. Steel strip is, therefore, preferred for the
manufacture of all types of punchings such as pen nibs, buttons, hinges,
locks, clocks, watches, springs, household articles, furniture fittings, metal
toys, electrical and precision engineering supplies. Steel strip ("skelp")
is also used for the m a n u f a c t u r e of welded tubes (see p a g e 155). Hot rolling
of this strip is frequently continuous on a series of roll stands placed in
tandem, in a manner similar to that of wide strip rolling previously
discussed, Fig. 123. Four-high mills which only w o r k in one direction are
Fig. 122. Sendzimir rolling mill with the two reels and the control desk.
136
generally employed for the cold rolling of strip; alternatively four-high

reversing mills of a design smaller though similar to the cold mills for
wide strip are used. Fig. 124 gives a general idea of the working arrange-
ments of a rolling mill of this type.
The semi-finishing mill
As has a l r e a d y been mentioned, the blooms produced by the roughing mill

are taken to various other mills to be rolled down to the final product. If,
for instance, light sections are to be manufactured, the blooms must be rolled
down into "semi-finished products", i. e. into "billets", "slabs" or "sheet
bar". Billets are of square cross section and are rolled into a variety of
shapes. Slabs and sheet bar are flat and are rolled into sheet or strip. The
modern semi-finishing mill is continuous, i.e. it has several roll stands placed
in tandem through which the piece passes continuously. "Twist guides" are
located b e t w e e n the stands to rotate the billet through 90 degrees for
entry into the succeeding roll pass to ensure uniform deformation. The
necessity for "twisting" has lately b e e n eliminated b y adopting mills that
are composed of alternate horizontal and vertical stands. As a result of
continuous operation, the output of such mills is v e r y high, but greatest
care is required in their construction and in setting the rolling speeds which
h a v e to be different in the various stands.
The rolling mill illustrated in Fig. 125 comprises two "groups" of six stands.
Of the total of twelve stands, five are of vertical design. They permit a
v e r y versatile rolling p r o g r a m m e to be carried out. Billets 5 in., 2V2 in.,
4 in., 3V2 in., 3 in., 23A in., 23/s in. and 2 in. square, are produced from
blooms; blooms and slabs are reduced to small slabs and sheet bar ranging
from V4 in. X 8 in. to l U in. X 12 in. Behind the last stand, a "flying shear",
Fig. 123. P a r t of a con-

t i n u o u s mill for strip
a n d s k e l p f r o m 5 /s in.
to 16 in. w i d e .
137
Fig. 124. Four-high

cold mill manufactur-
ing strip u p to 20 in.
w i d e for the produc-
tion of sheet metal
articles.
Fig. 126, cuts the moving piece to any desired lengths up to 40 ft. It is a
special feature of the air-operated flying shear that it cuts the piece as
it travels during continuous operation so that a square cut is effected and
the passage of the strand is not impeded. The same purpose is served b y
the electrically operated "rotary shear" in which the shear knives are
moved towards each other by means of twin crankshafts so that a square
cut is obtained. Rotary shears are generally preferred today.
Section mills and wire rod mills
Blooms or billets produced in the blooming or billet mill are not always
processed directly. In general, they first go to storage or are supplied to
another rolling mill for further rolling. Claw or magnet cranes c o n v e y the
blooms and billets from the rolling mill b a y to the f u r n a c e s of the finishing
mills, to the storage y a r d or to the loading point.
Blooms or billets which h a v e cooled down through storage h a v e to be
re-heated to rolling t e m p e r a t u r e before t h e y are rolled further. This ex-
plains the presence of "bloom reheating furnaces" — r e v e r b e r a t o r y furnaces
in which the blooms are placed horizontally — in the immediate vicinity of
the rolling mill. "Pusher-type furnaces", Fig. 127, incorporate the simplest
method of charging. Mechanical rams are used to push the bloom into the
furnace and, at the same time, push all the other pieces across the skids
on which they rest. At the end of the furnace, the blooms, heated to rolling
temperature, are transferred to a roller table or pass directly into the
rolling mill.
W h e r e a s blooming rolls need h a v e only a few passes, the rolls of section
mills must h a v e all the passes n e c e s s a r y for the production of a desired
138
Fig. 125. Part of a continuous
semi-finishing mill.
F r o m r i g h t to left : T w o h o r i z o n t a l
roll s t a n d s , o n e v e r t i c a l , o n e h o r i -
zontal, one vertical and horizontal
roll s t a n d .
Fig. 126. "Flying shear "which

cuts bars into any desirable
length.
shape (see bottom left-hand corner of "Rolling Mill" instruction chart).

The stands are so designed that the rolls can be changed quickly if a dif-
ferent section is to be rolled. Heavy-section mills are built as two-high
mills, i. e. with tyyo rolls, similarly to blooming mills. Light-section mills
are often designed as three-high mills to permit a wider range of passes
to be accommodated in one stand than is possible in two-high mills. Fre-
quently, the passes required for finish-rolling a section cannot be accom-
modated in a single roll stand. Therefore several stands are set up. Fig. 127
shows the roughing stand of a "wide flange beam rolling mill". The stand
has four grooves, the first groove having a rectangular cross section, while
the last groove clearly shows the contours of the w e b and flanges for the
finished beam. Transfers are used for moving the stock from one groove
to the next. W h e n rolling in the roughing stand is complete, the stock is
139
passed to a universal wide flange beam mill stand incorporating two hori-
zontal and two vertical rolls. See Fig. 128. After the stock has been passed
several times through the stand, it is c o n v e y e d to the finishing mill w h e r e
it. is given its final and precise shape. The finishing stand is also designed
as a universal stand and incorporates horizontal and vertical rolls. Similar
to other section rolling mills, a roller table is employed to carry the
finished beam to the saw, Fig. 129, w h e r e it is cut into pre-set lengths.
Cooling is accomplished on grids called cooling banks. W h e n cold, the
bars and sections are conveyed to the finishing shop either by roller table
or claw crane. The finishing shop is of m a j o r importance in section mills.
In the finishing shop, which is equipped with various types of machinery,
the finish-rolled material is collected for final treatment and inspection
before being released to the customer. The "roll leveller", a machine for
straightening sections b y passing them through two rows of accurately
aligned, grooved rollers, will be found in e v e r y finishing shop, Fig. 130.
The rolling schedule, i. e. the range of sections to be produced, is extremely
wide in some rolling mills. Fig. 131 shows the various shapes which can
be manufactured on a two-stand two-high mill that is equipped for a com-
prehensive rolling programme. A rolling mill of this kind, therefore, has
a large stock of rolls with a v a r i e t y of grooves to meet all requirements.
Moreover, the roll stands must be designed to permit easy roll changing
to lose no time if a different shape is to be produced.
Light section rolling mills used for m a n u f a c t u r i n g small shapes of all kinds
frequently call for a particularly large number of mill stands. Sometimes
it is no easy matter to find a solution that will ensure maximum economy
at a high production rate and uniform quality of product. Mills in train
comprising a number of stands in the same line each provided with several
roll passes, semi-continuous and continuous mills are among the possible
arrangements that can be employed. W i t h comprehensive rolling schedules
for light and medium sections a staggered a r r a n g e m e n t of the roll stands
has proven v e r y advantageous. In staggered or in "cross country mills",
the piece passes only once through a series of a d j a c e n t stands. A f t e r each
pass it is transferred sideways to the next stand by means of a "skew
roller table". Shape and size permitting, the rolled strand is guided from
stand to stand b y "repeaters". This applies in particular to small rounds (wire
rod), squares and flats.
Fig. 132 shows part of a modern light section and wire rod mill. The mill
is preceded b y an automatic three-high b r e a k - d o w n stand and a four-stand
Fig. 127. R e v e r s i n g r o u g h i n g s t a n d of
a w i d e f l a n g e b e a m mill for rolling
European standard sections and
straight-flange beams.
140
••MM.
Fig. 128. Roll s e c t i o n s of a u n i v e r s a l

w i d e f l a n g e b e a m mill.
Fig. 129. C i r c u l a r s a w for c u t t i n g t h e

h o t b e a m s into c o m m e r c i a l l e n g t h s .
Fig. 130. Roller l e v e l l e r u s e d

for straightening finished
rolled sections.
continuous roughing mill. The billets from the roughing mill pass through
a reheating furnace and are then transferred to the finishing mill. The
finishing mill has a ten-stand continuous mill train, four stands in cross-
country arrangement and two four-stand finishing groups. The four-stand
finishing groups h a v e alternate horizontal and vertical roll stands. Mill
layout and number of mill stands are a result of the comprehensive rolling
schedule and the comparatively high production rate required. The rolling
142
schedule includes:— Rounds (or wire rod) from yU in. to IV4 in. diameter,
squares from 9/32 in. to l 3 /ie in., flats from :,/4 in. X Vs in to in. X
Vie in., angles and Tees from 3A in. >'.'',U in. to 2 i n . X 2 in., and hexagonal bars
from V2 in. to lVs in. A mechanised double cooling bank 40 ft. long, together
with the n e c e s s a r y transport and loading facilities for the finished pro-
ducts is also part of this plant, Figs 133 and 134.
Mechanised cooling banks of this kind, built to various systems, are linked
with ttte conveying equipment for supply and delivery in such a w a y that
ail movements of the material handled are completely coordinated. In-
coming bars are straightened and remain so during onward transmission.
It is common practice today to roll wire rod which is reduced to diameters
down to 3/16 in. in a continuous mill, Fig. 135. W h e n it leaves the last stand,
the finished rod travels at anything up to 100 ft. per second, the speed of
an express train. Electrically driven reels automatically wind the wire
into coils. As each coil is finished, it drops onto a chain conveyor which
transfers it to another conveyor. Suspended from the hooks of this latter
conveyor, the coiled rod proceeds slowly t o w a r d s the loading point, cool-
ing down at the same time. Normally, wire rod less than 3/ie in. in diameter
is not rolled but manufactured from rolled wire rod on the wire-drawing
machines of wire-drawing works.
Tyre and wheel rolling mills
The railways in particular, and m a n y other users too, require large quan-
tities of rolled tyres, wheel centres and rings. Tyres are manufactured
from small, flat blocks or from blanks cut from an ingot on a slicing lathe.
Fig. 131. S e c t i o n s
rolled on a two-
stand rail, beam
a n d section mill.
T h e h e a v i e s t b e a m is
12 in. d e e p X 8 in.
w i d e ; t h e l e g s of t h e
l i g h t e s t a n g l e a r e 3 in.
long.
143
Fig. 132. View of a
modern light sec-
lion and wire rod
mill with horizontal
and vertical stands.
The blanks are first punched and then forged into rough rings on hammers
or presses before they are returned to the furnace Lo be heated to the pro-
per temperature for rolling. The rolling mill illustrated in Fig. 136 has a
grooved work roll which obtains its drive through a vertical shaft from
an underfloor driving unit and an idling pressure roll which presses the
tyre against a grooved roll. Two further grooved rolls, located at the
sides, are used as guide rolls for the ring. The guide rolls are reset as the
diameter of the ring increases. After rolling the rings are carefully an-
nealed in soaking pits.
Wheel centres are rolled in a similar manner. The blanks are forged under
a hammer or press and rolled to size on a wheel mill. The contours are
imparted to the wheel by a flanging press.
The production ol tubes
Steel tubes are of two main types, "seamless tubes" and "welded tubes".
The production of seamless steel tubes is one of the most interesting fields
for the rolling mill engineer as it constantly confronts him with new, dif-
ficult problems. There are two steps in the production of seamless tubes.
The first step is the "piercing" of the ingot or billet to a hollow body, and
the second step is the progressive elongation and thinning-down of the
resulting bottle or bloom into a finished tube.
144
Fig. 133. Mechanised double cooling bank, Fig. 134. Loading facility follow-
40 ft. long, for light sections. ing the cooling bank seen in
In t h e c e n t r e t h e r e a r e t h e f a c i l i t i e s f o r f e e d i n g in b a r s Fig. 133.
f r o m t h e r o l l i n g mill. T h e b a r s a r e t h e n t r a n s f e r r e d t o O n t h e r i g h t is t h e c o n t r o l d e s k for t h e
the right, to the delivery table, b y a reciprocating grid. e n t i r e c o o l i n g b a n k , o n t h e left t h e
s h e a r for c u t t i n g t h e b a r i n t o e q u a l
l e n g t h s ; in t h e c e n t r e t h e s t a c k i n g a n d
l o a d i n g f a c i l i t y . Bars or r o d s c a n a l s o
be bundled.
Fig. 135. Six-stand wire rod

finishing mill (three horizon-
tal and three vertical stands
of a combination wire rod,
light section, strip and skelp
rolling mill).
In t h e f o r e g r o u n d c a n b e s e e n t h e
w a t e r - c o o l e d t u b e s t h r o u g h which
t h e r o d is p a s s e d to t h e r e e l s a f t e r
leaving the last stand.
145
Rotary piercing mills", "cone-roll piercing mills", "disc piercing mills"

or p i e r c i n g presses, are employed lor the production of a h o l l o w body
( h o l l o w b l o o m ) f r o m a s o l i d b i l l e t . T h e p r o g r e s s i v e e l o n g a t i o n of t h e h o l l o w
b o d y t o t h e f i n i s h e d t u b e is d o n e o n p i l g e r m i l l s , A s s e l m i l l s , automatic
t w o - h i g h p l u g rolling mills, c o n t i n u o u s mills a n d on t u b e p u s h benches.
The pilger process is e m p l o y e d for the manufacture of t u b e s approxi-
m a t e l y 2 " lo 2 f t . i n d i a m e t e r a n d u p t o iOO f t . l o n g . R o l l e d r o u n d b a r s t o c k
is u s e d a s s t a r t i n g m a t e r i a l f o r t u b e s l e s s t h a n , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3V>" i n d i a -
m e t e r , c y l i n d r i c a l i n g o t s ol o p e n - h e a r t h steel for t h e m e d i u m and large
s i z e s of s e a m l e s s t u b e . T h e i n g o t s , s a w n o r b r o k e n t o t h e r e q u i r e d length,
arc t h o r o u g h l y h e a t e d in p u s h e r or rotating hearth furnaces and trans-
f e r r e d to the rotary piercing mill for rolling into hollow blooms. The
r o t a r y p i e r c i n g m i l l , s h o w n i n F i g s 137 a n d 138, h a s t w o d o u b l e conical
w o r k r o l l s , i n c l i n e d i n o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n s a t a s m a l l a n g l e t o t h e a x i s of
t h e w o r k . B e c a u s e of t h e o b l i q u i v i t y of t h e r o l l a x i s , t h e m o t i o n imparted
to t h e b i l l e t b e t w e e n t h e r o l l s is o n e of r o t a t i o n a n d a x i a l a d v a n c e . The
l e a d i n g e n d of t h e b i l l e t e n c o u n t e r s t h e p o i n t e d e n d of t h e p i e r c i n g man-
d r e l . T h e g r i p of t h e r o l l s is s u f f i c i e n t t o c o n t i n u e t h e a d v a n c e of t h e w o r k .
The "piercing mandrel" is h e l d i n p o s i t i o n b y a " m a n d r e l s u p p o r t bar",
m o u n t e d i n a t h r u s t b e a r i n g s o t h a t it c a n r o t a t e f r e e l y . B y e x e r t i n g p r e s -
s u r e o n l y o n t h e s u r f a c e of t h e b i l l e t , t h e w o r k r o l l s f o r c e t h e m e t a l over
t h e m a n d r e l t o f o r m a b l o o m w h o s e i n s i d e d i a m e t e r is s l i g h t l y l a r g e r t h a n
t h e m a n d r e l of t h e s u b s e q u e n t s t r e t c h r e d u c i n g m i l l . T h e g u i d e s " b " a n d " c "
s e e n i n F i g . 137 a r e e m p l o y e d t o r e t a i n t h e b l o o m i n h o r i z o n t a l position
a n d to p r e v e n t e x c e s s i v e o v a l l i n g of t h e t u b e .
T h e t h i c k - w a l l e d b l o o m is n o w t r a n s f e r r e d b y t h e s h o r t e s t r o u t e t o the
" P i l g e r m i l l " , F i g s 139 a n d 140. T h e b l o o m is t h r e a d e d o n t o a m a n d r e l and
p u s h e d t o w a r d s t h e m i l l b y a h y d r a u l i c f e e d i n g d e v i c e . T h e r o l l s of the
m i l l r o t a t e a g a i n s t t h e d i r e c t i o n i n w h i c h t h e b l o o m is i n t r o d u c e d a n d t h e y
Fig. 136. Simplest t y p e

of t y r e mill rolling a n
a n g l e ring.
h a v e a s e m i - c i r c u l a r g r o o v e of i r r e g u l a r s e c t i o n c u t i n t h e m . I l l u s t r a t i o n I
i n F i g . 139 s h o w s t h e b l o o m b e i n g g r i p p e d a n d t h e r o l l s t a k i n g a b i t e f r o m
the bfoom. tllustrations f t a n d III s h o w the bite being rolled d o w n and
e x t e n d e d in the f o r w a r d d i r e c t i o n w h i l e t h e b l o o m a n d t h e m a n d r e l are
p u s h e d b a c k w a r d s . A s soon as t h e w i d e g a p r e a p p e a r s , the m a n d r e l and
the bloom jump forward again (illustration IV) b y Vi t o 1 in. A t each
f o r w a r d j u m p t h e b l o o m is t u r n e d t h r o u g h 90 d e g r e e s . T h u s , a n o t h e r s h o r t
l e n g t h of b l o o m is a v a i l a b l e f o r r o l l i n g . T h e c y c l e is r e p e a t e d u n t i l the
b l o o m is r o l l e d d o w n t o a t u b e of t h e r e q u i r e d s i z e . T h e r h y t h m i c series
of j u m p s f o r w a r d a n d s l o w e r m o v e m e n t s b a c k a g a i n h a s g i v e n t h e m i l l i t s
n a m e . T h e w o r d " P i l g e r " is t h e G e r m a n f o r " p i l g r i m " , a n d a p i l g r i m ap-
proaches a shrine b y t a k i n g t w o steps f o r w a r d and one step back.
A f t e r r o l l i n g , t h e t u b e e n d s a r e g e n e r a l l y c u t off b y h o t s a w s . T h e tube
is t h e n r e h e a t e d a n d p a s s e d t h r o u g h a " s i z i n g m i l l " w h i c h r e d u c e s it t o
the correct diameter.
T h e a u t o m a t i c t w o - h i g h p l u g m i l l s a r e a f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e o f d
S w e d i s h p r o c e s s . O n t h e s e mills t h i n - w a l l e d shells a r e p r o c e s s e d in t w o
t o t h r e e p a s s e s i n t o f i n i s h e d t u b e s h a v i n g a m a x i m u m l e n g t h of 50 ft. a n d
a n o u t s i d e d i a m e t e r b e t w e e n 2.3 a n d 15.0 in. W i t h l a r g e r t u b e d i a m e t e r s ,
t w o - h i g h p l u g r o l l i n g mills w o r k in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t w o r o t a r y p i e r c i n g
mills, t h e s e c o n d r o t a r y p i e r c i n g mill o p e r a t i n g as a n e x p a n d i n g mill.
Fig. 137. Basic prin-

ciple of t h e m o d e of
o p e r a t i o n of a rotary-
p i e r c i n g mill.
a — work rolls; b : guide
rolls; c — lixed guides; J5b - w
d - round billet; e = man-
drel head.
S k e t c h e s A, B a n d C in-
dicate the usual arrange-
ment of g u i d e rolls a n d
fixed guides when reducing
thick, m e d i u m or t h i n - w a l l e d
tubes.
Fig. 138, R o t a r y p i e r c i n g mill

p i e r c i n g a r o u n d billet to b e
s u b s e q u e n t l y r e d u c e d on a
Pilger mill.
From the piercing mill, the "pierced shell" (bloom) proceeds to the auto-
matic two-high mill, Fig. 141, w h e r e it is introduced into the groove by
means of an air cylinder. The work rolls of the two-high plug rolling mill
h a v e several round grooves. The rolls force the pierced shell over a plug,
thus reducing its outside diameter and wall thickness.
"Stripper rolls" with grooves equal to those of the w o r k rolls are mounted
behind the work rolls across the back of the stand. The stripper rolls ro-
tate at a high speed and against the direction of rotation of the w o r k rolls.
As soon as the shell has passed through the groove, the w o r k rolls are
opened and the stripper rolls are closed so that the shell is returned to
the entering side of the mill after e v e r y pass. The plug over which the
tube is rolled is held in position b y a "mandrel b a r " which, in turn, is
supported in a mandrel thrust bearing.
After rolling on the two-high mill, the tubes pass through a "reeling ma-
chine". The reeling operation has the effect of rounding up and burnishing
the surface of the tube. The tubes are then given their final size on a
sizing mill.
In the continuous process a thick-walled bloom is rolled into tubing on
eight to ten t a n d e m two-high mill stands. A mandrel, slightly longer than
the finished tube, is inserted in the bloom and passes t h r o u g h the mill with
148
I
Fig. 139. Diagrammatic repre-

sentation of the Pilger process.
a = w o r k r o l l s ; b = Pilger m a n d r e l ;
c = bloom; d = pilgered tube; I =
b i t e ; II = e l o n g a t i o n of b l o o m ; III =
HI s m o o t h i n g d o w n o u t s i d e of t u b e ; IV =
jump forward through wide gap.
IV
356-57
t h e w o r k p i e c e . T h e c o n t i n u o u s p r o c e s s w a s d e v e l o p e d in G e r m a n y a b o u t
50 y e a r s a g o . T o d a y a n i m p r o v e d v e r s i o n of t h e p r o c e s s is e m p l o y e d i n
t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , i n p a r t i c u l a r f o r t h e l a r g e - s c a l e p r o d u c t i o n of t u b e s u p
t o 6.3 in.
T h e A s s e l m i l l is a c o m p a r a t i v e l y r e c e n t p r o c e s s f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n of
t h i c k - w a l l e d p r e c i s i o n s t e e l t u b e a s u s e d f o r t h e m a n u f a c t u r e of b a l l - b e a r i n g
r a c e s , Fig. 142. T h e A s s e l m i l l c o n s i s t s of t h r e e r o l l s w h i c h c r o s s - r o l l t h e
thick-walled p i e r c e d shell o v e r a m a n d r e l . A s in t h e c o n t i n u o u s process,
t h e m a n d r e l m o v e s a l o n g w i t h t h e s h e l l b e f o r e it is r e m o v e d f r o m t h e
f i n i s h e d t u b e b y m e a n s of a n e x t r a c t i n g d e v i c e .
149
Fig. 140. A b l o o m pro-

d u c e d on a r o t a r y
piercing mill being
i n t r o d u c e d in t h e Pil-
g e r mill to b e r e d u c e d
to a long, t h i n - w a l l e d
tube.
The "push bench process", pioneered by Heinrich Ehrhardt in the nineties,

is distinguished b y a simplicity of deformation, well-arranged operation
and high output. A square billet which is h e a t e d to about 1,250° C is placed
in a cylindrical steel mould and pierced down the centre b y a cylindrical
punch. The operation, shown in diagrammatic form in Fig. 143, pierces and
elongates the billet and changes it from square to round section but leaves
the far end closed. The resulting "bottle" is then placed on the feed table
of the push bench, Fig. 144. A gear rack pushes a cylindrical mandrel which
is slightly longer than the finished tube into the hole in the bottle and forces
the bottle on the front end of the mandrel through a series of "ring dies"
or, of late, "roller dies", each smaller in diameter than the previous die
so that it is progressively squeezed thinner and extended. The next step
is to get the mandrel out. To do this the tube is transferred by roller table
to the reeling machine w h e r e it is reeled b e t w e e n two rolls set askew. The
reeling process lifts the tube off the mandrel, thus allowing the mandrel
to be easily w i t h d r a w n by means of caterpillar tracks or friction rollers.
W h e r e a s the mandrel is sent back for further work, the tube with its
ends cut off by saws is passed through a sizing mill to be given its final
size. Until a few y e a r s ago, the length of tubes manufactured by the push
bench process w a s limited to about 26 ft. However, recent developments
150
Fig. 141. Automatic

t w o - h i g h p l u g rolling
mill. T h e p u s h e r can
b e s e e n in t h e fore-
g r o u n d , b e h i n d it is a
t u b e r e t u r n e d a f t e r its
first p a s s t h r o u g h t h e
mill.
Fig. 142. A s s e l rolling

mill for t h e p r o d u c t i o n
of thick-walled preci-
sion steel t u b e as em-
p l o y e d in t h e m a n u -
f a c t u r e of ball b e a r -
ing races.
151
Fig. 143. Diagrammatic

illustration of the
d piercing operation.
a - cylindrical mould with
bottom; b and c = billet;
d - punch; c = guide; f —
c bottle.
a f-
Fig. 144. The bottle is
forced at high speed
through a series of
ring dies of the tube
35 6-73
bench and is thus
l e n g t h e n e d to a tube
up to 40 ft. long.
have made the production of tubes up to 40 ft. long possible, and efforts
are being made to produce still longer tubes.
The manufacture of tubes down to Va in. outside diameter is performed
on stretch-reducing mills, Figs 145 to 147, using thick tubes as initial ma-
terial. Modern stretch-reducing mills consist of some 20 stands spaced as
close to one another as possible. Each stand has three rolls, the pass of
each consecutive set of rolls being smaller than the previous one, cor-
responding to the reduction in tube diameter. Each consecutive pair of
152
rolls is driven at a speed in excess of that required to deliver an equal

volume of metal per unit of time from each roll stand. Tension is thereby
developed in the tube b e t w e e n stands which permits wall thickness reduc-
tions of up to 30 per cent to be obtained. Due to their high capacity, stretch-
reducing mills h a v e proved to be particularly economical. A wide range
of finished tube sizes can be made from only a few standard tube dimen-
sions. For instance, only two mandrel sizes are required on a push bench
in order to produce finished tubes in the 13/ie to 5Va in. outside diameter
range on the stretch-reducing mill following it.
Brief mention must also be made of a tube rolling process by which par-
ticularly large and h e a v y tubes, large-pressure vessels, etc. can be rolled.
The "Roeckner mill", named after its inventor, has several pairs of rolls
with grooves of different sizes, arranged in a circle. W h e r e a s the inner
rolls reduce the inside wall, the outer rolls roll down the outside wall of
the bloom. The rolls are so rotated that the tube, as it is formed, travels
along on its own axis and the rolls describe a helix on it. Unlike the rolls
in the Pilger process, the rolls of the Roeckner mill do not roll the walls
Fig. 145. R e d u c i n g mill for t u b e s .

T h e t u b e m a n u f a c t u r e d on t h e p u s h bench a r r i v e s f r o m t h e h e a t i n g f u r n a c e and p a s s e s t h r o u g h an
c i g h t - s l a n d , t w o - r o i l sizing mill. T h i s is f o l l o w e d b y t h e t w e n t y - s t a n d s t r e t c h - r e d u c i n g mill of t h r e e - r o i l
d e s i g n , as s h o w n in Fig. 146, r e c o g n i s a b l e in this p i c t u r e . T h e t u b e — 5 to 6 t i m e s ils o r i g i n a l l e n g t h
is cut to c o m m e r c i a l l e n g t h s on the r o t a r y s a w p r o v i d e d a l t e r t h e mill.
Fig. 146. A r r a n g e m e n t of t h e
rolls of a t u b e r e d u c i n g mill.
Fig. 147. E x a m p l e s h o w i n g
t h e a m o u n t of r e d u c t i o n ob-
t a i n a b l e on a stretch-reduc- 4
ing mill.
of the bloom in the longitudinal direction but transversely. Tubes or ves-

sels up to 6 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. long, weighing as much as 70 tons, can
be rolled on this mill.
Progress in welding technique has resulted in large, thick-walled tubes as
produced on the Roeckner mill to be made more economically b y welding.
But medium and thin-walled tubes are also welded on a large scale. Of
the m a n y and various methods of m a n u f a c t u r i n g welded tubes, only a
few of the most important ones can be dealt with in this book, viz. the
"continuous butt weld Fretz-Moon process", the "electrical resistance weld
process", and the "union melt (submerged-arc or Ellira) process".
In the Fretz-Moon process successive lengths of rolled skelp are welded
together before being passed through a long heating f u r n a c e in the form
of an endless strip. Immediately after leaving the furnace, the strip h e a t e d
to welding t e m p e r a t u r e is formed into a cylinder, and the edges are butt-
welded b y their own heat by passing through a series of successive pairs
of rolls. Finally the tube diameter is slightly reduced, Fig. 148. The issuing
tube is then cut to length by a flying saw which moves at the same speed
as the metal it cuts. Gas and w a t e r pipes up to 2Vz in. inside diameter are
the main products made by the Fretz-Moon process.
Fig. 148. F r e t z - M o o n p l a n t for the m a n u f a c t u r e of w e l d e d t u b e s .

T h i s s h o w s t h e hisl t h r e e s t a n d s o n which Ihe w e l d e d l u b e is slil! s l i g h t l y r e d u c e d . I m m e d i a t e l y b e h i n d
t h e mill is the r o t a r y s a w .
The electrical resistance weld process also uses an endless strip, produced
by welding together successive lengths ol skelp which h a v e been pre-
viously pickled or sand-blasted and w h o s e edges h a v e b e e n trimmed. As
it passes through the forming unit, the strip is formed into an open tube
by a series of forming rolls. From the forming rolls, the open tube passes
directly to the welding unit, Fig. 149, where, through the action of alternat-
ing current of low voltage and high amperage, the abutting edges are
v e r y quickly heated to welding temperature. At the same time the edges
are pressed firmly together by a pair of horizontal rolls to complete the
weld. The welded tube is then continuously cut to length by rotary cutting
tools or saws.
The union melt process, Fig. 150, is employed for the production of heavily
stressed tubes and hollow bodies up to the largest diameters and wall thick -
155
Fig. 149. R e s i s t a n c e w e l d i n g p l a n t for t u b e s f r o m Fig. 150. W e l d i n g a l a r g e

i
U in. to l 3 /4 in. o u t s i d e d i a m e t e r ; m i n i m u m w a l l t u b e b y t h e u n i o n m e l t pro-
thickness U.024 in., m a x i m u m w a l l thickness 0.083 in. cess.
nesses. After the plate has been formed into circular shape on a bending
machine, the edges of the plate are p r e p a r e d with a single-V. In this pro-
cess the tube, clamped in position, and an automatically fed welding wire
act as electrodes, the weld seam being continuously covered with granu-
lated powder. The welds produced are dense, uniform, and of a high degree
of purity. They are almost as strong as the parent material.
To produce longer tubes with smaller diameters, seamless or welded tube
can be " d r a w n " on a "drawbench" or on "multi-strand cold rolling mills".
Hot drawbenches on which tubes are d r a w n and reduced in the hot con-
dition h a v e lost importance particularly for the production of small sizes
since sizing and stretch-reducing mills w e r e perfected to give good results
both technically and economically. Cold drawing tubes, k n o w n in the trade
as "precision steel tubes" are, however, m a n u f a c t u r e d on a large scale and
156
Fig. 151. Triple draw bench for steel tube, 100-ton pull.
h a v e a v e r y wide range of applications. In the cold drawing process, the

rolled or welded tube is d r a w n simultaneously over a plug and through a
reducing die, the inside diameter being controlled by the plug and the
outside diameter by the die. Much has b e e n done during recent y e a r s to
improve the design of drawbenches with a view to increasing their pro-
duction capacity and the quality of the finished product. A modern tube
Fig. 152. Part view

of a draw bench for
tubes.
The picture shows the
t h r e a d i n g of a t u b e b y
m e a n s of a pinch roll
unit d u r i n g t h e d r a w i n g
operation.
157
drawbench, as illustrated in Figs 151 and 152, operates at drawing speeds

of up to 230 ft. per minute, drawing t h r e e or five tubes at a time, while
the next d r a w of three or five tubes is being prepared. The first draw
which may be followed by further draws brings about a reduction in dia-
meter of b e t w e e n 20 and 45 per cent, depending on the material handled.
Steel which due to its h a r d grain structure is unsuitable for drawing, can
readily be processed on multi-strand cold reducing mills, Fig. 153. In con-
tra-distinction with the hot reducing process, the so-called pilgrim rolling
process, the mandrel remains stationary while the rolls describe a reci-
procating m o v e m e n t on the tube. W h e n the dies h a v e done their work
on the length of tube accessible to them, the tube is fed forward and
turned through 60 degrees. Because of the high reduction obtainable in
this process, it will, no doubt, find wide acceptance in the f u t u r e for
standard-grade steels.
Fig. 153. View of

feed unit and rolls
of a multi-strand
cold tube rolling
mill.
158
The Iron and Steel Works' Heat and Power Economy
Reference has r e p e a t e d l y been made in this book to the utilisation of coke

oven and blast f u r n a c e gases, the byproducts of coking and blast furnace
plants. These gases arise in such vast quantities that the enormous heat
and p o w e r requirements of a blast f u r n a c e plant, steelworks and rolling
mill to which a coking plant is attached, can readily be covered.
In the power station, Fig. 154, gas is used either to fire the steam genera-
tors that supply the steam for driving the turbine-dynamo sets or to oper-
ate gas engines with direct-driven dynamos. But there are still many
p o w e r stations in iron and steel w o r k s in which the gas is used for oper-
ating gas engines, Fig. 155, coupled direct with dynamos for the generation
of power.
The schematic layout, Fig. 157, shows how closely gas interconnects and
couples the various sections of an iron and steel w o r k s with the coking
plants and mines. 15 cwts of blast furnace coke, equivalent to a calorific
value of 28,000,000 B.Th.U., are produced in the coking plant from 1 ton
of small hard coal having a heat content of 21,800,000 B.Th.U. The resultant
coke oven gas taking 6,200,000 B.Th.U. of the heat content of the small
h a r d coal is partly diverted to the long-distance gas system and partly to
the plant's own steel and rolling mills, following the recovery of various
byproducts from it. The coke finds its w a y to the blast furnace where it
supplies the heat and carbon required in the chemical reactions. As the
carbon is only partially burnt in these reactions, a m a j o r portion of it is
converted into carbon monoxide which constitutes the main component of
the blast furnace gas escaping at the furnace throat. Blast furnace gas is
the backbone, as it were, of the plant's entire heat and power supply. It
heats the coke ovens, sparing the more valuable coke oven gas for other
purposes, supplies the heat for the blast air in the hot blast stoves, drives
the blast f u r n a c e and steel w o r k s blowers. Mixed with coke oven gas to
obtain higher temperatures, it heats the various furnaces, ovens and other
steel and rolling mill facilities. Finally, it supplies the fuel for the power
station which generates the electric current to p o w e r the rolling mills,
hammers, presses, hoists, cranes and other ancillary mechanism, as well
as the mechanical installation in the mine and coking plant.
159
Fig. 154. On the left is
the power station of an
iron and steel works.
The high p r e s s u r e s t e a m ge-
n e r a t o r s at this p o w e r s t a t i o n
arc; f i r e d w i t h blast f u r n a c e g a s .
T h e s t e a m g e n e r a t e d is u s e d
to p o w e r t u r b o - d y n a m o s to c o v -
er t h e e l e c t r i c p o w e r r e q u i r e -
ment of t h e entire 1 i r o n a n d
s t e e l w o r k s . S u r p l u s p o w e r is
fed to the public p o w e r supply
system.
Fig. 155. Part of the

power station of an iron
and steel works.
H e r e b l a s t f u r n a c e gas is con-
v e r t e d d i r e c t into e l e c t r i c cur-
r e n t b y m e a n s of g a s e n g i n e -
driven dynamos. The power
g e n e r a t e d c o m e s to 140,000 HP.
From Fig. 156 it is obvious that the shut-down of blast furnaces would not
only involve considerable difficulties for the collieries but would also
h a v e serious repercussions on the heat and p o w e r economy of iron and
steel works, coking plants and collieries, owing to a reduction in the supply
of coke oven and blast f u r n a c e gas. Long-distance gas supply would, of
course, be similarly affected. There w a s ample evidence of this in the
years of the general trade depression when, owing to the greatly reduced
demand for pig iron, coking plants had to coke quantities of coal far in
excess of blast f u r n a c e plant requirements and those of other m a r k e t s in
order to maintain the supply of gas to affiliated plants and grid systems.
In point of fact, it appeared that principal and byproducts had almost
exchanged their roles.
160
Big. 156. A flow diagram T h e f i g u r e s s h o w n r e p r e s e n t a c a l o r i f i c v a l u e in 1,000 of
showing the utilisation k i l o g r a m - c a l o r i e s j k c a l ) o r t h e r m a l units of the volume of
gas used for the various purposes indicated, related to 1 ton
of the coking coal in a of c o a l c h a r g e d t o t h e c o k e o v e n . A kilogram-calorie or
coking plant linked with t h e r m a l u n i t i s t h e h e a t r e q u i r e d t o raise the temperature
an iron and steel works of 1 k g of w a t e r b y 1 d e g r e e . ( S t a t i s t i c s obtained from
"Gemeinfasslidie Darstellung des Eisenhuttenwesens" (Po-
{model instance —^ no pular iron and steel metallurgy), published by V e r l a g Stahl-
losses). eisen mbH, Diisseldorf).
Small Coal
Lump C o a l
Blast-Furnace
Gas
Coke-Oven
Gas
Electric
Current
Air Blast
Steel Everywhere
As has been mentioned in the introduction to this book, the world's annual
production of iron and steel amounts to several h u n d r e d million tons.
Where, one m a y ask, does this vast quantity go? — One of the m a j o r
consumers is the construction industry which uses steel in steel building
structures and bridges, reinforced concrete structures and hydraulic struc-
tures. Further quantities go into the construction of cars, ships, aircraft,
railway wagons, tracks and traffic control facilities. Iron and steel are the
main constituents in machines and apparatus of e v e r y description, be
they machine tools and iron and steel w o r k s equipment, textile machines
or units employed in the chemical industry. The quantities of steel used in
Fig. 157. Plant and equip-

ment for mining and haul-
ing coal, pit props and
contrivances employed for
supporting the rock in
gate roads and haulage-
ways, ventilation equip-
ment, conveying facilities
and shaft sheds — all are
m a d e of steel.
162
Fig. 158. Steel piping used to feed w a t e r to steel turbines to h a r n e s s the natural
power of water and convert it into u s e f u l effort.
163
Fig. 159. Ships m a d e of steel ply b e t w e e n the continents. Cargoes are loaded and
discharged b y m e a n s of steel cranes.
the h a r d w a r e industry is surprisingly high considering that the products

of this industry are largely used in the home in the form of small and
smallest articles of e v e r y d a y use. In 1960 no less than 300,000 tons of sheet
were used in the Federal Republic of G e r m a n y in the m a n u f a c t u r e of tins
and containers of e v e r y description as used today in the foodstuff industry.
Wire, insignificant as it m a y appear, amply illustrates the n u m e r o u s appli-
cations of a single rolling mill product. W i r e rod is reduced to the desired
size by rolling, followed by drawing. Its strength is increased several
times through heat treatment and cold drawing. Wire for reinforcing
concrete, for fences, chains, wire-netting, nails and rivets, is produced
from mild steel while cable wire for mining uses, hoists, marine engineering
jobs, cableways, cable bridges, is made from hard grade alloyed steels.
Other manufactures include springs, tools, wire mesh and all kinds of
needles. Hardened card wires for teaseling machines, used in the napping
of cloth, are as an example of great importance to the textile industry.
Another point deserving of note is the increase in value attainable through
processing and refining steel. W h e r e a s a pound of open-hearth steel m a y
only cost 7 d. in its ingot state, the price increases to b e t w e e n 9 d. and
164
Fig. 160. M a n y thou-
sand tons of steel in
the form of motor ve-
hicles cover the giant
p a r k i n g lots p r o v i d e d
in the vicinity of fair
grounds, exhibitions,
meeting and sports
fields.
Fig. 161. The railways

a r e one of the largest
consumers of steel.
Steel trains on steel
tracks carry p a s s e n g e r s
and freight in all parts
of the world.
165
Fig. 162. A comparison with
the passenger car on the left
illustrates the giant size of
this combination excavator
and spreader used in lignite
mining operations.
Fig. 163. The inside of the

fire box of a pulverised coal-
fired Benson generator boi-
ler. The boiler contains many
miles of high-temperature
steel.
166
Figs 164 and 165. Steel drums,
cans, containers and tins are
used to an increasing extent
in the foodstuff industry for
packing purposes.
167
Steel E v e r y w h e r e
Fig. 167. The assembly line production of motor vehicles and other investment and
consumer goods required in large quantities calls for machine tools and handling
equipment made of steel.
Fig. 166. Industrial equipment plant of all kinds

are made from iron and steel, with the aid of steel
machine tools in mechanical engineering firms.
169
Fig. 168. T a n k s , columns, f r a m e w o r k s a n d p i p i n g a r e t h e s y m b o l of t h e chemical

i n d u s t r y . A t a n g l e of steel — q u i t e i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e to t h e u n i n i t i a t e d — b u t
nevertheless a comprehensive balanced whole.
1 s. 1 d. when the steel has been converted into girders, plate, w i r e and so
forth. Special steels cost as much as 15 s. per lb. depending on their alloy
analysis; high-speed steels are priced at anything up to £ 2/10/—. These
figures v a r y appreciably with guantities, sizes and shapes. The value of
a product is greatly influenced b y its shape. Strip for all kinds of saws
is rolled on high-grade steel cold mills, as are pen nib and razor blade steel
and particularly highly stressed spring steel. Spring steel is not only used
170
Fig. 169. Surprisingly large quantities of iron and steel go into the manufacture
of agricultural machinery, vehicles, sheds, implements, stables and fences.
Fig. 170. In the restaurant and canteen kitchen as well as at home many of the
kitchen utensils are made of steel.
171
Fig. 171. Steel bridges form a vital link b e t w e e n the b a n k s of a river.
for the m a n u f a c t u r e of large-size tension springs but also for their midget
brothers employed in watch and clock manufacture, The extent to which
refining, through alloying and processing, can b e carried, is evident from
the fact that one pound of b a l a n c e springs for men's watches costs about
£ 200 and one pound of balance springs for ladies' watches anything up to
£ 6,000.
It is no exaggeration to say that iron and steel touch our lives at e v e r y

point in a myriad of forms ranging from the watch spring, sawing needle
and pen nib to the giant machines and grand edifices of modern construc-
tion engineering. W i t h o u t steel, no industry, no traffic and no comfort in
e v e r y d a y life. Steel, in the form of articles or tools, is used by M a n at
work on the building site, in the mine or factory, at the office desk or
shop counter, at home, during play and w h e n travelling, and is part of his
very existence. In brief, steel is indispensable to our p r e s e n t age, and this
is w h y w e find
"Steel Everywhere".
172
Iron and steel glossary
T h e n u m b e r s f o l l o w i n g t h e w o r d s r e f e r to t h e p a g e s
on w h i c h t h e d e f i n i t i o n s a r e given.
acid 26 bucket charging 54 direct-reduction

acid Bessemer process 78 process 70
air separation plant 114 campaign 63 d i s k p i e r c i n g mill 146
case h a r d e n i n g 103 distributor 56
annealing 104
cast iron 13 door-machine 43
annealing bell 131
cast steel 14 double 126
back-up roll 120 chanelling 56 d o u b l e - d u o mill 119
baling chamber 94 charging box 83 down-hill casting 85
basic 26 charging equipment 54 draft 126
basic Bessemer con- chilled iron 14 drag 84
verter 87 coiler 130 draw 156
basic Bessemer pro-
coke-quenching car 43 drawbench 156
cess 78
coke wharf 43 dust catcher 59
basic process 23
cold reduction mill 126 Dwight-Lloyd-Mc
b a s k e t charging 102
container 118 W a n e process
bell and hopper 53
continuous butt weld electrical resistance
belt charging 54
Fretz-Moon process 154 weld process 154
billet 137
continuous casting 86, 106 e 1 e c t ri c - a r c f u r n a c e 101
black dolomite 114
converter 23, 78 electric f u r n a c e steel-
blast f u r n a c e burden 39
converter bottom making process 7'J
blast f u r n a c e by- 82
jack car electric precipitator 59
product 65 125
cooling b a n k electric reduction
blast f u r n a c e gas 59 53 67
cooling box furnace
blast f u r n a c e metal 79 75 25
core electric steel furnace
bleed 45 36 Ellira process 154
crab
bleeder 61 129 extrusion press
crop shear 118
blister steel 103 140
cross country mill fettling 76
bloom 17, 121
crucible finishing department 125
bloomery 17
crucible steelmaking flue 98
bloom reheating 24
process 59
furnace 138 f l u e dust,
cupola 72
blow 82 flux 40
cyclone 59
bosh 52 flying shear 137
bottle 150 dead rock 33 forging press 115
box ledge 95 descaling spray 129 f o u r - h i g h null 119
173
In m a c e roof 102 multi-strand cold rimming steel 85
i u m a r e throat 52 rolling mill 156 ring die 150
tunidce-top bell 56 n a t u r a l gas 98 RN process 71
Roeckner mill 153
(J d 1KJU0 26 on air 52 roller die 150
cji ab-equipped trolley 99 on gas 52 roller table 120
Cadet Rotor 89 open-hearth f u r n a c e 87 rolling mill 119
grey pig iron 13 open-hearth process 23 roll leveller 140
ground basic slag 99 open-hearth f u r n a c e roof 68
process 79
hammering 115 rotary piercing mill 146
oxygen-blown steel-
lied rlh 52 making process 86 r o t a r y shear 138
heat-resistant steel 15 oxygen lance 24 roughing stand 128
heat Ireatmerrt 103
hi till-tempera (lire steel 15 pass 121 sand p r e p a r a t i o n
50 pattern 75 machine 75
hot-blast stove
13 peel 96 scale 116
hot metal
70 pelletise 39 scale b r e a k e r 128
HYL process
pickling shop 127 scale car 54
inert gas 114 pierced shell 148 scarf 128
ingot buggy 120 piercing 144 scrap baler- 94
ingot iron 78 piercing mandrel 146 screw down 121
ingot mould 84 pig bed dressing scrubber 60
inner cover 131 machine 62, 63 seamless tube 144
i roil 12 pig casting machine 63 self-dumping car 44
Pilger mill 146 self-fluxinq sinter 39
Kdklo rotary I u m a r e 91
pin-hole plug 82 semi-finished product 137
k 111( <j su'ei 85
pneumatic conversion 78 shaft kiln 114
Krupp-Renn proces s 71
port 98 shear 122
lance 99 pouring spout 88 sheet bar 126, 137
1.1) process 24, 88 p o w d e r e d lime 92 shell 103
LDAC steelworks 89 precision steel tube 156 Siemens-Martin
leveller 125 puddling 21 , 78 process 23
43 push bench process 150 sizing mill 147
leveller bar
lilling magnet 94 pusher machine 43 skew roller table 140
67, 68 pusher-type f u r n a c e 138 skip charging 54
low-sluilt furnace
skull cracker crane 94
malleable cast iron 13, 14 quenching and tem- slab 125, 137
pering process 104
mandrel bar 148 slabbing ingot 85, 124
quenching tower 43
mandrel support bar 146 slag cake 99
manganese iron 14 recuperative 52 slag car 82
material balance sheet 62 reduce 61 slag inclusion 101
melting rate 72 reductant 70 slag notch 62
mild nteel 78 reeling machine 148 smalls 10
m i xer 80 refine 18 soaking pit 120
m i x 1 u re 72 refining 78 soaking pit crane 120
mould 63 reforming 70 solidify 63
moulding box 75 regenerative 52 spitting 108
moulding machine 75 regenerator 98 sponge iron 67
moulding sand 75 repeater 140 sprue 85, 108
174
stainless and acid- taphole gun 62 two-slag practice 92
resistant steel 15 teeming 84
u n i o n melt p r o c e s s 154
steel 14, 18 , 78 telpher line 83
u n i v e r s a l mill 124
steel forging 14 tempering 103
unpiler 128
stock 52 temper mill 127
up-hill casting 85
stock level 57 Thomas process 23, 79
stool 85 three-high mill 119 v a c u u m casting 86
strategic Udy process 69 tin plate 132 v a c u u m casting
stripper 85 tool steel 15 process 104
stripper roll 148 top discard 108 waste heat boiler 98
stripping stroke 106 top structure 53 Wiberg process 69
structural steel 15 torpedo ladle 80 wide flange beam
Stiirzelberg iron trunnion 80 rolling mill 139
reduction process 69
tunclish 106 w i t h d r a w a l roll 106
submerged-arc
process 154 tuyere 53 w h i l e pig iron 13
twist guide 137 w o r k roll 120
taphole 62 two-high mill 119 w r o u g h t iron 78
175
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s :—
Illustrations 1, 11—14, 16—22, 27, 31—33, 37—41, 44—50, 53, 64—70, 72—-76, 79—81,
86—89, 93, 98, 103—112, 114—117, 119—149, 151—153, 156, 157, 159, 160, 166—168
and 171 are reproduced by courtesy of DEMAG-Aktiengesellschaft, Duisburg;
illustration 2 by courtesy of Deutsches Museum, Munich; illustration 3 by courtesy
of Doria Gallery, Rome; illustration 4 by courtesy of Boymans Museum, Rotterdam;
illustrations 5, 158, 161, 163—165, 169 and 170 by courtesy of Beratungsstelle fur
Stahlverwendung, Diisseldorf; illustrations 6 and 7 by courtesy of M u s e e des
Beaux Arts, Liege; illustration 8 by courtesy of Luossavaara Kiirunavaara A. B.
Kiruna; illustration 9 by courtesy of Dsterreichische Alpine Montangesellschaft,
Vienna; illustration 10 by courtesy of DEMAG-Baggerfabrik GmbH, Diisseldorf-
Benrath; illustration 15 by courtesy of Skipco, Essen; illustrations 23 and 24 by
courtesy of Mc-Dowell Comp, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio; illustration 25 by courtesy
of Rheinische K a l k s t e i n w e r k e Wiilfrath; illustration 26 by courtesy of Heinrich
Koppers GmbH, Essen; illustrations 28—30, 34, 35 and 43 b y courtesy of Dingler-
werke AG, Zweibrticken; illustration 42 by courtesy of Aktiengesellschaft der
Dillinger Hiittenwerke, Dillingen; illustrations 51, 56—59 and 63 by courtesy of
J u n k e r a t h e r Maschinenfabrik GmbH, J u n k e r a t h , illustrations 52 and 82—84 by
courtesy of DEMAG-Elektrometallnrgie GmbH, Duisburg; illustrations 54, 55, 61,
62 and 78 by courtesy of DEMAG-Zug GmbH, W e t t e r ; illustrations 60 and 92 by-
courtesy of FMA Pokorny, Frankfort; illustration 71 by courtesy of Koninklijke
Nederlandsche Hochovens- en Stahlfabrieken, Ijmuiden; illustrations 77 and 154
by courtesy of Phoenix-Rheinrohr AG, Duisburg-Ruhrort; illustrations 90 and 91
by courtesy of Ruhrstahl AG, W i t t e n ; illustrations 94, 100 and 101 by courtesy
of Hydraulik GmbH, Duisburg; illustrations 95 and 113 by courtesy of Adolf Messer
GmbH, Frankfort; illustrations 96 and 97 by courtesy ol Laeis-Werke AG, Treves;
illustrations 99, 102 and 118 by courtesy of OFU Ofenbau-Union GmbH, Diisseldorf;
illustration 150 by courtesy of M a n n e s m a n n Hiittenwerke AG, Diisseldorf; illustra-
tion 162 by courtesy of Lauchhammer Maschinen- und Stahlbau GmbH, Diisseldorf-
Benrath. Diagrams and instruction charts by Erich Jeschke, Duisburg.
176
T h e i n f o r m a t i o n is s o u n d a n d w e l l p r e s e n t e d .
T h e w r i t i n g is s i m p l e , c l e a r , n e v e r v a g u e or
o v e r c r o w d e d a n d it is b a c k e d b y n u m e r o u s
attractive and unusual illustrations. A hand-
b o o k , so i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t it r e a d s as if its
a u t h o r w e r e an e n t h u s i a s t e n j o y i n g himself, is
a t r u e r a r i t y . . . A s k i l f u l d e s c r i p t i o n for t h e
l a y m a n of t h e o r i g i n of a m a t e r i a l u s e d for
t h e p r o d u c t i o n of so m a n y a r t i c l e s which a r e
p a r t of our e v e r y - d a y e x i s t e n c e .
T h e r e a d e r is n o t b u r d e n e d w i t h technical de-
t a i l s a n d s c i e n t i f i c p r o b l e m s . . . A m a s s of
p u r e k n o w l e d g e p r e s e n t e d m o s t a t t r a c t i v e l y . It
is f a r a n d a w a y t h e b e s t r e f e r e n c e w o r k of
its k i n d .
It is c e r t a i n l y t h e b e s t i n t r o d u c t o r y w o r k on
i r o n a n d s t e e l m a n u f a c t u r e for y o u n g p e o p l e
n o w a v a i l a b l e , a n d it w o u l d n o t b e difficult to
m a k e out a c a s e for it b e i n g t h e b e s t for their
f a t h e r s as w e l l .
M a n y an e n g i n e e r will e n j o y r e a d i n g it. It
s h o u l d b e in t h e l i b r a r y of e v e r y t r a d e school
a n d technical c o l l e g e .
A b o o k e x c i t i n g to r e a d , it p r o v i d e s e v e n the
u n i n i t i a t e d w i t h a lucid p i c t u r e of iron and
steel manufacture.
W i t h o u t d o u b t a f i r s t - r a t e b o o k on iron and
s t e e l m e t a l l u r g y . It c a n b e r e c o m m e n d e d with
c o n f i d e n c e as a t e x t b o o k for highschool, trade
school a n d technical c o l l e g e u s e .
T h e a u t h o r h a s not p r o d u c e d j u s t a n o t h e r text-
b o o k or r e f e r e n c e w o r k , w i t h i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e
f o r m u l a e and s h o p d r a w i n g s . . . H e p r e s e n t s
a v i v i d , r e a d i l y u n d e r s t a n d a b l e p i c t u r e , aided
o n l y b y s i m p l e s k e t c h e s , a n d , a b o v e all things,
b y numerous attractive illustrations.
It is n o s i m p l e t a s k to p r o d u c e a h a n d b o o k on
so c o m p l e x a s u b j e c t , which c a n b e r e a d and
e n j o y e d by the layman. M. M. F. T o u s s a i n t has
d o n e t h i s in a m a s t e r l y fashion.
A w o r d of s p e c i a l p r a i s e is d u e to the a d m i r a b -
le m a n n e r in which t h e b o o k h a s b e e n illus-
t r a t e d . . . It is to b e r e c o m m e n d e d w h o l e -
heartedly.

From Ore To Steel

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From Ore To Steel

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FROM ORE

The important role now played by iron and

M . M . F. Toussatnt, Dipl.-lng., VDI, VDEli.

VERLAQ STAHLEISEN M . B. H . , Dt/SSELDORF

& 1962 by Verlag Stahleisen m. b. H., Diisseldorf

Of the 171 illustrations, 144 are b y courtesy of DEMAG

Composed and printed b y : Miilheimer Druckereigesellschaft m.b.H., Miilheim (Ruhr)

Preface to fifth edition

The world's steel production is still substantially increasing. Improvements

BLAST FURNACE PLANT

A flourishing iron and steel industry is essential to the vigorous economic

in million per cent of world

According to a protracted study carried out by the UN Steel Committee

mines (on account of the n e c e s s a r y curtailment of coking operations) but

"Iron" is an element (the symbol in chemistry is Fe), which seldom occurs

Fig. 1. The microstructures of iron and steel. Magnification: 400 X.

B = steel containing 1.38 per cent carbon.

C = same steel as B, but structure changed by hardening.

tensile strength or hardness, to improve casting properties, augment

The use of malleable cast iron is restricted to castings weighing between

In many applications malleable castings are fully equivalent to structural

C h i l l e d iron" castings are extremely hard on the surface. Such castings

the production of all manner of forgings, but heavy-duty, power-driven

"High-temperature steel", which is used in boiler manufacture, because

"Tool steels" h a v e a higher carbon content than structural steels. They

However, an increased carbon content no longer suffices for present-day

The earliest iron production in G e r m a n y was in pit furnaces or low shafts

Later on, when an artificial biast was provided by bellows worked by

carbon as a result of the intenser heat than in the original bloomeries.

As will be seen in Fig. 3, the early blast furnaces w e r e thick masonry

The technique of casting iron was developed w h e n the blast f u r n a c e was

W h e r e a s , initially, the iron m a k e r s converted their output immediately to

As we h a v e observed, matleable iron, steel, was formerly produced direct

The blast furnaces needed a lot of charcoaf, supplies of which became

meantime, and steam-powered blowers had b e e n built with capacities

As in the case of blast f u r n a c e s using charcoal, efforts w e r e also made in

"puddling" in English, the same term "puddeln" or the "Puddelverfahren"

The further the process of oxidation (decarburisation) proceeded in the

The puddling method enabled steel production to be much increased, com-

Fig. 5. First Bessemer converter with air blown

tionary method of producing steel by blowing a blast of air through a pipe

Although it was recognised at an early stage that a "basic" substitute

As opposed to the Bessemer or acid process, the refining done in a con-

W h e r e a s the conversion of pig iron in the converter t a k e s less time than

It is for this reason that more recent developments in the production of

this respect is the LD process developed in Austria in which pure oxygen

A process which is no longer used today but which should be mentioned

Some sixty y e a r s ago the crucible steelmaking process was superseded

Steel made in the electric furnace is distinguished by its exceptional purity.

How ore is mined and conveyed

The method of winning the ore will depend on geological conditions.

The Styrian orefield, Fig. 9, is w o r k e d in a similar manner to those of

port or h e a v y - d u t y lorries. Some of these excavators, one of which can be

Fig. 9. P a r t of the S t y r i a n "Erzberg". T h e o p e n w o r k i n g s consist of 30 benches,

Fig. 11. W i n n i n g ore

mighty p o w e r of the machine, practically without effort. Excavators are

Fig. 12. Blast h o l e s being drilled Fig. 13. S c r a p e r i n s t a l l a t i o n for l o a d i n g o r e

Fig. 14. T h e "collect-

Fig. 16. A n electric w i n d e r at a mine.

Fig. 17. Skip discharging station.

Not infrequently, the ore extracted is mixed, to a varying degree, with

From mine to blast furnace

An ore handling plant which is particularly interesting on account of its