Introduction The carth’s crust contains about 5% iron. However, itis present as a compound, mostly as iron extracted as metallic Fe from the oxide by reduction with a reducing agent. The oxide. Iron Principal agent that is used is naturally occurring carbon in the form of coke, coal or charcoal. For economic extraction of iron, relatively rich deposits of éran ore, with Fe contents above 60%. are generally used. The most abundant iron oxide mineral is haematite (i.e. Fe;03) . Fe,0,). Iron ores also contain oxide minerals of some other elements. followed by magnetite ( such as aluminium, silicon, manganese and phosphorus. These minerals are physically mixed with earthy materials such as sand, rock and clay. Some of these substances are harmful for the Properties of the finished products. These are treated as impurities that ought to be removed during extraction. Iron has the ability to form alloys with many elements. Such alloying is done intentionally to produce various grades of iron alloys having the properties required for various 5 applications. Broadly speaking, iron products can be classified into three categories, viz. wrought iron, cast iron and steel. Today, steel is the most important product of iron, followed by cast iron, while wrought iron is used in very sinall quantities for ornamental purposes. 1,1. EARLY HISTORY OF IRON (STEEL) This type of classification of iron into wrought iron, cast iron, steel, etc. was not prevalent in the early days, i.e. these terminologies were not known. All the products were known as iron. This should be kept in mind while going through the topics that follow. 1.1.1 Meteoric Iron and Wrought Iron Since iron objects rust and get destroyed over the years when in contact with soi use of iron is uncertain. ‘The earliest sample preserved in the British Museum air and water, ible at the antiquity dates back to about 3500-4000 wc. Reduction of iron oxide by charcoal is po appreciable rates only above a temperature of 900-1000°C. This phenomenon was probably discovered accidentally while making fire. There is evidence that the first iron objects containing 3he elemental state in 4. +_IRONMAK' ide dates back to of nickel Wer too ak peread ae efiite evidence of ir the melting point meteor ‘ 4.26% about 1500 Ror pure iron 8 19, the eurectic) conta e ai ‘The melting Poin! OTe Jowest meltin s act iron were ve im 0.4 10 is Howered signa ye primitive fun ranging fr . ‘carbo mets at 153°C: Wy pou! | the reducing agen Tike a deep bowl, al th and were shaped Tike 2 ff dried clays .d later on. by bellows. sisted mainly 0! ' used oo ting come nga Ue pipes seg i the ma bh hon Oxygen el 1 combustion of carbon vipntied resulted in the partial oe ed heat, which raised the furnace temperature. The aay “e Feoxide(s) + COKE) = Fats) + CO2(8) ‘ced. In only shows the reaction qua e ere used, it was difficult to ; tt eso of re. Under these conditions, metallic iron could 1100°C or so, in the zone of maximum temperatiy " s obtained not absorb much carbon. Therefore, melting did not take place and hot iron that wa ao ae een slid atte mixed with a low-melting slag containing, Very high perecotnae or FeO. Upon repeated heating followed by forging into various shapes using a hammer, ih ‘ the slag got ‘squeezed out’ to leave solid iron (sponge) that was almost pure (with low concentrations of carbon, etc.). This type of product became known as wrought iron (wrought meaning worked, i.e. forged). ditatively.) tion is not balan a (This equatic attain temperatures higher than 1.1.2 Cast Iron Casting of iron into different shapes necessitated the production of iron in the liquid state. This became possible only at a later stage; therefore, historically liquid iron came after wrought iron. Liquid iron was first produced in China, even before the Christian era according to some historians. Some massive cast iron objects dating back to about 1000 ap still exist in China. The success of iron casting in ancient China can be attributed to the following: + More efficient furnaces with better lining and more powerful blowing equipment * Introduction of a technique that allowed absorption of carbon by iron, thus lowering the melting point * High phosphorus content of some Chinese raw materials, and the fact that the ternary Fe-C-P system shows much lower melting points than the corresponding Fe-C binary system. 1.1.3 Evolution of lronmaking in Europe The ancient ironmaking process developed around the Mediterranean Sea, then spread northwards to Europe through the Phoenicians, Celts and Romans. The next significant development took place in the Spanish province of Catalonia, known as Catalan Forge. Here,Invoduction +5, water wheels wei Utilisation. It = conten to blow air, resulting in higher production rates and better charcoal The demand for mor le 0 produce about 100 kg of metal in hatches, every 12 hours. had a height of 34.5 rere iron Ted to the development of the Stukofen in Germany. ‘The Stukofen, driven bellows and a wp ana ie shape aa milar to that of a modern furnace. It had water- lecwuaner of Ga nodes ta mace Lining made of stone and clay. It is rightly considered the withdrawn f lemn blast furnace. The hot iron bloom (in the form ‘of a solid) used to be 4 from the bottom, and only small amounts ‘of liquid iron was produced. as a by-product. Individual Stukofens could produce 100-150 tonnes of iron per annum: ‘The next important step in ironmaking furnace design was the Flussofen (flow oven), which was developed in the Rhine Valley in Germany in the 14th century, essentially to cast cannons for warfare. "The charcoal blast furnaces developed in the European continent then spread to Gres) Britain, where the next evolution of ironmaking technology occurred. Several improvements led to larger and more efficient furnaces. The major developments that took place till about 1880 are summarised below, Replacement of charcoal by coke Use of charcoal led to a large-scale destruction of forests in Great Britain before the Parliament passed legislation to limit iron production. Coke, obtained Py carbonisation of coal, was first f coke picked-up significantly only by used in a blast furnace by Dudley in 1709. The use o! sound the year 1800. Since coke is stronger than chatcoal, the height of the blast furnace could be increased. Use of steam engines for air blowing Steam engine-driven blowers were invented in 1760. These blowers were more powerful than t, they were soon employed in all blast furnaces. Bigger the blowers used earlier and as a result furnace sizes and higher production rates began to be obtained following this development. Pre-heating of the air blast Neilson in 1829 introduced the concept coal was required to manufacture coke sufficient to cer to about 150°C became possible, the consumption came down to 5 tonnes. Further modifications allowed the pre-heating temperature to reach about 600°C. In 1857, Cowper patented fire-brick lined stoves, which allowed the pre-heating temperature to be increased even further. These stoves worked on the regenerative principle—two stoves being heated by combustion of blast furnace gas, with one stove actually heating the air that was blown. This was done in a cyclic manner, much in the same way as is in vogue today. of pre-heating the air blast. Earlier, about 8 tonnes of make one tonne iron, but once pre-heating Utilisation of blast furnace gas as fuel red to as blast furnace gas. It contains a high ‘The hot gas that exits from the furnace top is refer rovide heat. Earlier. percentage of carbon monoxide, which can be burnt with air as a fuel to pr6 + IRONMAKING AND STEELMAKIN sea to e bus for p he jas beine 28H 1k of the calor! ‘ bbe transported th Jsewhere in to charge fase of gas into the atmosphere: tr later led to the development of 1 om the furnace top the entire gas exiting fr ted out that the bul Bunsen and Playfair point in this approach and suggested that the Bas only for pre-heating of air, but also for using & ‘This immediately called for an arrangement the furnace without any les invented around 1850, whic! ‘This became a standard feature ‘Another problem faced during the carly days was intent, the particles, which used to choke the pipelines, siovess te, In order to reduce the dust 601 crease ‘gas began to be passed through a large ‘chamber where some dust settled owing 10 e orate in velocity. However. this arrangement was not very ‘satisfactory —modem blast furn provided with far more elaborate gas cleaning arrangements S. i wre, coke, etc. sre ‘The cup-and-bell system was ne double-bell charging device: about 1970-1980. vpomtyne gas contained 2 Tot oF dust ‘of all blast furnaces till 1.1.4 Early History of Steelmaking before the Advent of Modern Processes -There are thousands of grades of steel. Broauly they may be classified as plain carbon steels and alloy steels. The manufacture of alloy stecls began about 100 years af0. and even now, it constitutes only about 10% of the total steel produced. Sees ae ameels contain 0.1-1.0% carbon and minor concentrations of some other chem en cate oe Mtn, Si ete. Carbon imparts strength to iron, but lowers its ductility. Carbon sseeliows the development of a range of properties by suitable heat treatment such as annealing, normalising, quenching, etc, all of which change the microstructure. ‘The existenet ar carbon in eels was first discovered by scientists in the late 18th century. During the next 100 years. the subject of merallography developed to such an extent that it Became Possible (0 comclate heat treatment, mechanical properties and microstructure of stecls. As a result, it became possible to obtain a range of mechanical properties at the same carbon content arly steelmakers developed techniques to produce carbon stels in small quantities and then heat eatment was carried out by trial and error, without knowing the underlying science. As per archeological and literary evidence, ironmakers in India were pioneers in this field. They perc aware of these phenomena from the 2nd/3rd century Bc. In fac, India was exporting stee! ie the entre civilised world, such as Western Asia, Europe, etc. However, the "know-how was kept closely guarded. Countries like Iraq, Syria and Japan began to acquire some knowledge about 1000 yeurs ago, while Europe started making steel only in the Middle Ages. “The earliest process of steeimaking consisted of heating wrought iron with a carbonaceous material in a covered furnace. This allowed carburisation of iron for its conversion into steel. Once the European ironmakers learnt to produce molten iron, they ‘made wrought iron by purifying the melt. Then, it was carburised by heating with a carbonaceous material in a closed eince. like in the earlier practice. This was known as the ‘cementation process. Following sufficient recarburisation, the melting point of stecl decreased to such an extent that it could be casily melted using the earlier furnaces. This is known as the crucible process, pioneered byIntroduction * 7 Huntsman in th 0 America till may Peretnee eTee Process dominated steelmaking in Europe and North ™ he veloped the fe se 13s, which heralded the advent of steel production on a leveled he fant Bessemer Process; 1.1.5 Iron and Steel Heritage of India Several books and monographs as well as many rescarclvreview papers have been published on is topic by scholars, both within and outside India. For general information, the readers may wish to refer to the following books: 1. Iron and Steel Heritage of India, 8. Ranganathan (Ed.), ‘The Indian Institute of Metals and Tata Steel. Jamshedpur (1997). 2. Minerals and Metals in Ancient India, Vols. 1 and 2, Arun Kumar Biswas and Sulekha Biswas, D.K. Printworld, New Delhi (1996). 3. India's Legendary Wootz Steel: An Advanced Material of the Ancient World, Sharada Srinivasan and S. Ranganathan, Tata Steel (2006). [As per evidence available at present, iron objects were in use in India as early as 1500 8c. India’s glorious heritage in iron and steel is thus unquestionable. One example of the extent of perfection achieved by Indian artisans in yesteryear isthe famous Delhi Iron Pillar. The pillar weighing nearly 7 tonnes is about 8 m in height with bottom and top diameters of 0.42 m and 0.31 m respectively. It was made about 1500-1550 years ago by forge-welding individual pieces of wrought iron. What is amazing is that it has resisted rusting for all these years. ‘The corrosion resistance of the Delhi Iron Pillar has been the subject of investigations by many scientists taking the help of samples collected from the base of the Pillar. What is now evepted is that the “matril” used is astonishingly pure, ie. low in carbon in panier aes the commercial iron of today. It is made of wrought iron that was never in the molien Nate, Several pieces of hot lumps of iron ‘sponge’ were forge-welded together like separate Pan sates Tne resulted in extraordinary inhomogeneity in chemical composition as well as in oinrsatrueture, with carbon contents varying from less than 0.1% to as high as 0.3%, This (Pe Gf composite” structure comprising alternate bands of metal and slag as well a6 the presence of or oxide Tayer on the surface, is postulated as being the main reasons why the Pilar has not rusted. oe other example of excellence in steel in ancient India js the chronicle of the legendary wwoote nicel. This has long been a subject of much fascination around the globe, with many jegends and accounts surrounding it. Its clear that more than two millennia ago, India ted the teed in developing. an impressive tradition of making high-grade steel called woot (an vherration of the Tamil word ukku). I was an important export iter! te various parts of the world. vrords were fabricated from woot steel. Figure 1.1 is 2 conceptual “Lon the accounts of Arab and European travellers (Biswas 1996). sore, wootz was the only advanced materia inthe world. W had high carbon (1.5-2%) and even exhibited super-plasticity. I evoked interest of scientists 1 Europe in the nineteenth century. Faraday doused a procedure for its chemical analysis, and many early metallographers studied its watermark-like microstructure. The famous Damasct scheme of the process, baset For about a thousand years or8. \RONMAKING AND STEELMAKING: Theory and Practice 1200°C tron oe «im =i no iron “af Q 2 ts a8 2500 1950 25 8 oo8 = * Werking height is from tuyere to stock level; ***t means tonne, i.e. a metric ton = 1000 ka, Developments after 1950 Since 1950, advances in the field of blast furnace ironmaking have been remarkable. Much of this is because of better understanding of the underlying science and inner working of the furnace following research and development studies. Consequently, major improvements have been brought about not only in design and engineering, but also in the metallurgy of the process. The important developments may be summed up as follows: * Use of prepared burdens in the form of sinter and pellets * Properly sized and better quality coke Injection of liquid. gaseous or pulverised solid hydrocarbons through the tuyeres— the most widespread being pulverised coal injection Larger furnace volume Higher blast temperature Oxygen enrichment of the air blast High top pressure operation Better burden distribution — adoption of bell-less charging device * Computer-aided process control. ‘These features will be dealt with in detail in the later chapters; and hence, will not be elaborated further at this stage. The progress made in blast furnace ironmaking, summarised in Table 1.2 comparing the performance indices of 1990-2000 with those of 1960 for the best operating practices in the world, is fairly obvious. Remarkable changes have taken place in key performance indices like productivity, fuel rate, campaign life (i.e. years of continuous operationbefore shutdowr n aereed that the fe Tepair) and hot metal silicon level, in these 30-403 Prov aces hav peak performances veTMents are not ee reached their near-peak pet Table 1.2 4990-2000 Pomparison of performance indices of blast furnaces of 1960 with those of Parameters ____Yeat ro eg 5802000 Working height, m 25 28 Inner hearth diameter, m 9 15 Working volume, m* 2000 5000 Production of iron, tpd 2000 13000 Produetivty, thvday/m® 1 26 Fuel rate, kg/thm 800 450-500 ‘Campaign lite, years +6 above 10 Silicon in hot metal, weight % 1 02 “hm denotes hot metal, which is the terminology used populaly for liquid iron produced in ironmaking. K 1.2.2 Alternative Ironmaking Processes ‘The blast furnace is the dominant reactor for ironmaking. Alternative ironmaking processes that do not use the blast furnace and are not dependent on coke as the primary reductant, currently account for about 8% of the total global iron production. These alternative processes may be broadly classified into two categories: Which iron is produced as a solid, by solid-state reduction state reduction. * Processes + Processes producing liquid iron by a combination of solid and liqui Table 1.3 presents the basic features and the year of development of some of the important processes belonging to both these categories. Table 1.3 Basic features of some alternative ironmaking processes Process Basic features Year Country Reductant Ore form Reactor Product Hoganas Coke breeze Fines Retort Powder 1910 Sweden Wiberg Coke Pellet Shaft Sponge 1952. Sweden. HyL! Natural gas Pellet Retort Sponge 1953. Mexico Nuon Natural gas Fines Fluidised bed Powder © 1962. USA SURN Coal lump Lump Rotary kin Sponge 1964 Canada and fines Midrex “Natural gas Pellet Shatt Sponge 1967 USA Fastmet Coal fines Fines Rotary hearth Sponge -«-1974-——‘USA, Japan Corex Coal lump Lump and Smelter Liquid 1989 Germany pellets and Austria ITmk3 Coal fines Fines Rotary hearth Solid (liquid) 1996 Japan