Please give a brief description on how steel is made that addresses the following:
- What process is used (i.e. product focus, process focus or group technology/cellular manufacturing
- Anything surprising in the process
- Is there anything that is particularly interesting or creative about the process
- How might this process change in the future?
To meet today's demand for high quality steel, producers must mine low grade ore, and magnetically separate the iron bearing particles from the additional material. The iron is then formed into pellets and baked hard. This process results in an iron ore that is purer than earlier natural occurring ores. Technology goes one step further - baking limestone, a purifying agent called a flux, into the ore pellets. While pellets arrive, coal, the indespensible fuel for making iron into steel, must be further refined and purified before it will burn hot enough to make iron. Coking eliminates tar and other impurities by baking in long, vertical coking ovens . Coke moved by conveyor (emmiting harmless steam) by conveyor to the blast furnace. In one continuous process, the coke and fluxed pellets are charged into the furnace, blasted with superheated air and natural gas; up to 3000 F. The intense heat melts the ...
The solution outlines the process of how steel is produced and how the process might change in the future.