Mme405 PDF

MME 405 Lecture Notes; © Engr. U. Mark, Dec.
2008, Revised Dec 2014
LECTURE NOTES
ON
IRON & STEEL MAKING TECHNOLOGY
MME 405・・
Illustration of ironmaking and steelmaking flowsheet
By
ENGR. UDOCHUKWU MARK
DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS & METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY,
FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, OWERRI
Iron and steel making technology (MME 408) by Udochukwu, M. is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
MME 405 Lecture Notes; © Engr. U. Mark, Dec. 2008, Revised Dec 2014
COURSE CODE: MME 405 COURSE TITLE: IRON & STEEL MAKING
TECHNOLOGY
COURSE CREDIT LOAD: [L-Lectures = 1; T-Tutorials = 1; P-Practical = 0; U-Credit Unit = 2]
PREREQUISITES: 1. Engineering Thermodynamics [ENG 209]
2. Introduction to Chemical Metallurgy [MME 204]
COURSE CONTENT
Application of chemical and thermodynamic principles to integrated metallurgical
processes in the
 Iron blast furnace,
 Basic oxygen steel making,
 Direct reduction and electric furnace steel making,  Ferro-alloy production, 
Slag-metal reactions.
 Refining processes including precipitation, segregation and vacuum degassing.
 Mass and heat balances in iron and steel making.
ASSESSMENT
There will be two types of assessment in this course. The first one comprises
assignments and a quiz; the second is final examination at the end of the course. The
assignment and quiz count for 30% of your total course mark. At the end of the course,
you are required to write an examination of about two to three hours duration. This
examination will count for 70% of your total course mark. The table below shows how
the actual marks will be distributed.
Assessment Actual Marks % of Course Marks
Assignments (by U. Mark) 20 marks 30%
Quiz/Test (by J.U. Anaele) 10 marks
Final Examination (by Mark & Anaele) 70 marks 70%
Total 100 marks 100%
IRON AND STEEL: WHAT DO WE MEAN?

1
Ordinarily, iron is the metallic chemical element, ferrum (Fe). However, from
commercial and industrial viewpoint, iron implies not the pure chemical element, but
an alloy that is dominated by the element iron (Fe). Iron and steel are alloys of chiefly
Fe and C and are known as ferrous alloys. They can be classified in terms of chemical
composition, structure, applicability and method of production. Referring to the Fe – C
(or more correctly, Fe – Fe3C) phase diagram (Figure 1), ferrous alloys are broadly
classified into cast irons and steels. Alloys of Fe and C with more than 2.11% carbon
are called cast irons, whereas those with less are called steels.
Depending on composition and microstructure, the general-purpose cast irons fall
into the following grades: grey cast iron, white cast iron, malleable cast iron, and
ductile or nodular cast iron. Steel is not any specific product. It is rather a malleable
alloy of iron and one or more of other elements like carbon (C), chromium (Cr), nickel
(Ni), silicon (Si), vanadium (V), tungsten (W) or almost any active element (other than
gas) from the periodic table of elements. There are as many as two thousand odd
varieties of steels in use, which specifically differ in their chemical composition.
However, a couple of hundred varieties are predominantly in use.
Figure 1: Steel and Cast Iron Portions of the Fe – Fe3C Phase Diagram
2
The chemical composition of steels broadly divides them into two major groups, viz.
(a) plain carbon steels and, (b) alloy steels. The plain carbon steels are essentially alloys
of iron and carbon only whereas, if one or more alloying elements other than carbon are
added to steel in significant amounts to ensure specific better properties such as better
mechanical strength, ductility, electrical and magnetic properties, and corrosion
resistance and so on, it is known as an alloy steel. These specifically added elements
are known as alloying additions in steels.
Steels may contain many other elements such as Al, Si, Mn, S, P, O, etc. which are
not added intentionally for any specific purpose, but are inevitably present because of
their association in the process of iron and steel making and cannot be totally eliminated
during the known process of iron and steel making. These are known as impurities in
steel and every attempt is made to minimize them during the process of steelmaking to
acceptable or safe limits in the case of each element.
Plain carbon steels are broadly subdivided into four major types based on their
carbon contents, viz.:
 Soft or Low Carbon Steels - - - up to 0.15%C
 Mild Steels --- in the range 0.15 – 0.35%C
 Medium Carbon Steels --- in the range 0.35 – 0.65%C
 High Carbon Steels --- in the range 0.65 – 1.75%C
The alloy steels are also broadly subdivided into three groups on the basis of the
total alloying elements present into:
 Low Alloy Steels --- up to 5% total alloying contents
 Medium Alloy Steels --- 5 – 10% total alloying contents
 High Alloy Steels --- above 10% total alloying contents
In terms of uses, steels are often classified as structural, deep-drawing, rail, forging,
flats, etc. In terms of dominant microstructure, we may talk of ferritic steels, austenitic
steels, martensitic steels, and even duplex steels (containing two structures, ferrite and
austenite, and can be found in some special stainless steels). With regards to corrosion
resistance and surface appearance, a special class of steels have been developed known
as stainless steels. Gone are the days when steels were classified according to the
process of manufacture, e.g. Bessemer steel, Acid Open Hearth steel, Basic Open
Hearth steel, Electric steel, etc. Technology has made such classifications irrelevant.
FERROUS METALLURGY
The field of metallurgical engineering can be divided based on types of metals
produced and used into ferrous metallurgy and nonferrous metallurgy. This division
is traditional or historical as well as economic. Whereas ferrous metallurgy deals with
iron and steel, nonferrous metallurgy concerns all other metals such as aluminium,
copper, zinc, etc. This view divides all metals in the periodic table into two: iron and
others. This is because iron and steel production (ferrous metallurgy) is the dominant
3
branch of metallurgical engineering based on volume of production, size of the industry,

work force employed, and so on. For example, the production of iron and steel in one
year exceeds the production of all other metals combined in ten years.
Therefore, iron is economically or commercially very important.
On the basis of the principles and techniques involved (scientifically and
technically), metallurgical engineering is classified into chemical metallurgy (including
subdivisions like extractive metallurgy, corrosion, etc.), physical metallurgy (which
though younger, matured faster than its sister science of chemical metallurgy), and
mechanical metallurgy. Steel is by far the most important engineering material known
to man, and its manufacture is the most important process in the field of extractive
metallurgy. In this course (Ironmaking and Steelmaking Technology), we shall be
dealing with ferrous extractive metallurgy.
Table 1: Relative Abundance of Elements in the Lithosphere (Earth’s Crust)

Chemical Elements Percentage
Oxygen 46.46
Silicon 27.61
Aluminium 8.07
Iron 5.06
Calcium 3.64
Sodium 2.75
Potassium 2.58
Magnesium 2.07
Titanium 0.62
Hydrogen 0.14
Phosphorus 0.12
Carbon 0.09
Sulphur 0.06
Barium 0.04
Manganese 0.09
Fluorine 0.03
Strontium 0.02
All other elements 0.50
Abundancy Range Element

Over 10% O (46.46); Si (27.61)
1–10% Al (8.07); Fe (5.06); Ca (3.64); Na (2.75); K (2.58); Mg (2.07)
0.1–1% C; H; Mn; P; Ti
0.01–0.1% Ba; Cl; Cr; F; Rb; S; Sr; V; Zr
0.001–0.01% Cu; Ce; Co; Ga; La; Li; Nb; Ni; Pb; Sn; Th; Zn; Yt
1–10 ppm As; B; Br; Cs; Ge; Hf; Mo; Sb; Ta; U; W; and most of the rare Earths
4
0.1–1 ppm Bi; Cd; I; In; Tl

0.01–0.1 ppm Ag; Pd; Se
0.001–0.01 ppm Au; Ir; Os; Pt; Re; Rh; Ru
IRON AND ITS ORES

About 5% of the earth‘s crust (lithosphere) is the element iron, making Fe the fourth
most abundant element in the lithosphere after O, Si and Al. Hence, Fe is the second
most abundant metal after Al (Table 1). However, it is present as a compound, mostly
as iron oxide. Major iron bearing minerals include magnetite (Fe3O4), haematite
(Fe2O3), limonite (2Fe2O3·3H2O), goethite (Fe2O3·H2O), siderite (FeCO3), pyrrhotite
(FeS), pyrite or fool’s gold (FeS2) and marcasite (also FeS2 having a different crystal
structure from pyrite) Haematite is the most important and most abundant iron mineral
(containing 70% Fe); magnetite is the only ferromagnetic mineral (used and referred to
as lodestone), and pyrrhotite is the only magnetic sulphide mineral.
THERMODYNAMICS OF OXIDE REDUCTION

a) Search for Appropriate Reducing Agents
Iron is extracted from its oxide using appropriate reducing agents. The non-oxide
minerals are first converted to the oxide by calcination (in the case of the carbonate) or
roasting (in the case of the sulphides). Table 2 presents the relative ease of reducing
oxides at three different temperatures. According to this table, a metal may reduce any
oxide that appears above it in the table; the strongest reducing agents are the metals
with oxides that are low in the table, viz. Ca, Li, Al and Mg are excellent reducing
agents. CaO is the most difficult oxide to reduce; therefore, Ca is the best reducing agent
listed. Thus, a metal oxide may be reduced by means of another metal which has a
higher oxygen affinity (i.e. by a metal which has a more stable oxide).
Table 2: Relative ease of reducing oxides at 1 atm. in decreasing order

At 399°C At 982°C At 1538°C
(melting point of pure Fe)
Cu2O Cu2O PbO
SO2 PbO Cu2O
PbO NiO NiO
CO SO2 SnO2
NiO CoO ZnO
CoO SnO2 CoO
CO2 P2O5 SO2
H2O H2O P2O5
SnO2 FeO H2O
FeO CO2 FeO
P2O5 ZnO CO2
5
ZnO CO Cr2O3
Cr2O3 Cr2O3 MnO
MnO MnO V2O3
V2O3 V2O3 SiO2
SiO2 SiO2 CO
TiO2 TiO2 TiO2
Al2O3 Al2O3 MgO
Li2O Li2O Al2O3
MgO MgO Li2O
CaO CaO CaO
Above 982°C, carbon can reduce oxides of Fe. Since carbon is the cheapest reducing
agent, carbothermy is employed in the extraction of iron. Where economically feasible,
metallothermy e.g. silicothermy, aluminothermy, calciothermy, magnesiothermy, etc.
may be used in the extraction of metals. Hydrogen oxide (water) is also listed on Table
2 indicating that hydrogen can be used as a reducing agent for some metals especially
at high temperatures.
Another way of looking at this is via the Ellingham diagram plots) for
oxides which shows the relative affinity of elements for oxygen to form oxides, and
hence the ease or difficulty of liberating them from oxygen [i.e. oxide stability and
thermodynamic reducibility with carbon]. The Ellingham diagram is based on the
relation from which straight line graphs of the form
can be plotted by rearranging to:
We see from the Ellingham diagram that the easily reducible, noble metals occur at the
top of Figure 2 and the highly reactive metals towards the bottom. This is not far from
the historical order of discovery and use of the metals. The CO line has a negative slope
and thus intercepts most metal oxides lines at different temperatures. This shows that
carbon or CO can reduce a metal oxide only at temperature at least above the point of
interception.
6
Figure 2: Simplified Ellingham diagram for oxides of elements in iron and steel making
b) Reduction by CO and C
The standard Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) and the equilibrium constant (K) which
are thermodynamic data, may be calculated for various reactions of the type:
Where if the metal and the oxide coexist as condensed phases, so

as to have unit activities, i.e.
Recall that, and .
Note that enthalpy change and entropy change are temperature dependent,
but varies by 1% for every100 degrees rise in temperature and varies by 5% for
7
100 degrees rise in temperature; and these variations tend to cancel rather than reinforce
each other.
This means that the gas ratio has a definite value and is a function only of
temperature as long as . Straight line graphs of the type (
) can be plotted using the above equation in the form .

Rosenquist plotted such graphs (Figure 3a), and showed the gas ratio for a
number of metals of industrial significance.
Figure 3: Rosenquist diagrams showing: (a) equilibrium gas ratio as function

of inverse temperature for the reduction of various oxides; and (b) metastable equilibria
for the formation of Fe3C and carbon contents in austenite as given by dashed lines. It
can be seen that:
 The ratio varies between for Cu2O reduction to Cu and Fe2O 3
reduction to Fe3O4, to less than for the reduction of MnO and SiO2 to Mn
and Si respectively. Even lower gas ratios would be found for the reduction of
Al2O3 and MgO. [NB: High ratio means that dominates or
dominates; low ratio means that dominates or dominates in the
furnace atmosphere].
 The gas ratio for the Boudouard reaction [ ] is also
shown. Since for this reaction ; it means that the gas
8
ratio is given by . The result

shows that the gas ratio here is a function of or CO and consequently of the
total pressure . The Boudouard reaction results to increase in pressure
as a result of the increase in the number of gaseous molecules as CO is formed
(i.e. 1 molar volume of CO2 reacts with C to yield 2 molar volumes of CO). As
shown in Figure 3a, the gas ratio is plotted for a total pressure
. For higher or lower values of the total pressure the
curve will shift upward or downward in accordance with this equilibrium
expression.
 For the reduction of a metal oxide with CO in the absence of solid carbon the
curve for the Boudouard reaction may be ignored since the reduction of the oxide
in this case takes place when the gas ratio in the atmosphere falls below the
equilibrium line in question. Thus;
 CuO, PbO and NiO will be reduced at gas ratios between and i.e. at
small concentrations of CO. Meaning that if pure CO is used all of it will be
converted to CO 2 before the reaction stops.
 MnO, SiO2, and Cr2O3 reduction by CO requires a gas free of CO2 i.e. the
reduction stops as soon as CO2 is formed. Meaning that the reduction of MnO,
SiO 2, and Cr2O3 by CO is in practice impossible.
 If solid carbon is present in the reaction mixture the two reactions
take place simultaneously, resulting to the
overall reaction . In effect, simultaneous equilibrium
between MeO, Me, and C will occur at the temperature where the curves for the
two reactions [ ] meet.
 Thus, SnO 2, Sn and C may be in equilibrium at 610ºC with an atmospheric
pressure of . This means that SnO2 may be reduced by
carbon at any temperature above 610ºC. Similarly, Fe3O4 will be reduced to
FeO above 650ºC, FeO to Fe above 700ºC, and so on. MnO and SiO2 may be
reduced by carbon at temperatures above about 1400 to 1600ºC, all assuming
1 atm total pressure.
 If the reaction takes place at the equilibrium temperature, the equilibrium gas
mixture will be given by the corresponding value at the point of intersection
between the two curves; e.g. for SnO2 reduction at 610ºC,
, and for MnO reduction at 1500ºC,
 If the reaction occurs above the equilibrium temperature, the resulting gas
mixture is the intermediate between the values for the two reactions but closest
to the value for the reaction has the highest reaction rate. Therefore it is not
strictly correct to assume that the reduction of metal oxide with carbon is
given by the equation [ ], as is often done. This would
9
be the case only for the reduction of the most stable oxides where the
concentration of CO2 in the resulting gas mixture is extremely low.
 Notice that the curves for NiO and for oxides of the more noble metals do not
intersect the carbon curve. In these cases the temperature of reduction and the
composition of the reaction gas mixture is determined entirely by reaction
kinetics. In fact, temperatures as high as (or even above) that of red hot carbon
may be required.
 The enthalpy ( ) for the different reactions may be deduced from the slope of
the curves given by .
 The reduction of the oxides of the relatively noble metals (such as NiO, PbO,
Cu2O, Fe2O3, and FeO) with CO is exothermic i.e. negative ; while the
reduction of the less noble metal oxides (such as SnO2, Fe3O4, Cr2O3, MnO,
and SiO2) is endothermic, i.e. positive .
 The reaction between C and CO2 is strongly endothermic. Therefore the
reduction of practically all metal oxides with carbon is endothermic, and the
enthalpy of reduction increases with increasing stability of the oxide.
 It follows therefore that reduction of stable oxides with C requires not only a
high temperature but also large amounts of heat at that temperature;
translating to high fuel or energy requirements.
c) Reduction of Iron Oxides by CO and C

Figure 3b shows in greater detail the ratio for reduction of the various iron
oxides, as well as the Boudouard reaction for . It follows that the
wustite phase, or FeO, is unstable below about 570ºC and below this temperature
magnetite, Fe3O 4, reduces directly to metallic iron. It also means that for a gas mixture
with the area to the right of the Boudouard line represents an
unstable condition, the gas having a tendency to precipitate soot until the Boudouard
line is reached. The sooting reaction (graphite formation) is rather slow, however, and
in practice gas mixtures with a high CO content may be preserved down to room
temperature. Also, the equilibrium between Fe3O4, Fe, and the CO–CO 2 gas mixture
may be established in this region, even though the gas as such is unstable. In the
presence of a CO–CO 2 gas mixture the iron phase will pick up some carbon as is the
case for γ-modification of iron resulting to the solid solution austenite which can
dissolve up to almost 2 percent carbon. In the austenite phase the chemical activity of
carbon increases from zero for pure iron to unity for saturation with graphite. Thus
between the gas and austenite the equilibrium will be
established with the equilibrium constant . For any given
temperature and gas composition there will be a certain carbon activity, i.e., a certain
carbon content in the austenite. As shown in Figure 3b, the curves for constant carbon
10
contents intersect the Boudouard line at austenite compositions which are saturated, i.e.,
in equilibrium with graphite.
Since the sooting reaction is very slow, gas mixtures may be established which are
supersaturated with respect to graphite, corresponding to a carbon activity greater than
unity. In this range the gas may react with iron to form cementite, Fe3C. In addition,
cementite may form by the reduction of wustite and magnetite at temperatures below
700ºC according to the reactions and
. The gas ratios for these reactions which are metastable equilibria, are
also shown in Figure 3b.
Finally, at high temperature and in the presence of carbon, iron will form a eutectic
mixture between austenite and graphite. This mixture, with about 4.2 percent C, is
responsible for the fact that in the iron blast furnace low-melting pig iron (melting point,
1150ºC) rather than pure iron (melting point, 1538ºC) is formed.
d) Reduction by H2
Hydrogen is of less industrial importance in the reduction of oxides than C and CO, but
may be used under certain conditions. The generalized reduction reaction for metal oxide
with hydrogen is with

provided the activities of Me and MeO are both unity. From
Straight line graphs of the equation have been plotted

for the reduction of important metal oxides as shown in Figure 4. The curves are similar
to the ones for reduction with CO. Since the reaction is less
exothermic than the reaction the reduction of MeO to Me with
H 2 is less exothermic than the corresponding reaction with CO. This is noticeable in the
slope of the curves, and H2 at high temperature is a better reducing agent than CO, but
is a poorer one at lower temperature.
Very often the reduction is carried out with mixtures of CO and H2. In such situations
the reaction will occur so that the water–gas equilibrium [ ] is
satisfied. This reaction shifts to the right at low temperatures confirming again that CO
is a better reducing agent than H2 at lower temperatures.
Natural gas which consists essentially of methane (CH4) is a reducing agent of
considerable importance. Above 500ºC methane is unstable and decomposes into
carbon and hydrogen. The hydrogen and carbon will reduce the metal oxide each
according to its own equilibrium constant. Therefore, when natural gas is used as a
reducing agent, e.g., in the production of sponge iron, it is first subjected to a partial
oxidation (reforming) to give CO and H2.
11
Figure 4: ⁄ Rosenquist
diagrams showing equilibrium
gas ratio , as function of inverse temperature for the reduction of various oxides.
IRON AND STEEL MAKING ROUTES

Steel is manufactured by the chemical reduction of iron ore in steel plants, which
may be classified into two broad categories:
 Integrated Steel Plants (ISPs) following the BF–BOF [Blast Furnace – Basic
Oxygen Furnace] route of iron and steel making, or
 Mini Steel Plants (MSPs) via the DRI–EAF [Direct Reduced Iron – Electric Arc
Furnace] route.
In the conventional integrated steel manufacturing process, the pig iron or hot metal
from the blast furnace (BF) is converted to steel in a basic oxygen furnace (BOF). ISPs
are relatively large in size with individual module capacities ranging from
1 to 5 Mt (metric tonne = 1,000kg) of steel per year. The Ajaokuta Steel Complex of
Nigeria was planned to use the BF–BOF route to make iron and steel. Steel can also be
made in an electric arc furnace (EAF) from scrap steel, and, in some cases, from direct
reduced iron (DRI) or spongy iron. This is the DRI–EAF route. MSPs are smaller in
size with module capacities generally between 0.5 Mt and 1.0 Mt per year, and in some
12
cases up to 2 Mt per year. The Delta Steel Complex, Aladja was envisaged for this
route of iron and steel making.
BOF is typically used for high-tonnage production of plain carbon steels, while the
EAF is used to produce low-tonnage plain carbon steels as well as specialty (or alloy)
steels. Plain carbon steels account for 90% of the world‘s steel production while alloy
steels account for the remaining 10%. An emerging technology, direct steel
manufacturing, produces steel directly from iron ore.
In the BOF process, coke making and iron making precede steelmaking; these steps
are not necessary with an EAF. Pig iron is manufactured from sintered, pelletized, or
lump iron ores using coke and limestone in a blast furnace. It is then fed to a BOF in
molten form along with scrap metal, fluxes, ferro-alloys, and high-purity oxygen to
manufacture steel. In some integrated steel mills, sintering (heating to bond or fuse
particles together without melting) is used to agglomerate fines and so recycle ironrich
materials such as mill scale. Mill scale is the flaky surface found on hot rolled steel
plates, sheets or profiles when they are being produced by rolling red hot iron or steel
billets in rolling mills. It is a product corrosion/oxidation and is composed of iron oxides
such as FeO, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4.
Iron and steel making, like most metallurgical processes, are integrated processes.
An integrated process may be defined as a coordinated sequence of unit operations and
unit processes which is in some respects self-complete. It may be self-complete in that
it represents all the actions in a plant, or in a section of the plant in which a particular
job is done, from start to finish. It is sequential and coordinated in that materials flow
from one step to the next in an orderly fashion; the product of one step serving as the
feedstock for the next, and the whole sequence of activities can be represented
conveniently by flow sheets. Integrated processes are usually carried out in integrated
plants.
THE IRON BLAST FURNACE

The iron blast furnace is a very tall vertical shaft furnace, which makes use of
carbon mainly in the form of coke to reduce iron from its oxide ores usually haematite
(Fe2O3) or magnetite (Fe3O4). It is so named because its working involves the
introduction of an air blast. The furnace (depicted in Figure 5) consists of a shaft that
can be up to 60m high and 7.5m in diameter, made of steel shell lined with refractory
bricks; and may produce from 2,000 to 10,000 tonnes of iron per day. Since a refractory
lining lasts for several years, it is only at the end of this period that the blast furnace is
shut down; otherwise it works a 365-day year.
The blast furnace is called a shaft furnace because it is tall and vertical and its raw
materials are introduced from the top, and they react as they fall through the height. The
furnace is charged with ore, coke, and fluxes. The ore (Fe2O 3 or Fe3O 4) is reduced, first
to wustite (FeO) and then to Fe. [The actual reduction sequence is
. The lowest oxide of iron, wustite, is not a natural
13
mineral but is formed in the blast furnace (and found in some slags), and is stable only
above 570°C. Its formula is given as where on average and can range
from 0.86 to 1.0. In other words, wustite is an oxygen-deficient non-stoichiometric
compound of iron and oxygen]. For practical purposes however, wustite formula is
approximated to FeO.
The purpose of the fluxes is to make a slag of suitable composition, and they are
usually lime (CaO) or limestone (CaCO3), sometimes with dolomite (CaCO3·MgCO3)
added. In the bottom of the furnace hot air blast is introduced through the tuyeres (from
the French word tuyau which means pipe). The furnace gases are taken out from the top
of the furnace, and molten pig iron (hot metal) and molten slag are withdrawn from the
hearth in the bottom of the furnace. Thus, the blast furnace operates by the
countercurrent principle, i.e. hot gases rise up in counter-motion to the falling burden
(ore and fluxes) and coke. The inverted cone between the stack and the hearth is called
bosh.
Figure 5: Iron blast furnace, showing chemical reactions
The principal objective of this furnace is to produce molten pig iron (hot metal) of
uniform composition at a very high rate. The name pig iron has a history. In early days,
the iron from the BF is not taken to the steelmaking stage in hot or molten form, but is
cast and allowed to solidify into iron pigs according to the following story:
The slag is drained continually into slag pits, but the iron is only cast every
few hours into a ditch or trench called a trough, which leads to small
runners called sows, which have numerous cavities, attached called pigs.
14
This whole process takes place in the casthouse, which contains areas for
iron casting and slag casting. The side for iron removal consisted of a
large ditch called a trough that sloped from the front of the furnace to the
casthouse floor. It then split into two runner systems. A main runner on
each system ran parallel with the length of the casthouse. As this runner
sloped downhill, a series of dams were made at regular intervals. At a right
angle before each dam, a smaller runner called a sow was produced. Then
off this sow were numerous cavities called pigs. This system looked like a
series of piglets suckling their mother.
Hence, the iron that came out of the blast furnace was called pig iron [hot
metal is the preferred term today, especially if in molten form] because the
iron ran out into a trench dug in the ground and then into several large,
shallow depressions that stuck out at right angles to the trench. Some one
thought that the arrangement looked like a sow (adult female pig) suckling
her pigs: hence, pig iron. These iron pigs weigh between 70 and 100
pounds [≈ 32 to 45 kg].
The liquid pig iron contains approximately 4–5%C, 0.3–0.7%Si, 0.01–0.04%S,

0.1%P and 0.1%Mn; which is suitable for subsequent refining of steel. The main critical
operating parameter is the temperature of the iron and slag which must be greater than
1427°C (1700K) in order for these products to be tapped from the furnace in the molten
state. Metal composition, though not that important because of its subsequent
processing to steel, is however adjusted to steelmaking plant specifications by
appropriate adjustments of slag composition and furnace temperature. A schematic
view of a typical blast-furnace plant (furnace and accessories) is presented in Figure 6.
15
Figure 6: Schematic cross-section of the iron blast furnace and its auxiliary
equipment; materials-handling, charging, tapping, gas-handling and hot-blast
equipment.
RAW MATERIALS FOR BLAST FURNACE PROCESSES

The raw materials used in modern blast furnaces include:
1) Solids: Ore, metallurgical coke and flux which are charged into the top of the
furnace;
2) Air: Which is blasted through the tuyeres near the bottom of the furnace. Oxygen
gas is also introduced through the tuyeres to enrich the air.
3) Hydrocarbon additives: Which may be gas, liquid or solid are also introduced
through the tuyeres (as innovation).
A description of the various raw materials is as follows:

a. Iron Oxides (Ore): Usually haematite (Fe2O3), occasionally magnetite (Fe3O4),
which are added as:
i. 1–2 cm diameter pellets produced from finely ground
beneficiated ore [5–
10% SiO2, 4%Al2O 3, remainder being Fe2O3], ii. 1–3 cm
chunks (small lumps) of sinter produced from ore fines,
iii. 1–5 cm direct shipping ore.
NB: The charge of a particular blast furnace may contain one, two or all three of these
iron oxide forms. Again, iron oxides from steelmaking slag and mill scale can also be
used as they also provide iron units.
16
b. Metallurgical Coke: This contains 90% C, 10% ash (mainly SiO2 and Al2O3), 0.5–
1.0% S (dry basis) and 5–10% H 2O. Metallurgical coke which supplies most of the
reducing gas (CO) and heat for ore reduction and smelting is produced by heating
mixtures of powdered coking coal (25–30 wt.% volatile content) in the absence of
air. This process causes the volatiles to be distilled from the coal in order to give a
porous coke, which is (i) reactive at high temperatures, and (ii) strong enough to
avoid being crushed near the bottom of the blast furnace. The compressive strength
and porosity of the metallurgical coke permit uniform gas flow through the burden
as it softens and melts in the lower regions of the furnace. Blast furnace coke is a
key material for BF ironmaking, acting as a major energy source (fuel), a reductant,
a carburizing agent (for iron and steel), and a gas permeable structural support. Coke
is charged to the furnace as 2–8 cm pieces.
c. Fluxes (CaO, MgO): These oxides flux the silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3)
impurities of ore and coke to produce a low melting point (1327°C or 1600K) fluid
slag. CaO also causes part of the sulphur in the furnace charge introduced mainly as
an impurity in the coke, to be removed in the slag rather than in the product – pig
iron (hot metal). The fluxes, CaO and MgO, are charged as pre-flux i.e. as 2–5 cm
pieces of limestone (CaCO3) and dolomite (CaCO3·MgCO 3).
d. Hot Air-Blast: This is usually supplied as a preheated material between 1200 and
1600K (927 - 1327°C) and in some cases enriched with oxygen to give blast
containing up to 25 wt.% O2. This hot blast air burns incandescent coke [white hot
coke, ] in front of the tuyeres to provide heat which is used for:
i. reduction of reactants, ii. heating and melting of the
charge and products, and iii. keep the slag and pig iron
above their melting points and thus facilitate easy
removal or tapping of the product.
e. Gas, Liquid or Solid Hydrocarbon: These provide additional reducing gas (CO
and H2) for the reduction process. Fuel oil and tar are the most common additives.
Natural gas and pulverized coal are also used.
PRODUCTS FROM THE BLAST FURNACE PROCESSES

The main product of the blast furnace, molten pig iron or hot metal is tapped from
the furnace at regular intervals (or continuously in the case of very large furnace)
through one of several holes near the bottom of the hearth. A representative analysis of
molten pig iron is given in Table 3 below.
Table 3: Typical analysis of pig iron (melting point = 1400K)
Element Composition (wt.%) Remark
C 4–5 Saturated
17
Si 0.3 – 1.0
S 0.01 – 0.04
P Up to 0.1 Depending on the ore
Mn 0.1 – 0.5 Depending on the ore
Fe About 90 Remainder
Composition of the pig iron from a particular blast furnace is chosen to meet the
requirements of the steelmaking plant to which the iron is being sent. The composition
of the pig iron can be adjusted by controlling:
i. Slag composition,
ii. Furnace temperature (particularly at the lower half of the furnace).
The pig iron is transported in the molten state to the steelmaking plant where the
impurity elements are reduced to lower levels by oxygen refining. In some cases,
the molten pig iron is desulphurized by treatment with calcium carbide (CaC2) or
magnesium coke (MgC2) prior to oxygen refining.
The blast furnace forms two by-products, namely: slag and flue gas or blast furnace
gas or top gas.
a) Slag: Slag is a complex product formed by the chemical combination of fluxes with
silicates, aluminates and other gangue constituents in iron oxide and coke ash. A
typical composition and analysis of blast furnace slag is: 30–40wt.% SiO2, 5–
15wt.% Al2O3, 35–45wt.% CaO, 5–15wt.% MgO, 0–1wt.% (Na2O + K2O), and 1–
2.5wt.% S. The slag contains very little iron oxide, which is indicative of the
excellent reducing efficiency of the furnace. The composition of the slag is chosen
to:
i. Remove SiO2 and Al2O3 in a fluid slag;
ii. Absorb Na2O and K2O (alkalis) which otherwise tend to build up in the
furnace.
Na2O and K2O enter through coke and ore as ash along with SiO 2 and
Al2O3. They are partially reduced to Na and K vapour near the bottom of
the furnace and this vapour subsequently rises to the cooler parts of the
furnace where a portion re-oxidizes to become entrapped in solid form in
the descending burden. The process becomes cyclic and it leads to the
accumulation of sodium and potassium compounds in the furnace.
Physical symptoms of this build up are a restriction of gas flow through
the burden and an erratic descent of charge. Partial reduction of SiO2 to
SiO vapour is thought to also cause similar problems.
iii. Absorb sulphur rather than have it dissolve in the iron product, and
iv. Control the silicon content of the hot metal
18
A slag basicity ratio between 1.1 and 1.2 appears to best meet the above four slagging
requirements. That is; is considered
satisfactory.
Recall that basicity is the ratio of basic oxides to acidic (or amphoteric/neutral) oxides.
Slags usually are solutions of various metallic silicates; some may consist of borates,
phosphates, aluminates, and similar compounds. However, because silica and the
silicates are such common minerals, usually silica constitutes the acid radical in slags.
Solidified iron blast furnace slag may be used for the manufacture of Portland cement,
concrete aggregate, tiles, road construction aggregates, and in the manufacture of
fertilizer if rich in phosphates.
b) Top Gas: These gases leave the furnace through the upper chamber i.e. the gas
collection system at the top of the blast furnace. A typical modern blast furnace top
gas composition is roughly 23 wt.% CO, 22 wt.% CO2, 3 wt.% H2, 3 wt.% H 2O and
49 wt.% N2. This is equivalent to net combustion energy of about 4000 kJ/m3 (about
that of natural gas). The ratio of is an important indicator of the operation of
the blast furnace. After removal of flue dust, the top gas is burnt in auxiliary stoves
to preheat the air blast for the furnace; thus adding sensible heat to improve the
efficiency of combustion. The top gas can also be utilized as a fuel in the downstream
and upstream facilities of any steel plant, sometimes with the addition of the richer
coke oven gas. The blast furnace top gas and coke oven gas can also be used to raise
steam for in-plant power generation. The flue dust (which is ore fines) is
agglomerated by sintering or briquetting and recharged to the furnace or stockpiled
for future use.
Figure 7 is a modern blast furnace showing direction of movement of inputs (ore,
coke, flux, air blast) and outputs (hot metal, slag, flue dust, and furnace gas). Table
4 and Figure 8 show representative materials balance for a blast furnace.
19
Figure 7: A modern blast furnace showing direction of movement of input and

output materials
Table 4: Representative materials balance for a blast furnace producing 2000

tonnes of pig iron per day
CHARGE AMOUNT(tonnes) PRODUCTS AMOUNT(tonnes)
Ore, say 50% Fe 4 000 Pig Iron (Hot Metal) 2 000
Limestone 800 Slag 1 600
Coke 1 800 8 Flue Dust 200
Air 000 Furnace Gas 10 800
20
TOTAL 14 600 TOTAL 14 600
Figure 8: Representative materials balance for a large blast furnace
The materials balance or metallurgical balance of a system/plant when unsteady state

conditions apply is:
For a steady state system, the equation simplifies to:
When complete and accurate stoichiometric data are available for a process, a table
is easily drawn up to show the balance of materials and the balance for each important
element. Such a table can be regarded as the metallurgical equivalent of the accountant‘s
balance sheet. A typical metallurgical balance sheet for an iron blast furnace is given
in Table 5. The primary data are the weights (masses) and analyses (% compositions)
of the materials entering and leaving the process – the other columns are calculated.
Obviously, the metallurgical balance contains the most essential items of information
for judging and controlling metallurgical performance, just as the balance sheet of a
business is essential in determining profit or loss and in controlling the business.
Several factors operate to prevent exact balances between input and output.
Accumulation or depletion of materials in process may account for large differences
between input and output over a short term. Periodic inventories and clean ups,
21
however, furnish a direct check on accumulation and depletion. Spillages and

unaccountable losses also show up when the materials balance is calculated. Often,
however, consistent differences between input and output are the result of errors in the
primary stoichiometric data, and it can become a serious and embarrassing problem to
determine whether failure to balance is due to unexplained losses, accumulations in
equipment, weighing errors, or analytical errors.
BLAST FURNACE OPERATION

The operations involved in blast furnace processes are: charging of solids through the
top (via the two-bell system or modern bell-less top using a rotating distributing chute);
continuous injection of hot blast with some hydrocarbons through the tuyeres;
continued or periodic tapping of liquid products (hot metal and slag) from the bottom;
and continuous removal of gas and dust. NB: Iron blast furnaces are charged with
alternate layers of coke and ore plus flux. The layers are normally 0.5–1 m thick, with
larger diameter furnaces tending to have the thicker layers.
Most of the operating procedures (e.g. charging, blowing, and fuel injection) are
carried out mechanically under automatic control, and modern blast furnaces are
extensively equipped with continuous monitoring devices. Typical continuously
monitored process variables are:
 Temperature: of hot blast, cooling water, shaft wall, top gas;
 Pressure: of blast, furnace interior at several levels and top;
 Flow rates: of blast through each tuyere, tuyere injectants through each tuyere,
and cooling water.
In addition, iron and slag temperature and composition are determined
intermittently during tapping. Burdening of the furnace (e.g. ore and flux quantities
being charged) and conditions at the tuyeres (blast temperature, oxygen level, tuyere
injectant quantity) are decided, often by computer, based on these measurements. The
only major manual manoeuvre is tapping of iron and slag.
The process never stops and a blast furnace campaign continues 5 to 8 years before
refractory wear forces a shutdown. Minor perforations in the shaft can be patched
without shutting down the furnace. The furnace can be ‗banked‘ with an allcoke charge
to keep it hot during temporary production stoppages.
The rate of pig-iron production in any given furnace is determined by the rate at
which oxygen, as air or air plus pure O2, is blown into the furnace. High blast rates lead
to:
i. Rapid combustion of coke in front of the tuyeres,
ii. A rapid rate of CO production and, as a consequence,
iii. A high rate of iron reduction
About 1.3 to 2.2 tonnes of blast air are required per tonne of pig iron produced.
However, there is a maximum rate at which air can be blown into the furnace.
Excessive velocities (going above this rate) lead to:
22
i. The air and furnace gases ascending through open ‗channels‘ in the solid charge (a
phenomenon called channelling) rather than in an evenly distributed flow pattern
and this causes the reducing gases to pass through the furnace incompletely
reacted, therefore resulting to inefficient use of the carbon or coke in the charge.
23
Table 5: Metallurgical balance for an iron blast furnace {Adapted with metrication from Schuhmann, Jr. R. (1952)}
Materials Weight Fe SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO P Mn S
kg kg % kg % kg % kg % kg % kg % kg % kg %
Feed Materials (Input)
Ore No. 1 7247.5 3609.2 49.8 420.5 5.8 217.4 3.0 14.5 0.2 14.5 0.2 4.93 0.068 55.8 0.77 0.72 0.010
749.8 350.9 46.8 61.2 8.2 17.2 2.3 1.4 0.2 1.5 0.2 0.48 0.064 8.3 1.12 0.50 0.062
Ore No. 2
1682.7
Ore No. 3 3580.2 47.0 379.7 10.6 82.3 2.3 7.3 0.2 7.0 0.2 2.80 0.078 23.2 0.65 0.50 0.014
248.1
465.4 53.3 15.0 3.2 11.0 2.3 0.5 0.1 0.9 0.2 0.34 0.072 2.0 0.43 0.07 0.016
Ore No. 4
958.4
Cinder, mill 61.25
0.112
scale, scrap 7.9
1564.8 123.6 20.3 23.5 6.3 2.4 9.2 1.75
1.3 1.5 0.4 0.155 0.59
Coke 7032.9 372.7 5.3 218.0 3.1 21.3 0.3 14.0 0.2 1.48 0.021 64.77 0.921
3507.6 94.7 2.7 52.6 1.5 1806.2 51.5 45.6 1.3 1.10 0.031 2.46 0.070
Limestone
TOTALS 6849.3 1467.4 618.8 1874.7 89.8 13.53 98.5 70.77
Products (Output)
Pig Iron:
Calculated 7286.5 6849.3 94.0 156.04 2.14* 13.53 0.185 65.8 0.903 2.27 0.03
Actual 2.68* 0.158 1.03 0.03
Slag:
Calculated 4012.5 1311.33 32.7 618.7 15.4 1874.7 46.7 89.81 2.2 32.7 0.82+ 68.50 1.71
Actual 33.8 15.7 47.2 2.0 0.78
TOTALS
6849.3 1467.4 618.7 1874.7 89.8 13.53 98.5 70.77
{Calculate from feed}
*Present in pig iron as Si; +Present in slag as MnO
21
ii. Preventing newly melted iron and slag from descending evenly through the bosh
(this phenomenon is called flooding) which may lead to an uneven descent of
solid charge and to an erratic furnace operation.
Typical operational blast rates are 40–50 Nm3 min-1 of blast per m2 of hearth area. A
blast furnace can operate down to about 70% of its normal capacity without any
deleterious effects. Below this rate of production, the charge begins to react unevenly.
[NB: Nm3 means normal cubic metres of air or gas. 1 Nm 3 = 1 m3 of gas at 273 K, 1
atmosphere].
IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCTIVITY OF THE BLAST FURNACE

The productivity [expressed in tonnes of hot metal per day (THM/day)] of the blast
furnace has continually increased from the time of its inception until today when
furnaces of 12000-tonnes-per-day capacity have been built. Much of this improvement
has been due to larger furnaces of improved design (better charge distribution
machinery, better cooling systems, and refractories that are more resistant) but changes
in the physical and chemical characteristics of the input materials and altered conditions
inside the furnace have also led to greatly improved performances. The following areas
of improvement are worth noting.
1) Use of evenly sized, well distributed, sinter and pellet burdens: The most
important factor in increasing the productivity of the blast furnace has been the
switch from unsized ore to evenly sized, well distributed, sinter and pellet burdens.
Uniform burdens permit furnace gases to rise rapidly through the charge without
causing channeling and this, in turn, allows the furnaces to be operated at high blast
rates (i.e. at high production rates). In fact, the productivities of older furnaces have
been almost doubled by the use of sized sinter and pellets. An added benefit has
been decreased losses of ore as dust or fines in the furnace gases.
2) Injection of hydrocarbon liquids, gases or solids through the tuyeres: This has
also led to improved furnace productivities by lowering the requirement for coke
in the solid charge. This leaves more space in the stack for ore and it leads to a
greater reduction capacity. [Well, if the price of coke is high relative to the prices
of fuel oil and natural gas per unit of reducing capability or enthalpy, the injection
of these fuels through the tuyeres will automatically result in direct cost savings].
However, recent increases in the prices of natural gas and fuel oil have lowered this
direct-cost advantage.
3) Use of hotter blast: Hand in hand with hydrocarbon injection has come the use of
hotter blast. Hot-blast air offsets cooling due to the entry of cold hydrocarbons into
the tuyere zone of the furnace and also adds enthalpy to the system. Blast
temperatures in modern installations are typically 1300 to 1600 K (1027 to
1327°C).
4) Control of blast humidity: Air constitutes almost a half of the materials entering
the blast furnace. Consequently, relatively small changes in humidity are important
with regard to the amount of water carried into the furnace. The endothermic
26
decomposition of the water vapour in the hot zone adjacent to the tuyeres absorbs
considerable heat. This extra heat absorbed in the hearth of the furnace increases
the amount of fuel required in the form of coke. Some fuel (and hence, cost) savings
can be realized by drying the blast air either by a regenerative heat exchange cycle
or by passing the air through suitable drying columns. The use of hotter blast [as in
(3) above] can actually take care of humidity problem.
5) Enrichment of the air blast with pure oxygen: The oxygen replaces a portion of
the air requirement and hence ensures the lowering of the quantity of nitrogen
passing through the furnace. This partial elimination of nitrogen (a diluent in
combustion) has the following advantages:
a) It increases the flame temperature in front of the tuyeres thus permitting
increased injection of cold hydrocarbons;
b) It permits an increased rate of CO production (CO is the reducing gas) and
consequently an increased rate of ore reduction without increasing the total rate
of gas flow (channeling and flooding) through the furnace. In effect, the
production rate of the furnace can be raised without causing channeling and
flooding.
6) Pressurization of the blast furnace up to 3 atmospheres gauge at the furnace top:
High-pressure operation permits an increased mass-flow rate of gas through the
blast-furnace charge without an increase in gas velocity. This in turn permits a
greater throughput of reducing gas without a decrease in gas/solid reaction time,
leading to an increased rate of iron production. Many furnaces are now operated in
this way. High furnace pressure is obtained by throttling the gas exit from the
furnace. The furnace structure must be strengthened for this type of operation.
BLAST FURNACE COSTS

So far, we have seen that the blast furnace is a large installation with a very high
production rate of molten pig iron. A single blast furnace (i.e. 5000 tonnes of iron per
day) costs in the order of including blowers, hot-blast stoves,
materials-handling equipment, dust collection and effluent control. [This is 1977 figures
by Berczynski, as quoted by Peacey and Davenport (1979)]. This high capital cost per
unit is the biggest disadvantage of the process. In fact, the blast furnace is economical
only at large-scale (high iron tonnage) production.
The iron blast furnace is an efficient device for producing large quantities of molten
iron, ready for refining to steel. Its principal advantages are its exceptional stability of
operation and its high rate of iron production. Its only disadvantage is its large unit size
and its consequently high initial capital cost. The high capital cost of building and
installing a blast furnace and the stringent demand for high-grade ore and
metallurgical coke (which is even more costly than the ore), has led to search for
alternative iron making technologies, e.g. Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Smelting
Reduction (SR) technologies.
27
ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS A
1. A common material from which iron is produced is beneficiated and pelletized
haematite ore. Calculate the quantity of haematite ore pellets (6% SiO 2) required to
produce 1 tonne of pig iron (5% C, 1% Si, 1% Mn).
2. In modern blast furnaces, the carbon supply rate (from coke and tuyere injected
hydrocarbons) is in the order of 420 kg per tonne of pig iron (5% C,1% Si, 1% Mn).
Express this carbon supply rate in terms of (i) kg of carbon per tonne of product Fe, (ii)
kg moles of C per kg mole of product Fe.
3. A blast furnace operator wishes to increase his hearth temperature by enriching

the blast to 25 vol.% oxygen. What weight and volume (Nm3) of pure oxygen must he
inject per 1000 Nm3 of dry air blast.
4. Iron ore, limestone, and coke of the analyses given below are to be charged to an
iron blast furnace:
Fe SiO 2 CaO MgO Al2O3 H2O Mn P C S
Ore 50.0 8.0 3.0 10 2 0.05
Limestone 4 50 2 1 1
Coke 1 5 3 2 86 1
The furnace is operated to produce a pig iron analyzing 94% Fe, 4%C, and 1%Si, and a
slag in which %CaO + %MgO = %SiO2 + % Al2O3. Previous experience indicates that
the coke consumption will be 900 kg per tonne of pig iron produced and that the quantity
of air in the blast will be 80% of that theoretically required to burn the C in the coke to
CO. Calculate the following:
a) the weights of ore and limestone to be charged per tonne of coke,
b) the volume of dry air to be supplied in m3/min. at STP [i.e. in Nm3/min] for a furnace
producing 1000 tonnes of pig iron per 24 hours,
c) the composition of the blast furnace gas and the volume produced per day in a 1000-
tonne furnace.
CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN THE BLAST FURNACE

The chemical reactions, which take place in the furnace, are as shown in Figures 5 and
9. The temperatures of the various zones of the furnace are also shown in Figure 9.
i. Coke in the region of the tuyeres burn completely:
Just above the tuyeres (the bosh region) the CO2 is reduced by the white hot coke to
CO:
28
On balance the overall reaction is strongly exothermic, so that the temperature remains
high. Thus, at the tuyere level, air reacts with coke to give the overall reaction:
and this represents the main source of heat and reducing gas for the blast furnace. Figure
10 confirms that in the region of the tuyeres, there is early combustion of coke to CO2
and subsequent reaction of CO2 with coke to form CO.
Ore + coke Top gas

+ fluxes
400°C
Stack
Reserve zone
900°C
1000°C
Bosh
Tuyeres ≈1800°
C
Hearth
1400°C
Slag
Hot metal
29
Figure 9: Schematic illustration of the iron blast furnace and its chemical equations.
Notice the slow increase in temperature from 900 to 1000°C. The dotted line at the
900°C level represents the border between the indirect and direct reduction zones.
Figure 10: Composition of the gas directly in front of an experimental BF tuyere
ii. As the CO, which is a powerful reducing agent, rises through the charge, the ore
in the upper part of the stack is reduced through the stages:
Thus, the overall reaction is:
.
These reactions begin when the temperature has reached a few hundred degrees
Celcius, but the main reactions occur in the range 700 to 1200°C. In modern blast
furnaces, the reduction of Fe2O 3 and Fe3O4 to FeO is completed before the reduction to
metallic iron (Fe) starts. This gives the most efficient utilization of the CO content in
the gas, and is achieved by the use of highly reactive ores of small lump size, for
example, pellets. For coarser and less reactive ores the reactions are apt to overlap.
The last reduction of wustite to iron occurs only after the ore has reached the lower
part of the stack where the temperature has increased to above 1000°C. In this region
the reaction on the coke surface is sufficiently rapid to make the wustite reduction
] and the Boudouard reaction or coke gasification
30
[ ] take place simultaneously. Thus, CO2 formed by the reduction of

FeO may react with carbon to give the overall reaction:
The above reaction is sometimes called direct reduction (i.e. coke or solid carbon
directly reducing iron oxide to Fe) even though it actually occurs through the gas phase.
The reaction between coke and CO2 in this case is sometimes called solution loss,
meaning that some carbon reacts (dissolves) before it reaches the tuyeres. In
comparison, the reaction between CO and iron ore in the upper part of the stack, where
the temperature is too low for the coke to react, is called indirect reduction.
The reduction sequence takes place in the upper part
of the furnace where the temperature is too low for the iron so formed to melt. It
therefore remains as a spongy mass until it moves down into the lower part of the
furnace where it melts and runs down over the white-hot coke dissolving carbon,
sulphur, manganese, phosphorus, and silicon as it goes. Apart from carbon, which is
absorbed from the coke; these other elements (S, Mn, P, Si) are dissolved following
their reduction from compounds present as impurities in the original ore. Thus, in the
lower part of the furnace – where the products are mainly molten –, the following
reactions occur to some extent:
The underlining indicates that the element so underlined is in solution in Fe i.e. hot
metal. These reactions may also be called direct reductions since coke or C is directly
acting as the reducing agent and CO is produced.
iii. At the same time as this reduction is taking place, the earthy waste or gangue
associated with the ore combines with lime (formed by the decomposition of
limestone added with the charge) to produce a fluid slag, thus:
The function of the lime (CaO) here is to liquefy the gangue, which is composed of
largely silica that would not melt at the blast furnace temperature unless attacked
chemically to form a low melting point slag, which will run from the furnace. The slag
produced is of low value and is used mainly for filling purposes, e.g. railway ballast,
road making, concrete aggregate and for the manufacture of slag wool (thermal and
acoustic insulation material). It should not be confused with the basic slag used in
agriculture (fertilizer production) which is a by-product of steelmaking process. CaO
can also desulphurize the hot metal by taking some sulphur (as CaS) to the slag:
The furnace is tapped at regular intervals, the iron generally being stored in the
molten state in a mixer prior to transfer to the steelmaking plant. Some may be cast as
pigs for subsequent re-melting, e.g. in foundries.
31
The blast furnace top gas contains considerable amounts of CO which remain unused
during reduction of the ore. Since the gas has useful calorific value, the blast furnace
performs a secondary role as a giant gas producer and all of this gas is utilized as fuel.
After being cleaned of dust much of it is burned in the Cowper stoves which, in turn,
preheat the ingoing air blast. Two such regenerator stoves are required for each blast
furnace. While one is being re-heated by the burning blast furnace gas, the other is pre-
heating the ingoing air; and they reverse roles in the next phase. The surplus gas is
utilized in many ways in integrated steelmaking plants, e.g. for generating electric
power or for firing different types of reheating furnaces used around the plant.
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN THE STACK

The unique feature of the blast furnace is that in the countercurrent flow of gas and
solids, the heat transfer from gas to solids is accompanied by oxygen transfer from solids
to gas. Reichardt diagram (Figure 11) shows that as a result of heat transfer, the enthalpy
of gas decreases with decreasing temperature of the ascending gas, as represented by
the line ERA in Figure 11a. The line SR represents the increase in the enthalpy of the
solids with increasing temperature during descent in the stack. In the lower part of the
furnace, the overall heat capacity of the burden increases because of fusion, the onset of
the strongly endothermic Boudouard reaction [ ], and greater heat losses;
hence the slope of line RC is greater than that of SR.
The net result is that, as shown in Figure 11b, over some distance in the stack, the
temperature difference between the ascending gas and the descending burden reaches a
minimum known as the thermal pinch point or thermal reserve zone where the
temperature of the rising gases remains relatively constant.
GAS–SOLID REACTIONS
The oxygen in the air blast is entirely consumed by reaction with the coke charge
within the small radius of the tuyere:
The standard free energy for this reaction as shown, is

where pure graphite is the standard state for carbon. [Recall that standard state free
energy = 0; standard state activity = 1]. Outside this zone (the tuyere), there is no free
oxygen available, so the CO2 reacts with more coke to form CO:
32
Gas
Solid Ascending
Descending
(a)
(b)
Figure 11: Illustration of Reichardt diagram: (a) Enthalpy of the gas and solid as a
function of temperature; (b) Temperature of the gas and solid along the furnace height
33
Thereafter, the oxygen potential is controlled by the carbon–oxygen equilibria and by

the temperature. These equilibria are represented by:
 Reaction , and
 The sum of reactions [1] and [2];
That is, the two reactions as well as their free .

By oxygen potential, we mean the chemical potential of oxygen, i.e.
where is chemical potential of component in solution; is partial

molar free energy of component in the solution (i.e. per mole of ); T is
temperature in kelvin (T = t + 273), R is universal gas constant (=8.314
J·mol–1·K–1); and is activity of component (element or compound) in a
solution at temperature T; noting that where is the partial
pressure of component (in atmospheres) in an ideal gas mixture. Now,
ironmaking is principally a process of reduction of iron oxides in ores. On
the other hand, steelmaking principally involves oxidation of impurity
elements such as C, Si, Mn, present in liquid iron. For a mole of oxygen gas
( ), such oxidation reactions can be represented with the generalized
stoichiometric equation:
Where, is the oxide of ; and may be solid, liquid, or

even gaseous. The standard free energy for the formation of the oxide
per mole of is:
, where K is the equilibrium constant;
34
In conclusion, the free energy ( ) for the oxidation of an element using a

mole of oxygen gas ( ) can be expressed in Joules per mole of per
kelvin and it is mathematically given as . This is the
oxygen potential of the reaction since the value of depends on .
Now, let us go back to oxygen potential. For reactions [1], [2] and [1+2], the
associated oxygen potentials are shown in Figure 12 (plotted using the data in Table 6)
for 1 atmosphere pressure of CO2 and CO. The two lines intersect at 700°C. At all
temperatures above the point of intersection, the CO line is at a lower oxygen potential
than the CO2 line. It implies that at higher temperatures, CO is more stable and the
reaction goes to the right, i.e. CO production is favoured. At
lower, temperatures CO 2 is more stable and the direction of the reaction is reversed, i.e.
CO 2 production is favoured.
The equilibrium constant of reaction [2] is:
Table 6: ΔG – T data for reactions [1], [2] and [1+2] Temperature

Temperature ΔG1 ΔG2 ΔG1+2 (°C) (K) (kJ/mol.)
(kJ/mol.) (kJ/mol.)
-393.782 122.498 -271.72 0 273

200 473 -393.622 87.698 -306.68
400 673 -393.462 52.898 -341.64
600 873 -393.302 18.098 -376.60
800 1073 -393.142 -16.702 -411.56
1000 1273 -392.982 -51.502 -446.52
1200 1473 -392.822 -86.302 -481.48
1400 1673 -392.662 -121.102 -516.44
1600 1873 -392.502 -155.902 -551.40
1800 2073 -392.342 -190.702 -586.36
2000 2273 -392.182 -225.502 -621.32
35
Where the activity of carbon, , as carbon is in its standard state (i.e. pure carbon).
A ratio of as a function of temperature can be obtained using the Van’t Hoff
Isotherm as follows:
Substituting for R = 8.314 J/mol·K and converting to common logarithm, we obtain:
36
On rearrangement, equation [3] becomes:
Using (for.
) at temperature
of 1900°C, and substituting in equation [4] yields:
This result shows that at high temperatures, such as at 1900°C (2173K), the partial
pressure of CO is very high while that of CO2 is negligible; hence, the production of CO
is favoured. {Recall that when K is positive (especially large positive values), ΔG is
negative, the reaction will be thermodynamically feasible or spontaneous. The more
negative is the value of ΔG (large negative values), the more favourable the reaction}.
Now, using temperature of 300°C (573K) with the same

for reaction [2], we obtain that:
Again, this result confirms that at low temperatures such as at 300°C (573K), the partial
pressure of CO2 is very high compared to that of CO, which is negligible, hence, the
production of CO 2 is favoured. {Again, recall that when K is negative, ΔG is positive,
the reaction will be thermodynamically unrealistic or impossible. The more positive is
the value of ΔG (large positive values), the more unfavourable the reaction}.
Table 7 shows values and ratios for various temperatures for the
reaction, . The data confirms that as temperature increases, the
value of increases, as shown in Figure 13. In addition, ratios are low at
37
Table 7:
Temperature vs. data for
38
Similarly, for ]
 These examples are for temperatures of 300°C and 1900°C, respectively.
39
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
-20000
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Temperature (°C)
Figure 14: Variation with temperature of the concentration of CO in
equilibrium with CO and solid carbon at total pressure of 1 atm.
2
ratios are
high at high temperatures [≥800°C], and this favours CO2 production. This is also
corroborated in Figure 14. Notice that at temperatures in excess of 1000°C, the
concentration of CO2 is negligible and the total pressure of the carbonaceous gases is
approximately equal to the partial pressure of CO [i.e. ]. Below
400°C, the partial pressure of CO is negligible and the reverse applies [i.e.
]. Between these temperature limits, the pressure of both gases are
significant and if , it means that the partial
pressure of each gas is less than atmospheric.
In practice, the furnace gas is diluted with large amount of N2 and smaller
quantities of H2 and H2O vapour from the air blast. In consequence,
although the gas pressure of 1.3 to 1.5 atmospheres at the
tuyere level is offset by the dilution of gas. In Figure 12, this effect is judged by the
reaction: . This corresponds more closely to the partial
pressure of the CO in the hearth and bosh of the blast furnace. The CO and CO2 lines
(in Figure 12) now intersect at a lower temperature and the ratios in the blast
furnace are slightly lower than those previously tabulated.
40
THE HEAT BALANCE: DIRECT AND INDIRECT REDUCTIONS

From the point of view of blast furnace theory, the most important reactions are those
involving wustite, e.g.
i. ii.
Experimental work suggests that when the initial stages of oxidation is high [i.e. high
O/Fe ratio of iron oxide], e.g. approaching [with O/Fe = 3/2 = 1.5], the first stage
of reduction is rapid but the direct reduction of wustite is much slower and decreases as
reduction proceeds.
The simplest method of assessing the carbon requirements for smelting iron in the
blast furnace is from the overall heat balance. One of the most important factors in
considering the overall thermal balance is the proportion of direct and indirect
reduction. From the point of view of maximum evolution of heat (negative ΔH,
exothermicity), maximum gaseous reduction using CO (i.e. indirect reduction) is to be
preferred. In his ―ideal working blast furnace or ideal blast furnace operation‖,
Gr ner (a French metallurgist) postulated in 1872 that maximum efficiency of
operation occurred when all the reduction was indirect. This eventually became known
as Gruner’s theorem, which states that, the “ideally perfect working” of a blast furnace
will be achieved when “the reduction of iron ore is made as far as possible by the
transformation of CO into CO 2, that is, without any consumption of solid carbon”.
Maximum indirect reduction however, although giving maximum evolution of heat
(thermal requirement) does not necessarily mean minimum carbon consumption
(chemical requirement). This is shown in Figure 15 and illustrated by the following
reactions:
Figure 15: Relationship among indirect reduction, direct reduction, solution loss and
carbon rate in a Blast Furnace
a) Assuming that all reduction is by the gaseous reductant CO and that the final
41
CO/CO2 ratio is 1, then we can have the following reactions;

i. {consuming reducing
gas and energy, leaving CO/CO2 ratio = 1}
ii. {producing reducing gas and energy}
b) Assuming reduction is partially direct and partially indirect, then the following
reaction can occur directly between carbon and iron oxide;
iii. {consuming carbon
directly and energy}
The enthalpies for reactions (i.), (ii.) and (iii.) are those for coke (carbon). In case
(a), by comparing reactions (i.) and (ii.), it is clear that 3 moles of C [through CO] are
required to reduce 1 mole of Fe [i.e. 6C/2Fe = 3 moles of C for every mole of Fe] and
giving a thermal yield of 349 kJ [i.e.
]. However, in case (b), reaction (iii.) shows that 1 mole of C is required per
mole of Fe [i.e. 2C/2Fe = 1 mole of C for every mole of Fe], but there is a thermal
deficit of 308 kJ [ ].
In other for the blast furnace process to operate, sufficient heat must be supplied by:
 Combustion of coke,
 Indirect reduction of iron oxides, and
 Sensible heat of the blast;
This is required to balance heat consumed in:

 Melting of iron and slag,
 Direct reduction, and
 Other endothermic reactions (such as decomposition of CaCO3 and MgCO 3,
reduction of SiO2, etc.) and heat losses from the furnace
For any given condition, the proportions of indirect reduction and direct reduction must
be balanced to supply the heat required for the melting process. Similar reactions can
be written for different CO/CO2 ratios.
The approach of using the overall thermal balance to access coke rates in the iron
blast furnace is based on a calculation of thermal requirements of smelting i.e. sensible
heat of metal and slag, reduction of metalloids, cooling losses and calcination of CaCO3
and MgCO 3. This must be balanced by heat available from:
 the amount of carbon used,
 the sensible heat in the blast,
 the degree of combustion to CO and CO2,
 the amount of indirect reduction
42
Calculations can be made which give the available heat for different amount of
carbon consumed with different degrees of conversion to CO and CO2 and with differing
degrees of indirect reduction. The result of this kind of calculation is shown in Figure
16. The diagram gives the overall heat available to satisfy the thermal demands of
melting slag and iron, reduction of metalloids, and heat losses from the furnace as a
function of the carbon used (omitting that used to carburize the iron). Data are given for
various degrees of direct reduction and CO/CO2 ratios. The ore is assumed to be Fe2O 3
but similar diagrams can be constructed for ores with differing degrees of oxidation
[O/Fe ratios]. In this diagram, the amount of direct reduction is expressed as the
percentage of iron reduced by the reaction:
1
⁄
Proportion of indirect reduction
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Thermal Surplus (kJ)
Figure 16: Thermal surplus for different carbon rates
Figure 16 illustrates that the factors (amount of carbon used, sensible heat in the
blast, and degree of combustion to CO and CO2) are not independent variables and that
if one is altered the other two are also affected. It is apparent that the greater the thermal
demands [i.e. low thermal surplus] of the process, the lower must be the CO/CO2 ratio
and the greater the amount of indirect reduction in order to achieve a given carbon
consumption. If a comparison is made at the same CO/CO2 ratio (i.e. the same efficiency
of conversion of carbon to CO2), then the greater the thermal demands of the process,
43
the greater must be the proportion of indirect reduction and also the greater the carbon
rate.
If the degree of direct reduction is the limiting factor, then with increase in thermal
demands, the coke rate and CO/CO2 ratio must increase. Variations in the thermal
requirements of the process are largely dependent on the slag bulk. Hence, rich ores
have lower thermal requirements for smelting than lean ores.
Figure 16 illustrates the Gruner‘s theorem in that the greater the amount of indirect
reduction, the greater is the thermal surplus available to meet the thermal requirements
of the process. Hence the degree of indirect reduction becomes more important the
greater the thermal requirements of the process (i.e. in the case of lean ore burdens), but
even in rich ore burdens the efficiency of the process is higher the greater the proportion
of indirect reduction.
MATHEMATICAL TREATMENT AND GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION

OF THE IRON BLAST FURNACE OPERATION [RIST DIAGRAM]
The mass (materials or stoichiometric) balance and heat (thermal or enthalpy)
balance of the iron blast furnace can be represented by model equations and graphs. A
most useful geometrical method for rapidly understanding and predicting changes in
blast furnace operation due to variations in blast and burden parameters was devised by
Prof. Andre Rist and co-workers (in France), and they published a series of papers in
1960s, where a mathematical model based on mass and heat balances considering
equilibrium conditions of chemical reactions was presented. This model was illustrated
by so-called Rist operating diagram, which is a dual representation of the blast furnace
mass, and heat balances.
The Stoichiometric Development

The counter-current nature of iron blast furnace avails us the opportunity to derive the
following equations based on the steady-state operating conditions, i.e. conditions under
which there is no accumulation of mass in the furnace. This permits balancing of the
carbon, iron and oxygen inputs and outputs of the furnace and it provides the foundation
for developing a stoichiometric equation for the process. For simplicity, the
stoichiometric equations are developed on a molar basis.
Elemental Balances
Industrial observations show that (i) Fe leaves the furnace almost exclusively in the hot
metal, i.e. less than 0.5% leaves in the slag, (ii) the oxygen content of the hot metal is
negligibly small so that no oxygen leaves the furnace in the metal, (iii) oxides which
enter the furnace in gangue, flux and coke ash leave the furnace mainly in slag. It is also
pertinent to note that the loss of input materials as dust in top gas, fall between 10 to 20
44
kg per tonne of Fe. This is ignored in the mass balance equation because it is assumed
that all dusts are eventually recycled back to the furnace after gas cleaning. Under
steady-state conditions, the blast furnace must obey three basic elemental balance
equations*:
where is the number of moles of each component entering the furnace and is the
number of moles leaving, all expressed in terms of a production of one mole of useful
Fe in pig iron, i.e. per mole of product Fe. [*In addition to material or elemental balance
equations, the blast furnace must also obey steady-state heat balance equation, namely;
heat supply = heat demand].
Fe, C and O enter and leave the furnace in many forms, but initially the only forms that
need be considered are:
Element Forms into furnace Forms out of furnace

Fe Iron oxide(s) Hot metal (pig iron)
C Coke Top gas (CO, CO2), C-in-Fe (C dissolved in hot metal)
O Iron oxides, blast air Top gas as CO and CO2
N2 Blast air Top gas as N2
Composition Ratios
Before developing the stoichiometric equation [i.e. blast furnace mass balance
equation], it is useful to introduce several variables which concisely represent C, Fe and
O concentrations and quantities in the furnace inputs and outputs. A useful variable for
describing top gas composition is . This variable represents concisely the mole
fractions of CO and CO2 in the carbonaceous portion of the top gas
. Knowing that the O/C ratios for pure CO and pure CO2 are 1 and 2
respectively. Mixtures of CO and CO 2 will have O/C ratios between 1 and 2. If we
define as the molar oxygen/carbon ratio [moles of O2/moles of C] in the top gas,
the molar fractions of CO and CO in the top gas will then be given as:
Where
With and given or known, can be obtained using;
45
Likewise, if we define the molar oxygen fraction in the charge of iron oxide, ,
as being the number of moles of O per mole of Fe in iron oxides [where designates
the particular iron oxide], then the composition of the iron oxide portion of the charge
may be expressed as:
For a mixed charge of

and , lies somewhere between 1.33 and 1.50
Finally, the carbon content of the hot metal is designated as and defined in terms of the
molar ratio of C in hot metal to
Fe in hot metal.
To sum up, these ratios can be
used to concisely
represent certain
quantities of oxygen and carbon entering and leaving the furnace. In this
context their meanings are:
With the foregoing in mind, then the various element balances are: a)
Iron (Fe) Balance
Since the only outlet for Fe is in the hot metal, and and are in terms of moles
of Fe in hot metal, it follows that and . On the basis of one
mole of product Fe, then;
b) Carbon (C) Balance

As C leaves (i) via the top gas and (ii) in the hot metal [which is essentially liquid Fe
saturated with C]; the carbon balance can be represented as follows:
Where is moles of C leaving via the top gas and is moles of C leaving in
hot metal, both per mole of product Fe.
c) Oxygen (O) Balance

Oxygen enters the furnace as blast air and in iron oxides, i.e.
46
Where is the moles of O brought into the furnace in blast air per mole of product Fe.
is the oxygen input of the iron oxides per mole of their input Fe, but by
equation [3] it can also be expressed per mole of product Fe.
Oxygen leaves the furnace in the top gas only. In terms of variables already
considered, its quantity may be described by:
-
Where is number of moles of carbon leaving in the top gas per mole of product Fe
and is moles of oxygen leaving in the top gas per mole of carbon leaving in the
top gas. Since by equation [1c], , it implies that equations [5a] and [5b] can be
equated to each other, thus:
On rearrangement, equation [6a] becomes:
Equation [6b] resembles the general equation of a straight line, i.e. [ ].

Equation [6b] may be rewritten by recalling that the carbon input either (i) reacts with
oxygen in the blast and iron oxides, or (ii) dissolves in the hot metal (carburizes the hot
metal). The carbon, which reacts with oxygen, is known as active carbon. The carbon
that goes into the molten metal is called inactive carbon and is accounted for by
in equation [4]. If the moles of active carbon is designated as , then in
equation [4], so that equation [6b] becomes:
So a plot of [the molar ratio of oxygen to iron in iron oxides] against

[the molar ratio of oxygen to carbon in the top gas] will be a straight line whose
slope is and the intercept on the axis is .
Equation [6b] or [6c] is the stoichiometric equation for the blast furnace in its most
direct and simplest form, as represented in Figure 17. It is also very important to note
that when coke is the only source of carbon [the simplified model does not consider the
use of hydrocarbon injectants], the input–output carbon balance ( ) of equation
[4] becomes:
By comparing equations [6b], [6c] and [7], the slope can also be expressed as:
47
Based on equation [7], we can revisit equations [2a] and [2b] and express CO and CO2 in
moles instead of mole fractions, thus:
d) Nitrogen (N 2) Balance
Nitrogen enters and leaves the furnace as molecular nitrogen (N2); not participating in
the reactions but acts as a diluent of air. [It contributes volume and mass, and carries
the bulk of the heat leaving the furnace in the top gas. In the case of preheated air blast,
N 2 carries the bulk of the sensible heat in the blast entering the furnace]. Since oxygen
and nitrogen occupy 21% and 79% of air by volume respectively, the number of moles
of N2 in the top gas is:
Figure 17: Simplified Inputs and outputs of the iron blast furnace for the materials and
enthalpy balances used in the derivation of the Rist model and diagram
48
Rist Diagram Based on Stoichiometric Balance

The Rist diagram, as it is called, is a graphical and alternative way of presenting the
material and heat balances of the iron blast furnace. It is based on the general principles
for countercurrent reactors. The molar O/C ratio in the furnace gas [i.e. and the
molar O/Fe ratio in the burden [i.e. ] are used, respectively, as abscissa (
) and ordinate ( ), as shown in Figure 18. A plot of [the molar ratio of
oxygen to iron in iron oxides, ] against
[the molar ratio of oxygen to carbon in the top gas, ] will be a straight
line passing through the coordinates:
(
and
(
The resulting straight line is known as the operating line. The operating line in Figure
18 was plotted using the data in Table 8, which is for a somewhat inefficient blast
furnace operation. A few things are worth noting about the Rist diagram of Figure 18.
• The O/C atomic ratio is plotted along the abscissa ( -axis), and the top gas
composition is shown at the top of the diagram, i.e. 1.0 for CO and 2.0 for CO2.
• The O/Fe atomic ratio is plotted along the ordinate ( -axis), and the topmost O/Fe
ratio is that of the unreduced ore, i.e. 1.5 for haematite (Fe2O3). As reduction
progresses in stages [Fe2O3→ Fe3O4→ FeO → Fe], the O/Fe ratio reduces from 1.5
to 1.33 (Fe3O 4) to 1.0 (FeO) to 0 (zero for Fe).
• The positive side of the ordinate (above zero) represents oxygen [or oxygen
removed] from iron oxides while the negative side (below zero) represents
oxygen from air blast [including oxygen removed from SiO2, MnO, etc. in the
ore].
• The operating line is permitted to lie anywhere between O/C = 1 and O/C = 2. As
it rotates anticlockwise towards O/C = 1, the slope increases, leading
to higher coke consumption due to low utilization of CO i.e. inefficient blast
furnace operation. Alternatively, as the operating line rotates clockwise towards
O/C = 2, the slope reduces, meaning lower coke rate, effective utilization of CO
in reduction or more efficient blast furnace operation.
Table 8: Data for the blast furnace operation plotted in Figure 16

ITEM QUANTITY
kg per kg moles per Model variable

Specification
tonne of Fe tonne of Fe (kg moles per kg mole of product Fe)
Fe 1 000 17.9
49
Iron oxide
53
Pig iron 5%C (inactive 4.4
*
carbon)
550
Coke (only
90%C [495 kg of 41.3
carbon source)
carbon]
Active carbon 442 36.8
Oxygen from
400 25.0 (as O)
Blast air
*Note that blast furnace iron (inside the furnace) is saturated with carbon, 5 wt.% C [ ] at 1800
K. shall be assigned with the value of 0.25 in this course.
Insertion of the data in Table 8 into equation [6b or 6c] will reveal the top gas
compositions of the blast furnace thus;
50
⁄ ⁄
Slope of operating line

= Active carbon requirement
Figure 18: The Rist diagram based on stoichiometric balance only. The numerical values
of , , and are for the blast furnace operation described in
Table 8. Physical meanings of the slope and intercepts are also described.
This O/C ratio of 1.41 is equivalent to the following CO and CO2 mole fractions, using
equations [2a], [2b] and [2c]:
51
Confirm that
Confirm also that

For the carbonaceous portion of the top gas, this translates to 59% CO and 41% CO2.
Furthermore, from equations [8a], [8b] and [8c], we can determine the moles of CO,
CO 2 and N2 for the blast
furnace operation:
This gives the overall top gas composition as 26% CO, 18%CO2, and 56%N2.
{That is For
ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS B
1. Convert the following operating parameters into numerical values for their equivalent
blast furnace model variables.
SN Operating parameter Model variable
a Ore charge: hematite
b Blast: 1200 Nm 3 of dry air per tonne of product Fe
c Pig iron: 4.9% C
d Total carbon in charge: 460 kg of dry coke (90% C) and 50 kg of

oil (85% C) per tonne of Fe
e Active carbon from (c) and (d) f Carbon in top gas [from (e)]
g Top gas composition: 23.9 vol.% CO, 20.5% CO2 , 55.6% N2 h
Quantity of CO and CO2 in the top gas [from (f) and (g)]
52
2. A blast furnace is charged with hematite pellets. It produces a 5% carbon pig iron.
450 kg of carbon (as coke) and 370 kg of oxygen (as air blast) are supplied to the
furnace per tonne of product Fe. Calculate analytically:
(a) the composition (including N2) of the top gas from this furnace;
(b) the volume of top gas per kg mole and per tonne of product Fe.
3. Plot the operating line for the operation in Problem 2 on an O/C: O/Fe graph and
check graphically your answer to part (a) of Problem 2. Express your comparative
answers in terms of the oxygen/carbon ratio in the top gas.
4. The Problem 2 blast furnace is switched to an acid, low SiO2 sinter in which the
predominant iron oxide is Fe3O 4. The low SiO2 content of this feed leads to a low
slag production (per tonne of product Fe) which permits the operator to cut back his
coke and blast supplies to 425 kg of C and 345 kg of O 2 (per tonne of Fe)
respectively. Demonstrate graphically the effects of this change and determine the
mole fractions of CO and CO2 in the carbonaceous portion of the top gas
) for this new operation.
5. The operator of a small, old blast furnace wishes to check his blast-metering devices
on the basis of top-gas analysis and coke-rate measurements. Determine, analytically
or graphically, what his total blast volume (Nm3 of dry air) should have been for the
following operating conditions:
Item Quantity
Ore: hematite (5% SiO2, all of which goes to slag)
Hot metal (5% C) 1000 tonnes
Coke (88% C, dry basis) 700 tonnes (a poor operation)
Top-gas composition vol.% CO/vol.% CO2 = 1.2
6. The composition of the top gas from a hematite-charged furnace is 22 vol.% CO, 20
vol.% CO 2 , 58 vol.% N2. The blast volume is 1400 Nm3 per tonne of product Fe.
From these data, calculate graphically the quantity of carbon taking part in the blast-
furnace reactions (per tonne of product Fe). Calculate also the total carbon being
used by the furnace if the pig iron contains 5 wt.% C.
Rist Diagram Based on Stoichiometric and Thermal Balances

The Rist diagram of Figure 18 as well as the analytical and graphical solutions
required in the Assignment Problems B are based on equation [6];
This equation is useful for checking the consistency of measured top-gas compositions
with measured inputs to the furnace. It is not, however, powerful enough to predict
[before charging and operating the furnace] the quantities of coke and blast which are
necessary for a given type of blast furnace operation and furnace charge. In this section,
we shall be concerned with developing a second equation for the process, based upon a
steady-state enthalpy balance for the furnace.
53
It is useful to consider the blast furnace enthalpy balance in terms of an enthalpy demand
and an enthalpy supply. Blast furnace enthalpy balance can be divided into reactions,
which supply heat to the process, e.g. formation of CO and CO2, and reactions, which
require heat, e.g. dissociation of iron oxides and heating and melting of product iron. In
its most simplified case, the demand is considered to be the enthalpy required to produce
liquid Fe 1800 K (1527°C) from Fe2O 3 at 298 K (25°C) and the supply is the enthalpy
provided by oxidation of carbon at 298 K (25°C) to CO and CO2.
This simplification assumes the following:
• the air blast enters the furnace at 298 K (25°C) and the top gas leaves at 298 K
(25°C), i.e. neither carries sensible heat, which permits the N2 of the blast to be
ignored for the moment;
• the only charge materials are Fe2O3 and C, i.e. there is no gangue, flux or coke
ash and thus no slag;
• the enthalpy of the carbon in the pig iron product is negligible;
• there are no convective or radiative heat losses from the furnace.
The demand/supply form of the enthalpy equation (thermal balance) is:
Where are
moles of Fe2O3 charged to the furnace and moles of CO and CO2 leaving the furnace all
per mole of product Fe. The enthalpies of C, O 2 and N2 are zero because they enter or
leave the furnace at 298 K in accordance with the assumptions as typified by Figure 17.
This simplified form of the enthalpy equation (equation [9]) is advantageous in many
ways:
• both sides of the equation contain positive numbers;
• an additional enthalpy requirement for the process, e.g. for heating and melting
slag, can be included simply and clearly as an additional heat-demand term;
• an additional enthalpy supply, e.g. enthalpy in hot blast, can be incorporated as
an additional supply term.
This demand/supply form also demonstrates that for a blast furnace to be operating at a
steady state, its heat demand must be exactly met by its heat supply. Otherwise, the
furnace will be warming or cooling and an adjustment of coke and blast inputs will
eventually have to be made.
54
If we insert into equation [9] the numerical values [thermochemical data can be sourced
from references like NIST-JANAF Thermochemical Tables] of the heats of formation
of
the
substances, we have:
It is appropriate to express equation [9c] in the same terms as equation [6] and this can be
achieved by using equations [8a] and [8b] and [2a] and [2b], thus:
Note also that 1 mole of product Fe requires ½ mole of input , that is;
Since both sides of equation [9c]) are in terms of kJ per kg mole of product Fe;
Substituting accordingly, we obtain:
Since D = S, it means that both D and S can be equated to the right hand side of equation
[9d];q
At this point, it is useful to generalize that the demand term is a variable, in which case
equation [9d] becomes:
This can be rearranged (by dividing both sides by 283000 and opening up the bracket)
to:
55
Where, D is the heat demand of the process per kg mole of Fe produced by the furnace.
This generalized D term facilitates enthalpy calculations for different iron oxides and
different molten metal temperatures and, when necessary, additional enthalpy demands
are readily incorporated into it. For example, it has been shown from the foregoing that
the heat demand for producing Fe(l ) at 1800 K from ½ mole of Fe2O3 at 298 K is 486
000 kJ (kg mole of product Fe)–1. Similarly, the heat demand for producing one mole of
Fe(l ) at 1900 K from 1/3 mole of Fe3O4 at 298 K is:
The calculations of heat demand D for the two iron oxides shows that the determination
of D does not require the variables and , i.e. its value depends only upon the
nature of the charge, the composition and temperature of the iron and slag and heat
losses. Of course changes in D, due say to an increased slag production per tonne of
product Fe, will necessitate changes in and for the furnace to re-establish
steady-state operating conditions.
We can now combine the stoichiometric (mass) balance equation [6c] and the enthalpy
(heat) balance equation [10b] as follows:
Subtracting equation [10c] from equation [6c], we have:
Or
56
This shows that once and D are specified (i.e. from the nature of the ore and
its heat demand), we are left with two unknowns in the combined model equation. This
means that specification of either (from the input carbon per mole of product Fe and
the carbon content of the pig iron) or (oxygen in dry blast air per mole of product Fe)
fully defines the simplified blast furnace operation shown in Figure 17.
Equation [11] can be seen to be a single equation containing four operating variables.
Two of these variables, the oxygen/iron ratio of the iron ore and its associated
heat demand D, will normally be specified in any blast furnace problem, but even with
these specifications, equation [11] still contains two unknown variables ( and ). To
achieve a fully predictive blast furnace model or equation requires:
• conceptually dividing the furnace, top from bottom, at some height within the
chemical reserve zone;
• carrying out stoichiometric and enthalpy balances over the two segments.
Experience has shown that the most important balances are those of the bottom
segment.
The position of the chemical reserve zone in the furnace is described in idealized form
in Figure 19, which also shows the location of the conceptual split of the furnace into
top and bottom segments.
Figure 19: Conceptual division of the blast furnace into top and bottom segments. The
position of the dividing plane in relation to the chemical and thermal reserve zones is
shown.
57
Conceptual division of the blast furnace specifically through its chemical reserve zone
has the advantage that it imposes two new conditions, viz.:
• The net mass of each element leaving the top segment across the division must
equal the net mass of that element crossing into the bottom segment.
• The net enthalpy in the material leaving the top segment across the division must
equal the net enthalpy crossing into the bottom segment.
The above conditions, which must be described by the enthalpy and stoichiometric
equations of the segments, arise from the observations that:
• there is no carbon gasification in or above the chemical reserve zone, i.e. all
carbon in the charge descends through the top segment into the bottom before it
takes part in any chemical reactions;
• the only iron-bearing material crossing the division is wustite, Fe0.947O, i.e. all
higher oxides have been reduced to Fe0.947O by the time they descend into the
chemical reserve but all reduction to Fe takes place below the chemical reserve.
The inputs and outputs of the two segments are shown in Figure 20.
Figure 20: Inputs and outputs of the top and bottom segments of a conceptually divided
blast furnace. Effects of elements other than C, Fe, N and O and effects of sources of
carbon other than coke are not included.
58
As noted previously, conditions in and above the chemical reserve zone are such that
coke does not take part in any chemical reactions in the top segment of the furnace. This
means that the carbon of the charge descends unreacted into the wustite reduction zone
and that, consequently, the amount of carbon entering the wustite reduction zone is the
same as the amount entering the furnace, i.e.
Similarly, because the amounts of carbon entering the furnace and the wustite reduction
zone are identical, the amounts leaving must also be identical, i.e.
Since from equation [1b],
The abbreviation wrz refers to the bottom segment of the furnace and it is known as the
wustite reduction zone because it is in this segment that final reduction occurs. This
equation [12] is important because when compared with equations [4] and [7], we have
that:
or
That is, or
This is consistent with the assumption that in and above the chemical reserve zone there
are no reactions with solid carbon to form CO or CO2. This being the case, the amount
of carbon ascending as CO and CO2 from the bottom segment must, as the equation
shows, be the same as the amount of carbon leaving the furnace in the top gas.
Accordingly, for the wustite reduction zone, equations [6b] and [6c] applies as follows:
Since the conceptual division of the blast furnace through its chemical reserve zone
imposes the condition that the only iron-bearing material entering the bottom segment
is wustite , it implies that:
If we assume that the gas in the chemical reserve, i.e. the gas leaving the bottom
segment, has the equilibrium composition for the reaction:
at a thermal reserve temperature of 1200 K. From data in NIST-JANAF Thermochemical

Tables, this equilibrium composition is:
From equations [2a] or [2b];
59
or
Substitution of these numerical values into equation [12b] leads to:
This is a single equation in terms of the two operating parameters and , moles of
blast oxygen (O) and moles of active carbon per mole of product Fe. It might also be
noted here that maintenance of continuity demands that the sum of the stoichiometric
equations of the segments must equal the stoichiometric equation of the whole furnace.
This being the case, the stoichiometric equation for the top segment is equation [6c]
minus equation [12c]; that is:
In addition to
equations [11a] and
[12c] we need only
one further equation before the remaining operating requirements of the furnace
and a r e fully defined. This additional equation comes from the enthalpy balance
in the wustite reduction zone, as shown in the following section.
The items in the enthalpy balance of the wustite reduction zone are shown in Figure 18.
Fe0.947O and C enter at the thermal reserve temperature (1200 K); gas of the chemical
reserve composition leaves at 1200 K, and pig iron is produced at 1800 K. Blast enters
at a temperature TB depending upon the particular operation.
In their ―The Iron Blast Furnace; Theory and Practice‖, Peacey and Davenport (1979),
showed that the demand – supply form of the enthalpy equation for the bottom segment
(wustite reduction zone) of a conceptually divided furnace is:
Where,
• heat demand for reduction, heating and melting in the bottom segment
(wustite reduction zone),
• enthalpy (heat) supply in the bottom segment (wustite reduction zone),
• {O/Fe ratio for wustite ( )}
• {CO/CO2/Fe/ equilibrium at 1200 K}
•
• the enthalpy which the dry blast air has in excess of that which it would
have at the thermal reserve temperature. It is positive when blast temperature, TB
> 1200 K; zero when TB = 1200 K; and negative when TB < 1200 K.
60
But we can eliminate
as it reduces to zero when equation [12c] is

considered.
Equations [12c] and [14] indicate that once the enthalpy of the blast, , and the heat
demand of the wustite reduction zone, , are specified we have two equations with
two unknowns and , which can be solved simultaneously to obtain values
for and . Thus the operating requirements of the process, (carbon
taking part in reduction and heating per mole of product Fe), and (oxygen in blast
air per mole of product Fe) are uniquely defined. Alternatively, for calculation
purposes, equations [12c] and [14] may be combined by substituting
from equation
[12c] into equation [14] thus:
Equation [15a] illustrates clearly how is affected by changes in and . It

provides a straightforward method for calculating from numerical values of
and . Blast oxygen, , is then readily determined from by means of equation
[12c].
Equation [15a] can be rewritten as follows:
Where,
The values of and can be calculated as follows:
Note
that
This value of is for the simplest case in which the only demand is for producing a
5% carbon pig iron at 1800 K. will vary, of course, with the amount of gangue and
slag in the furnace, the rate of radiative and convective heat loss from the bottom
segment and the enthalpy demands of subsidiary reactions in the bottom segment. Other
demands, e.g. for slag heating and melting, are simply added to this base value.
Recall that represents the enthalpy in the blast above that which it would have at
1200 K. Therefore, at 1400 K, we have:
61
Insertion of this value of and the specified value of 330 000 kJ for into equation
[15] gives:
moles of C per mole of product Fe.

From equation [12c], is determined as follows:
moles of O per mole of product Fe.

We can at this point use equation [6c] to compute and hence the top gas
composition for haematite charge;
This O/C ratio of 1.57 is equivalent to the following CO and CO2 mole fractions, using
equations [2a], [2b] and [2c]:
Confirm that;
That is, the carbonaceous portion of the top gas comprises 43% CO and 57% CO2.
Furthermore, from equations [8a], [8b] and [8c], we can determine the moles of CO,
CO2 and N for the blast furnace operation:
62
This gives the overall top gas composition as 19.3% CO, 25.6%CO2, and 55.1%N2.
For example, .
Note: Equations [14] and [15] also show clearly that an increase in (for minor
endothermic reactions, for heating and melting of gangue and slag and for convective
and radiative heat losses) inevitably leads to increased blast-furnace demands for carbon
( ) and blast oxygen ( ). Thus large slag falls (per tonne of Fe) and heat losses lead
to high coke demands and low furnace productivities. Increases in blast temperature
(i.e. increases in ) result in smaller requirements for carbon and blast oxygen.
Slopes and Coordinates of the Operating Equations

A summary of the slopes and coordinates of the operating equations derived so far is as
follows:
i.
Equation [6c] is the stoichiometric equation for the whole blast furnace, and it describes
a straight line, which on O/C vs. O/Fe axes has the slope and passes through the
points;
as follows:
ii.
Similarly, equation [11a] describes a line of the same slope as that of equation [6] but
in this case through the points:
iii.
Similarly, equation [12c] is for the bottom segment stoichiometry and describes a line
of the same slope as that of equation [6] but in this case through the points:
iv.
63
Accordingly, equation [13b] represents the top segment stoichiometry, and describes a
part or segment of the same line (same slope) but passing through the points:
v.
In the same vein, equation [15b] which is the combined stoichiometric/enthalpy
equation can be plotted on O/C vs. O/Fe axes. For purposes of plotting a graph, Peacey
and Davenport (1979) cumbersomely rearranged equation [15b] to:
Equation [15c] describes a straight line with slope passing through the points:
Equation [15c] may be simplified as follows. Since D or and can be fixed or

specified in a straightforward manner depending on the nature of the iron ore and blast
temperature, the LHS is fixed, that is:
Where, P is thermal pinch point (P).
Similarly, on the RHS, is fixed and can be simplified to

Since the intercept on O/Fe axis is always at , and some oxides other than iron oxide
(e.g. SiO 2, MnO, etc.) are also reduced thereby contributing oxygen to ); the
simplified general operating equation may be written as:
Where,
 P refers to the invariant point known as thermal pinch point, whose coordinates
are, in general, and (see Figures 21 and 22);
 represents oxygen removed from oxides other than iron oxide (i.e. in
Figure 22).
In summary;
64
• Each of the equations [6c], [11a], [12c], [13b] and [15b] describes a straight line
of slope ;
• Thus all the equations describe portions or segments of the same straight line
passing through the points listed;
O/C O/Fe Remark

0
0 [ ]
Point of Interception on O/Fe axis Point
of Interception on O/Fe axis
Thermal pinch
point, i.e. point H in Figure 21
1.3 1.06 Che21 mical pinch point, i.e. point W in Figure
Top gas O/C ratio and Iron oxide O/Fe ratio,

i.e. point A in Figures 21 and 22
The positions of these points are slightly altered by hydrocarbon injection and/or oxygen
enrichment of the blast into the furnace. However, the effects of these additions can be
readily included on the Rist diagram (Figures 21 and 22).
Table 9: Data for the blast furnace operation plotted in Figure 21*
ITEM QUANTITY
kg per kg moles per Model variable

Specification tonne of Fe tonne of Fe (kg moles per kg mole of product Fe)
Fe 1 000 17.9
Input iron oxide
Iron oxide entering

wrz
Pig iron
5%C
Blast temperature
Blast enthalpy
Heat demand of wrz
*(This value of is realistic enough to cover thermal demands for decomposition of flux, heating and melting of slag,
heat losses and minor endothermic reactions in the furnace, in addition to reducing iron oxide and melting the iron and
dissolving 5% C in it).
65
The Rist operating diagram shown in Figure 21 was plotted using the above O/C and
O/Fe relations for the points through which the line passes based on the data in Table 9.
As an assignment plot the same graph and show how you determined the coordinates
of the chemical pinch point (W), the thermal pinch point (P) and the slope
( ). Show also how you determined and the top gas composition .
Hence calculate the complete top gas analysis (% CO, % CO2, and % N2). What is the
composition of the carbonaceous portion of the top gas (i.e. and in
percentages).
Description of the Rist Diagram (Figure 22)

The ordinate (O/Fe axis), in addition to oxygen combined with iron gives oxygen
removed by partial reduction of SiO2, MnO, P2O 5, etc. as well as oxygen introduced
through the blast, all related to the iron content of the burden. For practical reasons, the
zero point for the O/Fe axis is chosen where all oxygen has been removed from the iron
oxides. However, it does not imply that oxygen from SiO2, MnO, P2O5, etc., and from
the blast have negative values. Thus in Figure 22;
 b = {the vertical distance = } gives oxygen removed from SiO2, MnO,
P2O5, etc. and
 z = {the vertical distance }gives oxygen in the blast.
 O/C = 1 if the furnace gas is considered free of H2 and H2O and all C in the top
gas is present as CO.
 Similarly, an abscissa value of O/C = 2 corresponds to all C in the top gas being
present as CO2.
The equilibrium line for the reduction of the iron oxides at a constant temperature of,
say, 950°C is shown in the upper right quadrangle of Figure 22, i.e. the thick zig-zag
line. The 950°C (1223 K) temperature level is called the thermal pinch point of the blast
furnace. The equilibrium line shows breaks at the compositions of the various iron
oxides.
 For O/Fe values between 1.5 and 1.33, between haematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite
(Fe3O4), the equilibrium gas is almost pure CO2, corresponding to O/C = 2. This
means there is full utilization of CO to produce CO2 according to the reactions:
66
Figure 21: Blast furnace operating line (Rist diagram) as fixed by enthalpy point P and
wustite reduction point W. The numerical values are for the blast furnace operation
described in Table 9.
67
Figure 22: Generalized Rist diagram for blast furnace ironmaking based on mass and
heat balance. [Adapted from A. Rist (1977) as reproduced by Rosenquist (1983, 2004)]
 For O/Fe values between 1.33 and about 1.13, i.e. for equilibrium between
magnetite (Fe3O 4) and wustite (FexO), the O/C ratio at 950°C is about 1.8. In this
case, CO has not been fully utilized to produce CO2; the furnace top gas will
contain some CO. The following reactions is typical of the process:
 For O/Fe values between 1.06 and 0, i.e. for equilibrium between wustite
(Fe0.947O) and metallic iron (Fe), the O/C ration at 950°C is about 1.3, which is
still low utilization of CO.
 For lower temperatures, which could apply for highly reactive ores, the
magnetite–wustite line would shift towards lower O/C values; it shifts leftwards
68
decreasing to O/C = 1. At the same time, the wustite–iron line would shift toward
higher O/C values; it shifts rightwards approaching O/C = 2.
The operating line ( , or ) must run or pass through the left of

the equilibrium line in order for the furnace gas to be reducing to the iron oxides. As
shown (Figure 22), the operating line touches the equilibrium line at point W and
this corresponds to initial reduction of wustite at 950°C. Point W may be called the
chemical pinch point of the furnace. In principle any operating line which touches the
equilibrium line at that point, and which does not cross the equilibrium line, would
satisfy the chemical requirements (i.e. mass or stoichiometric balance) for a
countercurrent ironmaking shaft furnace. Lines and in Figure 22 are such
alternate lines that can meet the chemical requirements.
In an iron blast furnace, however, the thermal requirements (heat or enthalpy balance)
would also have to be satisfied. This is obtained by the burning of a certain amount of
carbon at the tuyeres, corresponding to the operating line having also to run through
point Z on the ordinate axis. The actual position of point Z is calculated from a heat
balance for the lower half of the furnace, taking into account the temperature of the blast
( ), the slag volume, and heat losses ( takes care of all these).
It can be shown that for a given blast temperature and heat loss, the operating line has
to run through a certain point P (the thermal pinch point of the furnace), whether it
touches point W or not. The reason for this is can be deduced as follows:
 The vertical distance {a = } on the ordinate axis corresponds to the amount
of oxygen removed by indirect reduction. Indirect reduction uses CO or CO2 for
the reduction of iron oxides. For example, between 400 to 950°C the following
reactions can take place:
and
 The vertical distance { corresponds to the amount of oxygen removed by direct

reduction. Direct reduction involves the reduction of iron oxides and/or other
oxides such as SiO2, MnO, etc. by coke, C. For example, between 950 to 1400°C
the following direct reductions can take place:
Where, the underscore indicates elements dissolved in iron, the molten pig iron.
 Recall that the vertical distance {b = = } corresponds to the amount of
oxygen removed from SiO2, MnO, etc.
 All the direct reductions (that of iron oxides as well as reduction of SiO2, MnO,
etc.) are strongly endothermic. Thus, the vertical distance {y + b = +
} gives a measure of the endothermic load on the lower half of the
69
furnace.
 Recall also that corresponds to the amount of oxygen in the blast; and it
gives a measure of the exothermic contribution from the tuyere reaction, i.e.
If, due to poor indirect reduction, the extent of direct reduction is increased, the energy
requirement has to be compensated for by burning more carbon at the tuyeres, i.e. by
increased amount of blast. Two alternative operating lines which would satisfy the
thermal requirements of the furnace are shown in Figure 22, pivoting around point P
(i.e. the dashed lines). However, one of the lines (the one on the right side of point W)
would not satisfy the chemical requirements.
The slope of the operating line corresponds to the ratio , that is, the number of
moles of carbon needed per mole of iron produced, not including the carbon which
dissolves in the hot metal i.e. . In effect, the slope is related as follows:
It can be deduced easily that low ratios imply high iron yield, that is, improved
productivity of the blast furnace. Figure 22 shows that the slope of the operating line
decreases (i.e. low values are obtained) if:
 the operating line runs closer to the point W; which is achieved by using a highly
reactive ore and closely countercurrent plug flow (i.e. following the
sequece );
 less carbon is burned at the tuyeres, which is achieved by shifting the point P to
the left, made possible by the use of a high blast preheat.
The ratio of the top gas (which is related to the O/C values) is given by point
A [points A, , , ], and it is seen that this increases with decreasing slope of the
operating line. High ratio implies high O/C value and vice versa. If CO 2
dominates the top gas, O/C ratio tends towards 2.0. But if CO dominates, the O/C ratio
tends towards 1.0. In between O/C values of 1.0 and 2.0, the top gas contains a mixture
of CO and CO2. Maximum O/C ratio is always preferred (implying full utilization of
CO for reduction).
Most modern blast furnaces operate with some hydrogen (H2) and water vapour (H2O)
in the top gas, which derive from steam or hydrocarbons added to the blast. Even though
the presence of H2 and H2O requires some modification of the Rist diagram, it does not
affect its principles. The operating line of a given blast furnace may be calculated from
the concentration of CO2, CO, and N2 in the top gas. N2 concentration gives a measure
of the amount of blast used, and the amount of steam or hydrocarbon added to the blast.
By comparing the operating line with the known equilibrium line (such as line
passing through both P and W), it can be deduced how close it runs to point W, that is,
how well the furnace is performing. Hence, the line passing through both P and W
70
represents the best possible operating practice with a minimum coke rate (i.e. highest
efficiency or productivity). This corresponds to the concept of an ideal blast furnace
originally proposed by Gruner.
The principle of the Rist diagram can also apply in other ironmaking processes, such as
DRI or sponge iron processes.
OXYGEN – EXCHANGE DIAGRAM

The countercurrent nature of the blast furnace implies that solid burden descending from
the top encounters the ascending hot reducing gas, and this encounter leads to (i) heat
exchange, i.e. heat transfer from gas to solid; (ii) oxygen exchange, i.e. oxygen transfer
from solid (oxide ores) to gas (CO and CO 2). A metal oxide (say, MeO, Me2O3 or
Me3O4) on reaction with carbon produces a gaseous mixture of CO and CO2 as
illustrated in Figure 23.
CO/CO2 Me2O3 ore
in the shaft
CO Me
Figure 23: Schematic illustration of the reaction of metal oxide and CO
It affords us the technique to express the process

thus:
The reaction sequence is ; e.g. for iron oxide, the sequence is

. In a countercurrent flow, oxygen is transferred from the
solid oxide to the gaseous phase in form of CO or CO2 or both.
 Case I:
Consider the case where (O/C ratio) is 1.0 [i.e. for CO] and (O/Me or
O/Fe ratio) is 1.5 [i.e. for ] as depicted in the oxygen-exchange diagram (Figure
24). Passing CO through the shaft and assuming complete conversion to CO2 [O/C =
2.0], i.e. we produce Me + CO2 such that all .
71
The reaction is therefore:
or or
Figure 24: Oxygen exchange diagram for iron (or metal) oxide reduction
 Case II:
In reality, 100% CO2 cannot be obtained. Consider the case where 50% CO and 50%
CO 2 are obtained and the is fully
reduced to Fe (see Figure 24);
It can be seen that the value of 1.5 was used for O/C ratio when the top gas composition
is 50% CO and 50% CO2. The O/C ratio for 50% CO and 50% CO 2 is calculated as
follows:
Alternatively, applying ;
72
Notice that the slope of 3 indicates that 3 moles or grammes of C either free or in
combination as CO is used per mole of Fe. Therefore, our chemical reaction must reflect
it, thus:
or or
In general, for any case;
or
Where,
Since we are considering a case of 50% CO and 50%

CO2;
 Case III:
Consider the case (see Figure 24) where on the we go from 0 to 2.0 (i.e. from
coke with O/C = 0 to CO2 with O/C = 2.0); and on the from 1.5 to 0 (i.e. from
with O/Fe = 1.5 to Fe with O/Fe = 0). This is a case of direct reduction as carbon
(coke) is used and not CO for the reduction,
and Fe and CO2 are produced.
The chemical reaction for the scenario is therefore;
or
or
 Case IV:
Consider a more realistic case (see Figure 24) where on the we go from 0 to
73
1.5 (i.e. from coke with O/C = 0 to 50% CO and 50% CO2 with O/C = 1.5); and on the
from 1.5 to 0 (i.e. from with O/Fe = 1.5 to Fe with O/Fe = 0). This is
another case of direct reduction as carbon (coke) is used and not CO for the reduction;
however, Fe and equal mixtures of CO and CO are
produced.
The chemical reaction for this carbon rate is therefore;
or
or
Example:
Consider the reaction: . Given that

, determine and and for the reaction.
Solution:
Assuming the sum of the partial pressures of CO and CO2 is equal to 1 atmosphere. That
is;
Since the partial pressure of a gas ( ) is proportional to its mole fraction ( ); then,
is proportional to , and is proportional to .
Therefore;


 {from equation [2d]}
Confirm that
74
Accordingly, from , it can be verified that:
SLAG COMPOSITION OF THE BLAST FURNACE

There is a distribution of Si, Mn and S between metal and slag. The P content of the pig
iron depends only on the P content of the ore charged, since under the conditions
operating in the iron blast furnace, virtually all the phosphorus charged finds their way
into the hot metal.
The primary slag results from the melting of partially reduced ore and once melting
takes place tends to contain FeO, Al2O 3 and SiO2. As melting takes place and the molten
slag encounters the hot coke, reduction of FeO occurs. The slag then begins to lose FeO
and absorb CaO and MgO so that the secondary slag now formed changes to one based
on the CaO-Al2O 3-SiO 2-MgO system. The secondary slag forms before it reaches the
hearth and as it moves down into the tuyere zone, C burns to give coke ash (Al2O 3 and
SiO 2). Coke ash joins the secondary slag in the hearth thereby increasing its Al2O 3 and
SiO 2 contents. Sulphur is also introduced into the slag as the coke ash is burnt.
Basically, the final blast furnace slag contains 30–40wt.% SiO2, 5–15wt.% Al2O 3, 35–
45wt.% CaO, 5–15wt.% MgO, 0–1wt.% (Na2O + K 2O), and 1–2.5wt.% S. The MgO is
added to reduce the melting temperature of slag. The blast furnace slag should have a
melting temperature of 1400°C or less. In addition, the CaO/SiO2 ratio should be high
(about 1.1 to 1.2), in order to give good desulphurization.
SLAG – METAL EQUILIBRIA

a) Silicon Distribution
Silicon comes into the furnace in the form of silica or silicate partially in the ore
(gangue) and partially in coke (coke ash) Pig iron picks up Si by the reaction:
At the bottom of the furnace, if the iron that is dripping through the slag is rich in Si,
the reverse of the above reaction takes place. The equilibrium constant for the reaction
is given by:
For the reaction to be at equilibrium, .
That is, the equilibrium temperature for the reaction is 1498 K or 1225°C.
75
Again, at equilibrium, .
That is,
It can be verified that substitution of the equilibrium temperature of 1498 K into

gives , from which At temperatures
below and above the equilibrium temperature (1498 K), the values of logK and K are as
shown below:
Temperature logK K Remark

(°C) (K)
1000 1273 -3.652 0.0002 Forward reaction not favoured
1225 1498 0 1.0000 Forward and backward reaction at equilibrium
1300 1573 0.992 9.8175 Forward reaction favoured
It is seen that the forward reaction is favoured by high

temperatures above the equilibrium temperature of 1225°C. The Si content of hot metal
is 0.3 – 1.0 wt.%.
b) Sulphur Distribution
Sulphur comes mostly from coke and the S content of pig iron should be less than 0.04
wt.%. The relevant reaction for sulphur removal from iron is:
Where, the symbol indicates that the calcium sulphide is carried into the slag. At
this point, let us take note that the symbol implies %S in slag, and implies
%S in hot metal. Similarly, imply sulphur and carbon embedded (dissolved) in
the metal, respectively.
The modern approach is to express this equation in the ionic form using lime (CaO) as
the source of , thus:
From the point of slag–metal partition, the most important valuable thermodynamic
properties of slags will be data on CaO and CaS. By using a gas–liquid reaction;
or
76
It is easy to control the pressure of and and measure the quantity of S absorbed as
sulphide capacity ( ) of the slag given by:
Sulphide capacity is defined as the potential capacity of a slag melt to hold sulphur as
sulphide, at a given temperature. Mathematically, it is equal to
, where and are partial pressures of O2 and S2 in the gas at

equilibrium with the slag. Sulphide capacity values are obtained by equilibrating liquid
slag with a gas mixture of known O2 and S2 partial pressures. The higher the value of
, the more the slag can absorb sulphur. is a function of slag composition and
temperature only, and its values can be tabulated or presented graphically for reference.
In blast furnace operations (i.e. ironmaking), there is high C and Si content in the pig
iron and this keeps the oxygen potential in iron low. As a result, desulphurization is
enhanced. In steelmaking conditions, we have high oxygen potential in the steel. To
remove sulphur from the steel then, we need to make the activity of CaO in the slag to
be high, i.e. by increasing the slag basicity. CaO is the most powerful desulphurizer
among the basic oxides present in iron and steel making slags. CaO reacts with S or FeS
in hot metal and forms CaS which is soluble in the slag, and this forms the fundamentals
of sulphur removal from hot metal to slag in the blast furnace. The sulphur partition
coefficients (or sulphur distribution ratios) for these two pressures (ironmaking and
steelmaking) are:
In contrast to the phosphorus control, the blast furnace conditions (its slag properties)
are in favour of sulphur removal from hot metal to slag. Hence, desulphurization is
much better in ironmaking than in steelmaking furnaces.
The main hot metal desulphurization reaction can be expressed as:
For which the equilibrium constant is:
The sulphur distribution ratio (partition coefficient) expressed as is

closely linked to the equilibrium constant K, as shown. A lower activity of FeO and a
higher activity of CaO in the slag are in favour of a higher at a given temperature
77
(constant K). Slag basicity (proportional to CaO activity in the slag) is a very important
parameter for sulphur removal.
Example:
Given a sulphur partition coefficient of 20, determine and for the following
scenario. Suppose we have coke with about 1%S and that we are using 500 kg of coke
for 1 tonne (1000 kg) of iron and we are producing 250 kg of slag per tonne of iron.
Solution:
Weight of coke = 500 kg
Weight of iron produced = 1000 kg
Weight of sulphur involved = 1 % of 500 kg =
Weight of slag expected = 250 kg
 If all S goes into metal (pig iron), then;

Since in fact, not all the S goes into iron, but some are partitioned or distributed to slag,
using a sulphur partition coefficient of 20, then:
 Taking a sulphur balance;
NB: If all S were to go into the slag, then would be

Supposing the distribution or partition coefficient is 40 and not 20, then we will have
and . To achieve the high partition coefficient of 40, the
slag coefficient should be increased. High is very vital to S removal. There
is an increase nowadays to treat the metal outside the furnace (i.e. in a ladle) with a
desulphurizing agent. This is known as ladle desulphurization. One such treatment uses
78
soda ash (Na2CO3) as a desulphurizing agent to treat a pool of molten metal and liquid
slag, thus:
or
Other desulphurizing processes for pig iron are based on the use of solid lime (CaO),
calcium carbide (CaC2), or calcium cyanamide (CaCN2). In all cases the reaction
product is solid calcium sulphide (CaS) which goes into the slag.
c) Phosphorus Distribution
In the blast furnace, phosphorus originates from coke, iron ore, and flux in the form of
P2O 5. Silica helps in breaking of the phosphate bond and releasing free P2O5 gas, and
thus promotes the reduction indirectly. P2O 5 vapour will react with carbon via
Boudouard reaction or be directly reduced with carbon when it passes through the coke.
The reduction of P2O 5 is almost complete, and no physical or chemical condition can
influence it. More than 90% of the phosphorus load enters the iron and the rest is lost
either in the slag or in the flue gas or is absorbed in the refractory linings. Therefore,
production of low P hot metal is only possible by using low P-bearing coke and ore.
Dephosphorization requires oxidizing conditions, and cannot be conducted in the blast
furnace, which operates under reducing atmosphere. All phosphorus is therefore
removed during oxygen steelmaking in most of the steelmaking operation.
d) Manganese Distribution
Manganese occurs in the burden as oxides (MnO2,Mn2O3,Mn3O4) and carbonate
(MnCO3) or silicate and phosphate if converter slag is charged. Reduction of
manganese oxides are also stage-wise similar to iron oxides, and until MnO the
reduction reactions take place in the upper and middle zone of the blast furnace via
―indirect reduction‖ with CO gas. MnO is more difficult to be reduced with CO, and
is mostly through direct reduction in the lower zone (bosh or belly) via Boudouard
reaction. Further reduction of MnO by silicon in the hearth can also take place. High
Mn recovery is preferred in most cases and it is an alloying element in steelmaking.
Normally about 50–70% of manganese is recovered in the blast furnace to produce hot
metal for steelmaking.
The basic equations governing Mn distribution are: a)
and
b)
from which we can get the overall reaction.
Example:
79
Given reactions (a) and (b) as above, find the overall reaction governing Mn
distribution, and hence find the for the overall reaction.
Solution:
The overall reaction is obtained by Hess‘s law. First, reverse reaction (a) an change the
sign of its . That is,
a. ii)
Second, add reaction (b) to the reversed reaction (i.e. a. ii) to obtain: c)
The
Mn partition ratio (related to the equilibrium constant) for the overall
reaction [reaction (c)] is:
If and , then;
The student can verify that, for this reaction,
The effect of an increase in temperature is to raise the partition ratio for a given carbon
activity and CO pressure.
Example:
Determine the partition ratio for equation [19] at unit carbon activity, unit partial
pressure of CO and 1327°C. Determine also the equilibrium temperature for reaction
(c) above.
Solution:
 T = 1327°C + 273 = 1600 K
That is, at 1600 K (1327°C), whereas

80
 At equilibrium,
Hence, above 1403°C, production of Mn will be favoured. The influence of temperature

is to increase the recovery of Mn; and a 200°C rise in temperature, other factors being
the same, the Mn recovery is increased eleven fold. For example, at 1800 K (1527°C =
1327°C + 200°C), if and remain unity, then;
Comparing, we have that . This confirms that 5 7°C is eleven times

bigger than 7°C.
BLAST FURNACE CHARGE CALCULATIONS (BURDENING)

Charge balance or material balance must be ensured in all metallurgical operations, i.e.
every gramme of each element entering the system must be accounted for in the
products leaving the system. Provided accurate analyses (compositions) and weights (or
volumes) of all reagents and products are available, setting up a material balance is an
easy matter. In many situations, however, some of the required data are unavailable and
a certain amount of indirect computation is necessary to establish a material balance.
Charge calculations are done by assuming a material balance and then working
backward from it to determine the exact quantities of concentrate (iron ore), flux
(limestone), fuel (coke), etc., that must be supplied to the system to yield the desired
products. The term ‗charge’ in common usage refers to the materials fed at the top and
therefore includes the fuel: the ore and flux without the fuel is sometimes termed the
burden. Burden is therefore the proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a
blast furnace. Charge calculations for the iron blast furnace is called ‘burdening’ the
furnace; the ore and flux together constitute the burden on the furnace and fuel. From
the economic standpoint, the hot metal produced in iron smelting is usually the most
important product, but from the point of view of the blast furnace operator, the slag is
the most important product. Since metals usually melt at lower temperatures than slags,
there will seldom be any trouble with the metal if the slag melts easily and runs freely.
Most of the difficulties encountered in the operation of smelting furnaces result from
81
the fact that the problem of the furnace operator is to adjust his furnace charge to
produce a slag that has the required characteristics.
The first thing to be decided in charge calculation is the composition of the slag to be
produced. Past experience, coupled with information about the melting points and
viscosity of various slags, will usually show the operator must aim for a composition
between certain definite limits. This is complicated by the fact that the operator is
seldom free to choose his ores and fluxes – he must make his charge of whatever
material is available and do it in such a way as to use up all the available material. In an
iron blast furnace, for example, it may be necessary to use as much of a certain a certain
ore as possible, because it is cheaper than other more desirable ones. If an iron ore is
high in phosphorus, it will be necessary to mix it with enough low-phosphorus ore to
keep the phosphorus content of the pig iron below a certain prescribed limit.
The operator must know how much fuel will be required by the furnace in smelting a
tonne of charge, which impurities will enter the hot metal and which can be held in the
slag, which substances will be lost in the top gases, the amount of dust loss, etc. When
all these questions have been considered, the operator is ready to calculate the
composition of the furnace charge. [See Assignment Problem A4]
Example 1:
An iron blast furnace is to smelt an ore mixture having the following composition:
60% Fe, 10% SiO2, and 4% CaO. The available flux contains 92% CaCO3 and 8% SiO2.
The coke contains 90% C, 7% SiO2, and 3% CaO. Determine the weight of ore, flux,
and coke to be charged to yield 1000 kg of pig iron containing 95% Fe, 4% C, and 1%
Si, and a slag having the ratio SiO2: CaO = 1:2, assuming that the furnace requires 950
kg of coke per tonne of pig iron.
Solution:
•
Since 60% of the ore is Fe and weight of Fe to be produced is 950 kg;
•
•
{Molar mass of Si = 28 g}
•
•
•
•
Let equal the weight in kg of flux required; then

82
• {Molar mass of CaO = 40 + 16 = 56 g}

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
.
ALTERNATIVE IRON REDUCTION PROCESSES

Integrated steel mills incorporating sinter plants, coke ovens, BFs, BOFs, casters, and
various pieces of downstream equipment have proven to be cost-effective if massive
amounts of steel can be profitably sold, to a large market, but they aren‘t ideal for every
situation. Building a conventional integrated facility is extremely expensive, and early
plants produced large amounts of pollutants. There have always been local situations
where being able to make small amounts of material for a regional market, or to support
a local mining industry could compete with a far-away integrated facility—even more
so in periods of high transportation costs. Research and development of smaller, lower-
cost, more environmentally responsible ironmaking technologies continues, even with
the success of integrated steel mills.
Smelting in the iron blast furnace, unarguably, is by far the most important process for
the production of iron, and may likely continue to dominate in the future. However,
blast furnaces require coke, and coke plants are expensive and have many
environmental problems associated with their operation. Therefore, other techniques are
now available which present a challenge to the blast furnace route for ironmaking. The
emerging and eventual future alternative ironmaking processes where metallurgical
coke can be replaced by pulverized coal or other gaseous reducing agents are classified
into direct reduction (DR) and smelting reduction (SR). Notable examples of
commercial alternative ironmaking processes are MIDREX as direct reduction process
and COREX as smelting reduction process.
Alternative methods may have potentialities under the following conditions:

 Lack of good coking coals
 Availability of other reducing agents such as cheap coal (non-coking), oil or
natural gas, or even cheap electric power
83
 Desirability of limited production capacity (small scale or mini production) and

great flexibility
 Availability of high-grade ore concentrates.
Direct Reduction (DR)

Direct reduction (DR) may be defined as any process in which metallic iron is produced
by reduction (removal of oxygen) of iron ore or any other iron oxide by avoiding the
liquid melting phase and below the melting temperature of any materials involved with
use of solid, liquid or gaseous reductants. Direct reduction involves the use of
appropriate reducing agents (e.g., natural gas) to produce solid iron from iron ores in
suitable furnaces. The solid product is called DRI and is mainly applied as feedstock in
EAF. The direct reduction process has been commercialized since the 1970s and a
variety of processes have been developed. All DR processes have as their aim to reduce
the ore at a temperature below the melting point of iron and produce an unmelted
product, sponge iron or direct-reduced iron (DRI). Based on a high-grade iron ore
concentrate, this sponge iron may be refined directly to steel in an electric arc furnace
(EAF) or even used directly in powder metallurgy. Sometimes the production of sponge
iron is called ―direct reduction‖, the meaning being ‗the conversion of iron ore to
quality metallic iron in the solid state, in one-step, bypassing the blast furnace‘; it has
nothing to do with the term ‗direct reduction‘ as previously applied to bosh reactions
in the blast furnace. Hence, sponge iron is also called direct-reduced iron, DRI. It is
necessary sometimes to compact DRI to reduce its porosity, resulting to a densified
product called hot briquetted iron, HBI.
Since the mid-1970s a considerable change has taken place in worldwide iron and steel
making, namely the growth of direct reduction processes, the most popular of which
natural gas (mainly methane, CH4) is used as a reductant and fuel instead of the
metallurgical quality coke as used in the blast furnace. The two most popular direct
reduction methods are known as the Mildrex process and the HyL process (HyL I, III,
and IV M), the latter being named after Hojalata y Lamina in Mexico, where the process
originated.
These new developments have taken place despite the efficiency of the blast furnace
route because:
 Metallurgical grade coke is an expensive form of energy. Therefore, any country
(particularly those in the ‗third world‘) having cheap natural gas and cheap
noncoking coal available can produce iron much more cheaply than via the blast
furnace. In Nigeria, natural gas is being wasted daily through gas flaring. The Delta
Steel Company, Aladja, was planned to reduce high-grade iron ore to iron using
natural gas. One major setback to the Ajaokuta Steel Plant is the lack of good
coking coal in Nigeria. Hence, alternative ironmaking processes (not requiring
metallurgical coke) is viable for Nigeria.
84
 The blast furnace is only economically viable if large production tonnages (5 000
– 10 000 tonnes per day) are envisaged. This entails very high capital expenditure,
thereby reducing the flexibility of production.
The direct reduction units can be of special use in the ‗third world‘ for the following
reasons:
 They allow small flexible units of iron production, coupled with electric arc furnace
steelmaking. The material reserve problems are much reduced compared with the
blast furnace.
 Scrap imports are eliminated.
 Sponge iron (DRI) and HBI have market value and can be exported.
Sponge iron processes may roughly be divided into two groups, those based on solid
fuel (coal based) and those based on gaseous reducing agents (reformed natural gas or
gasified coal).
SOLID FUELS FOR DIRECT REDUCTION PROCESSES
The fuel may be either coke breeze, cheap coals, or lignite so that in all cases, the main
reducing agent is solid carbon. By coke breeze we mean fine particles of coke or coke
dust not suitable for blast furnace ironmaking, except for sintering iron ore.
Thermodynamics has shown that solid carbon may reduce wustite at temperatures in
excess of about 700°C. The reaction on the carbon surface is very slow below 950°C.
However, in practice temperatures of 1000 to 1200°C is used. The gas produced by the
reduction may have a ratio of about 0.2, and the overall reaction may be
described by the stoichiometric equation:
for which
This reaction is strongly endothermic with an overall of 916 kJ. In addition, about
372 kJ of heat is needed to raise the reaction products to 1000°C, giving a total heat
requirement of 1288 kJ for moles of Fe, or about 4942 kJ/ kg of iron. That is,
This extra heat may be supplied by means of electricity or by burning more fuel. The
burning of additional fuel has the disadvantage, however, that the combustion of fuel
requires oxidizing conditions, whereas the reduction of the ore requires reducing
conditions. The combustion and reduction zones (of whichever furnace or kiln),
therefore, have to be separated in such a way that heat may flow from one zone to the
other, but without infiltration of the combustion gases.
A ring kiln or tunnel kiln (in case of the Swedish Hoganas process and the Italian
Kinglor–Metor process) or rotary kiln (SL/RN process) has been found suitable for this
process. The most critical part of rotary kiln reduction is the controlled combustion of
coal and its conversion to CO. This conversion is also aided by controlled introduction
85
of air from the discharge end of the kiln as well as through blowers mounted on the kiln
shell, which rotate with the kiln and supply air to the secondary air pipes protruding up
to the centre line of the kiln. The shell-mounted blower and the secondary air pipe
assembly, thus provide air at several locations in the space above the charge bed, axially
along the kiln length.
In the SL-RN process (Figure 25), which has found some industrial application, the
combustion air is introduced in controlled quantities along the entire length of the kiln;
thus ensuring a constant temperature of about 1000ºC throughout the kiln, and also an
atmosphere which becomes increasingly reducing toward the discharge end.
The coke breeze or coal used contain some sulphur. In order to prevent this from being
picked up by the freshly reduced iron, some burned lime is added to the reaction
mixture, where it reacts with sulphur to form calcium sulphide thereby controlling the
sulphur in sponge iron. In all cases, after the products have been cooled in a protective
atmosphere, the sponge iron is separated from excess coke or coal char and from the
lime–sulphide mixture. Since sponge iron is magnetic in nature, it can be easily
separated from the non-magnetic portion of the cooled discharge, consisting mainly of
coal ash or coke char, by using magnetic separators. The coke may be returned to the
process or used for other purposes within the plant, e.g. in the sintering plant.
Figure 25: Flow sheet for the SL/RN
86
GASEOUS REDUCING AGENTS FOR DIRECT REDUCTION PROCESSES

The fuel may be derived either from natural gas or oil or may be produced from solid
carbon (coal or coke), e.g. in a gas producer. In all cases, the raw fuel is converted into
mixtures of CO and H2 by partial combustion or reforming.
Gaseous reduction has the advantage that the heat of reaction is small; reduction with
CO is even slightly exothermic. It may also occur at lower temperature than reduction
with carbon, even though the equilibria involved are less favourable. Thus at a
temperature of, say, 850°C the equilibrium ratios and for the
reduction of wustite are both around one-half (0.5), which means that only one-third
(0.33) of the gas may be utilized for the reduction. The resulting gas mixture may partly
be used for prereduction ( ) in a countercurrent system, and by combustion
with air, to supply the necessary calories to heat the ore to the reaction temperature.
Still, there will be a considerable excess of reduction gas which cannot find immediate
use in the process.
Where the sponge iron plant is part of an integrated iron- and steelworks the excess gas
may find use for holding furnaces (soaking pits), etc. but even in this case, the supply
may easily exceed the demand. In other cases, the gas may be treated to remove
and and returned to the process, or it may be burned to waste or to generate
electricity. In some modern processes is first taken out by condensation to water,
after which the remaining mixture is used in the reforming of the raw
fuel. In this way, a good gas economy is obtained.
We shall be concerned here with only two direct reduction processes that utilize gaseous
reducing agents, namely, the MIDREX process [which is followed at Delta Steel
Company, Aladja] and the HyL process. The Midrex process became a viable
alternative for Nigeria because of the abundance of natural gas which has mostly been
flared (burned to waste) for the past four decades. In fact, our gas reserves are said to
be far greater than our oil reserves; hence the establishment of the Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG) Plant at Bonny.
 The MIDREX Process

Developed in 1967 by the Midland Ross Corporation of Cleveland, USA, the MIDREX
technology has become the most important direct reduction process, and accounts for
67% of the world‘s total DRI production. Its main reactor, i.e., the shaft furnace,
behaves as a moving bed reactor. In the MIDREX process iron ore or pellets are reduced
in a shaft furnace, Figure 26, which resembles the upper half of a blast furnace.
87
Figure 26: Schematic process flow sheet of a standard MIDREX process
Natural gas, which is essentially methane, is first reformed to a mixture of CO and H2

by reaction with returned top gas from the furnace. The reforming is carried out at about
1000°C in pipes which contain a nickel catalyst. As the reforming reaction is
endothermic the necessary heat is supplied by burning some natural gas as well as the
remainder of the top gas in the chamber surrounding the pipes. The reformed gas, which
contains about 50% H2, 35% CO as well as minor amounts of CO 2, CH4, and N2 is
introduced into the shaft furnace at a temperature of 800 to 900°C, at which temperature
the reduction of wustite to iron takes place. In the upper part of the shaft the haematite
pellets are preredduced to wustite, and the temperature of the gas drops to 300 to 400°C.
The top gas passes through a scrubber to remove dust and to condense some of the water
vapour, thereafter the cleaned top gas that contains about equal amounts of CO and CO2
together with appreciable amounts of hydrogen and some water vapour is used partly to
reform the raw natural gas, partly to supply heat for the reformer. In the lower part of
the MIDREX shaft the metallized product is cooled to essentially room temperature by
means of a separated flow of cooling gas.
With respect to the Rist diagram of Figure 22, the operating line for the gas in the
MIDREX shaft is given by the line , and we see that if only CO and CO2 are
considered, the top gas will have a ratio of about 0.67, which is more than
enough to prereduce haematite to wustite. For lower temperature for the wustite
reduction the ratio of the top gas will be somewhat higher. [As a homework
that will not be graded, the student is required to determine the O/C value of the top
gas if the ].
88
 The HyL/Energiron Process

The HyL I process developed in Monterry in Mexico is in principle not much different
from the MIDREX process. The main difference is that the ore is maintained in a
stationary position in a number of fixed beds (about 4 or 5 of them), and the gas is made
to flow from one bed to the other. As in the MIDREX process natural gas is first
converted to a mixture of CO and H2 which at a temperature of 900 to 1000°C is passed
through a bed which contains partially reduced ore, which is reduced to its final
metallized state. The gas from this bed is now cooled to condense most of its water
vapour, and is then reheated regeneratively and introduced into a bed, which contains a
less reduced ore. The same operation is repeated for the third bed which contains the
fresh haematite ore, which thereby is heated to reaction temperature and prereduced.
The remaining one or two beds are either being charged with fresh ore or are being
cooled by cooling gas, and the metallized product removed. By keeping the ore and
metallized product in a stationary position, difficulties are avoided which, in a shaft
furnace, are encountered from sintering and sticking of the charge. Furthermore, the
reaction may be carried out at increased pressure of a few atmospheres, with
corresponding higher reaction rates.
HyL I is a batch process and its popularity has continuously dwindled even with little
improvement of the process in Hyl II. There is confusion of terminology about HyL
reactors in literature, where some authors call them retorts. The term retort should be
reserved for reactors with external heating. A better name for HyL reactors would be
fixed-bed reactors.
The HyL technology, originally developed in Mexico, is now owned by the Italian
technology company Tenova, and has been re-branded as ENERGIRON. All current
ENERGIRON plants utilize a single moving bed shaft furnace (instead of 4 or 5 fixed
beds as in Hyl I and II), either with an external reformer (HyL III) or without (HyL IV
M). The original HyL I technology was a batch process based on a series of fixed-bed
reactors and is no longer offered. In basic terms, the operation of the current
ENERGIRON technology with reformer is quite similar to the MIDREX process, but
there are certain differences. A major difference is in the operation of the reformer. In
the MIDREX process, the reformer operates on a mixture of cleaned top gas and natural
gas, with no steam necessary. The reformer product gas is then modified further in
temperature and/or composition, as necessary. ENERGIRON, however, only feeds
fresh natural gas to their reformers, using externally generated steam in the process.
The reformed natural gas must be cooled to remove water. It is then combined with top
gas (from which much of the CO2 has been removed), and the combined stream heated
to temperature, also with possible adjustments to chemistry.
ENERGIRON runs at higher pressures, which requires more complex equipment at the
top and bottom of the shaft, but leads to an overall smaller plant footprint. The basic
process uses a steam reformer, which requires more processing to improve the quality
of their reducing gas. However, by not recirculating top gas to the reducing gas feed,
89
they eliminate the chance of sulphur from the ore being transferred via the gas phase to
poison the catalyst in the reformer. More recently, in the Hyl IV M process,
ENERGIRON has utilized the well-known catalytic quality of the reduced iron in the
shaft to do complete in situ reforming and avoid the need for an external reformer. A
major mechanical difference between the two reactors relates to the internal
configuration of the furnace. The MIDREX process incorporates ―burden feeders‖ or
―cluster breakers‖ to help prevent the generation of large clusters, which can cause
significant operating problems. The HYL III shaft, on the other hand, ―depends on
furnace geometry and good temperature control to avoid burden sticking and to maintain
plug flow‖
One drawback of all sponge iron processes is that the product is subject to corrosion or
rusting during storage and transportation. The processes should, therefore, preferably
operate in direct connection with a steel plant. Most recently, technology has been
developed to take advantage of the thermal content of the DRI after reduction; in those
cases where the steelmaking shop is near the DRI plant, hot DRI is transported through
specially designed equipment to reach the melt shop.
Smelting Reduction (SR)

This involves combining iron ore reduction with smelting in a reactor (furnace), without
the use of coke. The product is liquid pig iron, which can be treated and refined in the
same way as hot metal from the blast furnace. Today, only one variant of SR is
commercially proven, namely COREX, but a number of variants are in an advanced
stage of development.
 COREX Process
The COREX process is a two-stage process, as is shown in Figure 27. In the first step,
iron ore is reduced to sponge iron in a shaft furnace by means of reducing gas. In the
second step, the reduced iron is melted in the melter–gasifier vessel. Reducing gas (CO
and H2) used in the reduction shaft is supplied by gasification of coal by means of
oxygen, forming a fixed or fluidized bed in the melter–gasifier. The partial combustion
of the coal in the melter–gasifier generates the heat to melt the reduced iron. Liquid iron
and slag are discharged at the bottom, by a conventional tapping procedure similar to
that used in blast furnace operation.
Because of the separation of iron reduction and iron melting/coal gasifying in two steps,
a high degree of flexibility is achieved and a wide variety of coals can be used. The
process is designed to perform at elevated pressure, up to 5 bar. Charging of coal and
iron ore is performed through a lock hopper system. The reducing gas contains 65–70%
CO, 20–25% H2, and 2–4% CO2. After leaving the melter–gasifier, the hot gas is mixed
with cooling gas to adjust the temperature to approximately 850ºC. The gas is then
90
cleaned in hot cyclones and fed into the shaft furnace as a reducing gas. When the gas
leaves the shaft furnace, it still has a relatively high calorific value and may be used as
an export gas where the opportunity exists.
Figure 27: Process flow sheet of the COREX process (left) and schematic view of the
COREX reactor (right)
The COREX process, formerly known as the KR (Korf Reduction) process, was
developed by Voest Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Austria (VAI, now Siemens-VAI) and
Korf Engineering, Germany in the late 1970s. The feasibility of the COREX process
was confirmed during the 1980s. Following the first industrial application of a COREX
1000 THM/day plant at Iscor Pretoria, South Africa, four 2000 THM/day were
subsequently put into operation at Posco/Korea, Mittal Steel/South Africa and at JSW
Limited/India. In early November 2007, the first COREX 3000 THM/day plant was
started up at Baosteel, China. It has a nominal production capacity of 1.5 million
THM/year.
Recently a variant of COREX process, FINEX, is co-developed by VAI and Posco for
the production of hot metal based on the direct use of iron ore fines and noncoking coal.
Fine iron ore is charged into a series of fluidized-bed reactors together with fluxes. The
iron ore fines pass in a downward direction through four reactors where they are heated
and reduced to DRI by means of a reduction gas—derived from the gasification of the
coal—that flows in the counter-current direction to the ore. The first commercial FINEX
plant with a capacity of 1.5-million-ton/year started operation at the Pohang Works
since early 2007.
 Electric Iron Smelting Process

In countries where coke is expensive, relative to the cost of electricity, as in Scandinavia
(Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland), Italy, Yugoslavia, Venezuela, and Japan,
electric iron smelting process may be an alternative to the blast furnace. In this case,
91
liquid hot metal similar to blast furnace pig iron is produced on a mini-scale without the
blast furnace using coal, oxygen and/or electricity. A typical electric iron smelting
furnace is shown in Figure 28.
Figure 28: Electric iron smelting furnace. The current passes mainly between the
electrodes and the iron bath, and most of the heat is evolved under the electrodes.
The processes involved more nearly resemble blast furnace smelting except that heat is
supplied by an electric arc rather than by coke combustion, though low-grade coke or
pulverized coal is used as the reducing agent. The coal is mixed with the ore and fed
into a reaction hearth where carbon electrodes provide the heating current (arc). Since
no air is introduced (as in the blast air of the BF), the gas volume is much less than in
the blast furnace, and is limited to what is produced by ‗direct reduction‘, more or less
according to the reaction:
The gas leaving the reduction chamber is very rich in CO so that it is cleaned and used
as an energy source in the same way as blast furnace top gas. Electric smelting of iron
has the advantage that it produces less CO2, whereas for every tonne of pig iron tapped
from the blast furnace some 3.5 tonnes of CO2 finds its way ultimately into the
atmosphere. Thus a large blast furnace producing 10 000 tonnes of pig iron per day is
responsible for discharging into the environment about 12 million tonnes of CO2 every
year – this way promoting greenhouse effect.
Referring to the Rist diagram of Figure 22, and including some reduction of SiO2, MnO,
etc., the operating line for the SR process would be given by line . We see that this
92
line runs far to the left of the chemical pinch point, W, and from a chemical viewpoint,
the electric iron smelting process is not very elegant. The coke consumption per tonne
of pig iron amounts to 350 to 400 kg of poor quality coke. The electric energy
consumption is about 2000 kWh/tonne of pig iron, and this can be reduced to 1000 kWh/
tonne by preheating and prereduction of the burden in a rotary kiln, for example.
STEELMAKING (REFINING PROCESSES)

Steelmaking can be roughly defined as the refining or removal of unwanted elements or
other impurities from hot metal produced in a blast furnace or similar process or the
melting and refining of scrap and other forms of iron (e.g. DRI) in a melting furnace.
Pig iron, as we know contains some impurities, which originate from the ore, the fluxes,
or the fuel. In particular the high sulphur, phosphorus and carbon contents have
embrittling effect. Sulphur forms a network of sulphide films through the metal. At
forging temperatures these films melt and allow the iron grains separated by them to
fall apart (hot shortness). Phosphorus forms a hard Fe3P compound which embrittles
the iron at ordinary temperatures (cold shortness). Carbon similarly forms an
embrittling Fe3C compound as in white cast iron. However, if the silicon content of the
iron is high and the cooling rate of the casting is low, the Fe3C is graphitized in the iron
thus making the resulting grey cast iron to be fairly soft and much less brittle. Wrought
iron is soft because it contains almost no carbon; and pig iron is brittle because it
contains too much. Early experience showed that irons with intermediate carbon
contents, i.e. carbon steels, could be superior to both in their combination of hardness,
strength and toughness. In steelmaking unwanted impurities in iron are removed or
reduced drastically while useful impurities (such as carbon) are reduced to the required
steel specifications. In some cases, intentional alloying elements (e.g., V, Cr, Ni, Si,
etc.) are added as required.
Ironmaking (a reduction process) produces hot metal or sponge iron with carbon,
silicon, manganese, sulphur and phosphorus as the main impurities. For further use of
the metal, it is usually necessary to subject it to a refining process. In steelmaking (an
oxidizing process), the refining is done in order to give a product with controlled
amounts of desired impurities (alloying elements). Sometimes refining is done to
recover some valuable impurities (e.g. Mn).
Refining processes are always based on the principle that different elements distribute
(partition) themselves differently in different phases (e.g. liquid metal and liquid slag),
and that these phases may be separated physically. In metal–slag systems the
preferential oxidation and slagging of less noble elements is by far the most important,
and may be given the common name of fire refining. Steelmaking processes fall under
fire refining.
Steelmaking by fire refining is based on the difference in affinity for oxygen for the
different elements present in hot metal, molten sponge iron or scrap. However, it also
depends on the chemical activities of the elements dissolved in the metallic phase and
of the oxides dissolved in the slag. In fire refining the metal is subjected to oxidation
93
either by means of air or oxygen, or by means of some oxide of the metal which is to be
refined. Thus pig iron may be oxidized (fire-refined) with oxygen or with iron ore (e.g.
mill scale).
Figures 29 and 30 show the trend in steelmaking process routes in the USA (from 1955
to 1996) and worldwide (from 1970 to 1995). It can be seen that the BOF and EAF
steelmaking have displaced the Open Hearth steelmaking which had earlier displaced
the Bessemer steelmaking process. While BOF is the dominant technology, it is closely
followed by EAF route.
Figure 29: US crude steel production trend by process from 1955 to 1996 [Source:
International Iron and Steel Institute]
In the year 2000, about 850 million tonnes of raw or crude steel were produced around
the world, representing 93% of all global metal production (Appendix V). Most of that
steel was made either in BOF or EAF. Because steel can be recycled endlessly without
ever losing its quality, nearly half of this number were produced/recycled from scraps,
especially in the EAF (Kassinger, 2003).
94
Figure 30: World trends for crude steel production by process from 1970 to 1995
[Source: International Iron and Steel Institute]
As already noted, most all of the hot metal produced in the world is refined in an oxygen
steelmaking process (OSM), also known as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), notably
in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF). The major element removed is carbon which is
removed by oxidation to carbon monoxide (CO). Other elements such as silicon,
phosphorous, sulphur and manganese are transferred to a slag phase. In the EAF
steelmaking process, the chemical reactions are similar but generally less extensive.
After treating the metal in an OSM converter (BOF) or an EAF it is further refined in
the ladle. This is commonly called secondary refining or ladle metallurgy. For stainless
steelmaking, the liquid iron-chromium-nickel metal is refined in an argon-oxygen
decarburization vessel (AOD), a vacuum oxygen decarburization vessel (VOD) or a
similar type process.
Primary Steelmaking
This involves the conversion or refining of hot metal and steel scrap into steel
(especially carbon steel) via basic oxygen steelmaking (notably in BOF), or melting and
refining scrap steel and/or sponge iron (DRI) in an electric arc furnace.
Secondary Steelmaking
Secondary steelmaking is most commonly performed in ladles and often referred to as
ladle refining or ladle metallurgy where the steel produced in BOF or EAF can be
further refined or improved. Some of the operations performed in ladles include
95
deoxidation or killing, vacuum degassing, alloy addition, desulphurization, removal or

modification of inclusion etc. to improve the chemistry and cleanliness of the steel.
Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS/BOF)

The process of steelmaking is mainly one involving oxidation of impurities present in
the original charge, so that they form a slag which floats on the surface of the molten
steel or are lost as fume. In the Bessemer process, impurities were removed from the
charge of molten pig iron by blowing air through it. The impurities, mainly carbon,
phosphorus, silicon and manganese, acted as fuel and so the range of compositions of
pig iron was limited, because sufficient impurities were necessary in order that the
charge did not ‗blow cold‘ from lack of fuel.
The oxidized impurities either volatilized or formed a slag on the surface of the charge.
Since the air blast contained only 20 per cent of oxygen by volume, much valuable heat
was carried away from the charge by the 80 per cent nitrogen also present. Worse still,
a small amount of this nitrogen dissolved in the charge, and, in the case of mild steel
destined for deep drawing operations, caused a deterioration in its mechanical
properties.
The new oxygen processes produce mild steel very low in nitrogen, so that its
deepdrawing properties are superior to those of the old Bessemer steel. Improvements
of this type are essential if mild steel is to survive the challenge of reinforced plastics,
such as ABS, in the field of automobile bodywork. The earliest of these oxygen
processes was the L-D process, so called because it originated in the Austrian industrial
towns of Linz and Donawit in 1952. It was made possible by the low-cost production
of ‗tonnage oxygen‘ and it is interesting to note that Bessemer had foreseen these
possibilities almost a century earlier but of course did not have access to tonnage
oxygen. Since 1952, a large number of variations of the original process have been
developed but have become rationalized under the general heading of basic oxygen
steelmaking (BOS).
The BOS process is generally carried out in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF), which is
a pear-shaped vessel of up to 400 tonnes capacity lined with basic refractories (e.g.
magnesite bricks covered with a layer of dolomite). Thus, the process is known as basic
due to the chemical nature of the refractories (CaO and MgO) that line the vessel. This
lining must be basic to match the basic slag which is necessary for the removal of
impurities from the charge. If the lining were chemically acid (e.g. silica bricks) it would
be attacked by the basic slag and would quickly disintegrate.
In this process, no heat is carried away by useless nitrogen (as was the case in the old
Bessemer process) so a charge containing up to 40 per cent scrap can be used. Recall
that heat is generated autogenously in this process since the oxidation of the impurities
96
carbon, phosphorus, silicon and manganese is exothermic. The scrap is loaded to the
converter first, followed by lime and molten pig iron (Figure 31). Oxygen is then blown
(at supersonic speed) at the surface of the molten charge from a water-cooled lance
which is lowered through the mouth of the converter to within 0.5 m of the surface of
the metal. At the end of the blow, this slag is run off first and any adjustments made to
the carbon content of the charge which is then transferred to the ladle, preparatory to
being cast as ingots, or, much more probably, fed to a continuouscasting unit which, is
currently the modern practice.
Figure 31: Stages in the manufacture of steel by the BOF process. Steel scrap is added
first (i), followed by molten pig iron (ii). At the end of the ‗blow‘ the slag is run off
first (iv), before ‗teeming‘ the steel into a ladle.
BOS has the following major advantages over competing processes:

(i) It is rapid—the cycling time is about forty-five minutes;
(ii) Nitrogen contamination is very low so that deep-drawing quality mild steel is
produced;
(iii) Thermal efficiency is high because heat is not carried away by nitrogen as in the
former Bessemer process. Hence the charge may include 40%—and in some
circumstances 50%—scrap. A wide variety of both scrap and pig iron can be used.
The principal chemical reactions taking place as oxygen is blown from the top into the
melt are:
i.
The heat produced due to the above chemical reactions is sufficient enough to raise the
temperature of hot metal from around 1250–1300ºC to molten steel tapping temperature
of 1600–1650ºC. All the other elements form slag except carbon which leaves as a
97
gaseous phase. The last reaction is useful for the recovery of manganese (an important
alloying element) into the steel.
Electric Arc Steelmaking

This is the only alternative steelmaking process which is significant at present and its
operation is complementary to BOS rather than competitive. Originally electric-arc
furnaces were used for the manufacture of high-grade tool and alloy steels but are now
widely employed both in the treatment of hot metal and of process scrap as well as scrap
from other sources. Depending on market requirements, an EAF can be switched over
easily to produce plain carbon or alloy steel. The charge can include steel scrap, hot
metal and DRI. With or without hot metal, quality steel can be refined from scrap steel
alone or scrap and sponge iron. The high cost of electricity is largely offset by the fact
that cheap scrap can be processed economically to produce high-quality steel.
Since electricity is a perfectly ‗clean‘ method of providing heat, no impurities are

transmitted to the charge as was the case with producer gas used in the now extinct
open-hearth process. Moreover, the chemical conditions (either oxidizing or reducing
slags) within the electric-arc furnace can be varied at will to favour successive removal
of the various impurities present in the charge. Sulphur, which was virtually impossible
to eliminate in either the Bessemer or open-hearth processes, can be effectively reduced
to extremely low limits in the electric-arc process. The furnace (Figure 32) employs
carbon electrodes which strike an arc on to the charge.
Figure 32: The principles of the EAF for steelmaking
The hot carbon arc provides a slightly reducing atmosphere and high metal
temperatures, e.g. 1800°C can be reached in the hearth. At this temperature CO is more
stable than the alloy oxides, so that the alloy content of special scrap need not be lost.
The first stage in electric steelmaking is to charge steel scrap and DRI and melt this
down with the arcs. The lining is basic allowing the addition of lime and mill scale (or
98
iron ore) in order to produce a basic oxidizing slag which removes most of the carbon,
silicon, manganese and phosphorus into the slag phase. The slag formed at this stage is
run off (poured away) and is often replaced by a reducing slag made by throwing in
lime and anthracite (which react to form CaC2) which effectively removes sulphur in
accordance with the following reaction:
or
Also, in this reducing environment the necessary ferro-alloys; ferro-manganese,

ferrochromium, ferro-vanadium, etc. can be fed into the bath without loss due to
oxidation.
Hence the main advantages of the arc process are:

i. Removal of sulphur is reliable;
ii. Conditions are chemically clean and contamination of the charge is impossible;
iii. Temperature can be accurately controlled;
iv. Carbon content can be adjusted between fine limits;
v. The addition of alloying elements can be made with precision. Electric arc
furnaces are widely used for making high grade steels, especially alloy steels,
from steel scrap. The main elements added to steel are Ni, Cr, Mn, V, Mo, W,
Nb, Ti, mostly as ferro-alloys.
vi. High grade plain carbon steels can be made from steel scrap in large EAFs, e.g.
150 000 kg capacity.
STEELMAKING REACTIONS AND THERMODYNAMICS

In steelmaking process, the impurities in iron are lowered to the desired steel
specification. The relevant reactions are as given below:
1. Phosphorus Removal
It is assumed that the in the slag is combined with lime to form the compound
. Thus:
The experimental expression for has been found to

be
; where t is temperature in °C.
99
The preferential oxidation of P can only occur if:
By van‘t Hoff isotherm for non
The above equation indicates that can be satisfied

when is made highly negative by:
 Lowering by using a basic slag, i.e.
, and
 Increasing the supply of oxygen i.e. to the metal using iron ore or mill scale.
Removal of phosphorus from metal is favoured by low metal temperature:
2. Sulphur Removal
The relevant sulphur removing reaction is:
Because of the difficulty in measuring the activities of the components, sulphide

capacity data of liquid slags are used in estimating slag‘s sulphur removing ability.
The ionic form of the above equation is:
The conditions necessary for sulphur removal during steelmaking are:

 Basic slag formation (by CaO addition);
 Low oxygen potential (using a reducing slag containing Fe-Si or anthracite); 
High metal temperature.
Thus, since CaO favours both S and P removal, early formation of basic slag before
attainment of high temperatures is crucial to aid both P removal (at low temperatures)
and S removal (at high temperatures). and both deteriorate the mechanical
properties of the steel. They are therefore maintained at maximum concentrations of
0.04%.
3. Manganese
The relevant reaction is:
100
In representing the slag-metal equilibria, it is customary to use the total iron (as oxides)
in the slag as . The composition of most steelmaking slags are in the ranges: 50–
60% CaO, 3–8% MgO, 3–8% MnO, 6–26% , 15–25% SiO 2, 1–5%
P2O 5, ~1% Al2O3. Where the pig iron phosphorus content is high the slag may contain
up to 20% P2O 5 or more. Manganese exchange between metal and slag may be
represented by the equation:
For basic slags at steelmaking temperatures,
Where B is the basicity which is somewhat arbitrary. If we assume that 1 mole of CaO
is equivalent to 1 mole of MgO and that ½ mole of P2O 5 is equivalent to 1 mole of SiO2,
then, B may be defined by the ratio:
4. Silicon Removal (Desiliconization) The

relevant reaction is:
5. Carbon
The relevant reaction is:
According to (Turkdogan, 2010);
For carbon contents below about 0.5% and at steelmaking temperatures of about
1600ºC, the coefficient of carbon in iron increases while that of oxygen decreases with
increasing carbon content. For the slag composition indicated previously (under
manganese above), the following relationship holds:
101
Atomic oxygen has been used in the reactions above since the iron oxide dissociates at
the slag-metal interface to release atomic oxygen into the metal, thus:
In practice, and oxidize immediatel but oxidation is delayed because of the

large interfacial area between CO and the liquid steel.
Where;
•
•
•
•
The for homogeneous nucleation of CO is too high under normal steelmaking
conditions so that CO nucleates on various materials including refractory crevices
where the interfacial energy or tension is reduced.
In the catch carbon method, the steel is tapped when the carbon being oxidized attains
the specific concentration. It is bad practice to go below the required carbon
concentration and then to begin to adjust by adding pig iron or anthracite, as this will
result to the lowering of temperature and increase of inclusions. The oxidation of carbon
provides CO evolution which gives the boiling action called the carbon oil reaction.
The turbulence created improves the reaction kinetics and hence the production rate in
open hearth and electric arc steelmaking processes (where oxygen lancing may not be
employed).
When the desired carbon level has been attained, deoxidant is added to stop further
decarburization of the metal and to obtain the required structure in the solidified steel,
i.e. rimmed, semi-killed or killed. Low to medium (up to about 4%) alloying additions
are subsequently made in the ladle later after deoxidation to prevent their removal to the
slag as oxides. Greater amounts of alloying additions cannot be made effectively in the
ladle without undue cooling and loss of compositional uniformity. They must be added
therefore in the initial charge and this will lead to some loss to the slag (due to oxidation)
which must be therefore maximally recovered. To illustrate this, let us examine the
production of high chromium alloy steel.
Production of 18-8 Stainless Steel

In stainless steels, low level of carbon (about 0.05%) is required to prevent
intercrystalline corrosion or weld decay. During carbon oxidation by the oxidizing slag,
simultaneous oxidation (i.e. loss) of chromium take place. This can be reduced by
employing high temperatures or by adding of ferrosilicon (Fe-Si) to the slag to recover
the oxidized chromium.
102
From thermodynamic considerations we can deduce a way to largel preferentially

oxidize carbon [ ], i.e. with minimal oxidation of chromium in the
metal.
From
Equating the two expressions that are equal to , we have:
Given that , and assuming , then
This means that . The lowering of renders more

negative than , resulting in preferential oxidation of carbon. Lowering of
is achieved by flushing the melt in AOD (argon-oxygen decarburization)
converter with oxygen and argon (inert gas).
Ni, Co and Mo form less stable oxides than FeO so they are not essentially lost to the
slag and can be added to the melt with the charge. Mn and Si being oxidized, are
corrected using ferroalloy additions. Ferroalloys are important raw materials for the
manufacture of alloy steels and special carbon steels. Some of them are used as
deoxidizers in steelmaking (e.g. Fe-Mn, Fe-Si, Fe-Si-Mn), and others provide the
necessary elements for special steels (Table 10).
Table 10: Percentage of elements added to steels as ferro-alloys

C Si Mn Cr Ni W Mo Others Application
103
0.3-0.7 0.9-1.2 0.9-1.8 - - - - Construction steel

0.5-0.6 1.5-2.0 0.6-0.9 1.6 - - - Springs and coils
0.05 2–3 0.3-0.7 - - - - Transformers
0.9-1.1 0.4-0.6 0.9-1.2 1.6 - - - Ball bearings
0.3-0.5 1.2-1.6 0.4 1.3-1.6 - - - Tools
High Temperature
0.3-0.5 2–3 0.3-0.7 8-9.5 - - -
Resistance
0.04 - - 18 8-12 - 25 Stainless Steels
0.08 - - 18 8-12 - - Ti = 0.4 Stainless Steels
0.7-0.9 0.2-0.5 0.2-4.0.4 3–5 - 1.2-2.0 7.5-8.5 V = 0.3 Highspeed Steels
FERROALLOYS
Substances such as manganese, silicon, chromium, etc. are produced in large amounts,
not as the elements themselves, but alloyed with iron, i.e. as ferroalloys, for
steelmaking. The main alloys produced are ferrosilicon (15–90 % Si), ferromanganese
(80% Mn, 5% C, 1% Si), spiegeleisen (~18% Mn, 5%C), silica-manganese (70% Mn,
20% Si, 1·5% C), ferrochromium (70% Cr, 5% C), ferrotungsten, ferromolybdenum,
ferrovanadium and ferrotitanium.
Ferroalloys are relatively impure products which in addition to their valuable
component contain considerable amounts of iron, and which are used as additives in
steelmaking. The iron content may either be as a result of the iron in the ore or it may
have been added deliberately in order to facilitate the reduction process or to lower the
melting point of the alloy. Examples of the former are FeCr and FeMn since their ores
invariably contain some Fe and since these metals are less noble (more reactive) than
iron, the Fe content of the alloy will be determined by the iron content of the ore. FeCr
and FeMn each contains up to 70 – 80% of the valuable metal. Example of the latter is
FeSi where scrap Fe is added in order to facilitate the reduction. FeSi contains up to 45
– 90% Si.
Some ferroalloys are made in blast furnaces but the high reduction temperatures needed
and the high carbon content of the product are unsatisfactory features. The other method
now used is the electrothermic process. The charge is contained in a crucible and heated
by a submerged arc. The charge consists of the mineral to be reduced, e.g. quartz (SiO2)
for ferrosilicon, pyrolusite (MnO2) for ferromanganese, chromite (FeO·Cr2O 3) for
ferrochromium, ilmenite (FeO·TiO2) for ferrotitanium, together with coke, steel scrap
or iron are as required, and limestone flux where necessary.
Carbon is an effective reducing agent for most of the ferroalloys at the high temperatures
achieved in the electric furnace, although aluminium or ferrosilicon is used to reduce
ilmenite, in the presence of iron oxide, to ferrotitanium. Most ferroalloys are produced
by carbothermic reduction of oxide ores. Since the reaction takes place at well over
1000ºC the partial pressure of CO2 is low, therefore the reduction may be conveniently
expressed thus:
104
Unfortunately, with few exceptions these metals also form very stable carbides, the
order of increasing stability being Mn3C, NbC, Al4C3, CaC2, SiC, Cr23C6, VC, TiC, and
ZrC. Thus if an oxide of one of the above metals is reduced with an excess of carbon,
the product will be a carbide rather than the pure metal. If the reaction mixture had
contained only enough carbon to give the pure metal, the product would be a mixture
of metal carbide and unreacted metal oxide. These may react on further heating as
follows:
At 1 atm, this reaction shifts to the right with increasing temperature. Even though the
carbide can be decomposed according to this reaction, the resulting metal still contains
a considerable amount of dissolved C. this is the case for FeCr and FeMn (for example),
which in the molten state are able to dissolve up to 10% of C. Reducing significantly
the C causes the loss of oxides in the slag. Nevertheless, the combined case of vacuum
and high temperature facilitates the production of low carbon ferroalloys.
Another complication in the production of reactive metals at high temperature is the
formation of volatile compounds e.g. suboxides as SiO and Al2O. If their partial
pressures become significantly higher than CO pressure, carbothermic production of the
metal will be virtually impossible.
VACUUM DEGASSING/REFINING
Apart from oxygen (the removal of which is done by deoxidation, as discussed below),
other gases encountered in steelmaking are hydrogen and nitrogen. Their removal shall
be dealt with in the next edition of this Lecture Note.
KILLING (DEOXIDATION) OF STEEL

Deoxidation of steel is carried out in the ladle during secondary steelmaking to reduce
or completely remove the amount of dissolved oxygen in steels. Just like sucking
oxygen out of a living organism implies killing the organism, the term deoxidation of
steel is also referred to as killing. Depending on the level of deoxidation expected,
different deoxidizing agents (deoxidizers or deoxidants) are used in required amounts.
Deoxidizers are usually elements that have more affinity for oxygen than iron, and so
they form stable oxides that can float on top of the molten steel and get partitioned into
the slag. In some cases the oxides can remain in the steel in forms not as harmful as
atomic oxygen. Examples are Ti, Al, Si and Mn.
The soundness of steel castings and ingots depends among other factors on the degree
of deoxidation (Figure 33). The following degrees or types of deoxidation are
commonly practiced:
i. Killed steel is produced when there is complete deoxidation. Killed steel is
produced when powerful deoxidizers such as silicon (in form of Fe-Si) and
105
aluminium are used. During solidification of killed steels, little or no gas

evolution takes place.
ii. Rimming steel is produced when partial deoxidation (e.g. using manganese and
a small quantity of aluminium) is carried out. Manganese s usually added in the
form of ferromanganese or spiegeleisen.
iii. Semi-killed steel is produced when the degree of deoxidation vary between the
extremes of killing and rimming. Semi-killed steels are similar to killed steel, but
insufficient deoxidant has been added so that complete deoxidation cannot be
attained.
iv. Capped steel starts as rimmed steel but part way through the solidification the
ingot is capped. This can be done by literally covering the ingot mould or by
adding a deoxidizing agent. The top of the ingot then forms into a solid layer of
steel, but the rim of the rest of the ingot is thinner than in a rimmed steel.
Thus the increasing order of degree of deoxidation is rimming, semi-killing and killing.
With decreasing gas evolution during solidification, steels are classified as rimmed,
semi-killed and killed.
Eight typical conditions of commercial ingots, cast in identical bottle-top moulds, in

relation to the degree of suppression of gas evolution are shown schematically in Figure
33. The dotted line indicates the height to which originally the steel was poured in each
ingot mould. Depending on the carbon content and particularly oxygen content, the
ingot structures range from that of a fully killed or dead-killed ingot (No. 1) to that of a
violently rimmed ingot (No. 8). Included in the series are semi-killed steel (No. 2),
capped steel (No. 5), and rimmed steel (No. 7).
Figure 33: Series of typical ingot structures vis-à-vis degree of deoxidation
Deoxidation of Ingots and Castings

A steel ingot is a solidified product which has not attained its final size and shape. It is
reduced by mechanical working or plastic deformation processes to the final desired
shape and size according to the following size reduction sequence
ingot→bloom→billet→slab→plate→sheet→strip→foil, or →bar→rod→wire, etc. On
106
the other hand, a steel casting is not a semi-finished product, but in its size and shape is
the final end product of a solidification process. Hot liquid steel dissolves oxygen, but
the solubility of oxygen in steel decreases with temperature. As steel cools, excess
oxygen can cause blowholes or precipitate FeO. Therefore, several strategies have been
developed for deoxidation.
Deoxidation with manganese is often reinforced by deoxidation with silicon and
aluminium. These are more powerful deoxidizers than manganese and the term killing
usually refers to their use. Silicon-killed steel is made by adding ferrosilicon (75 per
cent Si 25 per cent Fe) together with some silicomanganese which helps to float the
silica away as manganese silicate. Aluminium-killed steel is made by adding a small
amount of aluminium to the steel in the ladle. Al-killed steel is tougher than Si-killed
steel at low temperatures (e.g. 0°C) but Si-killed steel is stronger at high temperatures
(e.g. 400°C).
Most steel is cast into ingot moulds and then rolled into bars and sheet. Ingot moulds
are vertical, approximately cylindrical, shells of grey cast iron, open at the top, square
or polygonal in cross-section and capable of holding a few 1000 kg of steel. The steel
is teemed, i.e. run out from a nozzle in the bottom of the ladle, either into the top of the
ingot mould below it, or down a trumpet and along a runner into the bottom of the
mould. To permit easy separation of the ingot, the moulds are slightly tapered from top
to bottom.
Depending on whether the ingot or mould is to be lifted off, the mould is set with either
its wide or narrow end uppermost. Ingots are mainly cast with their wide ends up, to
reduce the depth of pipe. When a killed steel solidifies, the contraction which the metal
undergoes produces a large contraction cavity or pipe, as shown in Figure 34a.
Figure 33: Steel ingots; (a) killed steel, (b) killed steel in mould with hot top, (c)
rimming steel
107
This unsound part of the ingot has to be cut off and returned for re-melting, so that the
productivity is reduced. The effect can be minimized by delaying the solidification at
the top of the mould, so that a reservoir of liquid is maintained there to feed into the
ingot below as this freezes and contracts. This is done by fitting a thermally insulating
refractory or even exothermically-lined hot top or feeder head, as shown in Figure 34b.
Although this gives a considerable improvement, the metal discarded from the hot top
and the cost of the hot top itself still add to the expense of the ingot. The alternative is
to prevent the metal from shrinking by allowing a small amount of CO to form as
bubbles, when it freezes. This is done in rimming steels. These are low-carbon (< 0·15
per cent C) steels usually used for sheet steel pressings. Only low-carbon steels contain
enough oxygen to rim satisfactorily. Silicon and aluminium are not used but some
manganese is added to the ladle. With careful control, the CO effervescence is delayed
until about 0·025m of iron has solidified against the wall of the mould. The bubbles
then form and compensate for the freezing contraction, so that no pipe is formed and
none of the ingot has to be discarded. The CO blow-holes weld up when the ingot is
afterwards forged. Another advantage is that the oxygen in the metal captures its carbon
from the first layers to solidify, so that these become very ductile carbon-free iron. This
soft skin gives the metal a good smooth surface when it is afterwards rolled into sheet
and pressed.
Cheap steel for girders, plates, etc. is usually made by a balanced or semikilled method.
It is slightly deoxidized with silicon or aluminium but not enough to require a hot top.
CONTINOUS CASTING OF STEEL

Further adjustment of steel chemistry in the tundish and subsequent casting by means
of a continuous casting machine shall be discussed in the next edition of this Lecture
Note
STEEL AND INDUSTRIAL POWER OF NATIONS

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the material wealth and power of a nation
has depended largely upon its ability to make steel and steel products. The industrial,
economic and military power of any nation depends on steel. Think of the ordinary
office pin, needle, razor blade, fork and spoon, knife, hoe, shovel. Think of the bicycle,
car, train, ship, and plane. According to Kassinger (2003), North American automakers
and their parts suppliers used about 18 million tonnes of steel in their vehicles in 1998
alone. The average vehicle contained about 822 kg of flat-rolled sheet, bar, tubular, rod,
and wire steel. Think of the sewing machine, printing press, file cabinets, refrigerators,
air-conditioners, microwave ovens, and washing machines. Think of tractors,
bulldozers, and the bridges across River Niger, skyscrapers, and all military hardware.
You can find steel everywhere.
108
It is important to note that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not enough to measure
national development. Whether the economists believe it or not, one other parameter
for measuring development is the per capita consumption of steel in any nation. That
is the total weight of steel (in kilograms) processed to finished products (e.g. from office
pins and razor blades to automobiles and aircrafts, etc.) divided by the population. Thus,
the consumption of iron and steel per capita basis is regarded as an accurate indicator
of the economic and industrial development of any nation. It is therefore not surprising
that while the steel consumption per capita for the highly industrialized nations ranges
between 250 and 600 kg of crude steel, those for the under-developed countries are far
less. For instance, in the year 2013, the figures for Japan and South Korea were 516.4
and 1,057.4 kg respectively, while that of Africa was 41.8 kg with South Africa and
Egypt having 105.8 and 88.9 kg respectively. The other countries in Africa put together
had 28.8 kg. For steel use or consumption on non-per capita basis, the 2013 figures for
Japan and South Korea were 65.3 and 51.6 million tonnes of finished steel products
respectively, while that of Africa was 29 million tonnes with South Africa and Egypt
having 5.4 and 7.6 million tonnes of finished steel products respectively. The other
countries in Africa put together produced 16 million tonnes of finished steel products.
In all these data from the World Steel Association (Appendices III and IV), the giant of
Africa (Nigeria) had too little an impact to receive even a mention. As shown in
Appendices I, II and V, in 2013, only South Africa and Egypt were ranked (21 and 23
respectively) in Africa among the top 50 steel producing countries. Of the 1606 million
tonnes of crude steel produced in 2013, these 50 nations produced 1593 (99.2%) million
tonnes of crude steel while the rest of the world (including Nigeria) produced 13 (0.8%)
million tonnes of crude steel.
If Nigeria must become like the Republic South Korea, if Nigeria must become like
Japan, if Nigeria must transfer from buying and selling trade to manufacturing, then
Nigeria must accept, with all its implications, that the industrial, economic, military,
social and even political power of any nation is dependent on steel. To industrialize,
there is the need to have a sound industrial base. This will provide the solid foundation
on which the industrial super-structure will be built. This industrial base is nothing other
than a well-developed iron and steel industry. According to Ohimain (2013), Nigeria is
blessed with all the major raw materials needed for the production of iron and steel
including 3 billion tonnes of iron ore, 3 billion tonnes of coal, and limestone in excess
of 700 million tonnes and 187 billion standard cubic feet (SCF) of natural gas. Yet,
Western countries had hitherto (through the World Bank and IMF) advised Nigeria to
concentrate on Agriculture rather than venture into the high-tech and heavy
manufacturing steel business (Mohammed, 2002). As rightly observed by Arrey (2013),
―The controversy that historical knowledge supports the truth that industrialization is
marked by a fall on agricultural products and a corresponding rise in non-agricultural
109
activities mostly in manufacturing industries and services, seems to be factual when

juxtaposed with the truth that Nigerian’s industrialization is inextricable linked to social
pathologies viz.: ineptitude of leadership, weak organizational competence, corruption,
faulty policy articulation and implementation, dynamics of international politics where
IMF, world bank, the Paris club etc., hold sway‖.
Taking cognizance of the strategic importance of iron and steel, many third world
countries have been able to lift their economies away from third world poverty and
starvation, and seriously threatening the developed countries of the world in economic
wellbeing for their people. A few examples will suffice; India, South Korea, Pakistan,
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Libya, Turkey, Venezuela, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia
and Mexico. The steel projects in all these countries started as serious national projects,
with their Governments taking active interest in the steel development. Pandit Nehru of
India once called the giant steel structures coming up in Bhilai, Durgapur and Ruerkela
in the late 1950s, as the ―Temples of Modern India‖. Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Libya
with their fabulous oil reserves also have developed viable steel industries. Other third
world oil producing countries with very well developed steel industries include
Indonesia, Venezuela and Mexico.
According to the World Steel Association (World Steel in Figures 2014), Steel is a
cornerstone and key driver for the world‘s economy. The steel industry directly employs
more than two million people worldwide, plus two million contractors and four million
people in supporting industries. Including industries such as construction, transport and
energy, the steel industry is a source of employment for more than 50 million people.
Iron and steel industries or projects have multiplier effects on the economy because of
their ability to induce other related economic and industrial activities (Mark, 2000). A
cursory look at Ajaokuta Steel Company (referred to as the bedrock of Nigeria’s
Industrialization) as noted by Mohammed (2002) reveals that this Company will have
a multiplier linkage effect on the national economy. If Phase 1, that is, production of
1.3 million tonnes of liquid steel is completed and put to commercial use, the nation has
the following direct benefits to derive:
 Employment of 10,000 workers in the Plant;
 Employment of not less than 20,000 Nigerians in the raw materials industries
providing feed-stock to the plant;
 Employment of not less than another 30,000 Nigerians in the industries that use the
products of the plant;
 Conservation of foreign exchange used for importation of steel products annually;
 Contribution of not less than 30% of the inputs to the automotive industry in
Nigeria, in the first instance;
110
 Ajaokuta Steel Plant has the capacity to meet most of the national requirements of
Chemicals and tar (as by-products of the steel production process) and refractory
bricks, using locally available raw materials and the Alumino-Silicate Refractory
Plant;
 Export potential to ECOWAS sub-region;
 Most industries in Nigeria have problem sourcing for their machinery and spare
parts. The Ajaokuta Steel Company‘s well-equipped Engineering Works
Complex can assist to a large extent.
The non-completion and commissioning of the Ajaokuta Steel Project implies that
Nigeria is yet to produce blast furnace iron (BFI) as shown in Appendix VI. However,
the completion and subsequent epileptic operation of the Delta Steel Plant brought
Nigeria among the nations producing direct-reduced iron (DRI) as shown in appendix
VII.
Appendix I: Major steel producing countries 2012 and 2013 (million tonnes crude steel production)
Country 2012 2013

Rank Tonnage Rank Tonnage
China 1 731.0 1 779.0
Japan 2 107.2 2 110.6
United States 3 88.7 3 86.9
India 4 77.3 4 81.2
Russia 5 70.4 5 68.7
South Korea 6 69.1 6 66.1
Germany 7 42.7 7 42.6
Turkey 8 35.9 8 34.7
Brazil 9 34.5 9 34.2
Ukraine 10 33.0 10 32.8
Italy 11 27.3 11 24.1
Taiwan, China 12 20.7 12 22.3
111
Mexico 13 18.1 13 18.2
France 14 15.6 14 15.7
Iran 15 14.5 15 15.4
Spain 16 13.6 16 13.8
Canada 17 13.5 17 12.4
United Kingdom 18 9.6 18 11.9
Austria 20 7.4 19 8.0
Poland 19 8.4 20 8.0
South Africa 22 6.9 21 7.2
Belgium 21 7.3 22 7.1
Egypt 24 6.6 23 6.8
Netherlands 23 6.9 24 6.7
Malaysia € 25 5.6 25 5.9
Vietnam € 26 5.3 26 5.6
Saudi Arabia 27 5.2 27 5.5
Argentina 29 5.0 28 5.2
Czech Republic 28 5.1 29 5.2
Australia 30 4.9 30 4.7
Slovak Republic 31 4.4 31 4.5
Sweden 32 4.3 32 4.4
Finland 33 3.8 33 3.5
Thailand € 35 3.3 34 3.5
Kazakhstan 34 3.7 35 3.3
Romania 36 3.3 36 3.0
United Arab Emirates 38 2.4 37 2.9
Indonesia € 40 2.3 38 2.4
112
Byelorussia 37 2.7 39 2.2
Qatar 42 2.1 40 2.2
Venezuela 39 2.4 41 2.1
Luxembourg 41 2.2 42 2.1
Portugal € 43 2.0 43 2.1
Switzerland € 46 1.5 44 1.5
Chile 44 1.7 45 1.3
Philippines € 49 1.3 46 1.3
North Korea 48 1.3 47 1.3
Colombia 47 1.3 48 1.2
Peru 51 1.0 49 1.1
Greece 50 1.2 50 1.0
Other 14.0 13.0
World 1559.2 1606.0
(e): estimate
Appendix II: Top 50 steel producing companies in 2013 (million tonnes crude steel production)
Rank Company Tonnage Rank Company Tonnage
1 ArcelorMittal (*) 96.1 26 SAIL (*) 13.5
2 Nippon Steel & Sumitomo 50.1 27 Fangda Steel (2) 13.2
Metal Corporation (*)
3 Hebei Steel Group (**) 45.8 28 Rizhao Steel 12.7
4 Baosteel Group (*) 43.9 29 MMK (*) 11.9
5 Wuhan Steel Group (*) 39.3 30 JSW Steel Limited (*) 11.8
6 POSCO (*) 38.4 31 Jiuquan Steel 11.2
7 Shagang Group 35.1 32 Baotou Steel 10.7
8 Ansteel Group (*) 33.7 33 Anyang Steel 10.3
9 Shougang Group (*) 31.5 34 Zongheng Steel 10.2
10 JFE (*) 31.2 35 Taiyuan Steel 10.0
11 Tata Steel Group (*) 25.3 36 Jingye Steel 9.7
12 Shandong Steel Group 22.8 37 Techint Group (*) 9.0
113
13 U. S. Steel (*) 20.4 38 Jinxi Steel 8.7

(*)
14 Nucor Corporation 20.2 39 Xinyu Steel 8.5
15 Tianjin Bohai Steel (1) 19.3 Zenith Steel 8.5
(*) (*)
16 Gerdau 19.0 40 Erdemir Group 8.3
17 Maanshan Steel 18.8 41 Sanming Steel 8.2
18 Hyundai Steel (*) 17.2 42 Guofeng Steel 8.1
19 Benxi Steel 16.8 43 Shaanxi Steel 8.0
20 Evraz Group (*) 16.1 voestalpine Group (*) 8.0
21 ThyssenKrupp (*) 15.9 44 ISD Corporation 7.9
22 Severstal (*) 15.7 45 Citic Pacifi c 7.7
23 NLMK (*) 15.5 46 Riva Forni Elettrici SpA (*)(3) 7.6
24 Valin Group 15.0 47 Kobe Steel Ltd. (*) 7.5
25 Metinvest (*) 14.3 48 CELSA Group (*) 7.0
Jianlong Group 14.3 49 Usiminas (*) 6.9
IMIDRO (*) 14.3 50 Essar Steel (*) 6.1
China Steel Corporation (*) 14.3 Nanjing Steel 6.1
* worldsteel members
** Handan, which is part of Hebei Group, is a member of worldsteel
(1) Some Chinese companies consolidated to form Tianjin Bohai Steel in 2013
(2) Pingxiang and Jiujiang were merged with Fangda Steel at the end of 2012
(3) RIVA Fire Group was split into ILVA SpA and Riva Forni Electtrici SpA in June 2013
Appendix III: Apparent Steel Consumption/Use 2007 to 2013 (million tonnes finished steel products)
Netherlands
Poland
Austria
Romania
Belgium-
Spain
Luxembourg
Sweden
Czech Republic
United Kingdom
France
Other EU
Germany
European Union (27)
Italy
114
Turkey 5.6 5.4 4.1 4.6 5.0 4.5 4.3

Others 6.6 6.5 4.5 5.5 6.1 5.9 5.8
Other Europe 16.6 15.3 11.0 13.1 14.0 12.6 12.5
Russia 42.7 42.4 28.2 36.2 40.7 37.5 37.7
Ukraine 35.9 33.3 20.1 25.7 26.5 21.5 21.6
Other CIS 4.1 4.3 2.9 3.2 3.6 3.4 3.4
CIS 12.1 11.5 8.2 10.0 11.0 10.4 10.2
Canada 5.6 5.2 2.6 3.3 3.8 3.3 3.4
Mexico 24.5 18.0 11.9 13.1 13.1 10.5 10.4
United States 4.9 4.3 2.6 3.6 3.9 3.5 3.5
NAFTA 12.8 11.8 7.0 8.8 9.0 8.4 8.1
Argentina 23.9 21.8 13.3 14.1 14.1 13.4 13.9
Brazil 199.5 183.8 119.6 144.7 154.8 138.6 138.3
Venezuela 23.8 21.5 18.0 23.6 26.9 28.5 31.3
Others 8.1 6.1 5.9 6.0 6.5 6.3 6.4
Central and 31.9 27.6 23.9 29.6 33.4 34.7 37.7
South
America 40.4 35.4 24.9 35.6 40.9 42.3 43.0
Egypt 8.1 6.9 3.8 5.5 6.3 6.3 5.6

South Africa 7.9 7.7 7.2 7.2 7.6 8.9 10.2
Other Africa 56.4 50.0 36.0 48.3 54.7 57.5 58.8
Africa 15.5 14.7 9.5 14.1 14.2 15.6 14.9
Iran 17.9 17.4 14.8 17.2 18.3 20.4 18.6
Other 108.3 98.4 59.2 79.9 89.2 96.2 95.6
Middle East 141.7 130.5 83.5 111.2 121.7 132.2 129.0
Middle East 4.6 4.8 3.2 4.6 5.3 4.9 5.1
China 22.1 24.0 18.6 26.1 25.0 25.2 26.4
India 3.6 3.4 2.7 2.3 2.6 3.0 2.8
Japan 11.0 11.8 9.3 11.7 12.8 14.1 15.0
South Korea
41.3 44.1 33.8 44.7 45.8 47.2 49.3
Taiwan, China
5.5 6.5 9.4 8.6 7.5 8.0 7.6
Other Asia
5.8 6.1 4.5 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.4
Asia
9.5 11.6 13.1 11.2 12.0 13.0 16.0
Australia
20.7 24.3 26.9 24.8 24.9 26.4 29.0
and New
Zealand 18.5 14.9 17.2 19.5 20.9 18.2 16.7
25.0 30.9 25.7 27.5 28.6 30.2 31.1
43.6 45.8 42.9 47.1 49.6 48.3 47.8
418.4 446.9 551.4 587.6 641.2 660.1 700.2
51.5 51.4 57.9 64.9 69.8 72.4 73.7
2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 81.2 78.0 52.8 63.6 64.1 63.9 65.3
2012 2013 55.2 58.6 45.4 52.4 56.4 54.1 51.6
18.1 16.9 11.3 17.8 18.1 17.8 18.5
4.1 4.0 3.2
52.6 52.8 51.0 56.9 62.3 69.4 75.7
3.6 4.0
3.8 3.5 676.9 704.6 769.8 843.2 911.9 937.6 984.9
8.3 8.4 6.0 7.8 6.9 7.2 6.6
Appendix IV: Apparent Steel Consumption/Use Per Capita 2007 To 2013 (kilograms finished steel products)
Cou
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Austria 498.6 479.3 385.9 433.8 470.6 445.5 414.5

Belgium-Luxembourg 508.4 487.0 367.4 410.0 446.3 396.1 378.1
115
Czech Republic 636.8 629.8 431.6 526.1 575.5 553.7 546.8

France 269.2 246.8 176.1 208.1 222.0 198.0 196.0
Germany 517.7 513.7 342.2 440.3 495.5 457.3 460.2

Italy 603.9 555.8 333.2 423.6 436.1 352.8 354.3
Netherlands 250.8 260.9 175.1 190.2 218.0 203.4 205.8
Poland 315.6 301.3 214.2 260.0 287.8 271.6 266.9

Romania 257.4 239.4 122.8 152.9 175.6 155.3 157.8
Spain 549.3 398.6 260.2 283.6 282.3 224.2 221.0
Sweden 530.0 469.8 275.9 388.1 412.3 368.8 368.8

United Kingdom 210.7 192.9 113.6 141.7 144.5 134.4 127.7
Other EU 339.5 308.3 187.8 198.6 198.3 188.1 195.4
European Union (27) 403.1 370.0 239.8 289.1 308.4 275.4 274.2
Turkey 339.6 302.5 250.9 323.9 365.7 381.9 415.4
Others 210.7 199.1 161.1 163.4 175.5 170.1 172.8
Other Europe 295.5 267.3 220.5 270.0 302.3 311.7 335.5

Russia 281.8 247.4 174.4 249.2 286.0 296.5 301.9
Ukraine 174.0 149.5 84.1 120.5 140.1 139.8 124.7 Other CIS 115.5 111.8 103.0 103.1 106.8 125.1 141.7
CIS 218.3 193.7 139.2 186.9 211.5 222.1 227.0

Canada 470.4 440.4 283.1 414.2 412.6 449.2 425.0
Mexico 164.0 157.1 132.0 152.1 159.3 175.8 158.1
United States 358.2 322.7 192.4 257.4 284.9 304.6 300.2
NAFTA 318.8 290.6 184.2 243.0 263.2 283.3 274.0

Argentina 117.3 120.5 80.0 114.3 130.9 119.8 122.1
Brazil 116.2 125.5 96.1 133.9 127.3 126.9 131.9 Venezuela 132.2
121.2 94.1 78.2 88.5 100.0 93.3
Others 61.7 66.3 51.6 63.8 69.1 75.2 78.8

Central and South America 93.6 98.9 75.0 98.1 99.4 101.4 104.6
Egypt 71.0 83.5 117.4 106.2 91.2 95.2 88.9
South Africa 118.9 124.2 89.6 99.8 105.4 106.8 105.8
Other Africa 19.6 23.5 25.9 21.6 22.6 23.9 28.8

Africa 34.1 39.1 42.4 38.2 37.4 38.9 41.8
Iran 259.4 205.6 235.0 264.3 280.0 240.4 219.0
Other Middle East 250.7 299.1 229.4 239.9 239.4 240.9 241.3
Middle East 221.8 227.3 207.6 222.7 229.5 219.3 213.0

China 316.6 336.4 413.1 438.0 475.8 487.6 515.1
India 43.9 43.2 47.9 53.0 56.2 57.5 57.8
Japan 641.7 616.0 417.1 502.4 506.7 505.7 516.4
South Korea 1,162.2 1,227.0 946.8 1,087.3 1,165.3 1,112.8 1,057.4

Taiwan, China 787.1 733.0 487.2 766.3 777.9 763.2 793.4
Other Asia 57.6 57.2 54.5 60.2 65.1 71.6 77.1
Asia 187.8 193.6 209.5 227.3 243.5 248.1 258.2
Australia and New Zealand 326.1 322.8 225.0 288.6 248.8 257.9 235.4
116
Appendix V: Crude steel production, 1980-2013 (In thousand tonnes)

Countries 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Albania 100 120 150 180 200 233 209 137 210 205 143 28 20 19 19 22 23 22 22 16 5 80 140 140 143 180 206 263 250 221 390 464 500 550
Algeria 388 557 868 892 755 1 414 1 450 1 533 1 412 1 041 836 840 842 865 807 827 651 399 600 758 842 947 1 091 1 051 1 014 1 007 1 158 1 278 619 597 662 551 557 440
Angola 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Argentina 2 721 2 550 2 933 2 991 2 677 2 972 3 272 3 603 3 652 3 909 3 636 2 991 2 700 2 886 3 289 3 581 4 075 4 169 4 216 3 799 4 474 4 107 4 356 5 044 5 133 5 380 5 533 5 387 5 541 4 013 5 138 5 611 4 995 5 186
Australia 7 589 7 635 6 371 5 676 6 302 6 609 6 674 6 100 6 387 6 735 6 676 6 141 6 803 7 853 8 424 8 460 8 415 8 831 8 941 8 172 7 129 7 033 7 527 7 544 7 414 7 757 7 881 7 939 7 625 5 249 7 296 6 404 4 893 4 688
Austria 4 623 4 656 4 258 4 411 4 870 4 661 4 292 4 301 4 560 4 718 4 291 4 187 3 953 4 149 4 399 4 990 4 442 5 181 5 282 5 202 5 707 5 869 6 189 6 261 6 530 7 031 7 129 7 578 7 594 5 662 7 206 7 474 7 421 7 953
Azerbaijan 385 236 40 20 20 25 8 80 125 250 250 330 300 150 150 120 120 120 120 173
Bangladesh 131 139 109 47 73 101 96 82 70 86 90 58 36 32 34 36 37 40 40 40
Belarus 1 105 946 880 744 886 1 219 1 412 1 448 1 502 1 486 1 484 1 591 1 792 2 027 2 324 2 410 2 589 2 417 2 530 2 614 2 687 2 245
Belgium 12 321 12 283 9 992 10 154 11 300 10 683 9 713 9 783 11 235 10 974 11 453 11 348 10 331 10 172 11 331 11 606 10 818 10 739 11 425 10 931 11 636 10 762 11 343 11 114 11 698 10 420 11 631 10 692 10 673 5 635 7 973 8 026 7 301 7 093
Bosnia-Herzegovina 372 2 15 52 82 85 60 77 84 74 95 75 289 490 533 608 519 592 649 700 722
Brazil 15 337 13 226 12 995 14 671 18 386 20 455 21 233 22 228 24 657 25 055 20 567 22 617 23 934 25 207 25 747 25 076 25 237 26 153 25 760 24 996 27 865 26 717 29 604 31 147 32 909 31 610 30 901 33 782 33 716 26 506 32 948 35 220 34 524 34 163
Bulgaria 2 567 2 484 2 584 2 831 2 878 2 944 2 898 3 045 2 880 2 899 2 180 1 615 1 552 1 941 2 491 2 724 2 457 2 628 2 242 1 889 2 022 1 972 1 860 2 317 2 106 1 969 2 123 1 909 1 330 726 737 835 633 523
Canada 15 901 14 811 11 871 12 832 14 699 14 637 14 081 14 737 14 865 15 458 12 281 12 987 13 933 14 387 13 897 14 415 14 735 15 553 15 930 16 235 16 595 15 276 16 002 15 929 16 305 15 327 15 493 15 572 14 945 9 292 13 009 12 891 13 507 12 415
Chile 704 644 492 618 692 689 706 726 909 800 772 807 1 013 1 069 1 040 1 014 1 178 1 167 1 171 1 291 1 352 1 247 1 279 1 377 1 579 1 541 1 607 1 678 1 549 1 308 1 011 1 615 1 671 1 323
China 37 121 35 604 37 160 40 021 43 475 46 794 52 208 56 280 59 430 61 587 66 350 71 000 80 940 89 560 92 610 95 360 101 237 108 911 114 588 123 954 128 500 151 634 182 249 222 336 272 798 355 790 421 024 489 712 512 339 577 070 638 743 701 968 731 040 821
990
Colombia 420 402 422 482 507 530 632 689 712 711 701 652 657 687 693 714 695 734 636 534 660 638 664 668 730 842 1 220 1 260 1 053 1 053 1 213 1 287 1 302 1 236
Congo (Zaire) 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30
Costa Rica 8 3
Croatia 102 74 63 45 46 69 101 74 71 58 34 41 86 73 81 75 89 43 95 96 1 135
Cuba 292 317 290 352 325 401 412 402 320 314 255 180 134 91 131 207 231 342 283 303 336 270 268 210 192 245 257 268 279 267 278 282 277 322
Czech Republic 7 286 6 769 7 085 7 184 6 509 6 750 6 498 5 616 6 216 6 316 6 512 6 783 7 033 6 189 6 862 7 059 6 387 4 594 5 180 5 583 5 072 5 171
Czechoslovakia 15 225 15 271 14 992 15 024 14 831 15 036 15 112 15 416 15 380 15 465 14 877 12 071
Denmark 734 612 560 493 548 528 632 606 650 624 610 633 591 603 722 654 739 786 790 729 801 751 392
Dominican Republic 17 14 64 60 100 88 75 55 37 39 33 42 82 36 43 39
Ecuador 17 28 28 23 18 18 17 25 23 23 20 20 20 27 32 35 20 44 46 53 58 60 69 80 72 84 85 87 128 259 372 463 425 570

Egypt 968 1 015 1 074 979 928 1 028 1 013 1 433 2 025 2 114 2 247 2 556 2 524 2 772 2 622 2 642 2 618 2 717 2 870 2 627 2 838 3 799 4 316 4 398 4 810 5 603 6 045 6 224 6 198 5 541 6 676 6 485 6 627 6 754
El Salvador 7 15 11 12 9 13 11 12 16 19 28 36 24 28 41 45 43 34 41 39 49 57 59 48 72 73 71 56 64 97 72 118
Estonia 1 1 3 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
F.R. Yugoslavia 667 181 139 182 689 1 025 980 230 696 595 591 711 1 175 1 292 1 823 1 652
117
Finland 2 509 2 428 2 414 2 416 2 632 2 518 2 586 2 669 2 798 2 921 2 860 2 890 3 077 3 256 3 420 3 176 3 301 3 734 3 952 3 956 4 096 3 938 4 003 4 766 4 832 4 739 5 054 4 431 4 417 3 066 4 029 3 989 3 759 3 517
France 23 176 21 258 18 402 17 582 19 000 18 808 17 865 17 693 19 121 19 335 19 016 18 434 17 972 17 106 18 031 18 100 17 633 19 767 20 126 20 200 20 954 19 343 20 258 19 758 20 770 19 481 19 852 19 250 17 879 12 840 15 414 15 780 15 609 15 685
Georgia 529 215 141 84 83 104 56 7
Germany 43 838 41 610 35 880 35 729 39 389 40 497 37 134 36 248 41 023 41 073 38 434 42 169 39 711 37 625 40 837 42 051 39 793 45 007 44 046 42 062 46 376 44 803 45 015 44 809 46 374 44 524 47 224 48 550 45 833 32 670 43 830 44 284 42 661 42 645
Germany (East) 7 308 7 467 7 168 7 219 7 573 7 853 7 967 8 243 8 133 7 829 5 566
Ghana 20 20 19 20 25 26 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25
Greece 1 197 930 933 866 936 985 1 009 907 959 956 999 980 924 980 848 939 848 1 016 1 109 951 1 088 1 281 1 835 1 701 1 967 2 266 2 416 2 554 2 477 2 000 1 821 1 934 1 247 1 030
Guatemala 25 28 27 10 17 21 22 22 21 23 25 18 167 202 216 226 232 207 292 349 250 224 274 294 334 385
Honduras 19 7 7 7 8 8
Hong Kong 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 100
Hungary 3 764 3 645 3 702 3 617 3 751 3 647 3 715 3 622 3 582 3 315 2 963 1 931 1 541 1 753 1 938 1 861 1 872 1 690 1 816 1 813 1 871 1 956 2 053 1 989 1 952 1 958 2 084 2 227 2 097 1 403 1 678 1 746 1 542 883
Iceland 50
India 9 514 10 765 10 997 10 237 10 549 11 936 12 197 13 121 14 309 14 608 14 963 17 100 18 117 18 155 19 282 22 003 23 753 24 415 23 480 24 296 26 924 27 291 28 814 31 779 32 626 45 780 49 450 53 468 57 791 63 527 68 976 73 471 77 264 81 299
Indonesia 543 621 693 983 1 171 1 374 1 729 2 059 2 054 2 383 2 892 3 089 2 949 3 802 3 220 4 130 4 109 3 816 2 699 2 891 2 848 2 781 2 462 2 042 3 682 3 675 3 759 4 160 3 915 3 501 3 664 3 621 2 254 2 644
Iran 550 565 700 734 854 836 838 839 978 1 081 1 425 2 203 2 937 3 672 4 498 4 696 5 415 6 322 5 602 6 070 6 600 6 916 7 321 7 869 8 682 9 404 9 789 10 051 9 964 10 908 11 995 13 197 14 463 15 422
Iraq 45 45
Ireland 2 33 61 141 166 203 208 220 271 324 326 293 257 326 266 310 341 337 358 335 360 150
Israel 115 114 87 83 92 100 110 116 99 100 135 90 109 120 180 220 265 270 280 280 280 280 280 280 280 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300
Italy 26 501 24 777 24 009 21 811 24 061 23 898 22 882 22 859 23 760 25 213 25 467 25 112 24 835 25 721 26 151 27 766 23 910 25 842 25 714 24 878 26 759 26 545 26 066 27 058 28 604 29 350 31 624 31 553 30 590 19 848 25 750 28 735 27 252 24 080
Japan 111 395 101 676 99 548 97 179 105 586 105 279 98 275 98 513 105 681 107 909 110 339 109 649 98 132 99 623 98 295 101 640 98 801 104 545 93 548 94 192 106 444 102 866 107 746 110 511 112 718 112 471 116 226 120 203 118 739 87 534 109 599 107 601 107 232 110
595
Jordan 20 20 20 18 21 25 30 33 40 45 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 134 135 140 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150
Kazakhstan 5 675 4 279 2 969 3 028 3 216 3 889 3 121 4 099 4 769 4 655 4 814 4 898 5 385 4 451 4 269 4 782 4 250 4 146 4 220 4 699 3 676 3 275
Kenya 7 9 10 11 11 14 16 20 20 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Latvia 246 300 332 279 293 465 472 482 498 515 520 520 662 688 690 696 635 692 655 568 805 198
Libya 492 718 789 920 874 909 863 897 874 966 1 055 846 886 1 007 1 026 1 255 1 151 1 250 1 137 914 825 100 315 712
Lithuania 3 2 1
Luxembourg 4 619 3 791 3 510 3 294 3 988 3 945 3 706 3 302 3 661 3 721 3 560 3 379 3 068 3 293 3 073 2 613 2 502 2 580 2 477 2 600 2 571 2 725 2 719 2 675 2 684 2 194 2 802 2 858 2 582 2 141 2 548 2 521 2 208 2 090
Macedonia 171 137 67 33 2 19 45 45 161 260 260 291 309 310 354 359 253 270 292 386 217 100
Malaysia 210 210 210 350 350 400 450 680 925 1 000 1 100 1 130 1 559 1 807 2 046 2 450 3 216 2 962 1 903 2 770 3 650 4 100 4 722 3 960 5 698 5 296 5 834 6 895 6 423 5 354 5 694 5 941 5 612 4 693
Mauritania 5 6 10 9 2 2 10 9 6 9 5 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Mexico 7 156 7 663 7 056 6 978 7 560 7 399 7 225 7 642 7 779 7 852 8 734 7 964 8 459 9 199 10 260 12 147 13 196 14 246 14 218 15 274 15 631 13 300 14 010 15 159 16 737 16 195 16 447 17 573 17 209 14 132 16 870 18 110 18 073 18 208
118
Moldova 619 604 633 663 646 811 718 796 908 967 514 886 1 013 1 049 677 965 885 426 242 321 335 190
Montenegro 170 130 130 140 120 70
Morocco 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 205 314 512 478 499 485 654 539 558
Mongolia 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 40
Myanmar 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 25 25 25 25 25 15 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 30
Netherlands 5 272 5 472 4 353 4 484 5 742 5 521 5 283 5 082 5 518 5 681 5 412 5 171 5 439 6 000 6 171 6 409 6 326 6 641 6 377 6 075 5 666 6 037 6 117 6 571 6 848 6 919 6 372 7 368 6 853 5 194 6 651 6 937 6 879 6 713
New Zealand 230 221 252 234 280 227 287 409 560 682 719 806 758 853 768 842 808 758 756 775 702 826 765 853 885 889 810 845 799 765 853 844 912 900
Nigeria 20 22 90 182 229 321 200 184 234 213 220 250 200 191 58 36 12 40 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
North Korea 5 800 5 500 5 800 6 100 6 500 6 500 6 600 6 730 6 830 6 930 7 000 5 000 4 000 3 500 1 600 1 500 1 500 1 500 1 500 1 500 1 500 1 400 1 400 1 400 1 400 1 400 1 400 1 400 1 300 1 300 1 300 1 300 1 280 1 250
Norway 866 848 768 876 915 930 836 837 869 678 383 438 446 505 456 505 511 585 637 610 679 640 698 703 725 705 684 708 560 595 530 610 700 605
Pakistan 35 35 50 120 400 850 1 100 1 100 1 100 950 780 870 853 992 1 000 950 900 900 900 900 950 953 970 1 000 1 145 825 1 040 1 090 1 000 800 800 850 850 972
Panama 8
Paraguay 13 62 55 48 61 86 77 87 95 96 66 56 56 77 71 80 91 107 101 115 95 83 54 59 30 44 45
Peru 447 364 273 299 337 397 486 496 430 364 270 404 343 417 509 512 578 607 631 559 751 690 611 669 726 790 896 881 1 001 718 880 877 981 1 069
Philippines 330 350 350 200 250 300 400 450 500 550 600 605 497 623 473 923 920 980 880 530 426 500 550 500 400 470 558 718 711 824 1 050 1 200 1 260 1 308
Poland 19 485 15 719 14 795 16 227 16 533 16 126 17 144 17 145 16 873 15 094 13 633 10 403 9 867 9 939 11 113 11 890 10 432 11 585 9 915 8 848 10 498 8 809 8 368 9 107 10 593 8 336 10 008 10 632 9 728 7 128 7 993 8 801 8 358 7 950
Portugal 663 555 502 674 690 665 714 732 811 762 746 573 769 775 749 828 857 905 936 1 044 1 088 728 920 1 000 1 445 1 408 1 719 1 853 2 017 1 614 1 543 1 942 1 960 2 050
Qatar 463 469 495 480 488 533 507 491 527 563 564 564 575 620 572 606 616 608 637 629 729 891 1 027 1 055 1 089 1 057 1 003 1 147 1 406 1 448 1 970 2 038 2 145 2 236
Oman 200 300 500
Romania 13 175 13 025 13 055 12 593 14 437 13 795 14 276 13 885 14 314 14 415 9 761 7 110 5 376 5 446 5 800 6 555 6 082 6 674 6 393 4 354 4 672 4 935 5 491 5 691 6 042 6 280 6 266 6 261 5 035 2 761 3 721 3 828 3 292 2 985
Russia 67 029 58 346 48 812 51 589 49 253 48 502 43 822 51 510 59 136 58 970 59 777 61 450 65 583 66 146 70 830 72 387 68 510 60 011 66 942 68 852 70 426 68 856
former USSR 147 941 148 517 147 153 152 514 154 238 154 668 160 550 161 887 163 037 160 096 154 436 132 839
Saudi Arabia 50 72 70 275 842 1 106 1 100 1 365 1 614 1 768 1 790 1 783 1 823 2 318 2 411 2 451 2 683 2 539 2 356 2 610 2 981 3 413 3 570 3 944 3 902 4 186 3 974 4 644 4 667 4 690 5 015 5 275 5 203 5 471
Serbia 1 662 1 061 1 254 1 324 346 396
Singapore 340 263 359 305 362 365 390 441 432 495 489 510 482 520 530 521 531 383 499 590 603 456 460 561 610 572 607 640 764 664 728 752 688 434
Slovak Republic 3 798 3 922 3 948 3 975 3 602 3 835 3 428 3 569 3 733 3 989 4 275 4 588 4 454 4 485 5 093 5 089 4 489 3 747 4 583 4 236 4 403 4 511
Slovenia 401 355 424 394 314 373 405 405 519 462 481 541 566 583 628 638 642 430 606 648 632 618
South Africa 9 067 9 005 8 280 7 180 7 732 8 507 8 895 8 991 8 837 9 337 8 619 9 358 9 061 8 726 8 525 8 741 7 999 8 311 7 956 7 857 8 481 8 821 9 095 9 481 9 500 9 494 9 718 9 098 8 246 7 484 7 617 7 546 6 938 7 254
South Korea 8 558 10 753 11 758 11 915 13 034 13 539 14 555 16 782 19 118 21 873 23 125 26 001 28 055 33 026 33 745 36 772 38 903 42 554 39 896 41 042 43 107 43 852 45 390 46 310 47 521 47 820 48 455 51 517 53 625 48 572 58 914 68 519 69 073 66 061
Spain 12 842 13 021 13 450 13 262 13 379 14 032 11 882 11 691 11 886 12 765 12 936 12 798 12 272 12 961 13 445 13 802 12 154 13 683 14 827 14 882 15 874 16 504 16 408 16 286 17 621 17 826 18 391 18 999 18 640 14 358 16 343 15 504 13 639 14 252
Sri Lanka 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30
Sweden 4 237 3 770 3 900 4 210 4 705 4 813 4 716 4 595 4 779 4 692 4 455 4 252 4 358 4 591 4 967 4 953 4 910 5 148 5 153 5 066 5 227 5 518 5 754 5 707 5 978 5 723 5 466 5 673 5 198 2 804 4 846 4 867 4 326 4 404
Switzerland 929 934 835 835 978 987 1 075 866 988 1 064 1 105 1 111 1 238 1 254 1 098 739 700 789 800 800 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 158 1 252 1 264 1 312 934 1 320 1 400 1 450 1 530
Syria 30 35 33 36 31 73 50 27 18 30 76 63 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 10 10
Taiwan 3 365 3 157 4 152 5 022 4 934 5 186 5 545 5 771 8 288 9 047 9 748 10 973 10 705 11 970 11 594 11 605 12 416 16 056 16 965 15 438 16 896 17 261 18 230 18 832 19 599 18 942 20 000 20 903 19 882 15 814 19 755 20 178 20 664 22 282
Thailand 450 300 312 244 381 447 463 534 552 689 685 711 929 954 1 461 2 134 2 143 2 101 1 814 1 532 2 100 2 127 2 538 3 551 4 533 5 161 4 914 5 565 5 211 3 646 4 145 4 238 3 328 3 579
Trinidad and Tobago 183 210 187 172 336 388 374 347 371 440 553 519 631 738 695 736 777 729 741 668 817 903 815 712 673 682 489 417 572 603 628 616
Tunisia 178 173 107 163 166 160 182 188 159 187 177 194 182 183 184 201 187 195 171 231 229 239 200 86 66 70 75 80 82 155 150 150 150 150
Turkey 2 536 2 425 3 183 3 834 4 330 4 832 5 891 6 981 7 983 7 848 9 443 9 398 10 343 11 519 12 624 13 183 13 624 14 475 14 144 14 313 14 325 14 981 16 467 18 298 20 478 20 965 23 315 25 754 26 806 25 304 29 143 34 107 35 885 34 654
Uganda 4 2 2 2 6 8 8 10 10 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30
Ukraine 41 759 32 609 24 081 22 309 22 332 25 629 24 445 27 453 31 767 33 108 34 050 36 932 38 738 38 641 40 891 42 830 37 279 29 855 33 432 35 332 32 975 32 771
119
United Arab Emirates 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 60 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 200 500 2 000 2 408 2 878

United Kingdom 11 277 15 573 13 704 14 986 15 121 15 722 14 725 17 414 18 950 18 740 17 841 16 474 16 212 16 625 17 286 17 604 17 992 18 501 17 315 16 298 15 155 13 543 11 667 13 268 13 766 13 239 13 871 14 317 13 521 10 079 9 709 9 478 9 579 11 858
United States 101 455 109 613 67 655 76 761 83 939 80 067 74 031 80 876 90 650 88 852 89 726 79 738 84 322 88 793 91 244 95 191 95 535 98 485 98 658 97 427 101 824 90 102 91 587 93 677 99 681 94 897 98 188 98 101 91 895 59 384 80 495 86 398 88 695 86 878
Uruguay 18 15 28 46 41 39 31 30 30 37 38 41 55 36 36 40 34 39 52 45 38 31 34 40 58 64 57 71 86 57 65 81 78 91
Uzbekistan 630 573 364 367 444 379 351 344 407 433 450 499 602 595 617 645 682 716 716 733 736 746
Venezuela 1 975 2 030 2 226 2 367 2 777 3 055 3 401 3 699 3 646 3 196 3 233 3 315 3 489 3 392 3 524 3 568 3 956 3 987 3 553 3 261 3 835 3 813 4 164 3 930 4 561 4 910 4 864 5 005 4 224 3 808 2 207 2 980 2 359 2 139
Vietna m 60 60 60 60 60 60 64 70 74 85 102 183 219 270 301 271 311 314 306 308 306 319 409 544 689 890 1 869 2 024 2 250 2 700 4 314 4 900 5 298 5 474
Yugoslavia 3 634 3 977 3 840 4 134 4 244 4 338 4 565 4 412 4 487 4 448 3 608 2 176
Zimbabwe 805 691 538 647 423 730 680 616 603 582 585 581 547 221 154 220 212 214 212 255 258 149 105 152 135 107 24 23
World 716 401 707 229 645 555 663 747 710 246 718 903 713 980 735 503 780 102 785 939 770 429 733 592 719 797 727 569 725 106 753 187 750 990 799 854 778 513 790 210 850 156 852 173 905 155 971 052 1 062 542 1 147 805 1 250 107 1 348 122 1 343 269 1 238 285 1 432 761 1 537 206 1 559 1 649 303
472
Regions 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
European Union (10) 128 937 126 339 111 404 109 540 120 251 120 790 113 157 114 114 125 148 126 641 123 118 123 994 119 340 118 451 124 716 128 051 120 901 131 216 129 738 125 059 131 365 125 940 125 412 126 954 132 710 128 393 135 793 137 141 130 407 90 408 113 697 117 695 112 737 111 194
European Union (12) 142 442 139 915 125 356 123 476 134 320 135 487 125 753 126 537 137 845 140 168 136 800 137 365 132 381 132 187 138 910 142 681 133 912 145 804 145 501 140 985 148 327 143 172 142 740 144 240 151 776 147 627 155 903 157 993 151 064 106 380 131 582 135 142 128 336 127 495
European Union (15) 153 811 150 769 135 928 134 513 146 527 147 479 137 347 138 102 149 982 152 499 148 406 148 693 143 768 144 183 151 696 155 800 146 565 159 867 159 888 155 209 163 358 158 497 158 686 160 975 169 117 165 120 173 552 175 674 168 273 117 912 147 663 151 472 143 843 143 369
European Union (25) 192 285 185 404 169 417 169 381 181 642 182 288 173 318 174 285 185 817 186 373 179 879 173 098 166 909 167 223 176 538 181 382 169 587 184 565 182 422 175 942 186 693 180 545 180 895 184 504 194 376 187 359 198 916 202 015 192 251 135 906 168 358 173 055 164 655 162 700
European Union (27) 208 027 200 913 185 056 184 805 198 957 199 027 190 492 191 215 203 011 203 687 191 820 181 823 173 837 174 611 184 829 190 661 178 125 193 866 191 057 182 185 193 387 187 452 188 246 192 511 202 523 195 608 207 306 210 185 198 616 139 393 172 816 177 717 168 580 166 208
CIS 117 730 97 809 77 921 78 804 76 880 80 558 73 933 85 657 98 489 99 699 101 214 106 506 113 363 113 239 119 908 124 169 114 345 97 691 108 202 112 671 110 956 108 256
former USSR 147 941 148 517 147 153 152 514 154 238 154 668 160 550 161 887 163 037 160 096 154 436 132 839 117 980 98 112 78 257 79 085 77 176 81 026 74 407 86 140 98 988 100 215 101 735 107 027 114 026 113 927 120 598 124 865 114 980 98 383 108 856 113 239 111 761 108 455
North America 124 804 132 404 87 121 97 193 106 812 102 779 96 104 174 114 105 112 920 111 447 101 391 107 486 113 043 116 187 122 726 124 476 129 489 129 945 130 044 135 374 119 857 122 949 126 161 134 021 127 631 131 421 132 618 125 138 83 772 111 562 118 675 121 586 118 942
218
South America 21 639 19 259 19 395 21 497 25 436 28 156 29 779 31 510 34 122 34 150 29 285 30 908 32 297 33 798 34 958 34 634 35 870 36 966 36 121 34 594 39 110 37 372 40 861 43 047 45 875 45 319 45 278 48 246 47 380 37 776 43 894 48 165 46 379 45 822
Africa 11 488 11 526 11 025 10 111 10 298 12 230 12 500 13 029 13 352 13 568 13 268 14 621 14 269 14 000 13 347 13 701 12 667 12 856 12 806 12 818 13 827 14 916 15 807 16 289 16 706 17 950 18 695 18 675 16 970 15 400 16 624 15 696 15 337 16 078
Middle East 1 273 1 365 1 495 1 671 2 373 2 718 2 680 2 916 3 321 3 632 4 064 4 779 5 589 6 874 7 805 8 132 9 169 9 929 9 065 9 779 10 11 690 12 492 13 443 14 253 15 257 15 376 16 452 16 646 17 766 20 000 23 230 24 979 26 967
780
Asia & Oceania 185 857 177 474 178 367 178 878 193 893 200 152 201 218 209 296 226 485 235 814 245 862 254 030 255 228 273 745 275 588 289 802 298 154 319 122 308 770 318 985 342 175 363 489 404 321 451 814 511 807 607 829 683 918 767 169 792 464 817 410 925 920 1001 878 1031 738 1128 268
World excl. China 679 280 671 625 608 395 623 726 666 771 672 109 661 772 679 223 720 672 724 351 704 079 662 592 638 857 638 009 632 496 657 827 649 753 690 943 663 925 666 256 721 656 700 538 722 906 748 716 789 744 792 015 829 084 858 410 830 931 661 215 794 019 835 238 828 433 827 313
World 716 401 707 229 645 555 663 747 710 246 718 903 713 980 735 503 780 102 785 939 770 429 733 592 719 797 727 569 725 106 753 187 750 990 799 854 778 513 790 210 850 156 852 173 905 155 971 052 1 062 542 1 147 805 1 250 107 1 348 122 1 343 269 1 238 285 1 432 761 1 537 206 1 559 1 649 303
472
Regions, definitions - only countries listed above are included

European Union (10) Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom
European Union (12) European Union (10), Portugal, Spain
European Union (15) European Union (12), Austria, Finland, Sweden
European Union (25) European Union (15), Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia
European Union (27) European Union (27), Bulgaria, Romania
CIS Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
former USSR Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
North America Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, United States
South America Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Africa Algeria, Angola, Congo (Zaire), Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Middle East Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates
Asia & Oceania Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri
Lanka, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
Appendix VI: Blast furnace iron (BFI) production, 1980-2013 (In thousand tonnes)
Countries 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Albania 25 25 30 35 40 45 50 50 50 55 40 10 4
Algeria 669 897 1 069 1 126 1 191 1 477 1 262 1 493 1 215 1 315 1 054 879 930 925 919 962 850 526 757 807 767 800 960 965 994 952 1 093 1 193 690 680 696 360 350 300
Argentina 1 035 118 974 913 902 1 310 1 625 1 752 1 596 2 062 1 922 1 305 966 984 1 410 1 568 1 966 2 080 2 122 1 985 2 183 1 909 2 174 2 405 2 392 2 644 2 481 2 593 2 581 2 042 2 532 2 801 2 073 2 650
Australia 6 976 6 740 5 953 5 062 5 324 5 599 5 853 5 581 5 723 6 084 6 127 5 633 6 384 7 414 7 466 7 475 7 381 7 685 7 723 7 047 7 049 6 017 6 106 6 116 5 735 6 203 6 433 6 369 6 057 4 370 6 005 5 265 3 710 3 477
Austria 3 485 3 477 3 115 3 319 3 745 3 734 3 349 3 451 3 665 3 823 3 452 3 442 3 074 3 070 3 320 3 878 3 416 3 966 4 021 3 913 4 318 4 375 4 669 4 677 4 847 5 444 5 547 5 908 5 795 4 353 5 621 5 815 5 751 6 152
Belgium 9 844 9 787 7 832 8 033 8 968 8 720 8 046 8 239 9 146 8 862 9 416 9 353 8 524 8 179 8 979 9 199 8 627 8 076 8 618 8 430 8 471 7 732 7 988 7 813 8 224 7 254 7 516 6 577 6 977 3 087 4 688 4 725 4 073 4 343
120
Bosnia-Herzegovina 243 483 621 685 750 759
Brazil 12 685 10 791 10 827 12 945 17 230 18 961 20 353 21 335 23 454 24 363 21 141 22 695 23 152 23 982 25 177 25 021 23 978 25 013 25 111 24 549 27 723 27 391 29 694 32 038 34 558 33 884 32 452 35 571 34 925 25 135 30 955 33 319 26 900 26 200
Bulgaria 1 539 1 515 1 562 1 626 1 583 1 712 1 605 1 657 1 441 1 487 1 143 960 848 1 013 1 470 1 607 1 504 1 643 1 390 1 152 1 216 1 211 1 072 1 386 1 158 1 115 1 147 1 069 441
Canada 10 893 9 743 8 000 8 567 9 643 9 665 9 248 9 719 9 498 10 139 7 346 8 267 8 621 8 633 8 106 8 464 8 638 9 567 8 937 8 857 8 904 8 302 8 670 8 554 8 828 8 274 8 305 8 579 8 770 5 273 7 666 7 323 7 654 6 100
Chile 648 582 453 539 594 580 591 617 776 679 675 703 873 917 886 855 996 941 993 1 030 1 024 897 964 988 1 137 1 074 1 115 1 147 1 109 923 635 1 072 1 068 766
China 38 024 34 166 35 510 37 378 40 062 43 840 50 639 55 032 57 040 58 200 62 380 67 654 75 893 87 377 97 409 105 293 107 225 115 114 118 521 125 330 131 015 155 543 170 792 213 667 251 851 344 732 413 641 476 604 483 226 568 634 595 601 645 429 670 102 708 970
Colombia 279 233 207 241 252 234 317 326 309 297 323 305 308 238 245 313 286 324 256 264 285 319 311 283 312 325 360 341 308 342 327 302 345 307
Czech Republic 5 082 4 655 5 268 5 274 4 898 5 195 4 982 4 023 4 621 4 671 4 840 5 207 5 384 4 627 5 192 5 287 4 737 3 483 3 987 4 137 3 935 4 040
Czechoslovakia 9 820 9 903 9 525 9 466 9 561 9 562 9 573 9 788 9 706 9 911 9 667 8 479
Egypt 1 027 965 1 080 898 962 950 1 066 1 069 1 112 1 105 1 093 1 204 1 062 1 326 1 148 1 062 1 235 1 514 1 357 1 020 990 1 160 1 100 1 080 1 000 1 100 1 100 1 000 900 800 600 600 550 550
F.R. Yugoslavia 511 62 22 108 565 907 850 139 598 456 485 635 1 003 1 208 1 762 1 485
Finland 2 019 1 965 1 944 1 898 2 034 1 901 1 978 2 063 2 173 2 284 2 283 2 331 2 452 2 535 2 597 2 242 2 457 2 786 2 920 2 954 2 983 2 852 2 828 3 092 3 037 3 056 3 158 2 915 2 943 2 042 2 564 2 500 2 130 2 050
France 18 677 16 961 14 715 13 500 14 706 15 068 13 706 13 153 14 463 14 725 14 096 13 408 12 730 12 335 12 917 12 760 12 000 13 316 13 458 13 433 13 507 11 885 13 093 12 972 13 198 12 705 13 013 12 426 11 372 8 104 10 137 9 698 9 532 10 276
Germany 33 609 31 612 27 066 26 352 29 737 31 143 28 593 28 116 31 890 32 113 29 585 30 608 28 201 26 705 29 632 30 038 27 722 30 940 30 162 27 934 30 845 29 184 29 427 29 481 30 018 28 854 30 360 31 150 29 111 20 104 28 560 27 944 27 048 27 176
Germany (East) 2 458 2 430 2 147 2 207 2 355 2 578 2 738 2 755 2 786 2 722 2 128
Hungary 2 214 2 212 2 198 2 047 2 098 2 100 2 061 2 109 2 093 1 957 1 711 1 311 1 176 1 407 1 595 1 515 1 496 1 140 1 259 1 310 1 340 1 226 1 335 1 333 1 351 1 338 1 340 1 393 1 289 1 050 1 325 1 317 1 229 628
India 8 480 9 465 9 613 9 087 9 382 9 701 10 460 10 808 11 602 11 930 12 000 14 176 15 126 15 674 17 808 19 025 20 453 21 096 20 194 20 139 21 321 21 875 24 315 26 550 25 117 27 125 28 256 36 488 37 313 38 233 39 560 43 624 47 987 51 359
Iran 800 500 675 838 1 208 1 122 850 976 1 012 1 100 1 267 1 952 2 053 1 961 1 883 1 532 1 852 2 150 2 117 2 112 2 202 2 183 2 182 2 231 2 096 2 305 2 041 2 118 2 176 2 433 2 540 2 242 2 143 2 007
Italy 12 149 12 260 11 537 10 313 11 631 12 063 11 837 11 335 11 349 11 761 11 852 10 845 10 451 11 187 11 159 11 663 10 346 11 329 10 771 10 621 11 220 10 650 9 775 10 148 10 604 11 423 11 497 11 110 10 377 5 692 8 555 9 838 9 424 6 933
Japan 87 041 80 048 77 658 72 936 80 403 80 569 74 651 73 418 79 295 80 196 80 229 79 985 73 144 73 738 73 776 74 905 74 597 78 519 74 981 74 520 81 071 78 836 80 979 82 091 82 974 83 058 84 270 86 771 86 171 66 943 82 283 81 028 81 405 83 849
Kazakhstan 4 659 3 544 2 435 2 592 2 536 3 089 2 594 3 468 4 010 3 906 4 008 4 123 4 312 3 624 3 393 3 240 2 761 2 409 2 640 3 190 2 831 2 756
Luxembourg 3 568 2 889 2 587 2 316 2 768 2 754 2 650 2 305 2 519 2 684 2 645 2 463 2 255 2 412 1 927 1 028 829 438
Malaysia 60 70 90 110 110 120 120 130 130 140 140 150 150 160 160 50
Mexico 3 639 3 767 3 598 3 537 3 926 3 595 3 738 3 712 3 678 3 230 3 665 2 962 3 404 3 423 3 501 4 142 4 229 4 450 4 532 4 822 4 856 4 373 3 996 4 183 4 278 4 047 3 790 4 078 4 450 3 919 4 707 4 609 4 611 4 911
Morocco 11 12 12 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Netherlands 4 328 4 600 3 618 3 747 4 926 4 819 4 628 4 575 4 994 5 163 4 960 4 696 4 849 5 404 5 443 5 530 5 544 5 805 5 562 5 307 4 970 5 305 5 367 5 846 6 011 6 031 5 417 6 412 5 998 4 601 5 799 5 943 5 917 5 681
New Zealand 418 493 555 594 625 653 563 626 619 534 609 620 603 646 617 700 719 652 664 679 622 608 667 659 670 682
North Korea 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 000 3 164 3 120 3 100 2 500 2 000 1 500 500 500 500 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250
Norway 618 570 483 565 572 610 564 385 367 240 54 61 70 73 70 70 70 70 70 80 90 100 108 111 113 85 114 111 108 83 108 101 100 100
Pakistan 130 450 490 550 803 895 793 905 850 650 700 800 900 900 1 044 1 002 1 068 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 067 1 000 1 000 1 000 1 000 850 900 900 750 750 750 750 750
Paraguay 50 63 61 54 68 92 81 90 103 104 79 66 61 82 72 87 98 119 123 128 110 94 71 81 42 67 69
Peru 262 193 161 113 4 163 216 185 166 209 93 207 145 201 200 247 273 264 283 197 327 316 240 226 272 263 306 351 412
Poland 11 378 8 870 8 098 9 286 9 533 9 335 10 096 10 024 9 837 9 075 8 352 6 297 6 316 6 105 6 735 7 373 6 540 7 295 6 179 5 233 6 492 5 440 5 294 5 632 6 400 4 477 5 333 5 804 4 934 2 984 3 638 3 997 3 952 4 011
121
Portugal 370 314 222 364 382 424 463 431 445 377 339 251 402 398 415 415 421 431 387 389 379 82
Romania 9 012 8 857 8 637 8 190 9 557 9 212 9 329 8 673 8 941 9 052 6 355 4 525 3 111 3 189 3 495 4 203 4 058 4 538 4 525 3 006 2 985 3 085 3 976 4 101 4 244 4 098 3 946 3 923 2 958 1 575 1 726 1 593 1 580 1 330
Russia 45 990 40 766 36 480 39 675 37 079 37 207 34 736 40 033 44 536 44 947 46 251 48 325 50 321 48 410 51 742 51 043 48 295 43 945 47 934 48 117 50 529 50 111
former USSR 107 283 107 766 106 723 110 453 110 893 109 977 113 840 113 900 114 559 113 273 110 167 90 953
Serbia 1 582 1 008 1 235 1 226 312 365
Slovak Republic 2 952 3 205 3 330 3 207 2 928 3 072 2 756 2 987 3 166 3 255 3 533 3 892 3 765 3 681 4 145 4 012 3 529 3 019 3 649 3 346 3 520 3 617
South Africa 7 218 7 365 6 762 5 215 5 531 6 010 5 774 6 317 6 171 6 543 6 257 6 968 6 498 6 121 6 047 6 224 6 014 6 192 6 893 6 005 6 292 5 820 5 823 6 234 6 011 6 130 6 159 5 358 5 138 4 444 5 429 4 604 4 599 4 960
South Korea 5 582 7 935 8 442 8 024 8 763 8 833 9 003 11 057 12 578 14 846 15 339 18 510 19 323 21 777 21 169 22 344 23 010 22 712 23 299 23 329 24 937 25 898 26 570 27 314 27 556 27 309 27 559 29 437 31 043 27 284 35 065 42 213 41 734 41 045
Spain 6 393 6 259 5 998 5 426 5 319 5 457 4 808 4 804 4 650 5 479 5 441 5 397 4 758 5 394 5 447 5 106 4 127 3 927 4 236 4 058 4 059 4 219 4 021 3 645 4 036 4 160 3 432 3 976 3 784 2 920 3 572 3 540 3 081 3 949
Sweden 2 435 1 770 1 779 2 011 2 214 2 424 2 435 2 314 2 492 2 638 2 736 2 812 2 735 2 845 3 037 3 020 3 130 3 060 3 149 3 212 3 145 3 614 3 703 3 710 3 871 3 730 3 577 3 816 3 583 1 966 3 447 3 240 2 805 2 896
Switzerland 33 33 10 10 54 66 79 140 134 141 129 105 102 82 88 97 100 100 80 80 80 80
Taiwan, China 1 738 1 609 2 693 3 416 3 314 3 400 3 692 3 732 5 487 5 780 5 491 5 561 5 327 6 096 5 968 6 056 6 213 8 870 9 374 8 890 9 618 10 001 10 169 10 260 10 354 9 447 10 407 10 518 9 823 7 939 9 358 12 718 11 785 13 319
Tunisia 153 158 97 147 148 142 149 163 128 155 161 172 158 165 154 162 155 150 123 180 195 191 152 45
Turkey 2 140 2 050 2 174 2 719 3 272 3 603 4 142 4 556 4 963 4 037 5 367 5 154 5 059 4 931 4 604 4 403 5 253 5 565 5 286 5 181 5 333 5 289 5 003 5 706 5 836 5 970 5 952 6 235 6 704 7 004 7 679 8 173 8 613 9 180
Ukraine 35 162 27 022 20 084 17 904 17 698 20 496 20 777 21 937 25 697 26 364 27 634 29 528 31 056 30 782 32 950 35 647 30 981 25 676 27 349 28 867 28 500 29 094
United Kingdom 6 264 9 470 8 327 9 477 9 487 10 381 9 686 12 017 13 056 12 638 12 319 11 883 11 542 11 534 11 943 12 236 12 830 13 054 12 746 12 139 10 890 9 870 8 561 10 228 10 180 10 189 10 696 10 960 10 137 7 671 7 233 6 625 7 183 9 471
United States 62 343 66 742 39 289 44 185 47 087 45 764 39 873 43 917 50 571 50 687 49 668 44 123 47 377 48 155 49 374 50 890 49 428 49 604 48 230 46 268 47 888 42 133 40 225 40 644 42 291 37 222 37 903 36 337 33 729 19 018 26 843 30 227 32 062 30 308
Venezuela 498 418 202 169 326 441 493 473 485 455 314
Vietnam 12 15 7 21 52 41 48 66 47 48 146 200 187 202 211 170 255 275 500 600 650 650
Yugoslavia 2 436 2 816 2 702 2 836 2 850 3 113 3 063 2 867 2 917 2 898 2 313 1 266
Zimbabwe 786 643 478 584 400 674 644 644 503 525 521 535 507 211 150 205 219 216 217 270 277 156 122 182 125 129 38 38
World 505 944 494 701 450 323 455 731 488 611 497 767 493 847 506 021 535 565 542 017 528 149 505 035 498 460 501 196 508 527 524 243 517 463 546 670 539 518 540 652 575 870 586 016 610 631 669 895 719 123 800 709 881 041 961 498 949 582 933 625 1 035 120 1 104 651 1 124 263 1 168 397
Regions 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
European Union
European Union (10) 88 439 87 579 75 682 73 738 82 223 84 948 79 146 79 740 87 417 87 946 84 873 83 256 78 552 77 756 82 001 82 454 77 898 82 958 81 317 77 864 79 904 74 626 74 211 76 488 78 234 76 455 78 499 78 635 73 971 49 260 64 972 64 772 63 178 63 879
European Union (12) 95 202 94 152 81 902 79 528 87 924 90 829 84 417 84 975 92 512 93 802 90 653 88 904 83 712 83 548 87 862 87 975 82 446 87 316 85 940 82 311 84 342 78 927 78 232 80 132 82 270 80 615 81 931 82 610 77 755 52 180 68 544 68 312 66 259 67 828
European Union (15) 103 141 101 364 88 740 86 756 95 917 98 888 92 179 92 803 100 842 102 547 99 124 97 489 91 973 91 998 96 817 97 114 91 449 97 128 96 029 92 391 94 788 89 768 89 432 91 611 94 024 92 845 94 214 95 249 90 077 60 541 80 177 79 867 76 946 78 926
European Union (25) 126 553 122 349 108 561 107 555 117 109 119 885 113 909 114 724 122 478 123 490 118 854 113 576 107 499 107 370 113 745 114 483 107 311 113 831 111 205 105 944 110 407 104 360 104 434 107 675 110 925 106 968 110 223 111 746 104 566 71 076 92 776 92 664 89 581 91 222
European Union (27) 137 104 132 721 118 760 117 371 128 249 130 809 124 843 125 054 132 860 134 028 126 352 119 062 111 458 111 573 118 710 120 294 112 874 120 011 117 120 110 101 114 608 108 655 109 482 113 162 116 327 112 181 115 316 116 738 107 964 72 652 94 503 94 257 91 161 92 552
CIS 85 811 71 332 58 999 60 171 57 313 60 792 58 107 65 438 74 243 75 217 77 893 81 976 85 689 82 816 88 085 89 930 82 037 72 030 77 923 80 174 81 860 81 962
former USSR 107 283 107 766 106 723 110 453 110 893 109 977 113 840 113 900 114 559 113 273 110 167 90 953 85 811 71 332 58 999 60 171 57 313 60 792 58 107 65 438 74 243 75 217 77 893 81 976 85 689 82 816 88 085 89 930 82 037 72 030 77 923 80 174 81 860 81 962
North America 76 874 80 252 50 887 56 288 60 656 59 024 52 859 57 348 63 747 64 056 60 679 55 353 59 402 60 211 60 981 63 496 62 295 63 620 61 698 59 947 61 648 54 808 52 892 53 381 55 397 49 543 49 998 48 993 46 949 28 209 39 216 42 159 44 328 41 319
122
South America 15 407 12 335 12 825 14 920 19 307 21 688 23 596 24 738 26 848 28 125 24 522 25 284 25 536 26 404 28 008 28 107 27 603 28 700 28 829 28 086 31 623 30 904 33 470 36 039 38 790 38 312 36 842 40 113 39 430 28 513 34 531 37 535 30 454 29 992
Africa 9 864 10 040 9 498 7 985 8 247 9 268 8 910 9 701 9 144 9 658 9 101 9 773 9 170 8 763 8 434 8 630 8 488 8 613 9 362 8 297 8 537 8 142 8 172 8 506 8 130 8 311 8 390 7 588 6 729 5 924 6 725 5 564 5499 5 810
Middle East 800 500 675 838 1 208 1 122 850 976 1 012 1 100 1 267 1 952 2 053 1 961 1 883 1 532 1 852 2 150 2 117 2 112 2 202 2 183 2 182 2 231 2 096 2 305 2 041 2 118 2 176 2 433 2 540 2 242 2143 2 007
Asia & Oceania 150 901 143 163 143 409 139 503 150 908 155 865 158 313 163 551 176 178 181 684 186 030 196 063 199 284 215 804 226 727 237 336 241 051 256 140 255 998 261 191 276 910 300 181 320 944 368 147 405 742 499 978 572 541 648 186 655 660 715 286 770 039 832 537 859044 904 352
World excl. China 467 920 460 535 414 813 418 353 448 549 453 927 443 208 450 989 478 525 483 817 465 769 437 382 422 567 413 819 411 118 418 950 410 238 431 556 420 997 415 322 444 856 430 473 439 839 456 228 467 272 455 977 467 400 484 894 466 356 364 990 439 519 459 222 454 161 459 427
World 505 944 494 701 450 323 455 731 488 611 497 767 493 847 506 021 535 565 542 017 528 149 505 035 498 460 501 196 508 527 524 243 517 463 546 670 539 518 540 652 575 870 586 016 610 631 669 895 719 123 800 709 881 041 961 498 949 582 933 625 1 035 120 1 104 651 1 124263 1 168 397
Regions, definitions - only countries listed above are included

European Union (10) Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom
European Union (12) European Union (10), Portugal, Spain
European Union (15) European Union (12), Austria, Finland, Sweden
European Union (25) European Union (15), Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic
European Union (27) European Union (27), Bulgaria, Romania
CIS Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine
former USSR CIS, Estonia
North America Canada, Mexico, United States
South America Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Africa Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
Middle East Iran
Asia & Oceania Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan,China, Vietnam
Appendix VII: Direct reduced iron (DRI) production, 1980-2013 (in thousand tonnes)
Countries 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Argentina 758 805 879 949 898 989 935 1 034 1 067 1166 1 035 954 1 027 1 156 1 269 1 328 1 422 1 496 1 538 1 479 1 420 1 281 1 475 1 736 1 755 1 821 1 940 1 800 1 847 807 1566 1 670 1 607 1 466
Australia 319 325 1 370 1 020 1 950 690
Bahrain 780
Brazil 275 226 226 255 245 285 295 202 195 258 260 226 230 250 218 288 335 323 336 400 412 340 361 410 440 411 376 362 302 11
Canada 890 963 497 538 500 740 690 730 770 705 731 553 639 758 770 1 000 1 417 1 391 1 244 923 1 126 179 504 1 091 591 446 911 704 342 600 702 842 1 250
China 70 80 110 50 110 220 310 430 314 212 214 150 42
Egypt 31 464 759 817 1 051 1 100 826 837 774 850 827 1 190 1 610 1 670 2 110 2 370 2 530 2 870 3 020 2 900 2800 2 786 2 643 3 051 2 965 2 932 3 068 3 432
Germany 419 484 322 70 100 100 170 200 270 353 310 260 174 182 281 410 370 470 450 400 455 210 540 590 593 440 580 590 520 380 445 400 555 498
India 10 27 30 54 80 102 148 190 190 260 610 1 153 1 437 2 208 2 915 4 267 4 789 5 115 5 123 5 290 5 498 5 720 5 731 7 051 9 370 12 14 19 21 22 23 21 20 177
040 740 060 200 030 420 970 050 70
Indonesia 282 384 391 469 738 1 060 1 323 1 028 985 1 210 1 357 1 427 1 365 1 496 1 618 1 709 1 723 1 535 1 571 1 736 1 736 1 487 1 446 1 171 1 436 1 268 1 200 1 321 1 209 1119 1274 1 228 524 757
Iran 30 26 85 264 470 709 1 631 2 861 3 301 3 778 4 331 3 509 4 030 4 539 4 999 5 280 5 038 6 437 6 873 6 929 7 491 7 399 8099 9350 10368 11582 14458
123
Libya 90 500 777 846 942 852 963 862 1 007 1 004 1 302 1 486 1 060 1 161 1 336 1 586 1 669 1 633 1 660 1 569 1 077 1 270 165 508 956
Malaysia 40 520 580 590 427 644 620 617 552 707 989 1 178 1 172 1 486 878 950 1 240 1 024 1 060 1 600 1 710 1 350 1 277 1 872 1 958 2 388 2 390 2 877 2 329 1 399
Mexico 1 636 1 686 1 505 1 497 1 448 1 500 1 420 1 551 1 686 2 164 2 525 2 410 2 321 2 737 3 216 3 700 3 794 4 440 5 584 6 070 5 589 3 672 4 741 5 473 6 345 6 065 6 167 6 265 6 012 4147 5368 5 854 5 586 6 100
Myanmar 10 10 10 30 30 20 20 20 20 15 11 16 13 20 40 40 40 30 40 40 40 40 40 40
New Zealand 150 647 807 899 949 956 839 900 870 760 840 890 890 930 880 1 020 1 030 990
Nigeria 73 156 142 242 109 131 132 124 112 108 53 39 40 36 12 150 200
Oman 1 110 1 460 1 470
Peru 34 54 43 27 62 44 55 51 49 46 29 24 3 17 3 22 74 61 46 82 63 28 84 81 78 84 90 74 100 100 94 98 93
Qatar 420 459 452 390 500 490 490 470 495 531 573 566 617 573 600 622 635 564 706 666 621 734 752 776 830 816 877 1 223 1 681 2 097 2 250 2 350 2 420 2 386
Russia 1 575 1 544 1 706 1 678 1 505 1 730 1 726 1 880 1 920 2 510 2 910 2 910 3 140 3 340 3 280 3 410 4 500 4 600 4 700 5 200 5 125 5 329
Former USSR 20 370 420 750 1 260 1 680 1 703 1 690 1 700
Saudi Arabia 9 351 730 991 1 170 1 040 1 080 1 207 1 085 1 117 1 611 2 015 2 111 2 129 2 296 2 107 2 268 2 343 3 059 2 877 3 280 3 285 3 406 3 626 3 581 4 340 4 970 5030 5510 5 810 5 660 6 070
South Africa 126 123 101 33 165 544 748 821 835 808 921 988 892 857 975 949 898 1 115 1 067 1 262 1 526 1 556 1 702 1 542 1 633 1 781 1 754 1 736 1 178 1 340 1 120 1 414 1 493 1 444
Sweden 122 102 106 103 120 108 111 117 122 116 109 102 103 95 109 124 125 130 121 118 125 111 112 106 121 114 124 131 125 96 123 117 105 113
Trinidad and 20 200 237 284 239 203 375 492 593 691 698 683 675 830 912 1 076 1 013 1 141 1 023 1 379 1 519 2 034 2 317 2 169 2 219 2 056 2 072 3 470 2 780 1 990 3 080 3 030 3 250 3 290
Tobago
United Arab 1180 1 800 2 699 3 075
Emirates
United States 650 530 66 120 140 160 210 290 291 390 410 389 441 484 420 450 510 1 600 1 670 1 560 120 470 210 180 220 240 250 260
Venezuela 1 636 1 608 2 155 2 418 2 490 2 633 2 938 3 152 2 710 2 447 3 524 4 074 4 363 4 432 4 803 5 099 5 732 5 608 5 424 5 071 6 412 5 473 6 844 6 646 7 825 8 897 8 420 7 782 6 826 5508 3793 4 159 4 472 2 584
World 7 427 7 662 7 103 7 615 8 996 11172 12 13 14 16 19 20 21 24 28 32 34 36 37 40 43 40 45 079 48828 55406 57698 58883 66964 67907 64253 70505 73250 73433 74718
528 751 380 383 223 631 367 700 371 049 085 634 802 033 740 091
Regions 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Europ ean Union
European Union (10) 419 484 322 70 100 100 170 200 270 353 310 260 174 182 281 410 370 470 450 400 455 210 540 590 593 440 580 590 520 380 445 400 555 498
European Union (12) 419 484 322 70 100 100 170 200 270 353 310 260 174 182 281 410 370 470 450 400 455 210 540 590 593 440 580 590 520 380 445 400 555 498
European Union (15) 541 586 428 173 220 208 281 317 392 469 419 362 277 277 390 534 495 600 571 518 580 321 652 696 714 554 704 721 645 476 568 517 660 611
European Union (25) 541 586 428 173 220 208 281 317 392 469 419 362 277 277 390 534 495 600 571 518 580 321 652 696 714 554 704 721 645 476 568 517 660 611
European Union (27) 541 586 428 173 220 208 281 317 392 469 419 362 277 277 390 534 495 600 571 518 580 321 652 696 714 554 704 721 645 476 568 517 660 611
CIS 1 575 1 544 1 706 1 678 1 505 1 730 1 726 1 880 1 920 2 510 2 910 2 910 3 140 3 340 3 280 3 410 4 500 4 600 4 700 5 200 5 125 5 329
Former USSR 20 370 420 750 1 260 1 680 1 703 1 690 1 700 1 575 1 544 1 706 1 678 1 505 1 730 1 726 1 880 1 920 2 510 2 910 2 910 3 140 3 340 3 280 3 410 4 500 4 600 4 700 5 200 5 125 5 329
North America 3 196 3 379 2 305 2 319 2 307 2 584 2 645 2 983 3 339 3 851 4 344 4 056 4 023 4 766 5 382 6 197 6 674 7 482 9 452 10 042 9 794 5 826 7 706 8 356 9 834 8 931 8 925 10 9 756 6 479 9 048 9 586 9 679 10
897 640
South America 2 668 2 639 3 261 3 622 3 632 3 907 4 167 4 387 3 972 3 871 4 820 5 254 5 620 5 837 6 290 6 714 7 489 7 427 7 298 6 950 8 245 7 094 8 680 8 792 10 11 10 9 944 8 976 6 326 5 359 6 939 7 538 5 520
020 129 736
Africa 126 123 174 189 307 786 888 1 416 1 726 1 839 2 584 2 972 2 618 2 675 2 640 2 797 2 598 3 312 3 681 4 234 5 122 4 986 5 393 5 748 6 238 6 350 6 337 6 382 5 391 5 467 5 356 4 511 5 069 5 832
Middle East 454 513 504 768 1 292 1 555 1 715 1 561 1 650 1 869 1 951 2 177 2 940 4 218 5 589 6 054 6 729 7 077 6 543 7 084 8 301 8 673 9 340 9 184 10 11392 11472 13144 14124 15326 18390 20422 22459 26861
753
Asia & Oceania 442 421 431 523 868 1 712 2 081 1 828 1 622 2 781 3 414 4 110 4 314 5 382 6 374 8 074 8 594 9 006 8 532 9 325 9 779 10681 10 397 13142 14 16002 17429 22466 24517 25579 27084 26074 22903 19926
706
World excl. China 7 427 7 662 7 103 7 615 8996 11172 12528 13751 14380 16383 19223 20631 21367 24700 28371 32049 34085 36564 37722 39923 43690 39981 44859 48518 54 57384 58671 66750 67757 64212 70505 73250 73433 74718
124
976
World 7 427 7 662 7 103 7 615 8996 11172 12528 13751 14380 16383 19223 20631 21367 24700 28371 32049 34085 36634 37802 40033 43 40 45 079 48828 55 57698 58883 66964 67907 64253 70505 73250 73433 74718
740 091 406
Re gions, definitions - only countries listed above are included
European Union (10) – Germany
European Union (12) – European Union (10)
European Union (15) – European Union (12), Sweden
CIS – Russia
Former USSR – CIS
North America – Canada, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, United States
South America – Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela
Africa – Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, South Africa
Middle East – Bahrain, Iran, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Asia & Oceania – Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand
125
REFERENCES
Anyakwo, C. N.: Unpublished Lecture Notes on Iron and Steel Making Technology,
2000/2001 Session Edition, Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
Arrey, O. B. (2013): Industrialization and Economic Advancement in Nigeria: A
Study of the Role of the Iron and Steel Sector; Global Journal of Management and
Business Research Administration and Management, Volume 13, Issue 9, Version
1.0 of Year 2013, 11pp.
Babich, A., Senk, D., Gudenau, H.W. and Mavrommatis, K.Th. (2008): Ironmaking
Textbook; Aachen, Germany: Blbliografische Information Oer Oeutschen
Bibliothek.
Butts, A. (1943): Metallurgical Problems, Second Edition, Third Impression; New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Chakrabarti, A.K. (2007): Steel Making; Delhi: Phi Learning Private Ltd.
Chatterjee, A. (2010): Production of Hot Metal by Smelting Reduction of Iron Oxide;
Delhi: Phi Learning Private Ltd.
Chatterjee, A. (2012): Sponge Iron Production by Direct Reduction of Iron Oxide, 2nd
Edition; Delhi: Phi Learning Private Ltd.
Cottrell, Alan (1995): An Introduction to Metallurgy Second Edition; London: The
Institute of Materials, pp.122 – 142 [Chapter 11 – Iron and Steel Making]
Department of Mats.Sci. & Eng., McMaster University (1999): Blast Furnace
Ironmaking, Volume One - Principles, Design and Raw Materials – An Intensive
Course; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [Recommended Resource]
Frueha, R.J. [ed.] (1998): The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel, 11th Ed. -
Steelmaking and Refining Volume; Pittsburgh, PA.: AISE Steel Foundation
[Recommended Resource]
G.L.Huyett (2004): Engineering Handbook (Steelmaking, Metals &Alloys, etc.);
Minneapolis, Kansas: G.L. Huyett
Ghosh, A. (2001): Secondary Steelmaking - Principles and Applications; New York:
CRC Press
Ghosh, A. and Chatterjee, A. (2008, 2013): Ironmaking and Steelmaking; Theory and
Practice; Delhi: Phi Learning Private Ltd. [Recommended Textbook]
Gupta, C.K. (2003): Chemical Metallurgy; Principles and Practice; Weinheim: Wiley-
VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. pp. 343 – 457 [Chapter 4 – Pyrometallurgy] Habashi, Fathi
[ed.] (1997): Handbook of Extractive Metallurgy Volume I; Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.
pp.29 – 268, 269 – 402, & 403 – 488 [Chapters 5 - Iron, 6 – Steel, and 7 - Ferroalloys]
Higgins, R.A. (1993): Engineering Metallurgy Part I, Sixth Edition; London: Arnold,
pp. 140 – 159 [Chapter 7 – An Introduction to Steel]
Higgins, R.A. and Bolton, W. (2006): Materials for Engineers and Technicians,
126
Fourth Edition; London: Newnes/Elsevier, pp. 130 – 146 [Chapter 11 – Iron and
Steel]
Kassinger, R.G. (2003): Iron and Steel – From Thor’s Hammer to the Space Shuttle;
Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books (TFCB)
Mark, U. (2000): Metallurgical Establishments In Nigeria; Their Locations And
Economic Impacts; A Term Paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for MME 309 (Extraction Metallurgy).
Mohammed, Sanusi (2002): The Nigeian Steel Industry – Historical Development;
Paper presented 12th October, 2002 as Secretary General, African Iron and Steel
Association.
NIST-JANAF (1998): NIST-JANAF Thermochemical Tables, Fourth Edition; New
York: American Chemical Society & American Institute of Physics
Ohimain, E. I. (2013): The Challenge of Domestic Iron and Steel Production in
Nigeria; Greener Journal of Business and Management Studies, Vol. 3 (5), pp. 231-
240, July 2013.
Peacey, J.G. and Davenport, W.G. (1979): The Iron Blast Furnace - Theory and
Practice; Oxford: Pergamon Press. [Recommended Textbook]
Rao, D.V. Subba (2011): Mineral Beneficiation: A Concise Basic Course; Boca Raton:
Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Rosenquist, T. (2004): Principles of Extractive Metallurgy, Second Edition;
Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press. pp.236 – 270, 345 – 374, & 375 – 397 [Chapters
9, 13 & 14]
Sarangi, A. and Sarangi, B. (2011): Sponge Iron Production in Rotary Kiln; Delhi: Phi
Learning Private Ltd.
Schuhmann, Jr. R. (1952): Metallurgical Engineering Volume 1 – Engineering
Principles; Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, Inc. pp. 1 – 68.
Seetharaman, S. et al [ed.] (2014): Treatise on Process Metallurgy, Volume 3 -
Industrial Processes, Part A; Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 1–532 [Chapter 1 – Iron and
Steel Technology by Lauri Holappa] [Recommended Reference Book]
Steel University of the World Steel Association: http//: www.steeluniversity.org
Tupkary, R.H. and Tupkary, V.R. (2004): An Introduction to Modern Steel Making;
Delhi: Khanna Publishers.
Turkdogan, E.T. (1996, 2010): Fundamentals of Steelmaking; London: Institute of
Metals (1996), Leeds, UK: Maney Publishing (2010).
Vignes, Alain (2011): Extractive Metallurgy 1 - Basic Thermodynamics and Kinetics;
London: ISTE Ltd / Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vignes, Alain (2011): Extractive Metallurgy 2 - Metallurgical Reaction Processes;
127
Vignes, Alain (2011): Extractive Metallurgy 3 - Processing Operations and Routes;

Walker, R.D.[ed.] (1983): Small-Scale Steelmaking; Essex, England: Applied Science
Publishers Ltd.
Williams, R.V. (1983): Control and Analysis in Iron and Steel Making; London:
Butterworths.
World Steel Association: Crude steel production, 1980-2013; www.worldsteel.org
World Steel Association: World steel in Figures 2014; http//: www.worldsteel.org
Iron and steel making technology (MME 408) by Udochukwu, M. is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
128

Mme405 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mme405 PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mme405 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MME 405 Lecture Notes; © Engr. U. Mark, Dec.

2008, Revised Dec 2014

Illustration of ironmaking and steelmaking flowsheet

Assessment Actual Marks % of Course Marks

Assignments (by U. Mark) 20 marks 30%

Quiz/Test (by J.U. Anaele) 10 marks

Final Examination (by Mark & Anaele) 70 marks 70%

Total 100 marks 100%

IRON AND STEEL: WHAT DO WE MEAN?

branch of metallurgical engineering based on volume of production, size of the industry,

Table 1: Relative Abundance of Elements in the Lithosphere (Earth’s Crust)

Abundancy Range Element

0.1–1 ppm Bi; Cd; I; In; Tl

IRON AND ITS ORES

THERMODYNAMICS OF OXIDE REDUCTION

Table 2: Relative ease of reducing oxides at 1 atm. in decreasing order

Where if the metal and the oxide coexist as condensed phases, so

Recall that, and .

) can be plotted using the above equation in the form .

Figure 3: Rosenquist diagrams showing: (a) equilibrium gas ratio as function

ratio is given by . The result

c) Reduction of Iron Oxides by CO and C

with hydrogen is with

Straight line graphs of the equation have been plotted

IRON AND STEEL MAKING ROUTES

THE IRON BLAST FURNACE

Figure 5: Iron blast furnace, showing chemical reactions

The liquid pig iron contains approximately 4–5%C, 0.3–0.7%Si, 0.01–0.04%S,

RAW MATERIALS FOR BLAST FURNACE PROCESSES

A description of the various raw materials is as follows:

PRODUCTS FROM THE BLAST FURNACE PROCESSES

Table 3: Typical analysis of pig iron (melting point = 1400K)

Element Composition (wt.%) Remark

Figure 7: A modern blast furnace showing direction of movement of input and

Table 4: Representative materials balance for a blast furnace producing 2000

TOTAL 14 600 TOTAL 14 600

Figure 8: Representative materials balance for a large blast furnace

The materials balance or metallurgical balance of a system/plant when unsteady state

For a steady state system, the equation simplifies to:

however, furnish a direct check on accumulation and depletion. Spillages and

BLAST FURNACE OPERATION

Feed Materials (Input)

Actual 2.68* 0.158 1.03 0.03

Actual 33.8 15.7 47.2 2.0 0.78

IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCTIVITY OF THE BLAST FURNACE

BLAST FURNACE COSTS

3. A blast furnace operator wishes to increase his hearth temperature by enriching

CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN THE BLAST FURNACE

Ore + coke Top gas

Figure 10: Composition of the gas directly in front of an experimental BF tuyere

[ ] take place simultaneously. Thus, CO2 formed by the reduction of

HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN THE STACK

The standard free energy for this reaction as shown, is

Thereafter, the oxygen potential is controlled by the carbon–oxygen equilibria and by

That is, the two reactions as well as their free .

where is chemical potential of component in solution; is partial

Where, is the oxide of ; and may be solid, liquid, or

In conclusion, the free energy ( ) for the oxidation of an element using a

The equilibrium constant of reaction [2] is: