I. - Iron from iron ore
To be a modern lifting machine or crane strong and safely strong, yet flexible, the key is to use high quality steels and steel alloys in its manufacture. But how can iron ore be turned into steel? In our series of articles, we look for the answer. Get ready, chemical and metallurgical basics follow.
The basis of all steel: iron ore
Iron is a metallic chemical compound, the periodic system element 26 (Fe), which is so common in nature in the form of compounds that only oxygen, silicon and aluminium are the most abundant elements on Earth.
The iron content of the ores may vary.
Minimum 20% for economical iron production iron content is required, for which hematite, magnetite, goethite and limonite are suitable.
Preparation
Other components and ores that are surplus and unusable in the production of iron ore, i.e. the metal content of iron ore is removed during preparation by grinding, enrichment, sintering and pelleting.
The prepared iron ore is then fed into the blast furnace, better known as the blast furnace.
In addition to the blast furnace, of course, other equipment is needed: feeders to feed the iron ore into the blast furnace, a heat exchanger to heat the blown air, and filtering solids from the flue gas dust collectors used for the purpose of.
A whole machine system is in operation to extract the iron content of the iron ore.
Reduction in the blast furnace
The process in the blast furnace chemical, physical reduction processes metallurgical processes. In the blast furnace, first indirect and then direct reduction takes place.
The reducing agent for iron ore is carbon. The requirements are derived from the material obtained from high quality black carbon by heating in an enclosed atmosphere, the Coke is the most appropriate. Heating it starts the process.
Smaller (1000 oAt temperatures below C), carbon monoxide flowing upwards in the blast furnace begins to reduce iron oxide in the metal bath, while at lower temperatures it is converted to stable carbon dioxide by the oxygen it takes up. This process is called indirect reduction.
During the process of making pig iron, various oxides are formed in the iron compounds, which are gradually reduced.
The temperature 1000 oAbove Cl the process becomes a direct reduction, which is further enhanced by the injection of air. We will spare you the chemical formulae.
In the metal bath in addition to the iron ore and reducing agent, there are also slag-forming substances which, floating on the surface of the metal heated to a liquid state, block the surface from the oxygen in the air. The slag is involved in metallurgical processes, helping certain elements to enter and leave the metal bath.
At the end of the reduction process, the rawvas, which is produced from the blast furnace in a very spectacular by tapping are lowered.
From pig iron after further processes cast iron, or for the manufacture of lifting equipment necessary steel can be created. The latter will be discussed in the next part of this series.
