Table Of ContentTopics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
Series Editor: Carlos P. Bergmann
Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Daniel Fernández González
José Ignacio Verdeja González
Operations
and Basic
Processes in
Steelmaking
Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials
Engineering
SeriesEditor
CarlosP.Bergmann,FederalUniversityofRioGrandedoSul,PortoAlegre,
RioGrandedoSul,Brazil
“Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering” welcomes manuscripts
in these three main focus areas: Extractive Metallurgy/Mineral Technology;
Manufacturing Processes, and Materials Science and Technology. Manuscripts
should present scientific solutions for technological problems. The three focus
areas have a vertically lined multidisciplinarity, starting from mineral assets, their
extractionandprocessing,theirtransformationintomaterialsusefulforthesociety,
andtheirinteractionwiththeenvironment.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/11054
·
Luis Felipe Verdeja González
·
Daniel Fernández González
José Ignacio Verdeja González
Operations and Basic
Processes in Steelmaking
LuisFelipeVerdejaGonzález DanielFernándezGonzález
EscueladeMinas,EnergíayMateriales EscueladeMinas,EnergíayMateriales
UniversityofOviedo UniversityofOviedo
Oviedo,Asturias,Spain Oviedo,Asturias,Spain
JoséIgnacioVerdejaGonzález
EscueladeMinas,EnergíayMateriales
UniversityofOviedo
Oviedo,Asturias,Spain
ISSN2364-3293 ISSN2364-3307 (electronic)
TopicsinMining,MetallurgyandMaterialsEngineering
ISBN978-3-030-67999-6 ISBN978-3-030-68000-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68000-8
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature
SwitzerlandAG2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether
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ofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,and
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ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook
arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor
theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany
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ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
ThisbookisdedicatedtothememoryofJosé
AntonioPero-SanzElorz(1934–2012), who
foundedtheresearchgroupinironand
steelmaking,metallurgyandmaterialsatthe
UniversityofOviedo(Asturias,Spain)inthe
middleoftheseventiesofthelastcentury.
Severalbookshavebeenpublishedasaresult
ofthislongperiodofresearchandteaching,
including PhysicalMetallurgyofCastIrons
(Springer,2018),StructuralMaterials:
PropertiesandSelection(Springer,2019)
andOperationsandBasicProcessesin
Ironmaking (Springer,2020).
Prologue
Iron together with copper are the only elements of the Periodic Table related with
the four Human Ages: Stone, Copper, Bronze, and Iron. According to the history,
approximately1500yearsBC,itispossibletolocatethebeginningoftheIronAge
intheHittitesKingdom,inthecenteroftheAnatolia’speninsula,formerTurkey.
EvenwhentheartoftheironobtainingsinksitsrootsintheHumanhistory,the
science and technology of the steel as material used in structural applications has
onlyhadamarkeddevelopmentfromthesecondhalfofthenineteenthcentury,when
thesteelproductionexceededmillionsoftonsinoneyear.Alongthesevenchapters
ofthisbook,wedescribetheoperationsandindustrialprocessesassociatedtocarbon
steels,stainlesssteels,highlyalloyedsteels,andferroalloysproduction.
This manuscript tries, above all, to be a text dedicated to the university studies
forbachelor,master,andpostgraduatestudents.Atthesametime,thebookmightbe
an useful instrument for the basic formation of those people interested in working
in the ironmaking and steelmaking sector, as well as for the updating of the basic
knowledgeofthepeoplethathadknowledgeoftheironandsteelmetallurgy.
The manuscript claims to show for the first time in a book of these
characteristics, together with the most significative operating variables of the
processesandoperationsofthesteelsandferroalloysproduction,numeroussolved
exercisesandproblems(morethan80).Thesolvedexercisesandproblemshaveas
objectivetoconceptuallysupportthetheoreticalfundamentalsoftheBasicOxygen
Furnace (BOF) process, the reactions and operations in the electric furnace, the
secondary metallurgy, the practice in the solidification-casting molds, the
operationsinthetundish,theoperationsinthehotandcoldplasticdeformationof
the metal and the study of all the physical and chemical changes produced in the
differentfinishingoperationsandprocesses.
Habitually, the number of variables involved in the spontaneity and rate of the
operations-processes arenumerous (“bigdata”ifweusethecurrentterminology).
We want to set up the basis for the development of models that, supported on the
basicsciences,couldprovide-findanswers,withtheminimumnumberofvariables,
tothetopicsthatareproposedanddevelopedineachoneofthechaptersofthebook.
Ontheotherhand,itisnecessarytoconsiderthattheconstructionofmodels,based
ontheprinciples-lawsofthescienceassociatedtotheproposedexercises,leadsto
vii
viii Prologue
the “know-how” typical of the technological development. Definitely, we want to
emphasizeinthetruthandthesciencewhentakingdecisions,puttingasideemotions
andfeelings.
It is possible that, for the professionals and iron and steelmaking specialists,
the contents of the seven chapters of the book, for instance, in the process of pig
ironrefinement,thefusion-refinementofscrap,theproductionofferroalloysorthe
molding,plasticdeformationandfinishingprocesses,mightbelimited.However,in
thebibliographythatiscollectedattheendofeachchapter,weincludemonographs
andspecificreviewsthatallowthereadertostrengthenknowledgeabouttheconcepts
developedinthetext,aswellastoacquireagreaterspecializationthatcouldpropitiate
thedevelopmentandtechnologicalchanges.
Finally, the authors want to thank Prof. José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz because
he was responsible for creating the Research Group in Ironmaking, Steelmaking,
Metallurgy and Materials of the University of Oviedo in the middle of the last
century. We also express our gratitude to Profs. José Pedro Sancho Martínez and
ÁngelAlfonsoFernándezoftheUniversityofOviedoandRobertoGonzálezOjeda
of the Universidad Panamericana de México for their contributions both in the
thermodynamicfundamentalsandinthesimulationandmodelingofprocesses.
Oviedo,Asturias,Spain LuisFelipeVerdejaGonzález
March2021 DanielFernándezGonzález
JoséIgnacioVerdejaGonzález
Contents
1 TheBasicOxygenFurnacetoObtainSteel ....................... 1
1.1 SteelintheHistory ......................................... 1
1.2 TheBasicOxygenFurnace:Introduction ....................... 4
1.3 ReactionsintheConverter ................................... 9
1.3.1 ThermodynamicsofSolutions ......................... 9
1.3.2 ThermodynamicsandKinetics ......................... 12
1.3.3 ApplicationoftheCaO–FeO–SiO TernaryDiagram
2
totheStudyoftheLDSlags ........................... 17
1.3.4 SolvedExercises ..................................... 20
1.4 MassandEnergyBalances ................................... 31
1.5 KineticsoftheReactionsintheConverter ...................... 35
1.6 Physical–ChemicalCharacteristicsoftheLDSlags .............. 58
1.6.1 SolvedExercisesandProblems ........................ 65
References ..................................................... 80
2 TheElectricSteelworks ......................................... 83
2.1 Introduction ............................................... 83
2.2 TheElectricFurnace:CharacteristicsandApplications ........... 84
2.2.1 ProductionofPigIron ................................ 85
2.2.2 SteelProduction ..................................... 88
2.2.3 Ferroalloys .......................................... 89
2.2.4 CeramicMaterials ................................... 94
2.2.5 SolvedExercises ..................................... 95
2.3 ProcessesandReactionsintheElectricFurnace ................. 122
2.3.1 Smelting(Fusion) .................................... 123
2.3.2 Refining ............................................ 123
2.3.3 Reduction ........................................... 128
2.3.4 SolvedExercises ..................................... 130
2.4 DesignofElectricFurnaces .................................. 147
2.4.1 CharacteristicsandDevicesoftheFurnaces .............. 148
2.4.2 HeatTransferMechanisms ............................ 152
ix
x Contents
2.4.3 SolvedExercises ..................................... 162
References ..................................................... 171
3 SecondaryMetallurgy .......................................... 173
3.1 Introduction ............................................... 173
3.2 Deoxidation ............................................... 174
3.2.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 180
3.3 Desulphurizing ............................................. 186
3.3.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 193
3.4 VacuumTreatments.Degasification ........................... 207
3.5 KineticsoftheRefiningProcesseswithInterfaceResistances ..... 215
3.6 Solved Exercises: Vacuum Treatments. Degasification.
KineticsoftheRefiningProcesswithInterfaceResistances ....... 217
References ..................................................... 231
4 SolidificationoftheSteel ........................................ 233
4.1 Introduction ............................................... 233
4.2 Molding ................................................... 236
4.2.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 241
4.3 ContinuousCasting ......................................... 257
4.3.1 Introduction ......................................... 257
4.3.2 TheContinuousCastingProcess ....................... 260
4.3.3 TertiaryMetallurgy:Inclusions ......................... 275
4.3.4 DevelopmentoftheContinuousCasting ................. 288
References ..................................................... 291
5 Hot-WorkingOperations ........................................ 293
5.1 Introduction ............................................... 293
5.2 HotWorking ............................................... 296
5.2.1 FlowStressesintheHighTemperatureDeformation.
ConstitutiveEquation ................................. 300
5.2.2 TheHotForming(T >0.75·T ) ....................... 302
H E
5.2.3 Improvements by Hot Forming of Solidification
Structures ........................................... 305
5.2.4 BandedStructure(MechanicalFibering) ................ 306
5.2.5 Thermal–Mechanical Treatments with Phase
Transformation ...................................... 311
5.3 ForcesandGeometricalRelationshipsinRolling ................ 313
5.3.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 314
5.4 RollingMills .............................................. 320
5.4.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 327
5.5 Homogenization Heat Treatment (Soaking): Oxidation
andDecarburizingoftheSteel ................................ 360
5.5.1 SolvedExercises ..................................... 365
