How is molten iron produced

Burns in air to produce heat, and reacts to form carbon monoxide needed to reduce the iron oxide. Calcium carbonate. Helps to remove acidic impurities from the iron by reacting with them to form molten slag. Allows the coke to burn, and so produces heat. These are removed using quicklime calcium oxide which is added to the furnace during the oxygen blow. They react to form compounds such as calcium silicate or calcium phosphate which form a slag on top of the iron.

Wrought iron : If all the carbon is removed from the iron to give high purity iron, it is known as wrought iron. Wrought iron is quite soft and easily worked and has little structural strength. It was once used to make decorative gates and railings, but these days mild steel is normally used instead.

Mild steel : Mild steel is iron containing up to about 0. The presence of the carbon makes the steel stronger and harder than pure iron.

The higher the percentage of carbon, the harder the steel becomes. Mild steel is used for lots of things - nails, wire, car bodies, ship building, girders and bridges amongst others. High carbon steel : High carbon steel contains up to about 1. The presence of the extra carbon makes it very hard, but it also makes it more brittle. High carbon steel is used for cutting tools and masonry nails nails designed to be driven into concrete blocks or brickwork without bending.

High carbon steel tends to fracture rather than bend if mistreated. The iron found in iron ores are found in the form of iron oxides. As a result of these impurities, iron must be first separated from the gangue and then converted to pure iron. This is accomplished by the method of pyrometallurgy , a high temperature process. The high temperatures are needed for the reduction of iron and the oxidation of the limestone which will be seen below.

The production of iron from its ore involves a redox reaction carried out in a blast furnace. On a side note, Hematite gets its name from the Greek word meaning blood like because of the color of one form of its powder. The Ancient Greeks believed that large deposits of hematite were formed from battles that were fought and the blood from these battles flowed into the ground.

Being less dense, the slag floats on top of the iron. Slag and iron are tapped at regular intervals through separate tap holes. For merchant pig iron production, the iron is cast into ingots; in integrated steel mills, the molten iron or hot metal is transferred in torpedo ladle cars to the steel converters. Slag is transferred to slag pits for further processing into usable materials, for example raw material for cement production, road construction, etc.

When charging the blast furnace, burden materials are added in layers.