Steel is known for being lightweight but strong, making it suitable for a variety of industries and applications. Next to plastic and paper, steel is one of the most common materials seen in products used in our everyday lives.
In the construction industry, steel is used in the creation of buildings and other structures for strength. Manufacturing processes, such as for cars, airplanes, and kitchen appliances, also rely on steel for production. Last but not least, steel is imperative for communication as it is used in the creation of transmission and cell towers.
Steel Manufacturing ProcessThe steel manufacturing process can be divided into six steps: Making the iron, primary steelmaking, secondary steelmaking, casting, primary forming, and secondary forming.
Steel is a metal alloy made of iron and carbon. Thus, the steel manufacturing process starts by making iron. To do this, limestone, coke, and iron ore are combined and put into a blast furnace. The elements are melted together to create a hot metal known as molten iron.
Scrap metal is dropped via a scrap bucket into the electric arc furnace.The second step of the steel manufacturing process can be completed with two different pieces of equipment: a basic oxygen furnace and an electric arc furnace. With a basic oxygen furnace, the molten metal produced in step 1 is infused with scrap steel. Then, oxygen is forced through the furnace to remove the impurities in the molten iron. With an electric arc furnace, as the name suggests, electricity is forced through the furnace to purify the iron. The completion of step 2 results in raw steel.
Just like there are different grades and families of stainless steel, there are also different types of regular steel. The different grades are determined by the elements that remain in the metal at the completion of the manufacturing process. Secondary steelmaking refines the composition of the steel to create the desired grade. This is done with different techniques such as stirring and ladle injections.
Pouring slag, the impurities that float to the top during the melting process, into a receptacle.During the fourth step of steel manufacturing, molten iron is cast into molds for cooling. This process starts to set the shape of the steel and causes a thin, hard shell to form. The strands of the shell are malleable and can be worked into the desired shape of flat sheets, beams, wires, or thin strips.
Primary forming continues the shaping process. A hot roller is used to fine-tune the casting. The steel is molded into the desired shape and surface finish. Some examples include bloom, billet, and slab.
Cutting billets to length using torches on the continuous caster.The final step of the steel manufacturing process creates the final shape and properties of the steel. Secondary forming is accomplished with different methods such as shaping (cold rolling methods), machining (drilling), joining (welding), coating, heat treatment, and surface treatment. At the completion of step 6, the steel is fully shaped, formed, and ready for use and processing in various applications.
Dixon Products for Steel MillsThe harsh environment and extreme temperatures encountered in steel mills during the steel manufacturing process require high-quality equipment built to last. Dixon offers a variety of products suitable for steel mills.
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Dixon’s GSM armored hose was originally designed specifically for use in a steel mill. Read our blog post, A History and Overview of GSM Armored Hose, to learn more.
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Steel is primarily produced using one of two methods: Blast Furnace or Electric Arc Furnace.
The blast furnace is the first step in producing steel from iron oxides. The first blast furnaces appeared in the 14th century and produced one ton per day. Even though equipment is improved and higher production rates can be achieved, the processes inside the blast furnace remain the same. The blast furnace uses coke, iron ore and limestone to produce pig iron.
Coal traditionally has been a key part of the coke-making process. The coal is crushed and ground into a powder and then charged into an oven where it is heated to approximately °F in the absence of oxygen. As the oven is heated, the coal begins to melt so most of the volatile matter such as oil, tar, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur are removed. The cooked coal, called coke, is removed from the oven after 18 to 24 hours of reaction time. The coke is cooled and screened into pieces ranging from one inch to four inches. The coke is a porous, hard black rock of concentrated carbon (contains 90 to 93 percent carbon), which has some ash and sulfur but compared to raw coal is very strong. The strong pieces of coke with a high energy value provide permeability, heat and gases which are required to reduce and melt the iron ore, pellets and sinter. Today, natural gas is increasingly being added in place of coke to the same degree in the blast furnace to reduce carbon emissions.
The first electric arc furnaces (EAFs) appeared in the late 19th Century. The use of EAFs has expanded and now accounts for over 70 percent of steel production in the United States. The EAF is different from the blast furnace as it produces steel by using an electrical current to melt scrap steel, direct reduced iron, and/or pig iron, to produce molten steel.
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