To make steel, you have to make iron first. Iron is made in a blast furnace. Iron ore is a natural form of iron, but it is not pure iron. Coke is a fuel made from coal. Smelt iron ore, coke and limestone by heating them together. Limestone helps remove the impurities from the iron ore by turning them into slag. When the iron ore has melted, remove the slag and then tap off the hot molten iron.
Iron making
A: Men use special wheelbarrows to charge the furnace with the raw materials.
B: Hot gases from the blast furnace are recycled.
C: The raw materials: iron ore, coke and limestone
D: Blast Furnace: can be 25-30 metres high.
E: Slag forms on top of the molten iron. The coke turns the iron ore into iron by removing the oxygen.
F: Pipe (the bustle main) supplying the hot blast (hot air) to increase the heat inside the blast furnace.
G: The mud gun – for sealing the tap hole
H: Tap hole for molten iron. The slag is tapped off separately.
I: The iron melts at 1,535°C. The keeper taps off the furnace when the iron is ready.
When two or more metals are combined together they make an alloy. Steel is an alloy of iron. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
