Ironmaking

This chapter describes the ironmaking technology and outlines the process essentials. The focus was put on the blast furnace process which is currently the dominating technology for ironmaking. The emerging alternative ironmaking technologies—direct reduction and smelting reduction—are only briefly presented, as they will be described in a separate chapter in this book series. Furthermore, present needs for the decarbonization of steel production and ongoing efforts are briefly introduced. The chapter starts with a short introductory overview of the ironmaking processes, and their role in the global steelmaking industry, followed by a historical summary. Then the readers are guided from the raw materials (iron ore, coke, coal, and other energy sources) and their preparation, to the equipment aspects of the blast furnace and its auxiliary facilities as well as operation and process control. Chemical reactions and phenomena at different zones of the blast furnace are described to provide chemistry insights into the whole process. Moreover, the aspects of the process performance, energy consumption, and environmental issues are evaluated. In addition, the development trends of various alternative and emerging ironmaking technologies are discussed. In the end, a section is provided on the development of methods for modeling and simulation of ironmaking processes for a better understanding of the complex systems.