Linz-Donawitz Steelmaking

Linz-Donawitz steelmaking
Basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS, BOP, BOF, or OSM), also known as Linz-Donawitz steelmaking or
the oxygen converter process is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten pig
iron is made into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the
alloy and changes it into low-carbon steel. The process is known as basic because fluxes of burnt lime
or dolomite, which are chemical bases, are added to promote the removal of impurities and protect the
lining of the converter.
Pic : Oxygen converter being charged at ThyssenKrupp steel mill in Duisburg(Downloaded)
The process was invented in 1948 by Swiss engineer Robert Durrer and commercialized in 1952–
1953 by the Austrian steelmaking company VOEST and ÖAMG. The LD converter, named after the
Austrian towns Linz and Donawitz (a district of Leoben) is a refined version of the Bessemer
converter where blowing of air is replaced with blowing oxygen. It reduced capital cost of the plants
and smelting time, and increased labor productivity. Between 1920 and 2000, labor requirements in
the industry decreased by a factor of 1,000, from more than three man-hours per metric ton to just
0.003.[3] The majority of steel manufactured in the world is produced using the basic oxygen furnace.
In 2000, it accounted for 60% of global steel output.
Modern furnaces will take a charge of iron of up to 400 tons and convert it into steel in less than 40
minutes, compared to 10–12 hours in an open hearth furnace.
Pic 2: Schéma_LD_métallurgie(Downloaded)
Pic 3: LDkonverter01(Downloaded)
Process
Basic oxygen steelmaking is a primary steelmaking process for converting molten pig iron into steel
by blowing oxygen through a lance over the molten pig iron inside the converter. Exothermic heat is
generated by the oxidation reactions during blowing.
The basic oxygen steel-making process is as follows:
1. Molten pig iron (sometimes referred to as "hot metal") from a blast furnace is poured into a
large refractory-lined container called a ladle.
2. The metal in the ladle is sent directly for basic oxygen steelmaking or to a pretreatment stage.
Pretreatment of the blast furnace hot metal is done externally to reduce sulfur, silicon, and
phosphorus before charging the hot metal into the converter. In external desulfurising
pretreatment, a lance is lowered into the molten iron in the ladle and several hundred
kilograms of powdered magnesium are added and the sulfur impurities are reduced to
magnesium sulfide in a violent exothermic reaction. The sulfide is then raked off. Similar
pretreatments are possible for external desiliconisation and external dephosphorisation using
mill scale (iron oxide) and lime as fluxes. The decision to pretreat depends on the quality of
the hot metal and the required final quality of the steel.
3. Filling the furnace with the ingredients is called charging. The BOS process is autogenous,
i.e. the required thermal energy is produced during the oxidation process. Maintaining the
proper charge balance, the ratio of hot metal from melt to cold scrap is important. The BOS
vessel can be tilted up to 360° and is tilted towards the deslagging side for charging scrap and
hot metal. The BOS vessel is charged with steel or iron scrap (25–30%),if required. Molten
iron from the ladle is added as required for the charge balance. A typical chemistry of
hotmetal charged into the BOS vessel is: 4% C, 0.2–0.8% Si, 0.08%–0.18% P, and 0.01–
0.04% S, all of which can be oxidised by the supplied oxygen except sulfur (which requires
reducing conditions).
4. The vessel is then set upright and a water-cooled, copper tipped lance with 3–7 nozzles is
lowered into it to within a few feet of the surface of the bath and high-purity oxygen at a
pressure of 700–1,000 kilopascals (100–150 psi) is introduced at supersonic speed. The lance
"blows" 99% pure oxygen over the hot metal, igniting the carbon dissolved in the steel, to
form carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, causing the temperature to rise to about 1700 °C.
This melts the scrap, lowers the carbon content of the molten iron and helps remove unwanted
chemical elements. It is this use of pure oxygen (instead of air) that improves upon the
Bessemer process, as the nitrogen (an undesirable element) and other gases in air do not react
with the charge, and decrease efficiency of furnace.
5. Fluxes (burnt lime or dolomite) are fed into the vessel to form slag, to maintain basicity of the
slag – the ratio of calcium oxide to silicon oxide - at a level to minimise refractory wear and
absorb impurities during the steelmaking process. During "blowing", churning of metal and
fluxes in the vessel forms an emulsion that facilitates the refining process. Near the end of the
blowing cycle, which takes about 20 minutes, the temperature is measured and samples are
taken. A typical chemistry of the blown metal is 0.3–0.9% C, 0.05–0.1% Mn, 0.001–0.003%
Si, 0.01–0.03% S and 0.005–0.03% P.
6. The BOS vessel is tilted towards the slagging side and the steel is poured through a tap hole
into a steel ladle with basic refractory lining. This process is called tapping the steel. The steel
is further refined in the ladle furnace, by adding alloying materials to impart special properties
required by the customer. Sometimes argon or nitrogen is bubbled into the ladle to make the
alloys mix correctly.
7. After the steel is poured off from the BOS vessel, the slag is poured into the slag pots through
the BOS vessel mouth and dumped.

Linz-Donawitz Steelmaking

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