Let us now look at how iron is converted into steel. Steelmaking is a tedious task. In most of the iron ores, iron is found in the form of iron oxides. We have already discussed how iron is extracted by heating it with coke using a, blast furnace.
The extracted iron might contain other metal impurities that are further removed or reduced by mixing it with scrap iron, blowing pure oxygen into the mixture, and adding calcium oxide later.
Slag will be formed as a reaction and it is removed. The iron extract after removing the slag is used to make steel. Other elements like manganese, chromium and nickel are added to the sourced iron to make steel.
The practice of steelmaking is centuries-old. Steelmaking flourished in the 19th century; nowadays, there are different techniques for steelmaking.
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