Steel

History of Steel

STEEL is an alloy made of mainly iron and carbon, steel finds applications in a wide range of situations, primarily due to its high tensile strength as well as its low cost. In addition to iron and carbon, other elements that may be present in the alloy include, but are not limited to, tungsten, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, titanium, cobalt, boron, vanadium, niobium, copper, phosphorous, silicon, sulfur, and manganese. The amounts of these elements will vary and their concentration in the alloy will determine the properties of steel.

STEEL is not a new material by any stretch of imagination. It has been in use since at least 1800 B.C., i.e., for at least the last four millennia. However, it wasn’t until the 17^th century that steel began being used extensively. Today, over a billion tons of steel is produced every year. This quantity of production has been made possible thanks to evolution in the steel making process over the last few centuries.

In the year 1855, Henry Bessemer, an Englishman, introduced first steel making industrial process that resulted in inexpensive mass production of steel. This method is known today as the Bessemer process. The Siemens-Martin process was another process that came up around the same time and which could also mass produce steel at low costs. Today, however, these processes have become obsolete courtesy of a method that was developed during the 1950’s: basic oxygen steelmaking, also known as the Linz-Donawitz (which are Austrian towns) process. This method is similar to and an improved form of the Bessemer process.

Production of Steel Using the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Process

As with other methods of producing steel, the basic oxygen steelmaking process utilizes pig iron from a blast furnace as its starting ingredient. The iron, which will be in molten state, is poured into a ladle. From the ladle, the iron is added to a vessel in basic oxygen furnace as needed. In the furnace, a lance is suspended above the vessel; this lance is water cooled. Through this, oxygen (not air, unlike in the Bessemer process) under high pressure is blown onto the iron at speeds faster than the speed of sound. After the blowing is complete, the vessel is tilted to pour out steel into another ladle. At this stage, a number of different elements may be added and further refining of steel may be done in order to give the alloy the desired properties.

Investing in STEEL

The Metals market can be quite a lucrative investment today. Considering that we’ll always need metal is some form or another, wisely investing can yield solid returns on your investment.