Roll over the links to see a description of each individual module.

After an overview of the steelmaking process route, you start your tour by flying over an integrated steelworks, from the arrival of raw materials through the various stages of production. You can then walk around the whole site and explore each of the main production units, under your own direction and take part in the interactive Life of Iron game and quiz.

In the Blast Furnace iron oxide is reduced by carbon, in the form of coke, in a blast of hot air. Limestone is added to flux the impurities into a slag. The resulting molten iron, called “hot metal”, has too high a carbon content to be useful and further processing is required to produce steel from this hot metal.

In the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) the carbon content of hot metal is reduced to the required level by injecting it with high-pressure oxygen. Some recycled steel scrap is also added. Other additions are also needed. Your role is to control the furnace operation, especially the oxygen blow and make appropriate additions, prior to tapping the steel into a ladle ready of the secondary steelmaking processes.

In the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), recycled steel scrap is melted by the heat generated through powerful electric arcs to produce high quality steel. Your role is to decide the type of scrap to add, charge it into the furnace, melt and refine it, making appropriate additions, before tapping it into a ladle ready for the secondary steelmaking processes.

In Secondary Steelmaking the steel produced in the BOF or EAF is refined to produce the precise chemical composition needed for its application. Your role is to decide which of the various types of equipment to use, what additions to make additions and when and where to add them, how to remove some elements and deliver the steel to the continuous caster at the required time and temperature.

Continuous Casting has now largely replaced ingot casting and is a highly efficient way of solidifying liquid steel into the required shape ready for primary processing. It is now possible to cast strip only a few mm thick. Your role is to control the flow of liquid steel through one of 3 casting machines (slab, bloom or billet) for a sequence of three casts and achieve high quality.

Hot Rolling deforms the cast product into the required shape – strip, plate, bar, rod, section. In many cases the control of temperature is also critical to achieve the required grain size and properties.