Extraordinary way
of a an ordinary product
Before you are able to take to your hand a teaspoon, long way happens in production process. First of all, in the places rich for natural resources, must be from earth mined several raw materials like iron ore, coal, ores of other metals and many other materials. Ordinary person is usually unaware such materials were used to produce this spoon. Each of the above raw materials must be first reprocessed to usable form, before it is inserted to the furnace in steel-plant, where a long way to final product begins.
Ferroalloys and other metals are in smaller or bigger amount forming part of each steel grade. Ferroalloy is a semi-product, which originates in ore or oxide of metal whose name it is usually taking. This oxide is after being mined, reprocessed (recast) to the ferroalloy. By recasting, the concentration of the metal is being increased. For example, chrome ore after being mined, contains approximately 45% of chrome. By reprocessing of ore to ferrochrome, the concentration of chrome is increased to app. 70%, chrome is being linked to iron and some undesired substances like Phosphorus, Sulphur, Silicon etc. are being reduced. The usage of different steel grades is so broad, so in some cases the above substances are impurities and in other cases they are being on purpose added.
Ferroalloy is then subsequently used to alloy the steel. Steel is sophisticated semi-product, with many different forms due its chemical composition, mechanical or other characteristics. From each steel grade, different characteristics are expected based on its final usage.
Production of steel is somewhat like a cooking a soup. Into a big pot (a furnace) we insert the base in form of pig-iron or scrap, add ferroalloys and metals as a spices and “cook”, until the steel has desired characteristics. Consequently the content of the pot is cast to the billets or continuous casting is used and that is how long process of transformation of steel semi-product to the final steel product starts. From the steel is then needle or thimble or teaspoon, shaft, most of train, car or ship, parts of planes, building constructions and so on.
