- Argon Oxygen Decarburization (AOD)
- Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF)
- Blast Furnace
- Casthouse
- Coke Oven
- Degasser
- Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)
- Hot Blast Stove
- Iron Ladle
- Reheat Furnace
- Steel Ladle
- Torpedo Ladle Car
- Tundish
- Electrodes
Argon Oxygen Decarburization (AOD): A process for further refinement of stainless steel through reduction of carbon content. (1)
Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF): A pear-shaped furnace, lined with refractory bricks, that refines molten iron from the blast furnace and scrap into steel. Up to 30% of the charge into the BOF can be scrap, with hot metal accounting for the rest. (1)
Blast Furnace: A towering cylinder lined with heat-resistant (refractory) bricks, used by integrated steel mills to smelt iron from iron ore. Its name comes from the “blast” of hot air and gases forced up through the iron ore, coke, and limestone that load the furnace. (1)
Coke Oven Battery: A set of ovens that process coal into coke. Coke ovens are constructed in batteries of ten to 100 ovens that are 20 feet tall, 40 feet long, and less than two feet wide. Coke batteries, because of the exhaust fumes emitted when coke is pushed from the ovens, often are the dirtiest area of a steel mill complex. (1)
Degasser: Medium that allows for the removal of gases from liquid steel.
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): Steel-making furnace where scrap is generally 100% of the charge. Heat is supplied from electricity that arcs from the graphite electrodes to the metal bath. Furnaces may be either an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). DC units consume less energy and fewer electrodes, but they are more expensive. (1)
Ladle: A “bucket” lined with refractory (heat resistant) bricks, used to transport molten steel from process to process in a steel plant. (1)
Torpedo Ladle Car: The torpedo ladle commonly has a cylindrical shape with conical ends and are filled or emptied through an oval shaped opening in the top of the torpedo ladle. The torpedo ladle cars are designed for the least amount of heat loss.
Tundish: The shallow refractory-lined basin on top of the continuous caster. It receives the liquid steel from the ladle, prior to the cast, allowing the operator to precisely regulate the flow of metal into the mold. (1)