In iron and steel metallurgical production, the blast furnace is currently the most commonly used and core mainstream smelting equipment.
From the perspective of industry production structure, over 90% of pig iron globally is still produced through blast furnace ironmaking. It is the core hub of modern integrated steel production and the standard core equipment for the vast majority of steel companies. Besides blast furnaces, different process stages have their own most common and frequently used equipment:
1. Most common in steelmaking: Converter
Converter steelmaking is currently the mainstream steelmaking process. With its advantages of high production efficiency, low energy consumption, and low cost, it accounts for over 70% of global crude steel production and is the most commonly used core equipment in steelmaking.
2. Most common in short-process steelmaking: Electric arc furnace
Short-process steelmaking uses scrap steel as raw material and mainly employs ultra-high-power electric arc furnaces for smelting. It is the fastest-growing commonly used smelting equipment in recent years, especially suitable for steel production in regions rich in scrap steel resources.
3. Most common subsequent processing: Continuous casting machine.
Continuous casting machines have replaced traditional ingot casting processes and are standard equipment in almost all modern steel enterprises. They can directly and continuously cast molten steel into steel billets, increasing production efficiency several times over traditional processes. They are the most commonly used equipment in the continuous casting process.
4. Most common finished product processing: Various rolling mills.
Rolling mills are the core of the rolling process, including hot rolling mills and cold rolling mills. Almost all finished steel products need to be processed by rolling mills, making them the most commonly used equipment in the steel forming process.