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Why does the steel industry use pure oxygen?
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oxygen group element
Modern version of the periodic table of the elements (printable).
The steel industry uses pure oxygen in the basic oxygen process (BOP) primarily to accelerate the refining of molten iron into steel. By blowing pure oxygen at supersonic velocities into a charge of blast-furnace iron and scrap, manufacturers can rapidly oxidize impurities such as carbon, silicon, phosphorus, and manganese.12
This method offers several commercial and technical advantages:
- Efficiency: The high flow rate of pure oxygen triggers intensively exothermic reactions, allowing a single charge to be refined in approximately 20 minutes.12
- Quality: Using pure oxygen instead of air results in steel with a lower nitrogen content.2
- Productivity: The process enables high production rates with reduced labor requirements.2
As a member of the oxygen group, oxygen is highly reactive, making it an ideal agent for these rapid combustion-like oxidation processes. Today, this method accounts for more than half of the world's steel production.321