What were the main ingredients to make iron and eventually steel?

Question

Wyatt Atkins · Accepted Answer

Well you need #"ferric oxide"#, and some #"coke"#, and a big furnace........

#Fe_2O_3(g) + 3CO(g) stackrel(Delta)rarr2Fe+3CO_2(g)# Steel production is a big, and very capital intensive business. Quantitiies of ferric oxide, and carbon monoxide and heated in a so-called #"blast furnace"#. When I was much younger I was taken to see some of these, and you are very impressed by the scale and the output of these operations. Given the blast furnace, the main ingredients are (i) #"ferric oxide"#; and (ii) #"coke"#, which can be oxidized up to give #CO#, which effects the reduction of the iron ore to iron, and maybe later steel.

Caleb Adams · Answer

undefined Iron ore, coal, and limestone are the primary ingredients in the production of iron; during the refining process, alloying elements (such as carbon, manganese, and chromium) are added to the iron to produce steel.