RI 4975 Properties Of Carbon And Alloy Steels Made With Sponge Iron ? Introduction And Summary

During recent years, the Bureau of Mines has conducted an extensive investigation of the materials for making iron and steel. This work includes iron ore concentration, agglomeration, direct reduction of iron ores and concentrates, the production of pure manganese, chromium, and cobalt by electrolytic processes, the production of ferroalloys from low-grade domestic ores, and the development of special alloys to utilize these products. As a part of this general program, a Congressional appropriation allowed the con¬struction of an electric-furnace, semicommercial, ingot-producing plant at Shasta Dam near Redding, Calif. The primary objectives of the pilot plant were to determine the costs and operating problems involved in the production of steel and ferrous alloys in which sponge iron was used as melting stock, and to determine the physical properties of the materials produced. The pilot-plant equipment and the results of sponge iron-melting tests in the basic lined, electric arc furnace have been reported in previous publications.3/4/