Iron and steel based on it are used everywhere in industry and everyday life. However, few people know what iron is made of, or rather, how it is mined and converted into an alloy of steel.
Popular misconception
To begin with, let's define the concepts, because people often get confused and do not quite understand what iron is in general. This is a chemical element and a simple substance that is not found in its pure form and is not used. But steel is an alloy based on iron. It is rich in various chemical elements, and also contains carbon in its composition, which is necessary to give strength and hardness.
Consequently, it is not entirely correct to talk about what iron is made of, since it is a chemical element that is found in nature. A person makes steel out of it, which can later be used to make something: bearings, car bodies, doors, etc. It is impossible to list all the items that are made from it. So, below we will not analyze what iron is made of. Instead, let's talk about converting this element into steel.
Production
In Russia and the world, there are many quarries where iron ore is mined. These are huge and heavy stones that are quite difficult to get out of the quarry, as they are part of one large rock. Directly in the quarries, explosives are laid in the rock and blown up, after which huge pieces of stones scatter in different directions. Then they are collected, loaded onto large dump trucks (such as BelAZ) and taken to a processing plant. Iron will be mined from this rock.
Sometimes, if the ore is on the surface, then it is not necessary to undermine it at all. It is enough to split it into pieces in any other way, load it onto a dump truck and take it away.
Production
So now we understand what iron is made of. The rock is the raw material for its extraction. It is taken to a processing plant, loaded into a blast furnace and heated to a temperature of 1400-1500 degrees. This temperature must be maintained for a certain time. The iron contained in the rock melts and takes on a liquid form. Then it remains to be poured into special forms. The resulting slags are separated, and the iron itself is pure. Then the agglomerate is fed into the bunker bowls, where it is blown with air flow and cooled with water.
There is another way to obtain iron: the rock is crushed and fed to a special magnetic separator. Since iron has the ability to be magnetized, the minerals remain on the separator, and allwaste rock is washed out. Of course, in order to turn iron into a metal and give it a solid form, it must be alloyed with another component - carbon. Its share in the composition is very small, but it is thanks to it that the metal becomes high-strength.
It is worth noting that depending on the amount of carbon added to the composition, steel can be different. In particular, it can be more or less soft. There is, for example, special engineering steel, in the manufacture of which only 0.75% carbon and manganese are added to iron.
Now you know what iron is made of and how it is converted into steel. Of course, the methods are described very superficially, but they convey the essence. It must be remembered that iron is made from rock, from which steel can then be obtained.
Producers
Today, in different countries there are large deposits of iron ore, which are the basis for the production of world steel reserves. In particular, Russia and Brazil account for 18% of world steel production, Australia - 14%, Ukraine - 11%. The largest exporters are India, Brazil, Australia. Note that metal prices are constantly changing. So, in 2011 the cost of one ton of metal was 180 US dollars, and by 2016 the price was fixed at 35 US dollars per ton.
Conclusion
Now you know what iron (meaning metal) is made of and how it is produced. The use of this material is widespread throughout the world, and its significanceit is almost impossible to overestimate, as it is used in industrial and domestic industries. In addition, the economy of some countries is based on the production of metal and its subsequent export.
We looked at what the alloy consists of. Iron in its composition is mixed with carbon, and such a mixture is the basis for the manufacture of most known metals.
