Read on to find out more about what steel is used for and how steel is weaved into our daily lives.

Surprise #1) Steel brings amusement to our lives!

Have you experienced the excitement of amusement parks and the thrill of roller coasters? Without steel, you would not be able to enjoy roller coasters!

Roller coasters go back to the 17^th century, but they first appeared in 1817 in Paris, France. It then spread to the U.S. in the 19^th century and by 1920, they became so popular that most amusement parks had more than one installed.

Due to the Depression and the rise of television, roller coasters temporarily lost interest. However, with the appearance of “steel coasters”, roller coasters regained the interest of consumers. Compared to roller coasters made of wood, steel roller coasters could be made higher, faster while also being more safer. As of January 2012, 94% of roller coasters (2,791) around the world are made of steel.

Surprise #2) Steel brings profound musical tunes to our ears!

Steel also allows us to hear wonderful melodies. The sound of the piano has a beautiful sound that can transport us to a heavenly state. Contrary to what you might have expected, pianos are constructed with steel – a material which you would not associate with delicate music, correct?

The strings (piano wire) found within piano are made of strong high carbon steel to maintain tension. To be produced, high carbon steel is heated above 900 degrees Celsius and then is dipped into a container with melted lead at temperatures between 430~520 degrees Celsius which is a process called patenting. The end product has high strength, high viscosity qualities which are fit for usage in springs as well.

Surprise #3) Steel keeps us alive!

Did you know that everyone has steel inside their bodies?

3g of iron is essential for our bodies to function. Though a minor quantity, without it, we cannot survive! About 60% is found in our blood, 30% is in our liver and spleen and the remaining 10% is found within myoglobin cells, cytochrome and other particles inside muscles and bone marrow.

Iron is necessary for the body’s red blood cell formation. When there is not enough red blood cells, this affects our energy levels so that we get tired easily.  60 to 80% of patients with anemia have iron deficiency, but the symptoms do vary.

In many cases, the symptoms of anemia are shortness of breath, face becomes pale, and signs of anorexia. Moreover, hair falls out, nails become weak, and skin becomes very dry. Iron certainly plays a very important role within our bodies so we should make sure we maintain it!

Other Facts about Steel that You Didn’t Know Before

Generally people assume that the steel industry is the representative industry that produces harmful pollutions as a byproduct due to the use of coal for steel production. However, when one takes into consideration the entire life cycle of raw material extraction and processing, steel actually produces the least emissions per unit among building materials.

Steel is the only building material that can last for over 100 years. In addition to the merit of long-term usage, 90% of it can be recycled again unlike other materials. One ton of steel can go through 40 rotations of the reproduction cycle so that the cumulative amount of usage is actually over 10 tons.

Steel is recognized not just for the manufacturing process but also as eco-friendly consumer products as well. Representative examples of this are the eco-friendly, high strength steel used for automotive steel sheets, galvanized steel sheets for automotive fuel tanks, chrome-free zinc-plated steel for home appliances and so on. High tension steel plates are thinner than regular steel plates, however, they are merited for making it possible to produce lighter cars. In addition, they can enhance fuel economy and reduce emissions and hazardous substances.

That’s not all! Japan and other major nations are looking towards the development of electric power transmissions and the component necessary for this to happen is electrical steel products. There is increasing demand for steel plates used for rotational machinery within motor units as the non-oriented electrical steels have excellent magnetic properties for efficiency.

Bright future for steel. There is no limit to the use of steel!

The necessity and importance of steel for society is increasing more and more. They say that steel already has a large influence on the things around us. They help make all things from needles to ships. However the boundaries are expanding even more! From housing and skyscrapers, to the numerous bridges and spires, steel is all around us. Steel is even found in our transportation that takes us from place to place as they are what makes up cars and subways too.

What was most surprising among the uses of steel that we introduced? Stay tuned for more stories on steel that we will write about here on POSCO’s blog!

Pictured here: Scene from one of POSCO’s steel plants

Steel is one of the most common and useful metals. But do you know how it is actually made? Let’s go behind the scenes of one of the world’s leading steelmakers, POSCO, to discover the process of how steel is made.

Pictured here: Gwangyang Works is a world leading works with optimal layout to specialize in the production of automotive steel

The 3 Step Steelmaking Processes

For easier understanding, steel is made through 3 different stages which are ironmaking, steelmaking and rolling (continuous casting processes).

1)      Ironmaking: a process of smelting iron ores into hot metal.

Iron ore and coal are gathered from all around the world and unloaded onto the raw materials dock.

Pictured here: Dock where iron ore and coal are gathered

For proper heat transfusion in the blast furnace, iron and coal must be solidified from their powder form. The process of solidifying iron and coal is called sintering and coking, respectively. The pretreated iron and coal are stacked into layers in a 100m tall blast furnace. Then hot air at 1,200 degrees Celsius is blown into the furnace, causing the coal to burn which melts iron ore into molten iron.

Pictured here: 100m tall blast furnace where iron ore melts into molten iron

 2)      Steelmaking: a process of removing impurities from hot metal to create crude steel.

The molten iron created in the blast furnace contains various impurities that diminish its strength and durability once it is hardened into steel. The molten iron from the blast furnace is transported into a torpedo car and poured into a converter furnace.

Pictured here: The molten iron from the blast furnace is transported into a torpedo car to be taken to a converter furnace

In the converter furnace, pure oxygen is added to burn off substances such as carbon, phosphorous and sulfur to create purified molten steel. At this point, the temperature and substance composition is precisely adjusted to customer’s various demands.

Pictured here: Molten iron being poured into a converter furnace to be purified

Pouring the molten steel into molds and cooling into solid creates a semi-finished material called slabs which are used to make finished steel products.

Pictured here: Molten steel being created into slabs

Solid steel is categorized based on shape. Slabs are wide and flat. Blooms are rectangular bars and billets are thinner, square bars.

3)      Rolling: a process of pressure forming crude steel into various finished products.

The final stage of the steelmaking process involves continuous casting where steel is forged into various steel products. Through the process of rolling, steel can be treated differently to be put to a variety of uses.

Pictured here: Slabs being passed between rollers to turn crude steel into finished products

What is steel used for?

POSCO steel products are used in every part of our daily lives ranging from buildings to smartphones to satellites in space.

The different types of products that can be created include:

1)      Hot-rolled products

2)      Cold-rolled products

3)      Coated Steel

4)      Electrical Steel Plates

5)      Steel Plates

6)      Wire Goods

7)      Stainless Steel

Read on to find out more about the steel products around us.

Hot-rolled products are made from slabs passed through rollers above 1,100 degrees Celsius. These are used for construction materials and pipes in various industries.

Cold-rolled products which are created by making hot rolled products thinner at room temperature are used in general appliances, barrels and automobile frames.

Coated steel which is created by coating cold rolled products with zinc are used in high end appliances, office equipment and automobile exteriors. 

Electrical steel plates are created by adding electrical properties are used in transformers and motors. 

Steel plates which are thick and rectangular in shape are used in large structures such as buildings, vessels and oil pipelines. 

Wired goods are created when billets are passed through a roll with a round hole and is used for automobile tire cords, wires for bridges, piano strings, underwater cables and more. 

When nickel and chrome are added to steel it produces stainless steel which are used in kitchen appliances, medical equipment, exterior walls and roofs of buildings. 

POSCO Ushers in Era of New, Eco-friendly Technologies 

Pictured here: Pohang Works, the root and heart of the Korean steel industry.

POSCO was the first in the world to use a more economical and eco-friendly method of steelmaking compared to a blast furnace. The FINEX method uses iron ore and coal in its original form, skipping the coking and sintering processes. 

Pohang Works is driving innovations in steel technology and leading in production of high quality products. It operates a state of the arts R&D center and production monitoring center that monitors production 24/7. 

In addition, there is an Environmental Center that monitors emissions of pollutants in real time. 

Click on the videos below to see the full steelmaking process at POSCO’s Gwangyang Works and Pohang Works, the root and heart of the Korean steel industry.