4 ms·
Is there a reason they can't smelt it from fresh ore and carbon?
by mikec3010 8y ago
Is there a reason they can't smelt it from fresh ore and carbon?
- patd 8y agoThe link explains that it’s due to the atmospheric air used in the process.
- CompelTechnic 8y agoThe process of creating steel requires heating it with coke in a large furnace. A large volume of atmospheric air is pumped into the furnace, and it is this atmospheric air that introduces the radioactive particles to the mix. There are vacuum furnaces that lack this atmospheric air, but their process is much more expensive.
- givinguflac 8y agoHeating it with Coke?
- georgyo 8y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- CompelTechnic 8y agoDelicious Coca-Cola (tm) </s>
- tzahola 8y agothe isotopes from the air would contaminate it.
- zamfi 8y ago> From 1856 until the mid 20th century, steel was produced in the Bessemer process where air was forced into Bessemer converters converting the pig iron into steel. By the mid-20th century, many steelworks had switched to the BOS process which uses pure oxygen instead of air. However as both processes use atmospheric gas, they are susceptible to contamination from airborne particulates. Present-day air carries radionuclides, such as cobalt-60, which are deposited into the steel giving it a weak radioactive signature. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel