Steelmaking process

A steelmaking process characterized by the economical utilization of increased proportions of solid sources of iron in a convertor into which an oxidizing gas selected from the group consisting of air, oxygen and mixtures thereof is blown into the convertor through the refractory lining of the convertor by means of tuyeres located in said lining, which process comprises:

• charging at least one solid source of iron selected from the group consisting of scrap, prereduced pellets of iron, sponge iron, pig iron and mixtures thereof into said convertor, so as to form a pile of said solid source of iron in said convertor;
• preheating said solid source of iron by blowing said oxidizing gas through tuyeres mounted in the lower region of the convertor and supplying carriers of carbon during this preheating phase and thereby burning said carrier of carbon with said oxidizing gas thereby forming hot gaseous combustion products, the relative proportions of said carrier of carbon and of said oxidizing gas being such that said hot products of combustion are essentially CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 O during said preheating;
• flowing said hot combustion products upwardly from the bottom of said pile of the solid sources of iron, thereby preheating said pile;
• and then melting said solid sources of iron while blowing said oxidizing gas through said tuyeres and said melt in proportions such that the composition of the exhaust gases becomes less oxidizing than the composition of the products of combustion produced during the preheating phase;
• and thereafter refining the melt in the same convertor by means of oxygen blown into said melt, through said tuyeres located in said lining while said tuyeres are protected with hydrocarbon in amounts sufficient to control tuyere burnback.