Contributions of the group Steel industry

Slag plant

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 11 May 2026 06:39:39 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Slag processing plant at Scunthorpe steelworks with the Four Queens blast furnaces in the background.

Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) is a Swedish mining company. The company mines iron ore at Kiruna and at Malmberget in northern Sweden. The company was established in 1890, and has been 100% state-owned since the 1950s. In 1918 the company purchased the Francis Flower business in the UK which included the GBSS processing plant at Scunthorpe steelworks.

Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) is produced by quenching molten iron slag from a blast furnace in water or steam, to produce a glassy, granular product that is then dried and ground into a fine powder. It replaces up to 70% of the Portland Cement in concrete, and can significantly reduce CO2-emissions. Francis Flower produced GGBS in Scunthorpe on the grounds of British Steel upgrading their blast furnace slag. LKAB is also a significant supplier of highly upgraded iron ore products to British Steel, the first deliveries were made in the 1930’s. Francis Flower was the second largest supplier of GGBS in the UK.

British Steel

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 22:19:12 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Cooling tower and gasholder at Scunthorpe Steelworks.

Water

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 06:27:16 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Water tower at Scunthorpe steelworks.

Coke

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 07:32:56 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Appleby coke ovens at Scunthorpe steelworks. This battery comprised 66 Otto-Simon Carves ovens which were started in 1990. These were abandoned in 2023 leaving the works dependent on imported coke.

Luxembourg steel

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 06:53:32 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Disused building at the perimeter of the ArcelorMittal Steelworks at Differdange in Luxembourg. This works uses electric arc furnaces to produce beams, bars and heavy sections. It has a worldwide reputation for wide flange beams.

No.2 Ore Jetty

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 06:31:31 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Loading jetty for loading iron ore brought down to Whyalla from the opencast mines such as those at Iron Baron and Iron Knob. I am unsure whether this is stilll in use.

Scunthorpe steel

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 06:09:22 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Cooling plant and a Braithwaite modular water tank outside the Caster No.5 building at Scunthorpe steelworks.

The Braithwaite company dates back to 1884 under the name of Braithwaite and Kirk at Crown Bridge Works, West Bromwich. Today the business continues as part of the Rowecord Group. www.braithwaite.co.uk/

Cementation furnace

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 05:49:52 +0000

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This furnace was built in 1848 to produce steel by the cementation process by the local steel firm of Daniel Doncasters and Sons, a firm which had been established in Sheffield in 1778. By 1860 there were 250 cementation furnaces in Sheffield capable of producing 80,000 tons of blister steel and the large conical structures were a characteristic feature of the city's industrial landscape.

This example operated throughout World War II and a blackout cover was fitted to the furnace outlet as a precaution during air raids, this is still in place today (painted white). It ceased operation in 1951 and is now listed Grade II.

No.1 Hammer

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 20:49:44 +0000

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No.1 hammer at Wortley Forge incorporates a wooden spring beam. It is of the "Belly Helve" type where a cam lobe on the cam drum lifts the hammer, it must also bend the spring beam. On release, gravity and strain energy both contribute to the hammer blow. An enormous, oak drome beam holds the structure together and damps vibration which would shake the hammer apart. Drive is via a breast shot water wheel. It is seen here with a railway axle which was a major product of this forge at one time.

Slab Carrier

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 05:46:54 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Harsco operated Kress slab carrier at Scunthorpe steelworks. These vehicles can carry up to 90 tonnes of steel slabs and stack them without the use of cranes. Through the use of onboard high-lift hydraulic tongs, any slabs can be handled directly from any surface without need for pallets or cranes. The tongs also allow the carrier operator to split and sort slab piles with ease.

Whyalla furnace

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 06:20:01 +0000

tarboat has posted:

A view of the Whyalla blast furnace in South Australia, looking across the sinter plant.

The Whyalla Steelworks was operated by OneSteel and is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. It processes iron ore from the Middleback Range. Approximately 1.2 million tonnes of raw steel is produced in the steelworks each year, with about 65% of that transferred by rail to OneSteel's Market Mills as billets for further processing. The balance of the steel is then converted to finished products in the Whyalla Rolling Mill.

The works is now owned by the Liberty Steel division of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance and appears to be struggling. There is a recent article about the works here:

www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/03/its-been-seven-years-since-the-saviour-of-steel-arrived-in-whyalla-but-hopes-for-a-green-transition-are-fading

Torpedo traffic

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 06:42:38 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Hunslet Nos 7286 of 1972 numbered 75 and No.7285 of 1972 numbered 74 in the rail fleet at Scunthorpe Steelworks wait with torpedo wagons with the Queen Victoria blast furnace in the background.

Servicing point

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 06:11:46 +0000

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SY 1431 loiters at the servicing point during the last weeks of steam at the Baotou steelworks. This vast steelworks continued to rely on steam locomotives for slag tipping duties until the beginning of 2009.

Ironworks

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 06:14:03 +0000

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The former Meiderich works of ThyssenKrupp in Duisburg is now a focal point of the Lanschaftspark Duisburg-Nord. Public access to the blast furnaces and other structures provides a fascinating view of how iron was smelted here until closure in 1985. This view from funace No.5 looks down on what I believe to be part of the hot blast process although these towers look different from the Cowper stoves normally associated with the process.

Seraing

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 06:08:13 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Blast Furnace No.6 at the Arcelor Mittal steelworks in Seraing near Liège. Now demolished.

Cooling water

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 16:53:46 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Water tower and cooling units at Scunthorpe steelworks.

Extraction

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 06:04:28 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Dust extraction plant adjacent to the No.5 continuous caster building at Scunthorpe Steelworks.

Slab carriers

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:44:37 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Harsco Kress Tong steel slab carriers at Scunthorpe steelworks.

These vehicles can carry up to 90 tonnes of slabs and stack them without the use of cranes. Through the use of onboard high-lift hydraulic tongs, any slabs can be handled directly from any surface without need for pallets or cranes. The tongs also allow the carrier operator to split and sort slab piles with ease which is of great benefit in field storage yards.

Under the hammer

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 05:58:06 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Steam hammer in action in the forge at the 'Red by Night' event at the Black Country Living Museum.

Steelworks steam

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 19:38:06 +0000

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'Cranford' simmers with the brakevans outside the shed at Scunthorpe steelworks. This locomotive, works No.1919, was built by Avonside Engine Company in 1924 for the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. It spent the last few years of its working life at Cranford ironstone quarry in Northamptonshire. It was restored to service in 2016 by the Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society after moving to their steelworks base from Foxfield in 2010.