How steel is made
Narrator: Wang Zengya
Wang Zengya
Baosteel's first furnace director
I was born into a steel family, and my father was an old employee of the first factory in Shanghai Steel. After graduating from junior high school, at the age of 16, I was assigned to the First Steel Factory in Shanghai, which became the place where my steel dream began. When I first entered the factory, I was full of curiosity about everything, I didn't know how to ask, I wouldn't go to school, with this drilling force, I quickly stood out and became a qualified steelmaker in front of the furnace. At the age of 25, due to my outstanding business performance, I was sent to Albania to assist in the construction of the steel plant there. Until 1978, when I returned to my motherland, where I missed day and night, and was transferred to Baosteel as a backbone, I was secretly determined to become an excellent steelmaker in this modern steel mill.
However, the difficulties were far beyond my imagination. Although it is still a steelmaker, facing the same converter, but the requirements are completely different, in the past it was only 30 tons, and now it is a converter of 300 tons to be operated, and the difficulty of control has increased by several orders of magnitude; in the past, it was all manual operation, and now it is necessary to rely on computer control, to master this set of modern equipment, for a person who has not even seen a computer before, it is not easy to talk about.
The mountains are heavy and stand in front of me.
The first thing to break through is the cultural tuition barrier. At that time, Baosteel put forward requirements for young employees entering the factory: they must complete the mathematical, physical and chemical courses of high school within one year. This is a fantasy for me, who has not touched a textbook for more than ten years. Winter came to spring, and a year later, I handed over a satisfactory answer sheet with the first result in the class in the final exam.
The second level is computer operation. In China in 1982, most people hadn't seen a computer yet. However, Baosteel, which is determined to build the world's leading modern steel enterprise, has already been computer-controlled in the steelmaking process, and there are dozens of computer screens controlled by converters. This is undoubtedly a bigger challenge for me. In June of that year, I attended a six-month computer operation workshop, focusing on my studies 16 hours a day, even bringing textbooks with me for meals. During the study period, I received a notice to attend the Wusong District People's Congress, which lasted for one week. I found a co-worker who was studying with me, Tiwen County, and asked him to take detailed notes. For several nights in a row, I would rush to my home in Tiven County at about 7 o'clock, carefully copy the lecture notes, understand the learning points in the class, and digest them in time.
One night, lightning flashed and thundered, and heavy rain poured down. Even Tiwen county thought I would not go, but with a bolt of lightning, with an umbrella rolled up the hem of his pants, I stood in front of his house like a chicken in soup. In this way, I was at the top of the computer mock exam and stubbornly passed the second hurdle.
In early 1982, during my internship at Pangang, I found that the furnace foreman of Pangang was able to accurately determine the carbon content in steel based on the finish of the cooled steel sample mold. This is completely different from the method I knew in the past to judge the carbon content of molten steel from liquid steel samples. In order to master the skills of improving the accuracy of visual measurement and estimation of carbon in steel samples as soon as possible, I humbly asked the furnace for advice, borrowed a lot of information, and went into the dormitory after work to study carefully. After more than two months, I finally mastered this technique. At the end of the internship period, I achieved excellent results in the continuous assessment of more than 20 furnace steels without errors, and I was ecstatic at that moment.
At the beginning of 1983, during the training of Angang Steel, in order to improve the hit rate of a successful blowing, I always went to work in advance, postponed the work, carefully observed the operation of the angang furnace foreman and the changes in the furnace, and collected a large amount of first-hand information. Other teams smelt alloy steel, in order to understand the smelting data, I took the initiative to stay overtime, observe the smelting situation, and record the original data intact. In order not to miss every data, I often did not leave the furnace until the end of the steel smelting at mealtime. It was early spring in the northeast, it was warm and cold at first, and by the time I went to dinner, the meal was already cold. During the 4-month internship, I ranked first in the total score of several should-know exams, and I operated 28 times independently, and the hit rate of steel grade components reached 100%.
In 1984, I was given the opportunity to intern at Nippon Steel in Japan. This is a dream opportunity that I cherish. In the basic theoretical courses, I always prepare in advance and use notes to write down difficult problems. After a few classes, I won the recognition of the Japanese instructor, who said: This silent Chinese student is not ordinary, and he will definitely become an excellent furnace director.
The Japanese instructor was right, and after two months, I was able to master the control skills of computer smelting. I independently commanded the operation of 32 furnaces of molten steel, the furnace is qualified, and I became the first furnace director of Baosteel Steel Mill to train independent operation in Japan.
In this way, after multiple tests, I developed excellent skills and became the first generation of furnace directors of Baosteel's modern large-scale converter.
September 15, 1985 Bao 1 blast furnace ignition
Baosteel No. 1 blast furnace ignition commemorative seal
On the afternoon of September 18, 1985, the 300-ton converter of Baosteel Steelmaking Plant ushered in the key moment of thermal load testing, which was the first time that Baosteel carried out molten steel smelting.
In the rotary furnace control room with a few clear windows, I was entrusted with the responsibility of serving as the director of the first furnace, and I suppressed the excitement in my heart and calmly and calmly controlled the equipment in my hand. Next to me were Japanese guidance experts and colleagues in front of the furnace, followed by the leaders of relevant ministries and commissions of the state, Baosteel General Plant, and steelmaking plants. Everyone held their breath and waited for the historic moment when the first furnace of molten steel spewed out.
At 14:00, the whistle sounded, and the 430-ton traffic suspended a can of hot water molten iron, stopping steadily in front of the converter. I saw the huge molten iron bale slowly approaching the converter, and at the same time, the converter was slowly tilted under the control of the shaker. When the converter mouth and the molten iron bale are in close contact, the two operate synchronously, and more than 200 tons of desulfurized molten iron in the molten iron bale are slowly injected into the converter.
"Start blowing!" As the converter returned to normal, I carefully monitored all this, and pressed the operation button while issuing the command in time. The two five- or six-meter-high dust-proof partitions in front of the furnace slowly closed, and an oxygen gun was lowered from the top of the furnace and inserted directly into the hearth. At the mouth of China's first 300-ton large converter, the flames were churning outwards under the blowing of the oxygen gun, and were instantly absorbed by the huge suction of the top cover. "Flutter, flutter..." The rhythm of the flame rolling was like the rhythm of the hearts of everyone present, nervous, excited, and full of expectation...
After about 20 minutes, before the blowing is over, a coolant needs to be added, which is a means of controlling the furnace temperature. For the first smelting, Japanese experts determined that 7 tons of iron ore needed to be added in two installments according to various parameters.
The first batch, 4 tons of ore poured into the furnace. Just as the second batch of 3 tons of ore was about to be added to the furnace, I suddenly waved my hand and said, "Slowly." ”
In the operating room, many eyes looked at me in unison. I said without haste: "According to the analysis of the furnace condition, I think that it cannot be added more, otherwise, the furnace temperature will be low." Pointing to the computer screen, I whispered my views with Japanese experts. After a brief discussion, the skeptical Japanese expert's brow gradually stretched, and he decided to listen to my advice.
"Temperature sampling." I gave a new command and pressed the button of the secondary gun.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the computer monitor, and the temperature came. The 1652-degree molten steel end temperature is exactly within the specified temperature range. After 5 minutes, the results of the molten steel sample analysis in the laboratory also came out, and the composition was completely consistent.
Suddenly, warm applause and cheers broke out in the quiet operation room - with the joint efforts of me and my colleagues, Baosteel's first furnace of molten steel was successfully smelted at one time!
Source: District Library
Editor: Huang Lujie