During the last three decades, there have been dramatic changes in the steel industry in terms of the quality of products, processing technology, energy efficiency, labor productivity and environmental protection. The once prominent role of the metals industry in national economies is declining in industrialized countries to the point where fewer research engineers are employed in the industry. The scope of this book is limited to selected topics within the field of Physical Chemistry of Iron and Steelmaking"that are relevant to reduction, refining and solidification steps in the steel industry. The authors, leaders in the field, have gathered the complex information regarding metallurgy in this collection to enable the next generation to take this branch of science, and the metals industry, to new heights. Graduate students and research engineers will find this book particularly useful, while practicing engineers, innovators and managers in technology developmentwill read and consult this book for inspiration and reference.

This book covers various metallurgical topics, viz. roasting of sulfide minerals, matte smelting, slag, reduction of oxides and reduction smelting, interfacial phenomena, steelmaking, secondary steelmaking, role of halides in extraction of metals, refining, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy. Each chapter is illustrated with appropriate examples of applications of the technique in extraction of some common, reactive, rare or refractory metal together with worked out problems explaining the principle of the operation.