Steelmaking - Wikipedia
Basic oxygen. Basic oxygen steelmaking is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich pig iron is melted and converted into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron converts some of the carbon in the iron into CO − and CO 2, turning it into steel. Refractories—calcium oxide and magnesium oxide—line the smelting vessel to withstand the high temperature and corrosive nature ...