Abstract: A tuyere assembly and positioning method comprising mechanically separate or separable inner and outer tubes, the inner tube(s) being removeable and replaceable and the outer tube being extendable into a vessel and held in place by a flared end abutting the wall of a cavity through the vessel wall.

Abstract: A steel refining vessel having a defined relatively long and thin configuration, and a steel refining method, particularly suited for the refining of heats of steel weighing two tons or less while enabling excellent heat retention and gas-metal reactions during refining.

Abstract: A process for heating a molten material by injecting oxygen and a fuel into a molten bath of the material at a bath temperature above the spontaneous combustion temperature of the fuel, at least a portion of the fuel forming a shroud around the oxygen, and combusting the fuel to provide heat to the molten material. Where the molten material is impure copper the amount of oxygen and fuel injected may also be controlled to alternately oxidize and reduce the copper impurities and remove them from the bath. Solid material may be melted in the bath during any stage of heating or refining. In a preferred embodiment, a portion of the fuel forms a shroud around the oxygen during injection, and the oxygen forms a shroud around the remaining fuel.

Abstract: A steel refining vessel having a defined relatively long and thin configuration, and a steel refining method, particularly suited for the refining of heats of steel weighing two tons or less while enabling excellent heat retention and gas-metal reactions during refining.

Abstract: A steelmaking method which enables accurate prediction of the split of top-injected oxygen between that which reacts with the bath and that which reacts with carbon monoxide above the bath.