The Blast Furnace
Leading a proud tradition of converting iron-bearing raw materials into a form that can easily be transformed into steel, Acme boasts of the consistency of optimum production of target quality. For the Blast Furnace Plant, success is dependent on the ability to produce and deliver, on time, a high quality product for clientele. To achieve this, promoting a safe and conducive work atmosphere is top priority.The Blast Furnace Plant, located off the Calumet River on the east side of Chicago, Illinois, is the core of the Acme Steel Company iron-making industry. Simply put, the basic materials necessary to make iron (ore, coke and limestone) are charged into the top of the furnace, heated air is blown in, and the resulting molten iron and slag are cast off at the bottom through a tap hole. The excess gas generated is carried off of the top of the furnace to be used as a fuel.
The Blast Furnace has sometimes been compared to an active volcano, with approximately 2000 uncontrollable chemical reactions taking place. The slag being flushed off even resembles the lava flow of a volcano.
Our Quality Policy
Customer Satisfaction and Continuous Improvement of Processes and Products is a Way of Life for Every Employee at the Acme Steel Company.
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Acme Metals Incorporated and all subsidiaries
will achieve the status of industry leaders
in providing maximum value to our
clients, shareholders, employees, suppliers and
to the communities which are home to our facilities.
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Acme Metals Incorporated and its subsidiaries
will achieve continuous improvement by being
an industry leader in all of our operations and
in the quality of the products and services we provide.
Our lead will be maintained through our
well-trained, informed, involved and committed employees.
About Acme Steel Company
The Acme Steel Company produces metallurgical and foundry coke from coal using destructive distillation. Coal is charged into individual ovens that are aligned together in a structure referred to as a battery. After a period of heating, coke is formed and subsequently pushed out of the oven. This ongoing process creates residual gases (coke oven gas) and emissions that are routed to a by-products plant. The by-products plant processes the coke oven gas using reactive processes to produce marketable by-products are formed. There are other secondary activities at the source that include coal/coke handling, storage tanks, and support operations. Once the metallurgical coke is manufactured, it is used at the blast furnace plant to manufacture molten iron which is transported to the Riverdale plant where it is further processed at the basic oxygen furnaces for the production of molten steel. The refined steel is than processed in the continuous caster and hot strip mill where it is finally coiled into the finished product.