Oxygen steelmaking

Claim 1

A METHOD OF OPERATING A TOP BLOWN BASIC OXYGEN CONVERTER WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: CHARGING SAID CONVERTER WITH RAW MATERIALS, INCLUDING MOLTEN METAL AND SOLID SCRAP; INSERTING INTO THE CONVERTER A COMBINED INDUCTION PLASMA TORCH AND OXYGEN LANCE DEVICE, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING ELONGATED TUBULAR MEANS, A HIGH FREQUENCY INDUCTION COIL DISPOSED AROUND THE LOWER END PORTION OF SAID TUBULAR MEANS, AND VALVE-CONTROLLED MEANS AT THE UPPER END PORTION OF SAID TUBULAR MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A PLASMA-FORMING GAS TO SAID TUBULAR MEANS WHEN THE DEVICE IS USED AS A PLASMA TORCH AND FOR SUPPLYING OXYGEN THERETO WHEN THE DEVICE IS USED AS AN OXYGEN LANCE; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER TO SAID COIL, SUPPLYING A PLASMA-FORMING GAS TO SAID TUBULAR MEANS, AND INITIATING OPERATIONS OF SAID DEVICE AS A PLASMA TORCH; CONTINUING SAID OPERATION FOR A TIME SUFFICIENT TO MELT SAID SCRAP; AND THEREAFTER DISCONTINUING THE POWER SUPPLY TO SAID COIL AND INTRODUCING OXYGEN THROUGH SAID TUBULAR MEANS SO AS TO OPERATE SAID DEVICE AS AN OXYGEN LANCE FOR REFINING THE MOLTEN METAL.