Section through oxygen lance nozzle assembly as used in basic oxygen steelmaking, c. 1970

Basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) now accounts for most of the steel production in the UK., the remainder being produced essentially by electric arc furnaces.Steelmaking has undergone major developments aimed at cost reduction and quality improvements in cleanliness and compositional control.A major feature of modern BOS practice is the high degree of automation and process control achieved through the use of computers.