This method of deoxidization involves adding specific metals into the steel.  These metals will react with the unwanted oxygen, forming a strong oxide that, compared to pure oxygen, will reduce the steel's strength and qualities by a lesser amount.
The chemical equation for deoxidization is represented by:
where n and m are coefficients, D is the deoxidizing agent, and O is oxygen.
Thus, the chemical equilibrium equation involved is:
where a is the activity, or concentration, of the oxide in the steel,
a is the activity of the deoxidizing agent,
and a is the activity of the oxygen.
An increase in the equilibrium constant K will cause an increase in a, and thus more of the oxide product.
K can be manipulated by the steel temperature via the following equation:
where A and B are parameters specific to different deoxidizers and T is the temperature in K°.  Below are the values for certain deoxidizers at a temperature of 1873 K°.
Below is a list of commonly used metallic deoxidizers:
* Ferrosilicon, ferromanganese, calcium silicide - used in steelmaking in production of carbon steels, stainless steels, and other ferrous alloys
* Manganese - used in steelmaking
* Silicon carbide, calcium carbide - used as ladle deoxidizer in steel production
* Aluminum dross - also a ladle deoxidizer, used in secondary steelmaking
* Calcium - used as a deoxidizer, desulfurizer, or decarbonizer for ferrous and non-ferrous alloys
* Titanium - used as a deoxidizer for steels
* Phosphorus, copper(I) phosphide - used in production of oxygen-free copper
* Calcium hexaboride - used in production of oxygen-free copper, yields higher conductivity copper than phosphorus-deoxidized
* Yttrium - used to deoxidize vanadium and other non-ferrous metals
* Zirconium
* Magnesium
* Carbon
* Tungsten