4.4 Article

Making Iron Directly From Concentrate by Gaseous Reduction

Journal

MINING METALLURGY & EXPLORATION
Volume -, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s42461-023-00766-6

Keywords

Flash ironmaking technology (FIT); Moving-bed ironmaking; Concentrate; Energy consumption; Carbon dioxide; Hydrogen; Magnetite; Natural gas; Reduction kinetics; Interparticle diffusion; Sohn's Law; Laminar-flow reactor; Pilot plant; Burner; Flash Reactor; Human machine interface (HMI); Computational fluid dynamics (CFD); Reactor design

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This article introduces two new processes developed at the University of Utah for direct iron production using concentrate-size raw materials without pelletizing or sintering, especially without the use of coke. These processes can take advantage of the high reactivity of concentrate particles to significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to current processes.
Considering the two most important issues the ironmaking industry faces today, i.e., energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, it would be advantageous to utilize the concentrate-size raw materials directly without pelletizing or sintering, especially without the use of coke. This plenary lecture describes two such processes developed at the University of Utah. One is the Flash Ironmaking Technology (FIT) and the other is a moving-bed process for continuous ironmaking with gaseous reduction of iron ore concentrate (MBIT). These technologies are designed to produce iron directly from iron concentrate without requiring pelletization/sintering and cokemaking in two significantly different temperature ranges. They take advantage of the high reactivity of the concentrate particles and will considerably reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared with the current processes. The process of the development from the conception of the idea, to kinetic feasibility establishment, to laboratory flash furnace, and finally to the operation of a prototype facility for the development of the FIT is discussed. The development of the MBIT also started with the formulation of the process concept, followed by kinetics feasibility establishment, and the design of a potential industrial reactor. The results of economic analyses on the FIT are briefly described.

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