Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Alternative Iron Making Processes

By Mr. A Mthisi
 Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Learning Outcomes

 Evaluate alternative processes that can be used to produce

metallic iron

 Use mass balance calculations to determine top

gas volume

 Draw process flow diagrams for all the processes

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Limitations of Blast Furnace

 Use of expensive coke as a fuel source and

reducing agent

 High volume of top gas

 Sintering of fine ore

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Alternative Ironmaking Process

 Direct Reduced Iron

 Gas based processes (Midrex and HYL)
 Coal based process (Rotary kiln)

 Smelting Reduction
 Corex process
 Integrating DRI processes with melter-gasifier or
electric arc furnace
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Midrex Iron Making Process

 It is a gas based DRI producing process

 World wide proven commercial technology
 Raw materials flexibility (lumps, pellets or mixture of the
two)
 It is equipped CO2 reformer (eliminates steam system,
quenching of reformed gas and CO2 removal).

 The technology is made of gas generation system,

midrex shaft furnace, gas cleaning system and heat
recovery system.
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Midrex Technology
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Midrex Process Description

 Midrex shaft furnace operates on basis of counter-

current principle.

 The midrex shaft furnace operates at low pressure and

950 °C.
 This Midrex shaft furnace can reach at least 8000
hours a year of operation.
 The super Megamod midrex module can produce 2.7
million tons of DRI per year.

 The process of midrex consists of three stages namely:

 Reforming,
 Reduction
 Recovery and recycling
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Reforming in Midrex

 Purpose of reforming is to produce reducing gas

(H2 and CO)

 Common source for production of H2 and CO is

natural gas mainly containing CH4

 In reforming stage, natural gas is heated to 830 °C

in a CO2 reformer, a refractory-lined reactor
containing catalyst (Nickel).

 Sulphur and halogens in natural gas should

eliminated prior to reforming.

 Reforming Reaction

CH4 + CO2 = 2CO + 2H2

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Reforming in Midrex

 Off gas from the shaft is recycled and blended

with fresh natural gas to maximize efficiency

 The newly reformed gas, containing 90-92% H2 and

CO, is then fed hot into the shaft furnace.

 The ratio of H2 to CO in reformed gas should range

1.5 – 1.8.

 Apart from reforming of natural gas, there are

other reducing gas sources.
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Sources of Reducing Gas

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Reduction and Carburization in Midrex

 Occurs in Midrex Shaft Furnace

 The charge in fed on top of the furnace, where it

descends by gravity

 The descending charge comes into contact with

the ascending reducing gas which consist mainly
of CO and H2

 Reduction takes place leading to the production

of DRI

 Carburized products can also be produced in the

transition zone
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Indirect Reduction For Production of DRI

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Shaft Furnace
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Products of Midrex Process

 The produced DRI has:

 90 – 94% metallization, with low C (<1.5%) or high C (up to
4%).
 High carbon DRI is produced by adding natural gas during
cooling of DRI.

 CDRI – cold direct reduced iron

 HBI – hot briquatted iron
 Hot discharged DRI from the shaft furnace into a roller-
type press that molds the reduced material into dense
pillow-shaped briquattes
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Recovery and Recycling of Flue gas in Midrex

 The produced gas is mainly composed of:

 H2, CO, H2O and CO2

 The gas leaves the shaft furnace at 400 – 450 °C.

 Dust within the gas is removed in the gas scrubber.

 About 67% of gas is recycled back into the process

(Reforming stage).

 The remaining amount of gas is used as energy to pre-heat

the feed gas mixture and natural gas feed
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HYL III Process/Energiron

 It similar to Midrex process, however,

 HYL operates at 50 °C higher and high pressure (6 bars)
 producing Fe from high rich sulphur ores
 produce high electricity as a result of high pressure
steam produced.

 The design of HYL III (HYLSA) includes:

 gas generation system (reformer and quench boiler)
 HYL furnace
 gas cleaning system capable of handling S gases and
heat recovery system.
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HYL III (HYLSA) Technology

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Reforming in HYLSA

 Reforming is done by subjecting the natural gas to

steam at 830 °C reformer reactor.

 Steam Reforming Reaction

CH4 + H2O = CO + 3H2

The reformed gas contains H2 which is 4 times CO.

 Reformed gas is cooled down to 300 °C.

 Prior being fed into HYL furnace, reformed gas is

heated, it is mixed with the stream of recycled gas.
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Reduction and Carburization in HYLSA Reactor

 Iron ore charge is fed on top of a reactor, and it descends

by gravity.

 The reformed gas is fed in the middle.

 The iron ore charge is preheated and reformed gas is also

heated to 800 – 900 °C (Reduction gas heater).

 The descending charge comes into contact with the

ascending reducing gas.

 Reduction of iron ore by reducing gas occurs at

temperature at least 930 °C.
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Reduction and Carburization in HYLSA Reactor

 Reduction of iron ore.

 Carburization: occurs by circulating gas enriched
with CH4 and CO carburizes DRI.
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Products of HYLSA Process

 The produced DRI has:

 95% metallization, with C (1.5 – 4.5%).

 The produced DRI can either be CDRI or HBI

 Off gas: top gas leaving the reactor at about 450 °C and 5
bar is subjected to scrubbing to remove CO2 and SO2
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Coal based process (Rotary Kiln)

 Production of DRI via Rotary kiln:

 Economically
 Proven technology and widely used
 It can deal with most iron oxides including ilmenite

 Rotary kiln designs include: rotary kiln inclined, product

cooler, screens, magnetic separators and off-gas system.

 Production of DRI in Rotary is divided into two stages

 Pre-heating
 Reduction
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Production of DRI through DRI

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Raw Materials and Products

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Pre-heating in Rotary Kiln

 Preheating occurs at the upper zone

 At this zone, the temperature is about 900 – 1000 °C.

 Devitalization of hydrocarbons raise temperature

 Oxidation of C occurs

C + 0.5O2 = CO

 Calcination of flux occurs

CaCO3 = CaO + CO2

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Pre-heating in Rotary Kiln

 Pyrophoric reduction of iron oxide to wustite occurs

 The preheat is about 40-50% of the total length of a kiln

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Reduction in Rotary Kiln (Metallization zone)

 At this zone, the temperature is about 1000 – 1050 °C.

 Reduction of iron oxide (wustite) to metallic Fe occurs (DRI)

FeO + CO = Fe + CO2

 Start of Boudouard reactions

C + CO2 = CO

 Carbon starts to dissolve into Fe

 Materials spend less time compared to pre-heat zone

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Balance of Oxidising and Reducing Conditions in a

Kiln
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Product of Rotary Kiln

 The products (DRI and Char) are cooled and separated

 The DRI metallization is about 93%, with C (0.1 – 0.2%)

 Off gas: top gas leaving the RK can be used to boil water
into steam
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Operational Control of Rotary Kiln

 Residence time: optimum time is required for efficient

reduction. The speed of rotation and angle of inclination of
the reactor determine the residence time.

 Reduction temperature: controlled through injection of coal

and air.
 Additional fuel source also play a role
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Disadvantages of the Process of Rotary Kiln

 Low productivity

 Less control

 Low energy efficiency

 Fine product
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Smelting Reduction Process

 Corex process
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Charge

 Iron ore

 Coal (pulverized or briquettes)

 Limestone

 Pure oxygen
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Reactions

 Shaft Furnace

Reduction of iron ore

Decomposition of limestone
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Melter gasifier

 Coal Gasification

 Produced gas is composed of: 65-70% CO, 20-

25%H2 and 2-4% CO2

 Hot gas is cooled to 830 °C by mixing with cold

gas

 Final Reduction
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Melter gasifier

 Slag Formation

 Sulphur Removal
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Products

 Shaft Furnace

 Sponge Iron – 90% metallization and leaves the

furnace at 850oC

 Export Gas – It can be used for production of

further DRI, power generation and feedstock
for numerous applications in the chemical
industry

 Melter Gasifier

 Pig Iron – same quality as that of the blast

furnace
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 Slag

 Reducing gas – dust is removed from a gas

stream in a hot gas cyclone. It is then cooled to
around 800 – 900oC before fed into the shaft
furnace.
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Advantages

 Economical

 Low investment and operational costs due

to elimination of coking and sinter plants

 Low energy requirement due to gas

recycling

 Environmental

 Low emission rates

 Quality

 Pig iron quality suitable for all steel

applications
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Melter-Gasifier
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Materials

 Burden – DRI, calcined limestone, coal and oxygen

 The dome reactor is divided into three zones: a moving

bed, fluidized bed, and free board.
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Melter-Gasifier Zones

 Free board
 Burning of fine coal by secondary O2
 Devotalization and cracking of coal starts

 Fluidized bed
 The volatiles are completely combusted
 The particles start to move a fluidized manner
 The gas leave with pyrolysis product

 Moving bed
 DRI, calcined flux and coal
 Combustion of coal occurs at high rate
 The heat generated at this zone maintains the dome
temperature of 1000 – 1100 oC
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Production of Molten Iron

 Integrating DRI processes with electric arc furnace

 Uses electrical energy to produce molten iron

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Materials

 Burden – Iron ore, limestone and mixture of coke

and coal

 Reducing agent – Coke and coal (Up to 50% coke

breeze can be used – Coke particles less than ¾
inches in diameter)

 Flux - limestone
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Reduction

 Limited to direct reduction

 CO leaving the reduction smelting zone at 1200oC

can preheat the burden to about 500oC

 Indirect reduction is very slow at that temperature

leading to about 10 – 15% of oxygen to be
removed from the ore

 This corresponds to the top gas holding 10 – 15%

CO2
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Products

 Molten Iron – low quality as compared to the one

produced from the blast furnace

 Slag

 Top Gas

 Composed mainly of CO (80-85%), CO2 (10-

15%) and N2 (5%)

 Low gas volume – the gas can be cooled to

room temperature

 Recycling – Preheating and reduction

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Electricity Consumption

 2000 kWh/t of pig iron produced

 However, this value depends on the quality of iron

produced

 The electric energy requirements can be reduced

by recycling of the top gas

 This gas can be used to pre-heat and reduce the

charge

 It serves two purposes

 Reduce electrical energy necessary to heat
and smelt the burden
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 Brings the burden to a temperature where

indirect reduction can take place

 Pre-heating and reduction can be carried out in a

shaft or rotary kiln (fluidized bed reactors can also
be used)

 This brings down energy requirements to about

1000 kWh/t Fe
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Advantages

 Uses electricity as energy source

 Produces low gas volumes

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Exercise 1

Based on the previous mass balance problem,

calculate the top gas composition of EAF for
production of pig iron
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Exercise

 Draw a process flow sheets of a midrex, HYL III and

corex and show how the molten iron can be
produced.