Development of a Moving-Bed Ironmaking Process for Direct Gaseous Reduction of Iron Ore Concentrate

Abstract

A novel horizontal moving-bed ironmaking process has been developed at the University of Utah. This process uses iron concentrate directly without sintering or pelletization and reduces it with hydrogen in the temperature range of 500–1000 °C. The work started with the determination of the particle kinetics, which was then combined with diffusional effects to analyze the reduction rate of a particle bed. Based on the kinetics formulation, a mathematical model of the furnace for the proposed technology was developed for a modest industrial ironmaking operation designed to produce iron at a rate of 0.1 Mtpy.