A process for producing direct reduced iron with a hydrogen rich gas, utilizing a non-fired reducing gas heater such as an electric heater to heat the reducing gas to the temperatures sufficient for iron reduction, includes: providing a shaft furnace to reduce iron oxide with the hydrogen rich reducing gas; removing steam and particulates from the shaft furnace top gas with a scrubber; processing all or a portion of the scrubbed top gas in a gas separation unit such as a membrane and a PSA gas separation unit to create a hydrogen rich stream to be recycled back to the shaft furnace as the reducing agent, so that the hydrogen consumption can be reduced when non-fired reducing gas heater is applied.

The present disclosure provides a facility to produce direct reduced iron, which makes it possible to perform reforming and reduction and adjust the carbon amount in a product within a wide range without requiring an externally heating reformer and without causing the metal dusting problem in a circulating gas preheater and the problem of sintering each other or fusion between reduced iron, in a furnace. The facility to produce the direct reduced iron according to the present invention is equipped with a water content control device for controlling the water content in a gas discharged from a shaft-type reduction furnace, a first gas mixing device for mixing the gas from which a portion of water has been removed with an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrocarbon-containing gas to produce a mixed gas, and an auto-thermal reformer for reforming the mixed gas with its energy. The facility is also equipped with a cooling gas loop for circulating a cooling gas, wherein the cooling gas has a hydrocarbon concentration of 50% or more, and the cooling gas loop is equipped with a cooling gas after-cooler having a flow rate control function and capable of controlling the temperature of the cooling gas.

Provided is a method for manufacturing reduced iron which includes the steps of: i) drying ores in an ore drier; ii) supplying the dried ores to at least one reduction reactor; iii) reducing the ores in the at least one reduction reactor and manufacturing reduced iron; iv) discharging exhaust gas by which the ores are reduced in the reduction reactor; v) branching the exhaust gas and providing the branched exhaust gas as ore feeding gas; and vi) exchanging heat between the exhaust gas and the ore feeding gas and transferring the sensible heat of the exhaust gas to the ore feeding gas. In the supplying the dried ores to the at least one reduction reactor, the dried ores are supplied to the at least one reduction reactor by using the ore feeding gas.

An apparatus for direct reduction of iron ore in a solid state including a pre-heating furnace for pre-heating iron ore fragments and biomass in briquettes of these materials to a temperature in the range of 400-900° C.; and a reduction assembly for briquettes from the pre-heating furnace. The reduction assembly includes a reaction chamber, a source of electromagnetic energy in the form of microwave energy, a wave guide for transferring microwave energy to the chamber for heating and reducing iron ore in briquettes from the pre-heating furnace, with biomass acting as a reductant, a source of an inert gas, pipework for supplying the inert gas to the chamber to maintain the chamber under anoxic conditions, and an outlet for discharging an offgas and any retained particulates that are generated in the chamber.

Method for producing direct reduced metal material, comprising the steps: a) charging metal material (142) to be reduced into a furnace space (120); b) providing heat and a reducing gas into the furnace space (120), so that heated reducing gas heats the charged metal material (142) to a temperature high enough so that metal oxides present in the charged metal material (142) are reduced, in turn causing water vapour to be formed; and c) condensing and collecting the water vapour formed in step c in a condenser (280); The method is characterised in that, in step a), the metal material (142) is charged onto a gas-permeable floor (151), in that the reducing gas is circulated in a closed loop upwards through said floor (151), through the charged metal material (142), and further via said condenser (280) and a gas forced circulation device (250), and in that the method further comprises the step d) supplying additional reducing gas to achieve and/or maintain a predetermined pressure in said furnace space (120). The invention also relates to a system.

Method and system for producing direct reduced metal material, comprising the steps: a) charging metal material to be reduced into a furnace space (120); b) evacuating an existing atmosphere from the furnace space to achieve a gas pressure of less than 1 bar therein, c) providing heat and hydrogen gas into the furnace space, so that heated hydrogen gas heats the charged metal material to a temperature high enough so that metal oxides present in the metal material are reduced, in turn causing water vapour to be formed, which hydrogen gas provision is performed so that a pressure of more than 1 bar builds up inside the furnace space; and d) before evacuating the built up overpressure, condensing and collecting the water vapour formed in step c in a condenser (160) below the charged metal material. The invention is characterised in that it further comprises the step e) before evacuating the build up overpressure, providing a carbon-containing gas to the furnace space, so that the heated and reduced metal material is carburized by said carbon-containing gas.

A method of recovering enriched iron fines from bauxite waste includes calcining particles of bauxite waste to form oxygen carrier particles, subjecting the oxygen carrier particles to chemical looping combustion at a temperature of about 950° C.-1,050° C. for energy production and to produce the enriched iron fines as a by-product from the oxygen carrier particles via natural attrition and collecting the enriched iron fines.

A method for direct reduction of metal oxide-containing starting materials to produce metallized material by contact with hot reduction gas in a reduction unit (1), wherein the product of the direct reduction is discharged from the reduction unit (1) by means of a product discharge device (3) which is flushed with seal gas and from which vent gas is drawn and subsequently de-dusted. The vent gas is de-dusted dry and the content of at least one gaseous constituent is reduced by catalytic conversion or combustion. Also, a device for carrying out the method is disclosed.

A reduced iron production method includes: a reduction-step of producing reduced iron by heating an agglomerate containing iron oxide and carbonaceous reducing agent to reduce the iron oxide and solidifying a product produced by melting the reduced iron; a first-magnetic-separation-step of separating, among granular metallic iron, first slag, and second slag containing more fine-granular metallic iron than the first slag that are contained in the product, at least the granular metallic iron from the first slag by use of a first magnetic separator to separate first slag containing substance and a granular metallic iron containing substance from each other; a second-magnetic-separation-step of separating the second slag from the first slag containing substance or the granular metallic iron containing substance by use of a second magnetic separator having attraction force different from attraction force of the first magnetic separator; and a crushing-step of crushing the second slag.

A method for producing a homogenous molten composition and a fluid product is disclosed. For example, the method includes producing a first molten metal composition in an enclosed volume, contacting a hydrocarbon reactant with the first molten metal composition, decomposing the hydrocarbon reactant into at least one fluid product and carbon, forming a metal alloy from a mixture of the carbon and the first molten metal composition, and separating a homogenous second molten composition from the metal alloy.