The present invention relates to method and apparatus for treating iron-contained raw material using bath smelting furnace. An iron-contained raw material is mixed with a reducing agent. The mixture is added into a bath smelting furnace. The enriched oxygen is blown into the bath. The smelt is conducted at a temperature of 1200-1600 C. Compared with the traditional process of sintering/pellet-blast furnace smelting or rotary furnace reduction-electrical furnace smelting separation, the present invention has the remarkable advantages of short process, strong raw material adaptability, high product quality, low energy consumption, low pollution, etc. The present invention provides a new technology direction for effectively and comprehensively utilizing the iron-contained resource and has a wide application prospect.

Method and apparatus for producing direct reduced iron (DRI) powder or molten iron from iron ore fines by mixing said iron ore fines with hydrogen and oxygen and igniting the mixture in a flame reactor with flame temperatures controlled to produce solid iron powder or molten iron.

Apparatus for supplying blast to a blast furnace (1) having a plurality of hot blast stoves (4, 5, 6), each stove including a cold blast inlet, a fuel inlet, an air supply inlet, a hot blast outlet, and a waste gas outlet; a waste heat recovery unit (30) connected to a fuel supply, the stove fuel inlet and the cold blast inlet. The stove waste gas outlets are connected to the cold blast inlets, whereby stove waste gas from one stove (5) is supplied, via the waste heat recovery unit, as cold blast to another stove (4).

A geothermally powered iron production subsystem includes using heat transfer fluid heated by a geothermal system with a wellbore extending from a surface into an underground magma reservoir. A hopper receives iron ore that is crushed and provided to a blast furnace, along with limestone and coke. The blast furnace is heated by a heat exchanger configured to receive the heat transfer fluid heated by the geothermal system to generate the heat provided to the blast furnace. One or more components of the iron production subsystem may also be powered by the heated heat transfer fluid.

A method for producing direct reduction iron includes reducing an iron oxide raw material by a reducing gas containing hydrogen gas to generate direct reduction iron; removing water from an exhaust gas in the reducing and thus hydrogen gas is separated from the exhaust gas; carbonizing and cooling the direct reduction iron using a cooling gas containing carbon as an element, and separating hydrogen gas and methane gas from an exhaust gas in the carbonizing and cooling, wherein the cooling gas is methane gas, wherein the reducing gas further contains the hydrogen gas separated in the removing and the hydrogen gas separated in the separating, and wherein the cooling gas further contains the methane gas separated in the separating.

A method for operating a blast furnace plant having a blast furnace and an ammonia reforming plant, the method including the steps of feeding a stream of ammonia to the ammonia reforming plant, cracking the stream of ammonia in the ammonia reforming plant to produce a reducing gas, feeding an iron oxide containing charge and the reducing gas into the blast furnace, and reducing iron oxide inside the blast furnace by reaction between the iron oxide containing charge and the reducing gas, where the reducing gas comprises less than 15% of ammonia.

A method for producing direct reduced metal material includes charging metal material to be reduced into a furnace space; evacuating an existing atmosphere from the furnace space so as to achieve an underpressure inside the furnace space; providing, in a main heating step, heat and hydrogen gas to 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 vapor to be formed; and condensing and collecting the water vapor in a condenser below the charged metal material. The providing of heat and hydrogen gas, and the condensing and collecting, are performed at least until a hydrogen atmosphere overpressure has been reached inside the furnace space, and so that no hydrogen gas is evacuated from the furnace space until the overpressure has been reached.

Reduction reactor and process of effecting reduction of iron ore material to reduced iron material. The process includes feeding iron ore material into a reduction reactor at a top portion thereof, creating a gravitational flow of the material in the reduction reactor from the top portion, axially downwards towards a bottom portion of the reduction reactor; feeding a heated reduction gas into the reduction reactor at the top portion of the reduction reactor, such that the reduction gas creates a co-current flow with the gravitational flow of the material in the reduction reactor; and by means of the reduction gas reducing the iron ore material to reduced iron material in the reduction reactor.

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.

Method for producing direct reduced metal material (142), comprising the steps: a) charging material into a closed furnace space (120); b) filling the furnace space with heated inert gas, heating the material; c) providing a reducing gas; d) providing heat so that metal oxides present in the material are reduced, in turn causing water vapour to be formed; e) condensing and collecting the water vapour a condenser (160); and f) evacuating remaining reducing gas from the furnace space. The method is characterised in that the reducing gas has a lower density than the inert gas at the same pressure, and in that, in step c), the reducing gas is provided while the inert gas is still present in the furnace space, whereby the provided reducing gas as a result pushes the inert gas downwards, until the material (is entirely contained in reducing gas. The invention also relates to a system.