The present document describes a smelting apparatus for smelting metallic ore. The smelting apparatus comprises a furnace having a continuous curved wall and end walls defining a longitudinal volume having a longitudinal axis in a horizontal direction. The continuous curved wall has a lowermost area. The longitudinal volume is divided in at least three longitudinal layers comprising a top layer within which gasified fuel is combusted for creating a hot gas composition at a temperature sufficient to release, from the metallic ore, at least molten metal and slag, a lowermost layer at the lowermost area for holding molten metal, and a mid-layer above the lowermost layer in which the slag accumulates. The present document also describes processes using the smelting apparatus for producing ferrous and non-ferrous minerals from a metallic ore.

A method of producing pig iron in a shaft furnace is provided. The shaft furnace is charged in an upper region with raw materials which fall within the shaft furnace under the influence of gravity. A portion of the raw materials is melted and/or partly reduced under the action of the atmosphere that exists within the shaft furnace. A hot gas stream which is introduced in a lower region of the shaft furnace flows through and influences the atmosphere that exists within the shaft furnace in terms of chemical composition and temperature. A cold gas stream is fed to a heat exchanger in which the cold gas stream is heated to a temperature higher than 700 C. to give a hot gas stream. The cold gas stream comprises a CO.sub.2 component of at least 5% by volume. The cold gas stream may contain, air and/or pure oxygen as residual component.

To provide a method for operating a blast furnace with which the combustion efficiency of a solid fuel, such as pulverized coal, is improved, thereby making it possible to improve productivity and reduce CO.sub.2 emissions. Pulverized coal and LNG are blown from an upstream lance configured by a double tube, and oxygen is blown from a downstream lance on the downstream side in a hot air blast direction, so that oxygen used for preceding combustion of the LNG is supplied from the downstream lance, and the pulverized coal whose temperature has been increased by the combustion of the LNG is combusted along with the supplied oxygen. When a direction perpendicular to the hot air blast direction is designated as 0, and a downstream direction and an upstream direction therefrom in the hot air blast direction are designated as positive and negative, respectively, a blowing direction of the oxygen from the downstream lance with respect to the blast direction ranges from 30 to +45, and a blowing position of the oxygen from the downstream lance with reference to a position at which the upstream lance is inserted into a blast pipe ranges from 160 to 200 in terms of a blast pipe circumferential direction angle.

The present invention relates to a method for pneumatically blowing a powdery substitute reducing agent in a dense flow process, by means of a transport gas, into a gasification reactor, or via a tuyere into a blast furnace. The substitute reducing agent is gasified in a gasification reaction. The transport gas comprises a fuel gas, the constituents of which or the oxidation constituents of which are at least partly involved in the gasification reaction.

An oxygen injection system for a direct reduction process, including: a common circumferential gas injection header adapted to be coupled to an oxygen source and an enrichment natural gas source and adapted to deliver oxygen from the oxygen source and enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to a reducing gas stream flowing through a conduit axially disposed within the common circumferential gas injection header through a plurality of circumferentially disposed ports to form a bustle gas stream; wherein the common circumferential gas injection header includes a circumferential oxygen injection header adapted to deliver the oxygen from the oxygen source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports and a circumferential enrichment natural gas injection header adapted to deliver the enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports.

A method for operating a blast furnace includes blowing pulverized coal and oxygen from an upstream lance configured by a double tube. LNG is blown from a downstream lance on the downstream side in a hot air blast direction, oxygen is supplied from the upstream lance, and the pulverized coal whose temperature has been increased by the combustion of the LNG is combusted along with the supplied oxygen or oxygen in an air blast. With respect to a direction perpendicular to the hot air blast and a downstream direction of the hot air blast, a blowing direction of the LNG from the downstream lance with respect to the blast direction ranges from 30 to +45. A blast pipe circumferential direction angle at a blowing position of the LNG from the downstream lance with respect to where the upstream lance is inserted into a blast pipe ranges from 160 to 200.

Provided is a raw material particle for production of agglomerate that can be used to produce an agglomerate with better reducing performance than conventional agglomerates. The raw material particle 1(2) of the present disclosure is a raw material particle for producing an agglomerate as a raw material for producing reduced iron, including a central part 11(21), and a peripheral part 12(22) that covers the periphery of the central part 11(21). The central part 11 has a metal iron-containing substance, the central part 12 has a volatile substance, and the peripheral part 12(22) has iron oxide.

A method for producing pig iron may use a blast furnace with a tuyere. Such a method may include: charging a first layer containing an iron ore material and a second layer containing coke alternately in the blast furnace; and reducing and melting the iron ore material in the charged first layer while injecting an auxiliary reductant into the blast furnace by hot air blown from the tuyere. An aggregate containing a reduced iron molded product obtained through compression molding of reduced iron may be blended into the first layer. The iron ore material may contain iron ore pellets as a principal material. An average basicity of the reduced iron molded product may be less than or equal to 0.5, and an average basicity of the iron ore pellets may be greater than or equal to 0.9.

A method for producing pig iron using a blast furnace containing a tuyere, including stacking a first layer including an iron ore material and a second layer including coke alternately in the blast furnace, charging the coke to a central portion of the blast furnace, and reducing and melting the iron ore material in the first layer while injecting an auxiliary reductant into the blast furnace by hot air blown from the tuyere. In the stacking, the charging of the coke is carried out once or a plurality of times during one charge of stacking a stacking unit composed of one of the first layer and one of the second layer, and a ratio R of a mass (ton/ch) of the coke accumulated in the central portion to a mass of the iron ore material charged in the one charge is greater than or equal to a predetermined value a.

A system and method of direct reduction of iron (DRI) is disclosed, having a reduction unit configured to reduce iron oxides to metallic iron; a process gas heater coupled to the reduction unit, the process gas heater configured to supply the reduction unit directly with a source of heated reducing gas, where the process gas heater is further configured to receive a synthetic combustion air stream for heating the reducing gas, the synthetic combustion air stream comprising a source of oxygen with essentially no nitrogen. A method of carbon dioxide emission reduction from a direct reduction of iron (DRI) process is also disclosed.