Direct reduction process and shaft furnace utilizing an extended flow diverter cone

A method for producing metallic direct reduced iron (DRI) from iron-containing pellets or lumps and reducing gas disposed in a shaft furnace, comprising:

• providing a circumferential outer wall defining a top interior reducing zone, a middle interior transition zone, and a bottom interior cooling zone, wherein the iron-containing pellets or lumps travel downwards through the top interior reducing zone, the middle interior transition zone, and the bottom interior cooling zone as the iron-containing pellets or lumps encounter the upward-flowing reducing gas and one or more other gases, wherein the top interior reducing zone is an area above bustle ports of the shaft furnace adapted to contain the iron-containing pellets or lumps during reduction, the bottom interior cooling zone is an area below a cooling gas offtake of the shaft furnace adapted to contain the iron-containing pellets or lumps after reduction during cooling, and the middle interior transition zone is an area between the bustle ports and the cooling gas offtake adapted to thermally isolate the bottom interior cooling zone from the top interior reducing zone;
• and
• providing a flow diverter disposed along a centerline of the circumferential outer wall comprising a convex-upwards upper tapering section disposed in the middle transition zone below the top reducing zone defined by the circumferential outer wall coupled to a convex-downwards lower tapering section disposed in the bottom cooling zone defined by the circumferential outer wall.