Integration of DR plant and electric DRI melting furnace for producing high performance iron
AssigneeMidrex Technologies, Inc.
InventorsTodd Michael Astoria, Haruyasu Michishita
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A direct reduction process comprises providing a shaft furnace of a direct reduction plant to reduce iron oxide with reducing gas; providing a direct reduced iron melting furnace; and coupling a discharge chute between a discharge exit of the direct reduced shaft furnace and an inlet of the direct reduced iron melting furnace; wherein direct reduced iron and the reducing gas from the shaft furnace flow through the discharge chute and the reducing gas controls the melting furnace atmosphere to reducing environment.
Claims23
A direct reduction process comprising:
- providing a shaft furnace of a direct reduction plant to reduce iron oxide with reducing gas;
- providing a direct reduced iron melting furnace;
- coupling a discharge chute between a discharge exit of the direct reduced shaft furnace and an inlet of the direct reduced iron melting furnace;
- wherein direct reduced iron and the reducing gas from the shaft furnace flow through the discharge chute directly to the directed reduced iron melting furnace and the reducing gas controls the melting furnace atmosphere to reducing environment;
- and
- providing an interconnecting duct between the direct reduced iron melting furnace and the shaft furnace to recycle all offgas from the melting furnace directly to at least one of the shaft furnace and a top scrubber of the direct reduction plant, wherein the melting furnace is an electric arc furnace or a submerged arc furnace.
A direct reduction system comprising:
- a shaft furnace of a direct reduction plant configured to reduce iron oxide with reducing gas;
- a direct reduced iron melting furnace;
- a discharge chute coupled between a discharge exit of the direct reduced iron shaft furnace and an inlet of the direct reduced iron melting furnace;
- wherein the direct reduced iron and the reducing gas from the shaft furnace is configured to flow through the discharge chute directly to the direct reduced iron melting furnace and the reducing gas controls the direct reduced iron melting furnace atmosphere to reducing environment;
- and
- an interconnecting duct between the direct reduced iron melting furnace and the shaft furnace configured to recycle all offgas from the melting furnace directly to at least one of the shaft furnace and a top scrubber of the direct reduction plant, wherein the melting furnace is an electric arc furnace or a submerged arc furnace.
A process to produce high performance iron including cast iron or hot metal with a direct reduction plant integrated with a direct reduced iron melting furnace comprising:
- charging direct reduced iron directly from the shaft furnace to the direct reduced iron melting furnace through an interconnecting chute;
- controlling the melting furnace atmosphere to reducing environment by introducing reducing gas from the shaft furnace to the direct reduced iron melting furnace through the interconnecting chute directly to the direct reduced iron melting furnace;
- and
- recycling all offgas from the direct reduced iron melting furnace directly to at least one of the shaft furnace and a top scrubber of the direct reduction plant through the interconnecting duct between the direct reduced iron melting furnace and the shaft furnace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.