Production of iron
AssigneeTechnological Resources Pty. Limited
InventorMichael Buckley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
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.
Claims5
An apparatus for direct reduction of iron ore in a solid state with biomass as a reductant, the apparatus including:
- a pre-heating furnace for pre-heating briquettes of iron ore fragments and biomass with the biomass being 20-45% of the total mass of the briquettes to a temperature in the range of 400-900° C.;
- and
- a reduction assembly for receiving pre-heated briquettes from the pre-heating furnace, the reduction assembly including:
- a reaction chamber for reducing iron ore under anoxic conditions,
- a source 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 entrained particulates that are generated in the chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.