Method of providing fuel for an iron making process

An improvement to a molten iron making process comprising the steps of introducing petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;

• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• introducing ferrous material into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting petroleum coke, oxygen and reduced ferrous material in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier;
• combining said reduction gas with a side stream of cool reducing gas to form a cooled reduction gas;
• directing said cooled reduction gas to a reduction furnace which is operably connected to said melter gasifier and mixing said cooled reduction gas with iron ore in said reduction furnace to convert the iron ore to metallic sponge iron and to carbonize the sponge iron prior to discharging it to the melter gasifier for further processing.

An iron making process comprising the steps of introducing petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;

• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• introducing ferrous material into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting petroleum coke, oxygen and ferrous material in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier;
• combining said reduction gas with a side stream of cool reducing gas to form a cooled reduction gas;
• directing said cooled reduction gas to a reduction furnace which is operably connected to said melter gasifier, passing said cooled reduction gas upward through the iron ore in said reduction furnace to convert the iron ore to metallic sponge iron and to carbonize the sponge iron prior to discharging it to the melter gasifier for further processing and removing top gas from said reduction furnace for export.

An iron making process which substantially reduces slag formation comprising the steps of introducing petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;

• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• reducing ferrous material in a reduction furnace to sponge iron;
• introducing said sponge iron into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting petroleum coke, oxygen and sponge iron in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a substantially reduced slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke.

An improvement to a molten iron making process comprising the steps of introducing petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;

• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• introducing ferrous material into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting petroleum coke, oxygen and ferrous material in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce a reduction gas having a CO level of above about 70% and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• and flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier.

An improvement to a molten iron making process which substantially reduces slag formation and increases the contained carbon level in the iron comprising the steps of introducing petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;

• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• introducing ferrous material into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting petroleum coke, oxygen and ferrous material in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction having a CO level of above about 70% gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a reduced processed slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier;
• combining said reduction gas with a side stream of cool reducing gas to form a cooled reduction gas;
• directing said cooled reduction gas to a reduction furnace which is operably connected to said melter gasifier and mixing said cooled reduction gas with iron ore in said reduction furnace to convert the iron ore to metallic sponge iron and to carbonize the sponge iron with an increased carbon content of above 5% prior to discharging the sponge iron to the melter gasifier for further processing.

A method of refining crude oil and producing molten iron in an environmentally desirable manner comprising:

• forming petroleum products from crude oil in a refinery utilizing a delayed coke processing plant, said delayed coke processing plant producing a sponge petroleum coke residual including sulfur and heavy metal components;
• introducing the sponge petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;
• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting the sponge petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• introducing ferrous material into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting the sponge petroleum coke, oxygen and ferrous material in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier;
• and
• disposing of the sulfur-containing slag, said slag having a volume substantially less than slag produced when coal is utilized as a fuel.

A method of refining crude oil and producing molten iron in an environmentally desirable manner comprising:

• forming petroleum products from crude oil in a refinery utilizing a delayed coke processing plant, said delayed coke processing plant producing a petroleum coke residual including sulfur and heavy metal components;
• introducing the petroleum coke into a melter gasifier;
• blowing oxygen containing gas into said melter gasifier and combusting the petroleum coke to form at least a first fluidized bed of coke particles from said petroleum coke;
• reducing ferrous material in a reduction furnace to produce sponge iron;
• introducing sponge iron into said melter gasifier through an entry port in the upper portion thereof;
• reacting the petroleum coke, oxygen and sponge iron in said melter gasifier to combust the major portion of said petroleum coke to produce reduction gas and molten iron containing heavy metals freed from combustion of the petroleum coke and a slag containing sulfur freed from combustion of the petroleum coke;
• flowing reduction gas out of said melter gasifier;
• and
• disposing of the sulfur-containing slag, said slag having a volume substantially less than slag produced when coal is utilized as a fuel.