Process for producing sponge iron

Abstract

A process for producing sponge iron by directly reducing particulate, iron-oxide-containing material, wherein reducing gas that is formed from carbon carriers and an oxygen-containing gas in a melt-down gasifying zone is introduced into a reduction zone that contains the iron-oxide-containing material, characterized by the combination of the following characteristic features: (i) to the reduction zone, a reducing gas is fed which contains between iron-oxide-containing material 20 g and 100 g per Nm.sup.3 of a dust having a carbon content of between 30 mass % and 70 mass %; and (ii) the iron-oxide-containing material is exposed to the reducing gas for a time period that exceeds the period for a complete reduction. The process of the invention renders it possible to produce a sponge iron of elevated carbon content.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.