Apparatus and method for producing reduced metal

An apparatus for producing a reduced metal comprising:

• a moving hearth reducing furnace for heating a raw material comprising an iron oxide component and a carbonaceous reducing component to form the reduced metal;
• a feeding section for feeding the raw material into the moving hearth reducing furnace;
• a metal discharge section for discharging the reduced metal from the moving hearth reducing furnace;
• a gas discharge section for discharging waste gas from the furnace, the gas discharge section being disposed in a reducing process between the moving hearth reducing furnace and the metal discharge section and downstream of a region in which the surface temperature of the raw material is 1,250° C. or less;
• a first regenerative burner as a heat source for the moving hearth reducing furnace, disposed in the first half stage of a reducing process or a region between the feeding section and the gas discharge section and in the region in which the surface temperature of the agglomerate is 1,250° C. or less;
• and
• a second regenerative burner as a heat source for the moving hearth reducing furnace, the second regenerative burner being disposed horizontally or slightly upwardly with respect to the hearth of the moving hearth reducing furnace, in the second half stage of a reducing process or a region between the gas discharge section and the metal discharge section so that a combustion gas is an oxidizing atmosphere and the raw material is surrounded by a reducing atmosphere.

An apparatus for producing reduced iron comprising

• a moving hearth reducing furnace for heating an raw material comprising an iron oxide component and a carbonaceous reducing component to form the reduced iron;
• the moving hearth reducing furnace comprising:
• a feeding section for feeding the raw material;
• an iron discharge section for discharging the reduced iron;
• a gas discharge section for discharging waste gas in the furnace, the gas discharge section being disposed in a reducing process between the feeding section and the iron discharge section;
• and
• a regenerative burner for heating the moving hearth reducing furnace.

A method for producing reduced iron comprising feeding and heating an raw material comprising an iron oxide component and a carbonaceous reducing component into a moving hearth reducing furnace, wherein

• waste gas in the furnace is discharged in the first half stage of a reducing process between feeding of the raw material and discharging of the reduced iron;
• the raw material is heated by a regenerative burner horizontally or slightly upwardly with respect to the hearth of the moving hearth reducing furnace at a upper portion of the moving hearth reducing furnace;
• the combustion gas of the regenerative burner is maintained at an oxidizing atmosphere so that the atmosphere in the vicinity of the regenerative burner is an oxidizing atmosphere;
• and
• the reducing gas generated from the raw material is burned while a reducing atmosphere to form the reduced iron surrounds the raw material.