Application of Direct Reduced Iron in Electric Furnaces
key word:Direct reduction of iron, electric furnace, sponge iron
Source: internal company
Direct reduced iron is a high-quality raw material for smelting electric furnace steel, and its addition has an impact on the smelting time, energy consumption, steel yield, and residual elements in electric furnace steelmaking. Developing direct reduction of iron is beneficial for achieving energy conservation, emission reduction, green development, and the transformation and upgrading of the steel industry.
Direct Reduction of Iron (DRI) is a process in which iron ore or oxidized pellets undergo a reduction reaction using a reducing agent (coal or coal gas) below their melting temperature to remove oxygen from the iron ore, resulting in highly metallic iron containing products. The resulting DRI product is essentially very porous, hence also known as sponge iron. Due to its low content of harmful elements such as S, P, Cu, Zn, and high purity of iron, it is a pure iron material for smelting high-quality steel and special steel, as well as a major raw material for high-end casting, ferroalloys, powder metallurgy and other industries.
1. Types of direct reduction of iron
Direct reduction of iron is mainly divided into cold DRI, hot pressing block (HBI), and hot DRI
2. Advantages of direct reduction of iron
DRI can be used as a substitute for high-quality scrap steel to supplement the shortage of scrap steel.
Reduce impurity elements in steel and produce high-quality steel. Scrap steel, as a raw material for electric furnace steel, has significant fluctuations in chemical composition due to its different sources, making it difficult to control and posing challenges to electric furnace steelmaking operations. Meanwhile, the increasing proportion of non-metallic and non-ferrous metals in steel has led to a continuous decline in the quality of scrap steel. If a certain proportion of directly reduced iron is used in combination with scrap steel, it can not only increase and improve the composition of molten steel, but also enhance the physical properties of steel, thereby achieving the goal of producing high-quality steel.
Reduced iron products have low content of other metal elements except for iron, with S and P generally within 0.03%. They are a pure steelmaking raw material that does not require the addition of auxiliary materials to remove impurities, reducing steelmaking costs and shortening smelting time.
DRI has low harmful element content and high iron purity, which is conducive to achieving energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development.
