PERED DIRECT REDUCTION PROCESS

1. Brief description of the PERED Direct Reduction Process

There are several processes to derive Iron from Iron oxide without converting their physical form. The PERED

Direct Reduction Process is the latest

invention in this. The process has been invented & developed by the experts having rich experience in every field of Direct Reduction process which has ensured that all the flaws of other processes are ta!en care in this process & provides the optimum & efficient results to the buyer. The technology is patented at "ermany & Iran and process to obtain the patent for Europe is being carried out. The PERED

Direct Reduction Process converts iron oxides in the form of

pellets or lump ore to highly reduced product suitable for steel ma!ing. To accomplish this the reduction process utili#es a continuous flow of reducing gas to chemically extract oxygen from the iron oxide and to carburi#e the reduced product. The reduction process is carried out below the fusion temperature of the feed material. The reducing gas a mixture of hydrogen carbon monoxide and other components is produced in the reformer and introduced into the reduction furnace at controlled analysis and temperature. The reducing gas flows up the furnace heating the descending iron oxide to reduction

temperatures. The hydrogen and carbon monoxide extract the oxygen from the iron oxide yielding a highly reduced product. $utput from The PERED% Direct Reduction plants can be in any form vi#. &old DRI 'ot (ri)uetted Iron *'(I+ or combination of &old DRI , '(I 'ot DRI, 'ot (ri)uetted Iron *'(I+ or &old DRI,'ot DRI combination.

The most significant features of the PERED

Direct Reduction Process are-

. continuous system utili#ing an uninterrupted flow of reducing gases for the removal of oxygen from the iron oxide feed material and for carburi#ing the reduced iron/

0inimum fuel consumption by recycling the top gas from the shaft furnace into the process/ The specially designed gas reforming system which uses carbon dioxide and steam produced during the reduction of the iron oxide for the catalytic conversion of the natural gas without formation of soot. This obviates the necessity of an external source of oxygen for the partial oxidation of methane.

The speciality of PERED Reformer is the control of steam percentage which is produced from the waste heat from the flue gas. 0aximum heat recovery by preheating the main air natural gas and feed gas & production of steam through flue gas.

PERED

DR1plant is operating at wide range of reduction temperatures. The

reduction temperature employed depends on the type of oxide feed. The flexibility of the PERED

DR1process is further demonstrated by the fact that

variety of material can be used effectively & a range of desired degree of metalli#ation of product can be achieved to suit the re)uirements of steel ma!ing. The difference between the chemical analyses of the raw material and the metalli#ed material is related to the oxygen removal in proportion to the metalli#ing percentage and the formation of carbon. The shape of the oxide material is not changed during the reduction. The metalli#ed material is highly porous as oxygen is removed from the ore and tends to reoxidation. Therefore the hot metalli#ed material must be cooled before exposure to the atmosphere to prevent reoxidation before discharging the DRI to the storage bins.

2. Basic

!o" sheet of the PERED Direct Reduction Process

. simplified process flow diagram is shown on figure 2.

i# I

$. %a&or e'uip(ents of PERED DR p!ant

The two principal e)uipments of a PERED

DR1plant are the Reactor as a

shaft furnace in which the reduction process ta!es place and the "as Reformer for the production of the reducing gases.

$.1 )ertica! Shaft urnace

The shaft type metalli#ing furnace utili#es a continuous process flow at highest !nown efficiencies. 3ithin the furnace the pellets descend by gravity and will be metalli#ed by direct counter current contact with reducing gasses in the reduction #one. In the shaft furnace the iron oxide material is fed from charge hopper by gravity through a dynamic gas seal into distribution pipes which feed the material into the reduction furnace. The oxide distribution pipes are designed specially to deliver the material on the periphery & at centre thereby maintaining a uniform profile of material in the furnace & to increase the reduction #one volume. The feed rate to the charge hopper is controlled by the discharge rate of the product from the bottom of the furnace. The shaft furnace is divided in three #ones with separate gas system the upper #one for reduction transition #one for carburi#ing & In1situ reforming and the lower #one for cooling.

*+ Reduction ,one

The reduction #one in PERED reactor is specially designed to increase the efficiency to eliminate fines generation & to ta!e care of swelling of pellet during reduction process. The bustle ports installed in two levels at the bottom of the reduction #one are of special shape to have better penetration of gas to the burden & for better maintainability. The position of Top "as offta!e reduces fines carry over & improves height , diameter ratio. The reformed gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide at a controlled temperature and ratio is introduced into the descending burden through a series of ports arranged in two levels around the bottom periphery of the reduction #one. In PERED

process the composition & temperature of the

(ustle gas can be ad4usted independently if re)uired. The ascending gases heat the oxide material by counter flow contact up to the reduction temperature whereby '5 and &$ reacts with the iron oxide to form water vapour and &$5 and leave metallic iron in the product.

The basic reactions ta!ing place in the reduction #one are as follows-

..

Hematite reduced to magnetite 3Fe2O3 + CO 3Fe2O3 + H2 2Fe3O4 + CO2 2Fe3O4 + H2O

(.

Magnetite reduced to iron Wustite Fe3O4 + CO Fe3O4 + H2 3FeO + CO2 3FeO + H2O

&.

Wustite reduced to metallic iron Fe O + CO Fe O + H2 Fe + CO2 Fe + H2O

The carburi#ing potential of the reducing gas is controlled to achieve to a certain extent 6 the desired level of carbon in the reduced iron. The ma4ority

of carbon contained in PERED direct reduced iron is in the form of iron carbide *7e8&+ which favours subse)uent melting. The basic carburi#ing reactions ta!ing place are as followsD.

Metallic iron to Cementite 3Fe + 2CO 3Fe +CO + H2 3Fe + CH4 Fe3C + CO2 Fe3C + H2O Fe3C + 2H2

B+ Transition ,one
0aterial flowing thro the reduction #one passes into a transition #one prior to entering the cooling #one. This transition #one has sufficient height to isolate the reduction #one and cooling #one gas circuits from each other and to allow independent control. In PERED process the transition #one is utili#ed for Insitu reforming by in4ecting natural gas at higher and controlled flow rate. In 6situ reforming has several beneficial functions It carburi#es & cools the metallic iron It uses sensible heat in the metallic iron to heat and reform the natural gas into additional reducing gas thus increases productivity & overall energy consumption.

Elimination of water cooled burden feeder reduces fines generation drop in burden temperature & chances of cluster formation in this region . In this #one there is a specially designed easy flow device called 9&hina hat: to regulate uniform material flow inside the furnace.

C+ Coo!in# ,one
In PERED process the cooling gas is introduced circumferentially through a specially designed no##les in the lower part of the shaft furnace. This modified arrangement reduces cooling #one height and improves proper distribution of the gas along the burden which in turn improves efficiency of cooling #one.

.t the top of the cooling #one hot cooling gas is suc!ed through four off ta!e channels specially designed for uniform utili#ation of cooling #one and to reduce fines carryover. The hot gas from the furnace is then scrubbed compressed and recycled after conditioning with ;". PERED operates with very high cooling gas &' < content to optimi#e the cooling #one efficiency. The material flow at this #one is regularised by two series of burden feeders which rotates 8=> degree and can be controlled independently for speed direction and degree of rotation. These burden feeders are advantageous to regularise the material flow and during trouble shooting. The reduction furnace operates at moderate pressure with the reduction gas remaining within the furnace system by means of dynamic seals at both top and bottom of the reduction furnace. The raw material entering and the product discharged through the seal legs provide a resistance to gas flow. Inert seal gas generated during firing of the reformer is introduced at elevated pressure into the seal legs. ?mall volumes of inert gases are vented from the reduction furnace discharge and,or the furnace charge hopper. The DRI produced is discharged from the furnace bottom via a conveyor system into the storage bins for passivation before being consumed in the E.7 or sent to further storage for shipment. The hot dust laden top gas from furnace is sent to the top gas scrubber where it is cooled cleaned and its water vapour content reduced. @pon leaving the top gas scrubber the gas stream is split. .pproximately 5,8 of gas is used as process gas while the remaining 2,8 of the gas is utili#ed as combustion fuel to heat the reformer. @nli!e other processes the water content is minimised from the top gas in top gas scrubber. This in turn reduces the load on Process gas compressors as it has to circulate less process gas flow.

$.2 Refor(er
PERED Reformer generates reduction gases by reforming natural gas in presence of specially designed catalyst named 9PER7$R0EA:. The re)uired water content for reforming is achieved by adding steam which is produced from the waste heat of the flue gas from the reformer a controlled flow rate. The process gas is enriched with preheated natural gas and water in the form of steam to obtain the proper feed gas mixture for reforming. .fter enrichment this gas is called feed gas. The feed gas is then heated up to approximately BB>C& by waste process heat.

The preheated feed gas then flows through the reformer and is reformed in multiple heat1resisting alloy tubes containing specially designed flower type 9Performex: catalysts developed to reform methane with &$5 and '5$ with up to 2> ppm *vol.+ sulphur present in the feed gas according to the following fundamental chemical reactions2+ 5+

CH4 + CO2 CH4 + H2O

2CO + 2H2 CO + 3H2

The reformed gas analysis and the temperature of the reformer are automatically controlled. The PERED reformer produces reducing gases with higher '5,&$ ratio than 0IDREA reformer which provides a safe operation of reformer & furnace. The reformed gas temperature is ad4usted before entering the reduction furnace as per oxide mix ratio and oxygen availability. The reformer is fired by multiple burners using preheated air and burning a mixture of top gas fuel recycled from furnace top gas , spent gas and natural gas. The flue gas from the reformer is used to preheat combustion air feed gas and natural gas and generate steam in the heat recovery system thereby minimi#ing the energy consumption of the DR1Plant. The flue gas is exhausted to the atmosphere by a ID fan. . small portion of the reformer flue gas is cooled and is then compressed and used as inert gas throughout the DR1Plant at various points.

-. Sa!ient features of the PERED Direct Reduction Process.

0oderate operating pressure in reactor compared to 0IDREA & 'DE processes to improve the reaction rate and to !eep the process simplified. 'igher '5,&$ ratio to reduce the ris! of clustering inside the reactor furnace and safer operation of reformer. Top gas scrubber with single outlet composition with less moisture content reduce the load of process gas compressor. ?team generation from waste heat recovery to reduce the energy consumption & environmental impacts. ?eparate steam addition to control the ' 5,&$ ratio precisely and thus stabilise the reduction gas )uality and in turn the product )uality. ?afe reformer operation with high '5,&$ ratio.

?pecially designed Performex catalyst with improved efficiency to produce high )uality reducing gases. 'eat recovery system of high efficiency with inverted tube bundles. 0aximum heat recovery by preheating the main air natural gas and feed gas & production of steam from flue gas and thus Eow flue gas temperature to the atmosphere. Double bustle gas in4ection ports with provision for in4ecting reducing gases with two different composition and temperature. ?implified design of bustle port to have better flow pattern & easy maintenance. $xide distributor feed legs specially designed for uniform distribution of oxide particle si#e & increase the reduction #one volume. @ltra thin Tapered refractory construction in reactor to ta!e care of DRI swelling ?pecially designed top gas off ta!e to improve the efficiency of the furnace & to minimi#e the fines carryover. ;o water cooled burden feeders in F>> series plant. ?pecially designed rotating burden feeders which can be controlled independently for speed direction & degree of rotation to improve the flow pattern & to perform better as cluster brea!er in case of cluster formation in side the furnace. ?pecially designed china hat for uniform material flow inside the furnace. &ircumferential cooling gas in4ection to optimi#e the cooling #one efficiency. ?pecially designed cross shaped cooling gas off ta!e to optimi#e the cooling efficiency & to minimi#e the fines carryover. Eess furnace height. Eess capital operating & maintenance cost.