Editors: | F. Kongoli, G.Brooks, P. Butterworth, M. Geerdes, Y. Gordon, M. Grant, L. Lu, D. Lu, K. Saito, H. Sohn, T. Usui. |
Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
Publication Year: | 2022 |
Pages: | 276 pages |
ISBN: | 978-1-989820-54-4(CD) |
ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
The HIsmelt ironmaking technology is operating successfully in China and its unique flexibility to smelt a wide range of raw materials offers several pathways to sustainable steelmaking. The HIsmelt technology was developed in Australia from 1990 to 2016 and has been owned and operated in China by Molong Petroleum Machinery Ltd since 2016. HIsmelt produces high quality liquid pig iron that can be used in electric arc furnaces (as hot metal or cold pigs) or oxygen steelmaking furnaces (as hot metal). The pathways to sustainable steelmaking include: (1) elimination of CO2 emissions via the injection of sustainable biomass and/or carbon capture and sequestration, (2) consumption of DRI produced via hydrogen reduction and/or biomass reduction, (3) consumption of local iron ore resources not suitable for use in blast furnaces or DRI furnaces, and (4) production of hydrogen via electrolysis using excess power from the waste gas. The HIsmelt plant currently operating in China has a 6m diameter hearth and produces approximately 600,000 tonnes per year of hot metal from directly shipped iron ore fines. The production from a 6m module could be increased to 1,500,000 tonnes per year of hot metal when smelting DRI. A larger module HIsmelt plant has been designed that could double the production of hot metal from a single vessel i.e. up to 3,000,000 tonnes per year of hot metal.