Preparing high-purity iron by direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate

Feng Li; Qing-jie Zhao; Man-sheng Chu; Jue Tang; Zheng-gen Liu; Jia-xin Wang; Sheng-kang Li

doi:10.1007/s12613-019-1959-6

Volume 27 Issue 4

Apr. 2020

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Article Navigation > International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials > 2020 > 27(4): 454-462

Feng Li, Qing-jie Zhao, Man-sheng Chu, Jue Tang, Zheng-gen Liu, Jia-xin Wang, and Sheng-kang Li, Preparing high-purity iron by direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 27(2020), No. 4, pp. 454-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1959-6

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Feng Li, Qing-jie Zhao, Man-sheng Chu, Jue Tang, Zheng-gen Liu, Jia-xin Wang, and Sheng-kang Li, Preparing high-purity iron by direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 27(2020), No. 4, pp. 454-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1959-6

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Research Article

Preparing high-purity iron by direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate

+ Author Affiliations

Corresponding authors:
Man-sheng Chu E-mail: chums@smm.neu.edu.cn

Jue Tang E-mail: tangj@smm.neu.edu.cn
Received: 27 June 2019; Revised: 25 November 2019; Accepted: 26 November 2019; Available online: 17 February 2020

Abstract

Abstract

A new process for preparing high-purity iron (HPI) was proposed, and it was investigated by laboratory experiments and pilot tests. The results show that under conditions of a reduced temperature of 1075°C, reduced time of 5 h, and CaO content of 2.5wt%, a DRI with a metallization rate of 96.5% was obtained through coal-based direct reduction of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate. Then, an HPI with a Fe purity of 99.95% and C, Si, Mn, and P contents as low as 0.0008wt%, 0.0006wt%, 0.0014wt%, and 0.0015wt%, respectively, was prepared by smelting separation of the DRI using a smelting temperature of 1625°C, smelting time of 45 min, and CaO content of 9.3wt%. The product of the pilot test with a scale of 0.01 Mt/a had a lower impurity content than the Chinese industry standard. An HPI with a Fe purity of 99.98wt% can be produced through the direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate at relatively low cost. The proposed process shows a promising prospect for application in the future.
- ultra-high-grade iron concentrate;
- high-purity iron;
- coal-based direct reduction;
- smelting separation;
- pilot test

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