Process Improvements for Direct Reduced Iron Melting in the Electric Arc Furnace with Emphasis on Slag Operation

Steelmaking based on direct reduced iron (DRI, and its compacted derivative hot briquetted iron, HBI) is an anticipated important global alternative to current steel production based on FeOx reduction in blast furnaces due to its lower specific CO2 emission. The majority of DRI is melted and refined...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProcesses Vol. 9; no. 2; p. 402
Main Authors Kirschen, Marcus, Hay, Thomas, Echterhof, Thomas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2021
Subjects
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Coal
Composition
Direct reduced iron
Electric arc furnaces
Energy
Furnaces
Hot briquetted iron
Iron
Iron and steel making
Iron compounds
Melting
Natural gas
Scrap
Scrap iron
Slag
Steel scrap
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Summary:Steelmaking based on direct reduced iron (DRI, and its compacted derivative hot briquetted iron, HBI) is an anticipated important global alternative to current steel production based on FeOx reduction in blast furnaces due to its lower specific CO2 emission. The majority of DRI is melted and refined in the electric arc furnace with different process conditions compared to the melting of steel scrap due to its raw material composition being rather different. We provide data and analysis of slag composition of DRI charges vs. steel scrap charges for 16 industrial electric arc furnaces (EAFs). Suggestions for optimized slag operation and resulting process improvements of DRI melting in the EAF are given. A dynamic mass and energy model of the DRI melting in the EAF is introduced to illustrate the implications of the adapted slag operation on the EAF process with DRI charges.
ISSN:2227-9717
2227-9717
DOI:10.3390/pr9020402