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2020 | Book

Raw Materials Read chapter Read first chapter

Operations and Basic Processes in Ironmaking

Authors: Prof. Dr. José Ignacio Verdeja González, Dr. Daniel Fernández González, Prof. Dr. Luis Felipe Verdeja González

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This textbook explores the production of pig iron, covering the first part of the steel production process, known as ironmaking. Divided into seven chapters, it discusses the following topics: raw materials for steel production (coking coal, iron ore, slag-forming agents and fluxes, scrap, ferroalloys and pre-reduced materials), the sintering process (used to prepare the burden for the blast furnace), the pelletizing process (used to agglomerate the fine iron ores), the production of coke (the main reductant in the ironmaking process), the production of iron by reduction with gas (an alternative to the blast furnace) and the production of pig iron in the blast furnace (which is used in more than 65% of steel production worldwide).

Specially conceived for graduate and undergraduate courses, this book is based on more than 30 years of teaching experience in courses for undergraduates, graduates (master and Ph.D.) and industry professionals (technicians). It explores the recent trends in the iron- and steelmaking process (which might used in the future production of steel), and features 55 worked exercises and real-world problems to complement of the theoretical sections of the text.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Raw Materials
Abstract
The iron and the steel have been fundamental for the development of our society, together with other metals. This importance is clearly described in this chapter by comparison with the other families of materials (ceramics, polymers, and composites). Steel is produced following one of the three main routes: the integrated iron and steel route (blast furnace + conversion + secondary metallurgy), the electric route (electric furnace + secondary metallurgy), and the Direct Reduction Iron (DRI), being the most important the integrated steel route. This first chapter is also focused on the study of the raw materials that are used in the production of the steel (iron ore, scrap or recycled steel, fluxes and slag-forming agents, ferroalloys, and the prereduced iron).
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 2. Sintering
Abstract
The sintering process can be defined as a thermal agglomeration process that is applied to a mixture of iron ore fines, recycled ironmaking products, fluxes, slag-forming agents, and solid fuel (coke) with the objective of obtaining a product with the suitable characteristics (thermal, mechanical, physical, and chemical) to be fed to the blast furnace. The sintering process is described in this chapter, where the main reactions are presented, as they indicate the different phases that can be found in a sintered product. Several of the indices that are used to define the quality of the sinter are described in this chapter: Tumbler index, Reduction Degradation Index (RDI), and reducibility test. The chapter is complemented with solved exercises and problems.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 3. Pelletizing
Abstract
Pelletizing is a process of the ironmaking industry used to agglomerate iron ore concentrates with a granulometry <150 µm and low concentration of impurities. In this process, the iron ore concentrate is mixed with water, bentonite, and hydrated lime and treated in a rotary disk to form green pellets. These green pellets are hardened in a furnace at temperatures of around 1200 °C. This chapter, complemented with solved exercises, will allow the reader to understand how to use the ternary diagrams.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 4. Ironmaking Coke
Abstract
The coke used in the ironmaking must guarantee a certain characteristics as a good resistance to compression at high temperature, an acceptable resistance to compression at room temperature, a suitable porosity to favor the kinetics of the Boudouard gasification reaction and a high resistance to abrasion and wear with the purpose of resisting the friction with the refractory lining, with the ferric charge and with the rest of the coke in the furnace. The materials entering the iron blast furnace consist of iron ore, the flux (limestone), the fuel (nearly always coke), and the air blown through the tuyeres, the ore and the flux without the fuel is sometimes termed the “burden”. In this chapter, we describe the main indices that represent the quality of the coke used in the blast furnace. Additionally, the technologies of coking are described in this chapter, and all the information is complemented with solved exercises.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 5. Production of Iron by Reduction with Gas
Abstract
Scrap or recycled steel is a basic material for the electric steelworks. The problem is the shortage of this material in certain regions of the world due to the construction of new electric steel plants and the simultaneous break down of blast furnaces. An alternative to produce high-quality synthetic scrap free of residual impurities is the installations of direct reduction. In this chapter, we describe the different process of direct reduction of iron ore: Midrex, HYL-III, Finmet, Fastmet, and Iron Carbide, and we complement this description with several solved exercises.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 6. Production of Iron in the Blast Furnace
Abstract
The Iron Age began when the humans, probably by chance, discovered iron sponge when they were heating iron ores that were easily reduced. From that moment, the technologies to produce iron/steel have been significantly developed. This way, nowadays, there are three routes: the utilization of Direct Reduction Iron, the electric furnace steel plant, and the integrated iron and steel route. This last one is the most important as it represents 65% of the steel produced worldwide and follows the sequence blast furnace–converter–secondary metallurgy to produce steel by means of continuous casting or conventional casting. The smelting reduction in the blast furnace is the most important option to produce the pig iron (raw material for the production of steel), although the Corex process is the single alternative, and, for that reason, this chapter is entirely dedicated to the production of pig iron in the blast furnace.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Chapter 7. Strengths and Uncertainties of the Iron Metallurgy
Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to the future perspectives of the iron metallurgy. The future distribution of the iron production within the different technologies described in previous chapters is analyzed considering different scenarios: the increase of the world population (that could be accompanied by an increase of primary steel production) and the stable production demand of primary steel (that could be affected by a possible increase of the recycling rates). The growth of the iron–steel demand will depend on several factors that are described in this section. The sustainable and environmentally friendly production of steel will arise as an important factor to increase the competitivity of the production of this important structural material. On the other side, there are several questions that might negatively affect the production of steel. The CO2 emissions are and are going to be a problem for the iron metallurgy in the next years.
José Ignacio Verdeja González, Daniel Fernández González, Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Operations and Basic Processes in Ironmaking
Authors
Prof. Dr. José Ignacio Verdeja González
Dr. Daniel Fernández González
Prof. Dr. Luis Felipe Verdeja González
Copyright Year
2020
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-54606-9
Print ISBN
978-3-030-54605-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54606-9

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