FINEX

Abstract: Section 43 provides an updated literature review and discussion of the many metallurgical processes that have been modelled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Following a brief introduction to CFD techniques, their application to flows in Iron Blast Furnaces and to the design of these impressive reactors, and to others, such as COREX, FINEX, and HIsarna, are presented These latter reactors are succeeding in by-passing the coke production step needed for the blast furnace route CFD applications in Basic Oxygen Furnaces and in its off-gas management are next reviewed, followed by flows in ladles, in tundishes, and in continuous casting moulds It is concluded that the advent of CFD and ever increasing computing “power” has created a revolution in the field of liquid metal processing, and that this will lead to better processes, and to better quality products

Abstract: The rapid development of gas-based (Midrex, HYL, ENERGIRON) and coal-based (DRyIron, Iron Dynamics, Fastmet, Fastmelt, Itmk3) technologies for the direct production of iron and blast-furnace-less iron metallurgy (COREX, FINEX, Hismelt, ROMELT) in the second half of the 20th Century failed to lessen the dominant role of blast-furnace smelting in extractive iron metallurgy. The blast furnace is expected to maintain this dominance in the 21st Century based on its popularity, economic benefits, and energy advantages. Direct ironmaking technologies that produce a solid metallized product which can be used to make pig iron and steel are also not true alternatives to blast-furnace smelting, but they can play an important role as sources of a clean metallic charge material for electric steelmaking or as processes which can recycle iron-bearing waste products at integrated metallurgical plants. Commercial processes in iron metallurgy that do not employ a blast furnace are inferior to blast-furnace smelting in terms of productivity, the amount of energy consumed, and technical and technological reliability.

Abstract: The blast furnace is the most important process for the production of hot metal. An integral part of this process route is the coking of coal and sintering of fine ore. The FINEX®-process is a new technology for hot metal production which uses untreated fine ores and coal instead of sinter and coke. This paper deals with the investigation of integration concepts of the blast furnace and FINEX®. Low reduced iron (LRI) and/or reducing gas are/is produced in FINEX® and are/is considered as substitute/s of burden and fuel in the blast furnace, respectively. In the article the overall fuel demand and CO2 emissions for the integration of the blast furnace and FINEX® are shown. For that reason two case studies for the integration are carried out and compared with the base case, that is, the two-independent processes. The CO2 emissions are calculated considering the fuel and electric power consumption of the different cases.