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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51904063), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Nos. N172503016, N172502005, and N172506011) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2018M640259).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Feng Li, Qing-jie Zhao, Jue Tang, Zheng-gen Liu, Jia-xin Wang & Sheng-kang Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Man-sheng Chu

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  1. Feng Li
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  2. Qing-jie Zhao
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  3. Man-sheng Chu
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  4. Jue Tang
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  5. Zheng-gen Liu
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  6. Jia-xin Wang
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  7. Sheng-kang Li
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Correspondence to Man-sheng Chu or Jue Tang.

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Li, F., Zhao, Qj., Chu, Ms. et al. Preparing high-purity iron by direct reduction‒smelting separation of ultra-high-grade iron concentrate. Int J Miner Metall Mater 27, 454–462 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1959-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1959-6

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