Mini-Unit for Making Pig Iron in Liquid-Phase-Reduction Furnaces

Abstract

Processing oxidized iron-bearing materials (sludge, ore, concentrate, etc.) by the liquid-phase-reduction (LPR) process created by the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys is one of the most promising developments in the production of pig iron outside the blast furnace. The institute Stal'proekt has designed a conventional LPR furnace with a capacity of 300,000 tons of pig iron a year. The cost of building an LPR complex is 80–90 million U.S. dollars (with the unit cost of the pig iron being $280–300/ton). The length of time needed to recoup the capital investment is 3.5 yr for the processing of sludge and about 4.5 yr for the processing of ores and concentrates. Designers have developed an LPR mini-unit (annual capacity 50000–65000 tons of pig iron) which requires a unit capital investment of up to $250/ton pig. The time required to recover this investment is projected to be at most 3.5 yr.