Russia's MPEI National Research University has introduced an innovative method to reduce the environmental impact and energy costs of steel production. The new technology uses a carbon-hydrogen mixture instead of coal and coke to recover iron from ores in the liquid phase. This makes the production process both more environmentally friendly and more economical.
Researchers at the university have designed a special reactor for the new method. Thanks to this reactor, iron can be continuously recovered using natural gas. One of the most remarkable aspects of the process is that no additional equipment is needed for the production of reducing gas and iron can be obtained directly from the metallurgical concentrate without the need for a cast iron stage.
Thanks to the developed method, the recovery time does not exceed 12 minutes. In addition, the single-stage, continuously operating system can reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of steel production by almost half.
MPEI Rector Nikolay Rogalev, commenting on the study, stated: “This technology will significantly reduce energy intensity, environmental emissions and costs in steel production. The fact that it is a single-stage and continuous process maximizes efficiency.”
The research was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Konstantin Stroganov, a faculty member of the Department of Innovative Technologies for High-Tech Industries at MPEI University. The project was funded under the title “Investigation of iron recovery process by carbon-hydrogen mixture for energy efficiency in steel production”.
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