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Optimization of Midrex Direct Reduced Iron Use in Ore‐Based Steelmaking
Author(s) -
Huitu Kaisa,
Helle Mikko,
Helle Hannu,
Kekkonen Marko,
Saxén Henrik
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
steel research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.603
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1869-344X
pISSN - 1611-3683
DOI - 10.1002/srin.201400091
Subject(s) - steelmaking , blast furnace , steel mill , pelletizing , raw material , beneficiary , pellets , iron ore , production (economics) , process engineering , process (computing) , engineering , process integration , environmental science , waste management , metallurgy , computer science , materials science , business , chemistry , organic chemistry , finance , economics , macroeconomics , operating system , composite material
Iron and steel industry contributes by more than 5% to the global anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, so new ways to reduce the emissions in this industrial sector must be found. In order to facilitate a transition to more sustainable production concepts, economic factors must be considered. The potential of using direct reduced iron from the Midrex process, based on shaft furnace technology, as a partial substitute of pellets in a blast furnace was studied in the paper. Mathematical models of the different operations in a steel plant, including the shaft furnace, form the basis of the model of the system, which was optimized by non‐linear programming with respect to costs. The main objective was to analyze the prerequisites for an economically feasible operation of a steel plant integrated with a direct reduction plant under different raw material prices and varying costs of CO 2 emission allowances. The results illustrate the conditions under which it would be beneficiary in a steel plant to integrate the shaft furnace in the operations. The implications of the integration on the overall CO 2 emissions of the plant are also discussed.