Abstract:
An apparatus and process for the direct reduction of iron ore to steel or high grade iron and the recovery of heat therefrom wherein pulverized coal or other carbonaceous material and oxygen or air are introduced into the upper annular portion of a reactor in a direction tangential to an imaginary circle in the annular portion so as to create a reducing atmosphere of the proper composition and temperature. Pulverized iron ore, fluxing materials and any required additional coal and oxygen are then added, also tangentially, to the reactor at a lower elevation so as to be intimately mixed. The iron ore is reduced in suspension and the molten iron or steel is tapped from the bottom of the reactor. The gaseous products of the reduction reaction are withdrawn from the reactor up through a duct which extends down through the center of the reactor and then passed to a waste heat boiler in which sensible and chemical heat are recovered.