2.3. DIPPRHUAR*, HAA, BARCZA™*, R.T. JonES** Professor, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, (0002, Republic of South Africa 4 Director, Pyrosetallurgy Diviston, Council for Mineral Technology, Private Bag X3015, Randburg, 2125, Republic of South Africa. net Engineet, Comcil for Mineral Technology, Randburg, Republic of South Afric smorsis The Process route in which direct-reduced iron (ORI) ie pre-reduced in a rotary kiln and subse~ quently melted dn an electric-arc furnace is Sintlar to that used by one producer for ferro- alloy production in South Africa, and the econom fe evaluation of this process is consequently of Great inportence to both steelmaking and ferro- lloy production. Thie paper describes the rele- Vent reduction kinetics of the henatite used in Fotary Kiln, together with an experimental tech- Bigue for the simulation of the energy require ents of an electric-sre furnace, The interrela~ thonship of the energy requirements in the elec trle-are furnace and the degree of pre-reduction of the DRI feed, as predicted by uass and energy balances, are analysed. Tt te shown that the production capacity of this type of plant can be [nereased by about $6 per cent if the degree of metellization of the product DRI 1s decreased by one 15 per cent and the opecific pover require ent of the electric-are furnace 1s increased by about 12 per cent. [TNTRODUCTION Various direct reduction proc Introduced by the South African metallurgical Aodustry in recent years, A Krupp rotary kiln for the production of directly reduced tron (D8I) was inetalled in 1974 at Dunsvart Iron and Steel Worke Ltd and this kiln 4s still producing highly Fedueed DRI as feedstock for electric-are furn Cee. The Highveld Steel ond Vanadiue Corporation Led utilizes a modified Lurgi rotary kiln for the pre-reduetion of vanadiue-bearing titantfe- Yous sagnetite. That application of « rotery kiln {e of special interest’ in the present context, because the iron ore ie only partially reduced, fend the degree of reduction, expressed as the percentage Tesoval of woles of oxygen, is typi- Cally lees than 60 per cent. Pre-reduction of the ore de carried out mainly so that less elec trical energy will be needed in @ subsequent atep of the process, namely the seperation of in which titentum oxide into a slag phase, from the Vanadium bearing molten tron in a submerged-arc furnace. In 1985, the Iron and Steel Corporation of South Aérica Clecor) dnatalled rotary kilns that vere fo be used in combination with ultra-high-pover electric-arc furnaces at their Vanderbij1park works, At the tine of ite installation, this Fotary kiln plant vas reported to be the largest coal-besed DRI plant in operation in the world fand the firet ingtallation of its kind in « fully {tegrated steelvorks using blast furnaces and the Linz-Donavitz (LD) process for steel king(), The rotary kiln plant is based on the Lurgi rotary Kiln process, and the reduction unit consists of four rotery Kilns of 4,8 = Gianeter and 80 = length, which together can produce 720 ke of DRI annually. The iron ore 1s Supplied by Tecor's mine at Sishen and 1s normal~ fy reduced to more than 90 per cent metallic iron. The product DRI is fed to electric-arc furnaces as a supplement to the scrap charge. Interest dn the energy consumption in this parti- cular process route revived mainly because 1t vas necessary to optinize the operation of this large Teduetion plant. However, there is yet another Interesting process route that varrants an analy~ aie of thie kind, Tacor ie currently commissio- Bing @ new COREX plant at ite Pretoria works, Thie production plant, which is the first of ies Kind in the vorld, will produce liquid tron for further refining in electric-are furnaces. The Charge to the latter will consist of steel scrap land Liquid crude fron. The possibility that DRL Together with crude iron from the COREX-process can replace, either in part or in full, the scrap fn the charge, offers an exiting prospect. ‘The combination of @ rotary kiln and an electric fare furnace (EAF) 18 not Limited to steelnaking very important applications of this Toute are found in the ferro-aLloys in For example, at Consolidated Metallur~ dustry. Gicel Industries Lea (CAI), carbon containing Ehromtte-ore pelliete are reduced in a coal fired rotary Kiln prior to final reduction and spelting in a subperged-are furnace. This pre~ Feduction step was introduced mainly to reduce the conaumption of electrics) energy during final reduction. ‘PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS Im view of the extensive use made of the rotary kein - electric-are furnace process route for Steelnaking and ferro-alloy production, it is of great inportance to devise some means vhereby the Econonice of DRI veage can be evaluated. The use of fundanental process analysis would allov para- etere such a6 process variables and materials chenetry, to. be incorporated. The energy con sumption and the complex interplay of the opers- ting perenetere in rotary kilns and electric-arc furnaces have been the subject of various stu- 1988 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS ~ 75 Pabliched in fesceedings: Teh Fracest Technology Cenferenee Torente, Ontario, Caneda April INBEdies, Venkatesvaren and Brinaconbe(2) developed a Seenenseical wodel, based on the conservation Gr neat and anes, vidch they uaed to predict the Sperating behaviour of on SL/RN dtrect-reduetion Win fron che eain process varlables., Although the’ rotnry Kiln, process covld be simulated by that odel, the approach to the analysie of heat tranofer by radiation, vas not entirely natistacr Cee Pe groe ai C3) and Barr) subwequent= iy uaaiyucd’ che feat tranater by. radiation that cleure vin the rovery kin, snd applied thelr fesulea to. the covseruction of ¢ beat-transfer todel for the coel~ fired rotery Kin), D'Entresont and Englebrecht (8) developed a compu~ ter model that enabled thes to determine the optinal operating practices for electric-arc fornaces in vhich wcrap 1s partially replaced by DRE. ‘This generalized aathenatical model, which Was based on nase and energy balances, combined With measured energy losses from the furnaces Could be used to evaluate the effects of chang: in the chente: ion of | the DRT quently, 1t vas possible not only to pré the econonice of the use of DRI in an electric fare furnace, but also to determine the implic tions of a lowering in the degree of pre- reduction. Strohaeter and Peters(), in # very practical approach to a similar problem, deterained the fect of an increase in the ratio of DRI to Scrap in the charge, on the operation of an elec~ trie-are furnace, These authors clearly indica ted that an increase in the amount of DRI fed to the furnace regults {n the generation of exces~ ‘Sive volumes of slag and that the consumption of Lime increases significantly oving to its reac~ tion with the actdie gengue present in the DRI. Because a large fraction of heavy scrap is nor~ ally used in operations at Iscor's Vanderbij1~ park works, the DRI tenda to float during the elting of the scrap, and unstable melting condi Clone result. If the proportion of DRI in the furnace charge 1s increased, the consumption of Clectrical energy an well ao’ the total conversion Else increase, and these detrinentel effects will be even nore pronounced f the degree of netal- Tieation of the DRI ie decreased. However in that instance, the increased anount of DRI in the Feed also had sone beneficial effects. An excel~ Jent foaning slag vas forsed(!), the heat trans- fer wae inproved, the rate of reaction between the constituents of ‘the olag and metal phases Increased eo a result of the continuous carbon boll, and a product with a lover nitrogen content was obtained, while the renoval of sulphur and phosphorus did not present any insurmountable problens. These resulte tadicate that a slight Towering in the degree of ldzation ata conetane ratio of DRI to serap ratio, might not seriously impair electric-arc furnace operations, Since an even better carbon boil would be ‘obtained at the expense of an increased retention tine, Additional carbon would be required to completely reduce the DRI, but the use of the Digh-carbon Liquid metal product from the CORR a source of extra carbon, as vi PRESENT TAVESTICATION tiefactory models relating to the Complex tranefer of energy in 8 rotary kiln have Been reported(2+7), and computer simulations of electrierare furnace operations have been de- Scribed(@), no model that covers the coubina- Eton of the pre-reduction and suelting-melting Step, particularly with regard to the optiniza- Efon of the two unit operations, has yet been developed. Although Te vas against this background that the present toveotigetion wae initiated. The sain purpose vao the systenatic developeent of experimental tech~ Biques end simplified modele that could be used Ge building blocks for a sore cosplete process sodel, The initial work reported in this paper ‘Co an investigation of the effects of fe in the degree of metallization of DRI (hich could, for example, result from a higher throughput of fron ore through the rotary kiln), fon the energy consumption and performance of the electrie-are furnat In the following sections, soue relevant of the reduction kinetics of the iron ore of {neerest are dlacussed, and the experimental techniques by which the electrical energy re Guirenents of the electric-are furnace was esti- Sited, ere described. Finally, the interrelation Detveen the energy requirenents of the elec~ Eric-are furnace and the degree of pre-reduction ‘predicted by nase and energy be- REDUCTION KINETICS ‘The rate of reduction of the henatite ores that re used in the South African metallurgical 4n— Gusery has been the sobject of « musber of ines Cigetione, Beeton@2) concentrated on ores from Tecor's Thabesinbe mine vhile Theron(10), more recently, studied the reduction of henacice from Tecor's Sishen mine using thermogravinetric lysis (TCA). Four spherical ore particles, each weighing epproxinately 5 g and from 10 to 12,5 Yn dlaneter, were supported on # pedestal in a perforated crucible, vhere they were reduced in @ Berean of hydrogen or carbon monoxide, the de- Grease in eave during the reduction being recor Ged ee funetion of tine. Care wae taken to ensure that the supply of reducing gas was not Sate Laiting, and a gee flovrate of 5,5 1/nin found co be adequate ‘The progress of reduction can be presented by the fraction transforaed, Fy or by the relative depth of genetration, f. These paraneters 21 defined) as follove 116 — 1988 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS