Every year the world produces approximately two billion tonnes of steel and leaving a huge footprint of carbon emission in the air. Reduced or zero emission of carbon footprints in the environment are being tried to convert to development of green hydrogen to be used in the DRI process which is exponentially costly for middle scale industries.

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A multipurpose tunnel furnace recently has been uniquely designed, developed and successfully demonstrated for production of D.R.I (sponge iron) suitable for manufacture of Steel Ingots by melting, and as well, Iron Powders for Sintered Components, through Powder Metallurgy techniques.

Unlike the conventional Rotary Kilns used for DRI, which emit huge index of of black smoke in the surrounding air, this design of the furnace can be considered as totally smokeless.

Furthermore, the furnace can be run through multiple forms of fuels depending on the availability and usage ranging from Natural or Petroleum Gases, or Raw Petroleum Coke, or Furnace Oil, independently or jointly, which can even be interchanged during midstream operations.

The innovation has been undergoing continuous trial runs for almost two months for different metal oxides. Involute Metal Powders has again stepped in with another development in field of metal powders with this most sought requirement for the steel and powder industry.

Sponge Irons of much superior qualities were made in this furnace employing various Iron Oxides, be it Iron Ores (haematite or magnetite or both combined) in forms like pebbles, fines or dusts or Iron Mill scales in powder form. The direct reductions of Cobalt Oxides, Manganese Oxides were also carried out in successful trials in the last month for specific customized industries and clients.

Another unique feature also has been to get Decarburisation of Cast Iron to produce Sponge Iron, using Mill Scales. In this regard, the indigenously designed furnace becomes the only and exceptional furnace that can used for solid state reduction of any of the reduceable oxides from manganese, Iron , Cobalt ,Copper etc.

The following are the successful trials done recently to accomplish as the one in all DRI tunnel furnace for

D.R.I. from Magnetite, Haematite and Mill Scales

D.R.I.by Decarburisation of C.I.turnings with Mill Scales

MnO2 (Manganese dioxide) decomposition & reduction

Carbon reduction of Oxides of Cobalt

This kind of a furnace design uses specially formulated ceramic saggers, not the conventional Silicon Carbide saggers, wherein, input raw materials are charged for heat treatments. Such saggers are stacked on trolleys that are continuously made to pass through different zones of the furnace.

Nonetheless, it's worthwhile to mention that the proportion of Coal or any Carbonaceous reductant is drastically reduced to less than half, than so far, being practised elsewhere, for DRIs.

Additionally, the connected electrical power gets reduced to an extent of consuming only 25 percent of the conventional Rotary Kilns.

This new design is made by Involute Metal Powder Technologies, earlier known as S. Mohanty & Co.

First Published:Jan 26, 2023 1:19 AM IST