SIMA PRODUCTION OF SPONGE IRON THROUGH TUNNEL KILN PROCESS SS. Bedarkar Electrotherm (India) Limited Direct reduction includes the processes in which iron ‘ore (lumps/ pellets) is reduced in the solid state and oxygen is removed by either solid or gaseous reducing agents. The reductants used are non- coking coal or natural gas. The product is used in steel making and metted in a manner similar to the scrap. For gas based processes shaft furnaces, fluidized bed retorts, etc. are used while for coal based processes rotary kiln based plants are very popular. Tunnel kiln process: Hoganas has developed a retort based process in 1908, which uses coal as a reductant. The carbothermic reduction of iron ore takes place in horizontal tunnel kiln. Reduction mix, consisting of coal or coke fines of the size 3 mm or below, anthracite, and limestone, is charged with iron ore in ceramic muftles/saggers Ceramic saggers give life of about 8-10 heats. For better life (about 100-120 heats) and improved heat transfer, many plants use silicon carbide (SiC) saggers. The materials are arranged in alternate layers in the form of concentric rings within a sagger. Figure 1 depicts the sagger with iron ore and coal in a concentric manner. Also, in some processes alterate layers of coal-ore-coal are placed. Coal Iron ore fines Muttla/saggor Figure 1 Single sagger with arrangement of charge mix Figure 2 shows unfilled SiC saggers. Individual saggers are then stacked on one above the other. Arrays of such units are formed above the kiln car. ‘Schematic of the arrangement of the saggers above the car is shown in Figure 3 (a). Figure 3(b) depicts the actual photograph of car trolley along with array of saggers. The plant in which silicon carbide saggers are used, the empty saggers are first placed one above the other, and then the concentric feeding of coal and iron ore fines is carried out Figure 2 Empty silicon carbide (SiC) saggers aul ‘§ ©) (a) SEPTEMBER-2009/2 ©) ((b) Figure 3 (a) Schematic of arrangement of saggers on a trolley (b) Stack of SiC saggers mounted on trolley, entering into tunnel kiln The cars are then pushed through the tunnel Kilns. Figure 4 shows the photograph of car pushing system. The time between two cars entering the kiln is called the “pushing time”, The tunnel kiln consists of three zones; the preheating zone, the reduction zone, and the cooling zone. Schematic of the tunnel kiln used by Hoganas is depicted in Figure 5 . The kiln cars first travel through the preheating zone, then through the reduction zone, where the ore is reduced into iron at a constant high temperature of 1100-1200 °C. The kiln cars are then cooled in the cooling zone of the kiln. It takes approximately 28- ‘36 hours for a kiln car to travel through a kiln, The time of travel may vary from plant to plant. The ‘combustion air flows in the opposite direction of the kiln cars. Cold fresh air first cools the hot cars and after passing through the reduction zone, hot exhaust {gases preheat the incoming cars before the gases exit the kilns. Because of concentric feeling of raw material inside the sagger, the coal ash and sponge iron, a product, remain separate inside the sagger. The product, thus formed, can be separated easily. Figure 6 shows the sponge iron in the form of a oylinder. 908 PP “cor with wombaglion gone er oS Figure 5 Schematic of the tunnel kiln ‘The efficiency of the Hoganas sponge iron process is defined as the energy needed for the reduction reactions compared to the energy added to the system. Eriksson and Larsson [1] presented the Sankey diagram for heat balance for the process is shown in Figure 7. From the diagram it could be ‘observed that large amount of heat demand for the process is fulfilled by coke mix and natural gas, while the maximum heat is consumed by the reduction reactions. The process efficiency of Hoganas process is about 40 %, which decreases slightly with decreased pushing time. Figure 6 The product of tunnel kiln SEPTEMBER-2009/3‘Consumption of raw materials and energy per tonne of sponge iron for Hoganas process is as follows (2 Iron ore concentrates : 1350 kg Coke 500 kg Lime + 125-130 kg Energy consumption : 145 GJ ‘Typical analysis (2%) of Hoganas sponge iron is, Fe (metallic) 93.0 Fe (total) : 97.0 Metallization : 95.9 c : 02 s 2 0.008 Pp 2 0.012 Gangue 116 The consumption norms will vary as per the quality of input raw materials. Instead of coke if coal is used then the quantity will further increase. With Chinese/ anthracite coal the consumption is about 0.9 to 1.1 tonnes per tonne of sponge iron. With Indian coal the consumption is expected to be more. Out of the total coal, 60 % will be utilized for iron ore reduction and the remaining 40% will be used to produce coal gas, sociiencee Te ‘Car sat capates ‘a Figure 7 Sankey diagram for energy balance at a specific pushing time SIMA In China, Tangshan Outstanding Kiln Co., Ltd. has installed a tunnel kiln for sponge iron production The factory has tunnel kiln of 260 m in length and 2.78 m in width with a single annual production capacity of 50,000 ~ 70,000 T of direct reduced iron, The capacity of the current factory is 100,000 T per year. The kiln car has size of 3.4m x 2.6m. Above the car, an array of 6x8 saggers has been formed. Each column contains about § saggers. As a product each cylinder of sponge iron weighs about 90 kg. AAs per design, maximum operating temperature is 1220 °C. Looking at the overall scenario of tunnel kiln process it can be said that tunnel kiln process is capable of reducing iron ore fines using coal / coke fines. Consumption of the coal per tonne of production of sponge iron is considered as coal required for reduction and coal required to generate coal gas. With thorough study of fluid dynamics and proper circulation of the coal gas and hot air within the kiln helps in improving the thermal efficiency of the kiln, Reference: 4. Eriksson K. and Larson M., Energy survey of the sponge iron process, Dept. of Chem. Engg, Lund Inst. Tech., Sweden, 2005 2. Chatterjee A., Singh R. and Pandey B., Metallics for steelmaking-production and use, Allied Publishers Ltd., Mumbai, 2001 SEPTEMBER-2009/4