Hismelt

HIsmelt Process of Ironmaking HIsmelt process is an air based direct smelting technology which is simple yet innovative. The process is for the production of liquid iron (hot metal) using iron ore fines or any other appropriate ferrous feed material. The smelting is carried out in a molten iron bath using coal as the reductant and energy source material. The principal raw materials required for the process are iron ore fines, coal and fluxes (limestone and dolomite). HIsmelt is short for ‘high intensity smelting’. It is a direct smelting process for making liquid iron straight from the iron ore.  The process has been developed to treat iron ore fines with minimum of pre-treatment, making the process more flexible in terms of the quality of iron ore it can treat.  The process allows the use of non coking coal and iron ore fines with significant impurities. The main product of the process is liquid iron or hot metal which can be used in steel melting shop or can be cast in pig casting machine to produce pig iron. The by-product of the process is slag and the off gas.

The driving force for this alternative ironmaking is

• the ability to utilize cheaper and more abundant raw materials such as non-coking coals and non-agglomerated ores, (ii) smaller economic plant sizes,
• competitive capital and operating costs,
• reduced environmental problems through the elimination of coke ovens and sinter / pellet plants
• flexibility of operation. The HIsmelt process is very flexible since it can use a wide range of ferrous feeds, including steel plant wastes and high phosphorus ore. The process can use ores which are minus 6 mm in size, which is the normal sinter plant feed, and can also process ores which are typical pellet feed, that is 80 % finer than 40 micrometers without any change in the iron yield in the process. Coals ranging from coke breeze to a 38 % volatile non-coking coal can be used.