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Metals
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Novel Raw Materials and Energy Sources for Ironmaking and Steelmaking
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Novel Raw Materials and Energy Sources for Ironmaking and Steelmaking

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 6211

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alexander Babich

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Independent Ironmaking Consultant, Formerly with Department of Ferrous Metallurgy (IEHK), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Interests: blast furnace ironmaking; direct and smelting reduction; injection; clean energy and waste recycling; pyrolysis; gasification; teaching methodology and active methods of training

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasingly scarce high-quality resources and environmental challenges are two main drivers for the development and application of new materials and energy sources in the steel industry.

Steel production from low-grade iron ore requires a long process chain of its upgrade and massive resources. Thus, innovative materials such as hybrid sinter-pellets, mini-pellets for sintering, ferro-coke, iron ore-carbon composites, bio-sinter, bio-coal, and numerous further novel raw materials for different applications have been developed and tested. Technologies enabling the extraction of multiple metals from various feedstocks, e.g., Zn. Pb, Si, Ni, Cr, and other elements, along with iron, are anticipated to play an important role in the future.

To decouple CO2 emissions from primary energy consumption and to counteract the lowering quality of raw materials, the use of secondary raw materials and recycling (e.g., organic wastes, briquettes or off gases from metallurgical processes) and application of renewable energy sources (e.g., bio-based products) and materials lowering the energy demand (e.g., high reactivity-reducing agents and pre-reduced iron carriers) should be moved to the fore.

A carbon-free iron product such as hydrogen-based DRI faces challenges not only for its sustainable mass production with acceptable costs, but also for its subsequent smelting in EAF, because some carbon is required for metallurgical work. This carbon could be introduced, for instance, by natural gas or by means of biomass or biogas. 

This Special Issue is targeted to the latest developments on iron-bearing materials, additives, reducing agents, and further energy sources for the blast furnace, direct and smelting reduction processes, and further applications in iron and steel making.

Dr. Alexander Babich
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Self-reducing agglomerates such as pellets, briquettes, composites, bricks
  • Bioproducts such as charcoal, torrefied biomass, biogas
  • Organic wastes such as municipal and industrial waste plastics, SLF
  • Hydrogen, plasma
  • Metallurgical off-gases such as COG, BOF gas
  • Zero-carbon DRI for EAF, DRI/HBI/LRI for BF
  • Polymetallurgy (extraction of multiple metals from a feedstock)
  • New processes to conserve raw material and environment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3600 KiB  
Article
Hydrogen Production by Methane Pyrolysis in Molten Cu-Ni-Sn Alloys
by David Scheiblehner, Helmut Antrekowitsch, David Neuschitzer, Stefan Wibner and Andreas Sprung
Metals 2023, 13(7), 1310; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13071310 - 21 Jul 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1793
Abstract
Hydrogen is an essential vector for transitioning today’s energy system. As a fuel or reactant in critical industrial sectors such as transportation and metallurgy, H2 can diversify the energy mix and supply and provide an opportunity to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions. The pyrolysis [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is an essential vector for transitioning today’s energy system. As a fuel or reactant in critical industrial sectors such as transportation and metallurgy, H2 can diversify the energy mix and supply and provide an opportunity to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions. The pyrolysis of methane in liquid catalysts represents a promising alternative to producing hydrogen, as its energy demand is comparable to steam methane reforming, and no CO2 is produced in the base reaction. In this work, methane pyrolysis experiments were conducted using a graphite crucible filled with liquid ternary Cu-Ni-Sn alloys at 1160.0 °C. A statistical design of experiments allowed the generation of a model equation that predicts the achievable conversion rates in the ranges of the experiments. Furthermore, the experimental results are evaluated considering densities as well as surface tensions and viscosities in the investigated system, calculated with Butler and KRP equations, respectively. The highest methane conversion rate of 40.15% was achieved utilizing a melt of pure copper. The findings show that a combination of high catalytic activity with a high density and a low viscosity and surface tension of the melt results in a higher hydrogen yield. Furthermore, the autocatalytic effect of pyrolysis carbon is measured. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Raw Materials and Energy Sources for Ironmaking and Steelmaking)
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12 pages, 2554 KiB  
Article
The Multi-Objective Optimization of Blast Furnace Oxygen Enrichment Rate Based on Optimal Carbon Ratio
by Donghui Gao, Guoping Luo, Yueming Wang and Guocheng Zhang
Metals 2023, 13(4), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13040777 - 15 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1165
Abstract
The NSGA-II algorithm was used to establish a multi-objective optimization model for the oxygen enrichment rate of a blast furnace in terms of achieving a lower fuel ratio and higher pulverized coal ratio. The model has the hearth temperature as the constraint condition [...] Read more.
The NSGA-II algorithm was used to establish a multi-objective optimization model for the oxygen enrichment rate of a blast furnace in terms of achieving a lower fuel ratio and higher pulverized coal ratio. The model has the hearth temperature as the constraint condition and the oxygen enrichment rate as the decision variable. The NSGA-II algorithm was used to obtain the Pareto optimal solution of the multi-objective optimization scheme. The prediction effect of the optimization scheme was then tested in industrial experiments. The results show that the optimal setting of the oxygen enrichment rate predicted by the model was 2.70%, which provides an optimal fuel ratio and pulverized coal ratio of 553.86 kg·tHM−1 and 144.58 kg·tHM−1, respectively. In actual production, when the oxygen enrichment rate was set at 2.71%, an optimal fuel ratio and pulverized coal ratio of 553.74 kg·tHM−1 and 148.73 kg·tHM−1 were obtained. The relative error in the oxygen enrichment rate between the model prediction and the actual prediction was 0.003%. The prediction results of the model suggest a reduction in CO2 emissions by 25,770.71 tons per year. The CO2 emission reduction in actual production was approximately 1.09 times the prediction of the model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Raw Materials and Energy Sources for Ironmaking and Steelmaking)
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16 pages, 4313 KiB  
Article
Beneficiation of Low-Grade Dilband Iron Ore by Reduction Roasting
by Ali Dad Chandio, Iftikhar Ahmed Channa, Asif Ahmed Shaikh, Shabbir Madad, Syed Bilal Hasan Rizvi, Aqeel Ahmed Shah, Jaweria Ashfaq, Muhammad Ali Shar and Abdulaziz Alhazaa
Metals 2023, 13(2), 296; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13020296 - 1 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2402
Abstract
This research is aimed at the up-gradation of indigenous Pakistani iron ore, i.e., Dilband iron ore (hematite), by utilizing common metallurgical processes. First, the magnetic properties of the ore were determined. Initially, the iron ore samples contained 34 wt. % Fe in addition [...] Read more.
This research is aimed at the up-gradation of indigenous Pakistani iron ore, i.e., Dilband iron ore (hematite), by utilizing common metallurgical processes. First, the magnetic properties of the ore were determined. Initially, the iron ore samples contained 34 wt. % Fe in addition to other gangue materials. Therefore, the ore was subjected to a high-temperature reduction roasting process between 800 °C and 1000 °C. Additionally, the magnetic separation process was also employed. The influence of different roasting parameters, such as the reduction time, coal-to-ore ratio, and temperature, was examined. This was followed by characterization techniques using XRD (X-ray diffraction analysis), the Rietveld method, wet chemistry analysis, and a VSM (Vibrating Sample Magnetometer). The results suggest an excellent reduction at 900 °C for a coal/ore ratio of 20 wt. %, which was achieved within 2 h of the process. The Fe concentration increased tremendously from 34 to 56 wt. %, and in conjunction, magnetic properties were also induced (1.5 emu). The recovery was found to be substantial for the ore when the Fe content was 75 wt. %. Additionally, the economic feasibility of the processed ore was also studied, followed by an extensive analysis of the roasting and magnetic separation processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Raw Materials and Energy Sources for Ironmaking and Steelmaking)
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