Process for directly reducing iron ores in the solid state under pressure

摘要

Lumpy or agglomerated materials containing iron oxide are reduced in shaft furnaces by treating such materials with hydrogen-containing reducing gases under elevated pressure. The reduction is carried out in the final reducing zone under a pressure of from 3 to 30 atmospheres and at a temperature of from 600 DEG to 1,000 DEG C, using a reducing gas containing hydrogen and impurities consisting of, at most, 5 percent by volume carbon monoxide, 5 percent by volume carbon dioxide, 5 percent by volume methane, and 2 percent by volume steam.