Method of making sponge iron

摘要

A method for the gaseous reduction of iron ore to sponge iron in a vertical moving bed reactor having a reduction zone in the upper portion thereof and a cooling zone in the lower portion thereof which comprises using a coolant gas containing up to about 30% by volume of hydrocarbon, e.g., coke oven gas, and passing a mixture of the hydrocarbon-containing gas and steam through the cooling zone to cause the sponge iron therein to catalyze the conversion of the hydrocarbon/steam mixture to carbon monoxide and hydrogen.