APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING DIRECT REDUCTION PROCESS OF IRON OXIDE CONTAINING MATERIAL

摘要

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for automatic controlling a direct reduction process of an iron oxide containing material. The apparatus comprises sampling means adapted to periodically take samples of metallized pellets during the reduction process of the iron oxide containing material, a mill device for milling the samples of the metallized pellets, density determining means for determining a density of the metallized pellet material in the milled sample and calculation means adapted to estimate the quality of the reduced metallized pallets based on the density determined by the density determining means. The method according to the invention comprises periodically taking samples of metallized pallets during the reduction process of the iron oxide containing material, milling the samples of the metallized pallets to predetermined particle sizes, determining a density of the metallized pellet material in the milled sample and estimating the reduced metallized pallet quality based on the determined density. The use of the apparatus and the method ensures stability of the direct iron reduction process, high level of iron output and product quality.