IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELEMENTAL IRON

摘要

Process to prepare elemental iron by contacting an iron ore feed with a reducing gas at a pressure of between 1 and 10 bar to obtain iron and an off-gas, wherein the reducing gas is prepared by performing the following steps (a) partially oxidizing a mixture comprising a solid or liquid carbonaceous fuel and oxygen at a pressure of between 10 and 80 bar, thereby obtaining a gas comprising H2 and CO; (b) removing CO2 and H2S from, the gas obtained in step (a) to obtain an intermediate gas comprising H2 and CO; (c) supplying the intermediate gas obtained in step (b) to a H2-selective membrane to obtain a H2-rich permeate gas and a CO-rich retentate; (d) heating H2-rich permeate to obtain a heated H2-rich permeate as the reducing gas.