Chinese Academy of Engineering
Assembly Line
China develops new iron making method that boosts productivity by 3,600 times
A new iron making technology developed in China is set to significantly impact the global steel industry. Developed after more than 10 years of research, this method injects finely ground iron ore powder into a very hot furnace, causing an “explosive chemical reaction”, according to the engineers. The result is a continuous flow of high-purity iron that forms as bright red, glowing liquid droplets that accumulate at the base of the furnace, ready for direct casting or one-step steel-making.
The flash iron making method, as detailed by Professor Zhang Wenhai and his team in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nonferrous Metals last month, can complete the iron making process in just three to six seconds, compared to the five to six hours required by traditional blast furnaces.
One of the major technical hurdles for flash iron making is the ore-spraying lance, which must effectively disperse iron ore in a high-temperature, highly reducible tower space with a large specific surface area to initiate the necessary chemical reaction. Zhang Wenhai’s team has successfully addressed this challenge by developing a vortex lance capable of injecting a substantial 450 tonnes of iron ore particles per hour. A reactor equipped with three such lances can produce a substantial 7.11 million tonnes of iron annually. Importantly, this innovative lance technology has already entered commercial production.