FINEX
lastmod 2023-02-16created 2023-02-166 edits
The FINEX process (FINEX, direct steelmaking process) is a process developed by POSCO and Siemens VAI. Unlike the conventional blast furnace process, it mass-produces molten iron from powdered iron ore and ordinary bituminous coal, and its distinguishing feature is that the raw material pretreatment step is skipped.
At the end of May 2007, POSCO began operating a commercial FINEX facility with an annual output of 1.5 million tons.
FINEX process
The FINEX process is an innovative technology that skips the coke-making and sintering steps that pretreat the raw materials and uses cheap powdered iron ore and bituminous coal as raw materials, so it can cut investment and production costs by about 15% compared with a blast furnace of similar scale. To melt iron ore into molten iron, the oxygen bound to the iron ore must be removed, that is, it must go through a reduction reaction.
What is essential for this is coke, and using coke requires a separate coke-making process. In the FINEX process, however, the reduction reaction can take place without turning coal into coke. This is because FINEX can use iron ore as-is without processing it. Since no coke or sintering process is needed, molten iron can be produced at lower cost than with the conventional blast furnace process.
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In terms of facility investment, it is more favorable in cost competitiveness than a blast furnace with an annual output of 3 million tons.
In terms of pollution prevention, it is also considered highly favorable because it emits less of the pollutants sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2) than a blast furnace. In other words, it can be seen as an upgraded version of the conventional blast furnace.
The FINEX process consists of fluidized-bed reduction reactors that reduce powdered iron ore with reducing gas into pure iron, HCI and coal briquetting facilities that form the reduced iron ore and coal into a fixed shape, and a melter-gasifier that melts the iron ore and coal and produces the carbon monoxide and hydrogen needed for reduction.
See also
- Steel
- Ferrous metallurgy
- Steelmaking
- Furnace
- Blast furnace
- Electric arc furnace
- FINEX process (FINEX)