Ferro-coke

JFE Holdings, Inc.

Ferro-coke production process

Outline

【JFE Steel Corporation】
JFE Steel Corporation has been committed to developing energy-saving technologies toward increasing the efficiency of the iron and steelmaking process and decarbonization. To further push ahead with energy saving and decarbonization, the Company will enhance the development of innovative iron making processes such as ferro-coke.
Ferro-coke is a technology for significantly reducing CO2 emissions by improving the reduction rate of iron ore put into blast furnaces.
We consider implementing innovative technologies as critical and will advance with this strategy together with the government.
Construction of a medium scale pilot plant with capacity to produce 300 tonnes of ferro-coke per day is currently underway in the Fukuyama district.

Description

Ferro-coke is an innovative material for a blast furnace which improve reduction reaction of iron ore inside the blast furnace and resulting in significant reduction of CO2 emission. Ferro-coke is a hybrid agglomeration of coke and metallic iron which are produced from coal and iron ore by crushing, mixing, formed and heated in a continuous carbonizing furnace. Low grade coal or iron ore can be used as materials of ferro-coke.

Ferro-coke converts regularly used coke as a blast furnace material. CO2 gas is generated from CO reduction reaction of iron ore (sintered ore) in an operating blast furnace. The super fine dispersed metallic iron plays a role as a catalyzer of CO gas generation reaction with CO2 and C (C+CO2=2CO), which accelerates the reduction reaction rate in the blast furnace, making the reduction of iron oxide possible with less reducing agent, which leads to significantly improved energy savings and lower CO2 emissions. Long-duration production tests using a pilot plant at the Keihin District facilities of JFE Steel’s East Japan Works and demonstration tests using the No. 6 blast furnace at the Chiba District facilities have verified that the process actually lowers the ratios of reducing agents and cokes as projected.

JFE Steel Corporation, Kobe Steel Ltd, Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Tohoku University and Kyushu University have jointly launched NEDO’s (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) project, “Environmentally Harmonized Process Technology Development (Development of Ferro-Coke Technology)”. During its planned duration of six years from June 2017, the project will construct a medium-scale plant capable of producing 300 t/day of ferro-coke in JFE Steel’s West Japan Works (Fukuyama district) to establish the technology for producing and using ferro-coke.

In this project, effects of long duration and continuous ferro-coke usage to the reducing agent ratio and stability of blast furnace operation will be evaluated. We will develop a production technology of ferro-coke by significant energy saving, reduction of CO2 reduction and usage of low grade coal/iron ore through verification test to cope with resource degradation and depletion. And we will establish a 10% energy saving iron-making process until end of 2022FY.