Direct Reduction Ironmaking:
Technologies, Trends and Outlook for North America
HENRY P. GAINES, JR PE
CHRISTOPHER M. RAVENSCROFT
MIDREX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
WHY DIRECT REDUCED IRON?
WHY SO MUCH INTEREST?
THE VERSATILE
ORE-BASED
METALLIC
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
DRI Products
Versatile Ore-based Metallics
 CDRI: Cold Direct
Reduced Iron
 HDRI: Hot Direct
Reduced Iron charged
directly into a melter
without cooling
 HBI: Hot Briquetted Iron
is direct reduced iron
discharged from the
shaft furnace at ≥650°C
and compacted to a
density ≥ 5 gm/cc
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Increasing need for Metallics
EAF Steelmaking
Operational Value

Low residuals

Uniform chemical composition

Lower emissions

EAF can produce steel grades unattainable
with 100% scrap

Low NG energy costs particularly in USA

HDRI is a lower cost feed to the EAF than pig

HBI can be an economical means to increase
BF productivity or to replace purchased
scrap in the BOF
Integrated
Operational Value
…
4
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
HBI will play a future roll in the
integrated steel industry
 Benefits of charging HBI to a blast furnace
(BF) are:

Greater productivity

Lower blast furnace fuel consumption

Lower coke consumption, and therefore
greatly decreased CO2 emissions for
ironmaking

HBI has been used as part of the regular,
routine operation of a commercial blast
furnace in North America for more than 25
years as well as other blast furnaces around
the world.
Charging of 30% HBI yields approximately a 24% increase in production.
6
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
More DR Capacity is On the Way
10,000,000
Annual production of HBI and DRI
9,000,000
tons per year
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Midrex expects USA production of DRI to surpass ten million tons per year sometime near the
end of this decade. This means additional plants need to be permitted and contracted within
the next 2 to 4 years.
7
© 2013 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
More DR Capacity is On the Way
10,000,000
Annual production of HBI and DRI
9,000,000
tons per year
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Midrex expects USA production of DRI to surpass ten million tons per year sometime near the
end of this decade. This means additional plants need to be permitted and contracted within
the next 2 to 4 years.
8
© 2013 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
More DR Capacity is On the Way
10,000,000
Annual production of HBI and DRI
9,000,000
tons per year
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Midrex expects USA production of DRI to surpass ten million tons per year sometime near the
end of this decade. This means additional plants need to be permitted and contracted within
the next 2 to 4 years.
9
© 2013 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
MODULE SIZE: ARE MEGA MODULES
THE WAY FORWARD FOR US DRI?
Meeting Market Demands:
Not simply larger capacities but
also operational flexibility:
Fuels
Feed Material
Product
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Production and Flexibility
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Growing DRI plant Capacity
to meet sizes of BF facilities
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
MIDREX® Plants Meet Demands
2.0 mtpy production is now a reality
• World Record Production for Single DRI Module
• Design capacity 1,760,000 tpy
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
voestalpine Texas, LLC
MIDREX® 2.0 MTPY HBI Plant
Customer:
Plant Type:
Plant Start-up:
Feed material:
DR plant erection:
voestalpine Texas Llc., USA
2 mtpy MIDREX® Direct Reduction HBI Plant
December 2015
100% pellets (Brazil, Canada)
carried out by a consortium of MIDREX and Siemens
Product:
100% HBI - half to merchant market, half to use in voestalpine BFs in Austria
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
DRI products will play a future roll in
the integrated steel industry
• Will utilize the low-cost natural gas based on the shale
gas production in the USA
• Increase blast furnace productivity in
the Linz and Donawitz / Austria
• Decrease specific CO2 emissions
• Provide additional HBI for merchant market
Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), has signed
MOU to purchase HBI from voestalpine Texas
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
HOW EASILY ARE PLANTS
RETROFITTED FOR HOT DRI?
A N Y H OT D I S C H A RG E M I D R E X ®
P L A N T C A N EA S I LY B E
CO N F I G U R E D TO T R A N S P O RT
HDRI
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Options for Hot transport
Combo Plant design allow for maximum flexibility
Temperature dominates.
HDRI → Higher Productivity +
Lower Power Consumption
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Lion Case Study
Increasing Productivity & Efficiency
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ALTERNATIVE DRI TECHNOLOGY:
HOW ARE ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
DEVELOPING?
WHAT KIND OF CAPACITIES ARE FEASIBLE?
Technology is being developed and
implemented to address market needs such
as in areas of the world without NG…
Innovation continues that benefits both
new and older MIDREX® Plants
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
New Technologies
 Innovation that meets industry needs in areas such as
India
 Commercial pairing of MIDREX® Process with a coal
sources for direct reduction ironmaking
 Same capacities as NG-based Plants
 Coal
gasification
 COREX® Off Gas
 Coke Oven Gas (COG)
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Jindal Steel & Power
World’s First MXCOL® Facility
DR Plant + Coal Gasifier
Capacity:
Furnace Type:
Reducing Gas:
Location:
1.80 million tpy HDRI
MIDREX MEGAMOD®
Hot Discharge Furnace (7.15 m ID)
Coal Gasification
Angul, Odisha,India
JSW STEEL (COREX®/MIDREX®)
Capacity:
Furnace Type:
Reducing Gas:
Location:
1.20 million tpy HDRI/CDRI
MIDREX MEGAMOD®
Hot Discharge Furnace (7.15 m ID)
COREX export gas
Products:Hot DRI (0-100%) and/or
Cold DRI (0-100%)
Toranagallu Karnataka State, India
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
New Technologies – The TRS®
 Technology ready for industrial
application..
 Results continue to exceed
expectations.
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designed for Today,
Engineered for Tomorrow™
THANK YOU
Visit www.midrex.com for more technical
presentations and the 2013 World Direct Reduction
Statistics Booklet
© 2014 Midrex Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.