Rotary hearth furnace process for steel mill waste recycling and direct reduced iron making

Abstract

For the promotion of zero emission society, the recycling of dust and sludge produced in the steel making process, leading to the recovery of valuable metals like Iron, Zinc, Nickel and Chromium, has highly attracted public attention. The Plant and Machinery Division of Nippon Steel Corporation has introduced the basic technologies of the rotary hearth furnace, DryIronTM Process, from Maumee Research & Engineering Inc. in the United States, and developed the process in order to recycle such dust and sludge effectively. In addition, the DryIronTM Process can also produce direct reduced iron from virgin iron ore and non-coking coal. In this paper, the features of the DryIronTM Process and the machine outline in Hikari Works of Nippon Steel Corporation are described.