Coals for COREX{reg_sign}: New possibilities for the coal industry

The difficulty of bringing the emissions released from the coking plants into compliance with ever more stringent environmental regulations will lead to a reduction of coking plant capacity; therefore, there is an increased discrepancy between coke demand and coke supply. Hence, coke-based ironmaking is expected to become more expensive to operate. Coal producers worldwide have a strong interest in pursuing all possibilities to save and extend the utilization of coal in the steel industry. A proven possibility to this end is provided by the COREX{reg_sign} process. The commercially effective and environmentally friendly COREX{reg_sign} process is a smelting reduction process which produces hot metal by direct use of lump coal while the conventional blast furnace requires coke as a primary fuel. Coke can be made from metallurgical grade coking coals only. As the coking requirement of coals is not a prerequisite for the COREX{reg_sign} process, a wide spectrum of coals is made accessible for the ironmaking industry. As a by-product, the COREX{reg_sign} technology produces a very clean gas of medium calorific value which can be used with high efficiency in combined cycle power plants or as a reducing gas in downstream direct reduction plant. The paper describes the increasing importance ofmore » the COREX process in iron making, requirements for coals used in the process, by-products, and environmental benefits.« less