Consultancy services for the use and acquisition of materials, some examples:
Portfolio
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)
Iron Ore Pellets Fines (IOPF)
Iron Ore Pellets
Mill Scale
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI)
Coke
Aluminium
Coke
Coke is the critical fuel of integrated iron and steel plants. It is the product of the coke-making process, which uses a blend of coals as raw materials, in general terms this process converts the coal to a higher carbon content solid. The main users of this product are the Blast Furnaces, so a high-quality coke must comprise large well graded lumps with few fines, high resistance to breakage during handling. It must also have a high internal porosity (about 50%) and possess low to moderate reactivity to gases (principally CO2) in the blast furnace.
Iron Ore Lumps
The iron ore is a mineral that produces metallic iron (Fe) when exposed to temperature and a reductant. Almost all the iron ore that is mined (in the shape of lumps initially) is used to produce steel goods. The main users of this product are smelting facilities that feed the iron ore lumps as feedstock to their processes. There are more than 300 types of iron ore, but the ones containing over 60% hematite (Fe2O3), or magnetite (Fe3O4) are regarded as high-quality, and are known as direct shipping ores, which means it can be fed directly into blast furnaces.
Pig Iron
Pig iron is a semi-finished metal produced from iron ore in a blast furnace, it is obtained from the melting of the iron ore, and it is cooled and reshaped for transportation. It contains ≈ 90 – 92 % iron, a high measure of carbon ≈ 3.5 – 4.5 % and generally manganese, silica in addition to small amounts of phosphorus, sulfur, and other trace elements. There are several types of pig iron, used by different technologies, such as cupola furnaces, foundries, open-hearth furnaces, Bessemer converters, electric arc furnaces (EAF), ductile iron castings, alloy making, automotive castings and other iron-based castings.
Iron Ore Pellets
The iron ore pellets are the product of the pelletizing process that consists in transforming iron ore fines into spherical granules sizing anywhere from 8 – 16mm in size via tumble-growth agglomeration, using either a disc pelletizer or rotary drum. The main objective of the pelletizing process is to concentrate the amount of total iron in the pellets; therefore, it is possible to use lower grade iron ore fines mixed with high quality ones. The main users of this product are ironmaking facilities such as Direct Reduction Plants and Rotary Kilns, in which metallic iron is produced without melting the materials, so the shape of the pelletized iron ore helps for the handling and in the solids flow inside the reactors.
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is the product of the direct reduction of iron ore in the solid state by carbon monoxide and hydrogen derived from natural gas or coal. Most gas-based direct reduction plants are part of integrated steel mini-mills, located adjacent to the electric arc furnace (EAF) steel plant. DRI can be either hot or cold charged to the EAF. Some steel companies ship DRI from their captive direct reduction plants to their remote steel mills and a small volume of DRI is sold to third parties. In India there are many small rotary kiln furnaces producing DRI, known locally as sponge iron, using coal as energy and reductant source.
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI)
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) is a premium form of DRI that has been shaped at a temperature greater than 600° C at time of compaction and has a density greater than 5,000 kilograms per cubic meter (5,000 kg/m3). HBI was developed as a product to overcome the problems associated with shipping and handling of DRI – due to the process of compaction it is very much less porous and therefore very much less reactive than DRI and does not suffer from the risk of self-heating associated with DRI. The main market for HBI is electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, but HBI also finds application as a trim coolant in basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking and as blast furnace feedstock.
The iron ore fines represent an important source of iron units for the steelmaking industry, these are generated during the mining, handling, and other operations of the iron ore. Size distribution range is from 0 – 10 mm and this material is mainly used as part of the feedstock for Sinter plants. Another product is the iron ore concentrate, which is a product of the beneficiation process of the iron ore and is used mainly to produce BF quality pellets, in blast furnaces and as sinter feed.
DRI Fines
The DRI fines represent an important source of virgin iron units for the steelmaking industry, these are generated during the production, handling, and other operations of the DRI or HBI. Size distribution range is below 3 mm with Fe contents as high as 88% which makes it a reactive material hence is preferable to have them compacted after being generated. Most of the producers recycle a part of these fines, and others are used for sinter feed mix or as supplementary charge in different melting facilities, when producing high quality steels.
Mill Scale
Mill Scale is a by-product of manufacturing hot-rolled metal plates and sheets, it is generated when the surface of this products oxidizes during the heating process. This material has a bluish-black appearance with a flaky consistence, it can contain as high as 70 % Fe. Due to its non-uniform texture, mill scale chips easily and has a wide range of uses and applications including: recycling to melting process, sinter charge mix, cement clinker, heavy concretes, refractory mixes, material for road construction, mineral wool, among others.
Aluminum
Aluminum is one of the most common metals used in the world today. It has several desirable properties such as: strength, ductility, strength-to-weight ratio, and corrosion resistance. It is a silvery-white, lightweight, corrosion-resistant, non-magnetic, and ductile material. It is the most abundant metal on Earth as it makes up more than 8% of the matter in the crust. Aluminum is the most produced and refined non-ferrous metal because of its properties and abundance. It is commonly used in several industries, including transportation, construction, packaging, machine manufacturing, and consumer goods.
Reviving resources, redefining residuals
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