The HIsarna process is a new and breakthrough smelting reduction process for hot metal (liquid iron) production from iron ores and coal directly fed into the reactor. The flue gas from the main reactor enters the off-gas system containing small amounts of H₂, CO and carbon particles which need to be removed before further treatment by post combustion oxygen injection. A three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the HIsarna off-gas system is performed and validated using a detailed reaction mechanism and kinetic data for post-combustion of a CO–H₂ mixture and carbon particles. Using the validated model, a series of simulations were performed to investigate the effect of water quenching and post combustion oxygen injection. It was found that water quenching can significantly reduce the off-gas temperature. It is also possible to reduce oxygen injection during operations where inlet CO content of the off-gas system is low.

HIsarna reactor is characterized by a high raw materials versatility and is therefore attractive for processing secondary iron sources. Among the materials that can be recycled through HIsarna, zinc-bearing material has drawn a special attention. Based on the plant data, once dust-containing Zinc was injected into the main reactor, a final collected dust with a zinc content of 16% was achieved which opened up possibilities of higher enrichment for direct reuse in Zn smelting as a secondary source and an alternative for Zn ore (the primary source). However Zn vapor can react with iron oxide to form zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄), which is an undesired product. Hence, the main focus of this study is to minimize the formation of ZnFe₂O using thermodynamic (FactSage) and computational fluid dynamic tools. After detecting regions with high potential of ZnFe₂O₄ formation, proper geometrical and operational modifications of the off-gas system is proposed to minimize the formation of zinc ferrite.

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for the HIsarna off-gas system is set up and validated by real plant data. In the model detailed reaction mechanism and kinetic data for post-combustion of CO-H2 mixture and carbon particles are incorporated. The results are presented and discussed in another study (Part 1) by the same authors. In the present paper, the focus will be on geometry modification of the off-gas system and the effects on the operating parameters. The effect of this modification on heat loss, temperature profile, carbon conversion and gaseous phase composition across the off-gas system is investigated. It is shown that the modified geometry leads to a higher heat loss through the reflux chamber walls which can change the temperature profile and consequently species composition. The modified geometry also offers possibility of higher CO-H2 mixture and carbon particles conversion rate and reduce unwanted emission from the reflux chamber.

For all industrial applications, predicting system characteristics and behavior plays a vital role before constructing costly and complex multi-physic systems. Correct and reliable predictions become even more important once the aim is to go from small- to large-scale processes to establish an industrial demonstrations. In this study, a CFD-based scale-up of HIsarna off-gas system based on the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach is investigated and detailed step in scale-up procedure is discussed. A three-dimensional CFD model is developed and validated based on the available pilot scale data and used to design and scale up the post-combustion chamber (also known as reflux chamber). Detailed kinetics for volumetric and gas–solid reactions are incorporated in validated CFD model with a special attention to the wall boundary condition and modeling. The effect of reflux chamber geometry, oxygen injection ports, oxygen injection flowrate, isolation wall thickness, and inlet flue gas composition on different system characteristics such as heat loss through the wall, CO–H₂–carbon mixture conversion, flue gas, and wall temperature are investigated. The aim of the scaled up geometry, like pilot scale, is to achieve full combustion of unwanted species inside the reflux chamber to assure zero emissions from the off-gas system. Compared to the pilot scale, the scaled up reflux chamber is capable of handling and removing higher amount of unwanted species coming from the main reactor and therefore lower CO–H₂ and carbon particle emissions, mainly due to a larger size which provides larger volume and residence time for volumetric and gas–solid reaction to proceed.

Physicochemical behaviour of the pellets, sinters and its mixture (60% pellets: 40% sinter) is investigated by a series of smelting and quenching experiments. For all ferrous raw-material beds, three distinct stages of bed shrinkage occur due to indirect reduction, softening and melting. However, the characteristic nature (displacement, temperature and permeability) differ with the ferrous raw-material type. In mixed ferrous bed, the first and third stages are found to be controlled by the pellets (individual particle shrinkage) and sinter (slow melting rate), respectively. Second stage behaviour is initially observed to be close to the pellet and later to that of sinter. In mixed bed (upto 1505°C), the interaction between the pellet and sinter is limited to the interface only. The sinter slag is observed to control the melting and dripping properties of the mixed bed.These results gives an understanding of individual and mixed burden behaviour under blast furnace conditions.