Environmental Management Environmental Sustainability Report 2005

Contribution to Environmental Protection through Products, Technologies and Services (6)

New Production Technologies FASTMELT Direct Reduction Process An ironmaking process that efficiently utilizes natural resources and is friendly to the environment is the FASTMELT Direct Reduction Process. In the FASTMELT Process, pulverized iron ore and coal are mixed and formed into pellets, which are then reduced in a doughnut-shaped rotary hearth furnace, and melted to produce molten pig iron. The energy source for melting, such as electricity or coal, is applicable to the plant location. The process makes direct without sintering furnaces and coke ovens, which are necessary in the conventional blast-furnace process. Also, CO2 gas generated in the rotary hearth furnace during reduction is almost completely combusted in the furnace. The reduced iron is fed into a melting furnace at a high temperature, and molten pig iron is produced. These features make it possible to reduce energy consumption. In additon, CO2 generation is decreased to about two-thirds that of a mini blast furnace with an annual capacity of around 500,000 metric tons. FASTMELT Process Flow Features Energy consumption and CO2 generation are reduced. Steaming coal, abundant and widely distributed in the ground can be used as reductant. Cheap iron ore dust can be used. Starting up and stopping the furnace is easier, as the residence time in the furnace is short - 6 to 12 minutes, because reduction is conducted at over 1,300c. ITmk3 Process produces iron nuggets The trial operation of the ITmk Mesabi Nugget Pilot Demonstration Plant which Kobe Steel undertook with partner companies and in cooperation with the Minnesota state government, has been completed. Test runs commenced from May 2003. The iron nuggets made by the demonstration plant were shipped to the Butler Works of Steel Dynamics, Inc. in Indiana, USA, and successful results were obtained in the melting tests in electric furnaces. Discussions are underway for a commercial-scale plant with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year. The ITmk3 Process produces iron nuggets of high purity similar to pig iron and enables iron ore mines to supply a high value-added product. In comparison to iron ore, iron nuggets can reduce the shipping weight by about 50% and the volume about 90%. As a result, ITmk3 can contribute to a considerable reduction in transportation costs and CO2 emission associated with the transportation. Iron nuggets of quality similar to pig iron Features Energy consumption and CO2 is largely reduced compared to conventional blast furnace steelmaking of the same scale. Energy consumption and CO2 emission from transportation of raw material is reduced. Iron ore dust and coal, which are abundant, can be used. Easy to melt, iron nuggets are a good steelmaking raw material. Comparison of ITmk3 and Blast Furnace Processes ITmk3 Flowchart Direct reduction plants Direct reduction is an innovative method that does not use a blast furnace to reduce iron ore. Mini mills use direct reduction as they are smaller than integrated steelmakers. Direct reduction also does not require the use of coke ovens. Recently, in advanced countries including the United States, interest in direct reduction is rising as a clean ironmaking process alternative for scrap. Kobe Steel is the owner of the MIDREX Process, which has a 64% share of world DRI production. Kobe Steel and Midrex have developed other proprietary processes, FASTMET and FASTMELT, which provide a further step forward into new markets. Between December 2004 and March 2005, Kobe Steel and group company Midrex Technologies received orders from such countries as Saudi Arabia (annual capacity of 1.72 million metric tons), Malaysia (1.5 million metric tons), Russia (1.4 million metric tons), Oman (0.72 million metric tons), and Qatar (1.5 million metric tons). President Inubishi of Kobe Steel and Chairman H.E. Yousef Hussain Kamal of QASCO (also Finance Minister of Qatar), at a signing ceremony for QASCO's second DR plant MIDREX Plant Consists of a shaft furnace for iron ore reduction and reformer for reduction gas emission. Both iron ore lumps and pellets can be used as the raw material. Also, the plant recycles the exhaust gas from the reduction furnace, achieving low fuel consumption and an environmentally friendly process.