HIsmelt - The Technology

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About HIsmelt - History Click here to view a flash timeline 1982 - 1984 The origin of the HIsmelt Process can be traced back to the bottom blown oxygen steelmaking process (OBM) and the evolution of the combined blowing steelmaking process developed by the German steelmaker, Klckner Werke, at their Maxhtte steelworks. In 1981 CRA (now Rio Tinto) recognised the potential of the Klckner steelmaking converter technologies to be adapted to smelt iron ore instead of gasifying coal and melting scrap. CRA formed a joint venture with Klckner Werke to pursue the steelmaking and smelting reduction technologies. Trials were conducted in a 60 tonne OBM converter to demonstrate the fundamentals of the smelt reduction process. 1984 - 1990 The successful testing of the smelt reduction concept (using the 60 tonne steelmaking converter) led to the construction of a Small-Scale Pilot Plant (SSPP) located at the Maxhtte steelworks, Bavaria. With a capacity of 10-12,000 tpa, the design was based on a horizontal, rotating Smelt Reduction Vessel (SRV) that used bottom tuyeres for injection of coal, oxygen, fluxes and iron ore. The SSPP operated from 1984 to 1990 and this phase of the project proved the viability of the technology. However, scaling up the process still remained a question. During this period, several restructuring events occurred. Klckner withdrew from the project in 1987, and two years later CRA formed a 50:50 Joint Venture with Midrex Corporation to continue the development of the technology.

The pilot plant operation was deemed a success and it was decided that further testing at a larger scale was required. The next phase of the Process development was the HIsmelt Research and Development Facility (HRDF), constructed at Kwinana, Western Australia. 1991 Construction of the HIsmelt Research and Development Facility, with a design capacity of 100,000 tpa, commenced in 1991. The principle objective of the HRDF was to demonstrate the process and engineering scale-up of the core plant and to provide operating data for commercial evaluation. The original smelting vessel configuration for Kwinana was a direct scale-up of the SSPP smelt reduction vessel, i.e., based on a horizontally shaped vessel capable of rotation through 90. 1993 - 1996 The horizontal vessel was operated from October 1993 to August 1996. Whilst scale-up of the process was successfully demonstrated, the complexity of engineering a horizontal vessel limited its commercial viability. To overcome the deficiencies of the horizontal vessel a design was developed for a water-cooled vertical vessel. Design and engineering for the vertical SRV was completed in 1996. The main improvements incorporated into the design included a stationary vertical vessel, top injection of solids, a simplified hot air blast lance, a forehearth for continuous tapping of metal and water-cooled panels to overcome refractory wear problems. Midrex Corporation withdrew from the Joint Venture in 1994 and CRA (Rio Tinto) continued development of the process. 1997 - 1999 The HRDF vertical vessel was commissioned in the first half of 1997 and operated through to May 1999. The vertical vessel demonstrated major improvements over the horizontal vessel in terms of refractory wear, reliability, availability, productivity and simplicity in design. The HRDF vertical vessel addressed all the key requirements for a successful direct smelting iron making technology combining a high level of technical achievement with simple engineering concepts and plant technology. The vertical vessel operation confirmed the process was ready to be scaled up to a commercial plant. 2002 During 2002, an unincorporated joint venture was formed between the Rio Tinto (60%), Nucor Corporation (25%), Mitsubishi Corporation (10%), and Shougang Corporation (5%) groups - for the purpose of constructing and

operating an 800,000 tpa HIsmelt Plant. Located in Kwinana, Western Australia, the merchant pig iron facility was designed and engineered with a 6-metre hearth diameter Smelt Reduction Vessel. 2003 Construction of the plant commenced in January 2003. 2004 Cold commissioning of the 6-metre plant commenced in the second half of 2004. 2005 - 2007 Hot commissioning at the HIsmelt Kwinana Joint Venture plant commenced in Q2 2005. Starting from November 2005, the HIsmelt Kwinana plant is scheduled to take 3 years to ramp up to its name-plate hot metal production rate of 105 tonnes per hour, or 800,000 tonnes per year, with a coal consumption rate of 700kg per tonne of hot metal. Achievements so far include: 2006 - A production rate of 65 tonnes of hot metal per hour with a coal rate of 900kg per tonne of hot metal. 2007 - A production rate of 80 tonnes of hot metal per hour with a coal rate of 810kg per tonne of hot metal. HIsmelt Corporation continues to develop the technology to deliver cleaner, more flexible and lower cost iron-making to the world steel industry. ENGLISH // Privacy Reserved Site Map Links 2006 HIsmelt . All Rights