FINEX® — ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE IRONMAKING

Finex is an innovative ironmaking process jointly developed by Primetals Technologies and the Korean steel producer Posco for the production of hot-metal – based on the direct use of fine ore and non-coking coal.

In the Finex process, fine iron ore is charged at the top of a cascade of fluidized-bed reactors where it is heated and reduced to direct-reduced iron (DRI) by means of a reduction gas – derived from the gasification of the coal – that flows in the counter-current direction to the ore. The DRI fines are processed to hot-compacted iron, transferred to a charging bin positioned above the melter gasifier and then charged into the melter gasifier, where melting takes place. The tapped product – liquid hot metal – is equivalent in quality to the hot metal produced in a blast furnace or Corex plant.

Economic Benefits

The unique characteristics of the Finex process and its ability to use low-cost raw materials mean that both capital investment and production costs are much lower than in the blast furnace route. A 1.5-million-ton-per-year Finex plant can produce hot metal more cost effectively than a modern three-million-ton-per-year blast furnace. When oxygen and power plants are included in the comparison, the capital and operating costs of a Finex plant are approximately 20% and 15% lower, respectively, than in the blast furnace route.