COMPARATIVE-ASSESSMENT OF HOT METAL AND S PONGE IRON PRODUCTION COSTS

Objective. The reduction of iron without the use of coke metallurgy wa s operationally introduced at the end of the 1950's with reduction for the producing of solid sponge iron. The industrial production of hot metal without any coke was realised at the end of the 1980s when the f irst Corex plant was put into operation. The following article reports first of all on the state of development of the ore reduction process es. The cost of producing one tonne of sponge iron, iron carbide and h ot metal is estimated on the basis of investment cost data available f or new plants as well as on the basis of the characteristic consumptio ns. Summary. The costs of production in Germany as an operating locati on are assessed for the blast furnace route, the Corex process, and th e Midrex, Finmet, Iron Carbide, Circorfer and Comet direct reduction p rocesses on the basis of available information regarding capital expen ditures, consumptions and costs. This is complemented by an assessment of Venezuela as an operating location for the Midrex, Finmet and Iron Carbide direct reduction processes. Comparison of the hot metal produ ction costs shows, in the case of Germany, that the production costs o f the Corex units can come close to the more favourable hot metal cost s achieved by large-capacity blast furnaces. The estimation of the cos ts of direct-reduced sponge iron reveals a clear preference for coal-b ased reduction compared with a natural-gas base. One perspective would be the coal-based Circofer and Comet direct reduction processes, whic h are currently at the pilot development stage. Natural-gas based dire ct reduction plants are able to produce sponge iron for export more co st-efficiently in countries that have low-price energy sources availab le, such as e.g. Venezuela.