Direct reduced iron

Hot-briquetted iron

Direct reduced iron (DRI), also called sponge iron,[1] is produced from the direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps, pellets, or fines) into iron by a reducing gas which contains elemental carbon (produced from natural gas or coal) and/or hydrogen. When hydrogen is used as the reducing gas no carbon dioxide is produced. Many ores are suitable for direct reduction.

Direct reduction refers to solid-state processes which reduce iron oxides to metallic iron at temperatures below the melting point of iron. Reduced iron derives its name from these processes, one example being heating iron ore in a furnace at a high temperature of 800 to 1,200 °C (1,470 to 2,190 °F) in the presence of the reducing gas syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, or pure hydrogen.[2]

Production of direct-reduced iron and breakdown by process
  1. ^ "What is direct reduced iron (DRI)? definition and meaning". Businessdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  2. ^ "Direct reduced iron (DRI)". International Iron Metallics Association. 14 November 2019.