Fuel saving and carbon dioxide emission avoidance by the co-production of iron and syngas

By combining the carbothermic reduction of iron oxide with the partial oxidation of the carbon source, an overall thermo-neutral process call be designed for the co-production of iron and syngas rich in CO. Partial or total water-gas shift of CO to H, enables the production of syngas suitable for methanol, hydrogen, or ammonia synthesis. The conditions for thermoneutrality were determined by thermochemical equilibrium calculations. Preliminary evaluations with coke or coal as carbon source indicate that such combined processes should be environmentally advantageous and economically competitive. In the case of the co-production of iron and methanol, the predicted CO2 emission avoidance and fuel saving would amount to 50% and 27%, respectively, relative to the conventional separate production of the same amounts of these two commodities. For the co-production of iron and hydrogen, the corresponding CO, emission avoidance would be 18%, and the fuel saving would reach 62%. The fuel saving by the co-production of iron and ammonia would be 19%.