IRON METAL PRODUCTION FROM LIMONITE IRON ORE USING HYDROGEN PLASMA SMELTING REDUCTION (HPSR)

• Main Author: Hakim, Baihaqi
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/81750
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Steel production in Indonesia continues to increase over time due to several factors, such as economic growth, urbanization, and increased consumption. Steel consumption in Indonesia is projected to be 100 million tons by 2050. On a global scale, the steel industry generated 2.6 gigatons of carbon emissions in 2019. Therefore, steel production technology must be shifted to environmentally friendly technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in accordance with the 21st century Paris Agreement. HPSR has the potential to produce iron in one route with high product quality, environmentally friendly, and of course, production costs are 20% cheaper than conventional steel production technology. This research was conducted to learn more about iron production using HPSR technology from limonite iron ore. A series of experiments including the preparation and characterization of limonite iron ore samples, the reduction and smelting process in the HPSR reactor that produces iron metal, and the characterization of the experimental results were carried out. Limonite iron ore was reduced and smelted in the HPSR reactor by varying the reduction time (5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 seconds), Ar-80%H2 gas mixture, total gas flow rate of 5 liters/minute, and ore mass of 5 grams. Then, the ore mass was varied (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grams) with a reduction time of 90 seconds, Ar- 80%H2 gas mixture, and a total gas flow rate of 5 liters/minute. Then, the Ar-H2 gas mixture was varied (60, 70, 80% H2) with a total gas flow rate of 5 liters/minute, a reduction time of 90 seconds, and an ore mass of 2 grams. Finally, the total gas flow rate was varied (2, 3, 4, 5 liters/minute) with Ar-80%H2 gas mixture, reduction time of 90 seconds, and ore mass of 2 grams. Weight loss after the reduction process was analyzed for each experimental variation. The reduction products were analyzed using scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) to determine the chemical composition of each phase formed. The experimental results showed that increasing the reduction time, total gas flow rate, and Ar-H2 gas mixture increased the reduction degree. In contrast, increasing the ore mass led to a decrease in the reduction degree based on weight loss data, product cross-section photos, and SEM-EDS. The 100% metal fraction was obtained in 2 minutes with an ore mass of 5 grams, Ar-80%H2 gas mixture, and a total gas flow rate of 5 liters/minute. In addition, the 100% metal fraction was also obtained in 90 seconds with an ore mass of 1 gram, a total flow rate of 5 liters/minute, and a gas mixture of Ar-80%H2. Based on SEM-EDS results, the iron metal formed has an average iron composition above 99%. On the other hand, the unreduced ore has a high FeO content of about 50????80%.