Abstract
A detailed description is given of a small-scale laboratory reduction apparatus which uses microcomputer control to achieve simulation of the gas and temperature profiles which occur in direct reduction shaft furnaces. The apparatus allows specific, fixed or continuously changing reduction conditions to be impressed onto lump or pellet samples to simulate the passage of an iron ore burden moving down the shaft of a direct reduction furnace. Results from initial experiments indicate that the course of reduction is very different to that observed in fixed gas composition reduction experiments and the quality of reduced materials is dependent on both the original oxide and the initial reduction temperature. The work has shown that there may be scope for adjusting the operational parameters of direct reduction furnaces to maximise the quality of directly reduced iron being produced from particular oxide burdens.
