SBIR Phase I: Process for Producing Steel using Super-Pure Iron Ore Powder (SPIOP) and Hydrogen

SBIR 第一阶段：使用超纯铁矿粉 (SPIOP) 和氢气生产钢的工艺

• 批准号: 2231649
• 负责人: Dehua Zhu
• 金额: $ 27.39万
• 依托单位: AMERICAN MAGNET CO LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231649&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Process; Producing; Steel

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable an environmentally sustainable, reduced-carbon emissions steelmaking process for the iron and steel industry. This industry is responsible for 7%~9% of global carbon emissions. The proposed innovation will produce no solid waste discharge and no greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the proposed innovation will contribute to the United States and society by reducing the use of precious mineral resources and promoting the use of renewable energy sources. Once this innovation is proved to be successful and scalable, it can be commercialized and massively applied to the American iron and steelmaking industry, with the potential to reduce dependency on steel imports, provide greater resilience to the US manufacturing sector, and reduce the carbon footprint.This SBIR Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of producing reduced-carbon emissions steel using Super-Pure Iron Ore Powder (SPIOP) and hydrogen. Steel is ubiquitous in our lives, from bridges and skyscrapers to cars and consumer goods. Yet, producing steel often comes with a long flow sheet, high cost, waste, and pollution. The proposed innovative process uses hydrogen (H2) to directly reduce SPIOP in a high-temperature hydrogen reduction electric furnace to produce steel. The raw iron ore is first ground to a fine target size range (~0-0.076mm) to dissociate iron ore particles from gangue/impure particles such as quartz and rocks. The dissociated iron ore particles are then purified using the company’s high-intensity iron separation technologies. The purified iron ore concentrate is 99.0% purity. The hydrogen reduction process and direct reduced iron melting process occur in the same furnace, producing a one-step crude steel manufacturing process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是为钢铁行业实现环境可持续、碳排放减少的炼钢工艺，该行业占全球碳排放量的 7%~9%。拟议的创新将不会产生固体废物排放，也不会产生温室气体排放。此外，一旦这项创新得到证实，该创新将通过减少珍贵矿产资源的使用和促进可再生能源的使用来为美国和社会做出贡献。为了获得成功和可扩展，它可以商业化并大规模应用于美国钢铁工业，有可能减少对钢铁进口的依赖，为美国制造业提供更大的弹性，并减少碳足迹。该SBIR一期项目将展示生产低碳钢的可行性使用超纯铁矿粉 (SPIOP) 和氢气生产的钢铁在我们的生活中无处不在，从桥梁、摩天大楼到汽车和消费品，然而，钢铁生产往往流程长、成本高、浪费大。所提出的创新工艺使用氢气 (H2) 在高温氢还原电炉中直接还原 SPIOP 来生产钢，首先将原铁矿石研磨至精细的目标尺寸范围 (~0-0.076mm)。然后使用该公司的高强度铁分离技术将铁矿石颗粒从石英和岩石等不纯颗粒中分离出来。纯度为 99.0% 的氢气还原过程和直接还原铁熔炼过程发生在同一炉中，产生一步式粗钢制造过程。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，认为值得支持。以及更广泛的影响审查标准。