Midrex Technologies Inc. (USA) and Al-Ghaith Holdings (UAE) have signed a pre-engineering contract to start work on a new mini-mill and MIDREX® Direct Reduction Plant using the industry's first HOTLINK® system to feed Hot Direct Reduced Iron (HDRI) to the new mini-mill.
The new facility named Hamil Steel will be the Middle East's newest electric-arc-furnace based mini-mill and will use HOTLINK's HDRI to produce approximately 300,000 tons of steel billets. HDRI will be delivered at more than 700 degrees Celsius to a newly designed VAI/Fuchs electric-arc furnace for the production of high quality, low-cost liquid steel.
The Hamil Steel DR-EAF combination will be the world's first to use the patented and proprietary HOTLINK® Technology. About half of the HDRI will be fed directly to the EAF and about half will be delivered to a hot briquetting system for the production of approximately 250,000 tonnes/year of HBI.
"This project represents the next evolutionary step forward for DR-based mini-mills" Robert Klawonn, vice president of Commercial for Midrex Technologies Inc., says. "We are confident that our close relationship with VAI will assure smooth project execution and maximum benefit for the client."
The half-million tonne per year Midrex® Plant will be Midrex's 9th plant designed and constructed to discharge HDRI. Since 1984, Midrex® Hot Briquetting Plants in Malaysia, India, Venezuela and Libya have produced more than 55 million tons of HDRI in the form of HBI. Hot transport and charging of HDRI has been successfully performed by Essar Steel. In recent years, Essar has been transporting its HDRI directly to the nearby melt shop by container in batches up to 90 tonnes each with excellent results.
The details of the Midrex/Fuchs agreements and launching of Hamil Steel were announced at the Metal Bulletin 7th Middle East Iron & Steel Conference on December 17, 2003.
"The Al Ghaith group elected to work with Midrex because of our proven reliability and demonstrated performance history in the iron making industry," Jim McClaskey, president and COO of Midrex, says. "We are extremely pleased that they have placed their faith and trust in us, working as partners to successfully demonstrate HOTLINK Technology."
According to Midrex, Hamil Steel will benefit from the proven reliability of the Midrex hot discharge furnace and the Fuchs EAF. Relatively low capacities, in comparison to other recently announced projects, will be complemented with an even lower total investment cost as Hamil Steel will rely upon project execution leadership by Advance Projects Development (Al-Ghaith's EPC arm).
After a DR contracting drought of 5 years (since ANSDK module 3 in Dec. 1998), the first project to be contracted in the coming wave of new ironmaking projects will utilize the patented HOTLINK system.
Optimization of DR/EAF production and energy efficiency has taken an evolutionary step forward with the close coupling of a Midrex Shaft Furnace and an EAF to achieve increased productivity and energy savings in the production of high quality steel. The concept, HOTLINK®, provides a simple, reliable and economical means for hot charging DRI to an adjacent electric-arc furnace using gravity to transport hot DRI (HDRI).
HOTLINK is based on proven technology and simple design philosophy. By using gravity transport, HDRI degradation, metallization and temperature losses are minimized. Easy to operate, the HOTLINK system allows no HDRI re-oxidation and has the flexibility to produce any combination of DRI or HDRI based on proven Midrex® Technology. HOTLINK delivers HDRI to the EAF between 700°C and 750°C.
Midrex pioneered the continuous gravity-flow direct reduction plant design, as well as the hot discharge furnace feature. HOTLINK places a Midrex Hot Discharge Furnace just outside and above the exterior wall of the meltshop.
This provides the opportunity to discharge directly from the shaft furnace to a hot DRI surge bin and then from the surge bin directly to the EAF by gravity. This configuration of gravity fed hot DRI has been used on all Midrex HBI plants to produce more than 55 million tons since 1984.
HOTLINK modules are equipped to handle any upset conditions via the hot DRI surge bin. The primary goal of the arrangement shown below is to supply hot DRI to the EAF as the demand requires it. However, the plant must also be capable of switching to the production of cold metallics for stockpiling without any interruption in production of hot DRI.
Midrex Technologies Inc. is an international process engineering and technology company that provides global process technology solutions to various industries and is principally known for the Midrex® Direct Reduction Process that converts iron ore into a high-purity DRI or HBI for use in steelmaking, ironmaking, and foundry applications. Midrex continues to develop new technologies relating to its traditional iron and steel roots including eco-friendly technologies such as FASTMET®/FASTMELT® steel waste recycling processes and ITmk3, a breakthrough process for producing a pig iron substitute material.