The Boc Group, Inc.

Paul M Latham

John T Lavin

Iron ore, coal and oxygen are fed to a reactor to produce iron and a fuel gas. The fuel gas leaves the reactor at a temperature of at least 200.degree. C. and is passed through a hot filtration apparatus. The resulting hot, filtered gas then passes through a heat exchanger. A heat exchange fluid, preferably a stream of nitrogen at above ambient pressure passes through the heat exchanger countercurrently to the hot filtered as stream. The heat exchange fluid is thereby heated. The hot heat exchange fluid stream is then expanded with the performance of external work in an expansion turbine, for example it may be used in the generation of electrical power. The hot, filtered, fuel gas may be sent for power recovery downstream of the heat exchanger or may be separated into its constituent components. If the heat exchange fluid is nitrogen it may be separated from air in the same plant that is used to feed the reactor with oxygen.

Growing community of inventors

Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Paul M Latham