Process for the production of reduced iron and thermal cracking of heavy

Abstract

The invention provides a novel process for concurrently carrying out production of reduced iron and thermal cracking of heavy oils in which the reaction of thermal cracking is performed in a fluidized state with the fine iron ore as the fluidized medium and the particles of the iron ore become coated with deposits of the carbonaceous by-product material. The fine iron ore with the carbon deposited thereon is introduced in a fluidized-bed reducing furnace and there reduced into reduced iron by contacting with a reducing gas which is produced in a gas reformer from the cracked gas or the residual oil separated from the products of the thermal cracking. In an improvement of the above process, the gas reformer is operated as a fluidized-bed reactor with the reduced iron as the fluidized medium and acting as the reforming catalyst. The reduced iron partially re-oxidized in the reforming reaction is again reduced to completely reduced iron either by recycling into the fluidized-bed reducing furnace or by introducing into a second fluidized-bed reducing furnace.