Method of controlling metallization of directly reduced ores

Abstract

Process control method for regulating the percentage reduction of sponge metal produced in a moving bed vertical reduction reactor by means of sampling at a single level in the reactor (preferably centrally located) for determining the concentration ratio of a reducing gas species and its oxidized product (such as the CO/CO.sub.2 ratio in a sponge iron reactor) and comparing such ratio with an established discovered interrelationship between such concentration ratios and the final degree of metallization, and regulating the process control parameters so as to shift the concentration ratio at the sampling point towards a ratio previously established to yield the desired final degree of metallization for the sponge metal (thus permitting reliable compensating adjustment of the reduction process relative to the sampled ore prior to completing its reduction so that the final metallization achieved for the ore adjacent such sample will have the degree of metallization desired, thus avoiding the serious lag time and imprecision in adjustments of the metalization typical of prior art practices).