Decarbonising ironmaking with Australian renewable hydrogen and WA iron ores

R&D Focus Areas:
Industrial heat processes, industrial feedstock processes

Lead Organisation:
University of Western Australia

Funding:
Future Energy Exports CRC (Research Project)

Status:
Active

Start date:
August 2023

Project summary description:
This project seeks to research and evaluate the suitability of WA iron ore for and to prepare Pilbara iron ore products and supply chain to adapt to future ironmaking technologies that will use Australia’s renewable H₂/NH₃ and WA iron ores.

The scientific research will reveal the mechanisms of direct H₂/NH₃ reduction of WA iron ores and establish reaction kinetics for reactor design using laboratory fixed-bed reactor, fluidised bed reactor, single particle and CFD modelling techniques.

The technical development will focus on the establishment of laboratory-scale reactors mimicking both shaft furnace and fluidised bed processes for optimisation of operating conditions and performance evaluation through both experimentation and CFD reactor modelling, with detailed consideration of gas phase changes, mineral types and physical structure of the ore samples.

Further information:
Decarbonising Ironmaking with Australian Renewable Hydrogen and WA Iron Ores (23.RP2.0157) – Future Energy Exports (fenex.org.au)

 

Reviewed: October 2024