Recently, the new DRI hot charging and hot delivery technology independently developed by the CERI EAF team successfully passed the test.

DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) hot charging and hot delivery technology is a key interface technology for low-carbon metallurgical process of a hydrogen-based shaft furnace + an EAF, with remarkable benefits in energy saving and consumption reduction. According to the charge temperature for hot charging and hot delivery of 500°C, 125 kWh of power consumption can be reduced per ton of steel; the cost per ton of steel can be reduced by RMB 75. For the steel mill with annual output of 1 million t, the cost can be saved by RMB 75 million per year, resulting in remarkable economic benefits. For a long time, this technology has been mastered by a few foreign equipment suppliers, and has not been localized.

In 2021, relying on the major R&D projects of MCC's "181 Key Problems Tackling Plan", CERI carried out the research on this technology, and successively solved the core key technical problems such as high temperature resistance, secondary oxidation prevention of materials, closed explosion prevention and accurate feeding by combining mechanism research with experimental research, and deeply combining basic generic technology research with engineering application practice. The brand-new DRI hot charging and hot delivery technology independently developed solves the problem concerning the interface between the shaft furnace and the EAF. For the technology, the equipment structure is simplified, the risk of jamming is avoided, and the project investment, equipment failure rate and maintenance cost are reduced in respect of the existing foreign technology. The technology can adapt to different engineering application scenarios.

This test was a key link in the development of the brand-new DRI hot charging and hot delivery technology, mainly used for the test verification of the technology. The success of the test verification laid a solid foundation for the next industrial application.