On April 6, the equipment and pipeline installation of the H-RIF™ gas-based shaft furnace test platform project of CERI was completed, and the project was fully put into commissioning and trial use.

The H-RIF™ gas-based shaft furnace test platform of CERI is the most important test unit in the special R&D project of China Minmetals, aiming to further promote the original innovation of the core technology of hydrogen metallurgy in the industry. Taking full account of China's energy conditions, CERI has developed a set of gas-based direct reduction ironmaking H-RIF™ plants with completely independent intellectual property rights. The system has many advantages such as stability, high efficiency, safety, environmental protection, adaptability to multiple gas sources, and low cost. In order to realize the "last kilometer" leap in technology research and application of achievements, CERI has cooperated with Shanxi Jingang Group to build the test unit by relying on two R&D platforms, namely China MCC Low Carbon Technology Research Institute (Beijing) and Shanxi Low Carbon Hydrogen Metallurgical Engineering Research Center. After the completion of the test unit, the key process parameters and operation rules of the shaft furnace process will be studied accordingly, laying a solid foundation for the engineering implementation of process theory and the localization of equipment, providing a test platform for the research of short-process gas-based direct reduction process and key technology, and building an original source of low-carbon hydrogen metallurgy technology.

After the test platform is put into operation, it will research the energy and quality matching rule of gas-based shaft furnaces, reducing gas heating and reforming technology, gas-solid high-efficiency reduction technology, R&D of the key equipment of gas-based shaft furnaces, R&D of the key equipment of DRI hot charging and hot delivery, production operation control rules and safe operation and maintenance procedures, etc., and master the critical process parameters and influence rules of shaft furnace process.