Kinetics of Reduction of Iron Oxide in Mixtures of Oxide and Carbon: A Critical Appraisal

In the area of alternative ironmaking, processes using mixtures of fines of iron ore with fines of carbonaceous material (coal/char/coke) have become popular and are growing. For about three decades the present author and his co-workers carried out several investigations on kinetics of various aspects of reduction of iron oxide and gasification of carbon, including reduction in mixtures and in composite pellets of fines of iron oxide/ore and graphite/char/coal. The present paper is a brief and critical review, primarily on the basis of the above studies. It is contended that the issues focused here are relevant even now.