Posted on 14 Jun 2016
Luxembourg & Charlotte, NC, 14 June 2016. Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) has awarded Midrex Technologies, Inc., and its consortium partner Paul Wurth, a contract to supply Equipment, Engineering and Technical Services for one of the world’s largest direct reduced ironmaking (DRI) plants. The new natural gas-based MIDREX NG™ DRI plant will be located in Bellara, Algeria, 375 km east of Algiers. AQS is a joint venture between Sider Co. and National Investment Fund (51%) and Qatar Steel International (49%). The MIDREX® Plant will be part of the overall steel complex that will produce 2.0 million tons of re-bar and wire rod as finished products.
AQS’s new MIDREX NG™ DRI Plant will be designed to produce 2.5 million tons of DRI with the capability to vary its production to produce hot direct reduced iron (HDRI) and/or cold direct reduced iron (CDRI) simultaneously without stoppage of production.
HDRI will be fed via an Aumund hot transport conveyor to a new EAF meltshop located adjacent to the MIDREX® DRI Plant allowing for greater EAF productivity and energy savings; CDRI can also be produced for additional onsite use. The new AQS DRI Plant will provide the AQS steelmaking facility with greater production flexibility to produce high quality, low impurity steels as well as decrease their demand for imported scrap. Plants using MIDREX® DRI technology transport more HDRI per year and at hotter temperatures than any other commercial technology available.
Benefits of Hot Direct Reduced Iron
There are two main benefits of charging HDRI to the EAF: lower specific electricity consumption and increased productivity. The energy savings occur because less energy is required in the EAF to heat the DRI to melting temperature, resulting in a shorter overall melting cycle.
Additional benefits of charging hot DRI (HDRI) to the EAF are:
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