PGSSCO Products
Hot briquettes iron (HBI)
Sponge iron (DRI) is the product of a direct reduction of iron oxide. In the MIDREX® DRI technology, iron ore pellets are reduced to iron with a purity of nearly 85% in a vertical furnace with a flow of methane gas, which breaks into carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen in the reformer in the presence of a catalyst at a temperature of over 900 °C. DRI is produced and consumed in cold iron, hot iron, and HBI. When the steel factory is adjacent to the DRI factory, using hot DRI with a temperature of 550 °C and above will be feasible, which will remarkably save the energy consumed by the steel factory. Since DRI, into pellets or fines, is highly tending to fire, it should be transported using neutral gases. Conversely, HBI does not tend to fire and can be easily shipped to the place of consumption without a need for neutral gases.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) defines HBI as follows: HBI is a DRI produced by the direct reduction method, compressed at a temperature exceeding 650 °C, and has a density higher than 5 gr/cm3 . A density of over 5 gr/cm3 and pillow-shaped briquettes improve the moving, shipping, storage, and melting performance of HBI.