Direct reduced iron, also known as sponge iron, is produced by the direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps, pellets, or fines) to iron by a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal in the steel making. And this process is also known as the production of sponge iron. The term "direct reduced iron" may also be used to refer to this method (DRI). There are many different types of ores that are suitable for use in the direct reduction process that is used to produce iron. The phrase "direct reduction" refers to activities that take place in a solid state and convert iron oxides into metallic iron at temperatures that are lower than the melting point of iron. These processes take place at temperatures that are lower than the melting point of iron. 
In one of these procedures, for instance, iron ore is burned in a furnace at a high temperature of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius in the presence of the reducing gas syngas, which is a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This is done in order to extract the iron from the ore. The end product of this process is reduced iron, which takes its name from the method used to create it. The production of direct reduced iron, often known as DRI, involves eliminating oxygen from iron ore while it is in its solid state. This process results in the production of DRI. This technology encompasses a wide variety of processes, each of which is predicated on a unique combination of reactors, reducing agents, and feedstocks. The term "reduction" refers to the process by which these components are brought together. By substituting natural gas for coal in DRI operations, it is feasible to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere. This is made possible by the utilization of hydrogen that is produced from methane. The Method of Producing Iron through Direct Reduction In a plant that performs indirect reduction, the oxide pellets that are created in the pelletizing plant must first be examined for their chemical and physical qualities before being allowed to enter the reduction plant from the top into the furnace. This occurs in an indirect reduction plant. When they reach the interior of the module, the oxide pellets lose their oxygen content to the reducing gas that is rising from the module's base in an upward direction. The initial mixture of the reducing gas consists of H2 and CO and H2O, and the radioactivity of the mixture ranges from 1.5 to 1.7. This mixture rises to the top of the furnace, where it absorbs the oxygen that is present in the pellets, then goes through a chemical reaction that converts the oxygen into carbon dioxide and water, and finally emerges as water vapor. 
Characteristics of iron that have been directly reduced to their elemental state (DRI)
- A constant chemical composition has the capacity to efficiently dilute the residuals and metal components that are present in steel, resulting to an improvement in the quality of the steel. This can be achieved by maintaining a consistent chemical composition.
- It has a low concentration of components that could be potentially harmful, such as P and s, and it has the ability to speed up the refining process.
- Reduce the amount of time it takes to load, as well as the number of power interruptions and the amount of heat that is lost. Greater productivity and reduced costs are possible outcomes of increased melting speed coupled with reduced power consumption.
- As long as there is a steady supply of electricity during the melting period, there is no restriction on the amount of power that can be supplied as long as it is at a high enough level.
- Low input of financial resources required, yet significant return on investment.
sponge iron steel making
In a plant that performs indirect reduction, the oxide pellets that are created in the pelletizing plant must first be examined for their chemical and physical qualities before being allowed to enter the reduction plant from the top into the furnace. This occurs in an indirect reduction plant in steel making process (sponge iron). When they reach the interior of the module, the oxide pellets lose their oxygen content to the reducing gas that is rising from the module's base in an upward direction. The proportions of hydrogen to carbon monoxide and water in the first mixture of the reducing gas range from 1.5 to 1.7 This mixture rises to the top of the furnace, where it absorbs the oxygen that is present in the pellets, then goes through a chemical reaction that converts the oxygen into carbon dioxide and water, and finally emerges as water vapor. Process It is possible to roughly divide the processes of direct reduction into two distinct categories: those that are based on gas and those that are based on coal. In both cases, the purpose of the process is to remove the oxygen that is present in the different forms of iron ore (sized ore, concentrates, pellets, mill scale, furnace dust, and so on) in order to transform the ore into metallic iron without melting it. This is accomplished by reducing the amount of oxygen in the ore (at temperatures lower than 1,200 degrees Celsius or 2,190 degrees Fahrenheit). The process of direct reduction is one that makes relatively good use of the energy that is available to it. DRI makes it unnecessary to use a conventional blast furnace in the production of steel, which leads in a significant reduction in the amount of fuel that is required. Electric arc furnaces are currently the most widely used method for changing direct reduced iron (DRI) into steel. This process enables manufacturers to make use of the heat generated by the DRI product. 
Benefits Direct reduction methods were developed as a means of getting around the issues that were intrinsic to the traditional blast furnaces. In contrast to blast furnaces, plants that manufacture DRI are not required to be a part of an integrated steel mill. This is because blast furnaces are typically found in integrated steel mills. Integrated steel facilities have higher initial capital investments, but direct reduction plants have lower initial capital investments and thus lower operational expenses. Because of this, they are better suited for use in underdeveloped nations, which typically have easy access to steel scrap for recycling but have a limited supply of high-quality coking coal. India is responsible for the production of a greater quantity of direct-reduced iron than any other country on the face of the earth. A wide range of processes can be found being utilized in a significant number of foreign countries. The cost-effectiveness of DRI can be partially attributed to the following factors: It is an excellent feedstock for the electric furnaces that are utilized by mini mills because direct-reduced iron has an iron content that is roughly equivalent to that of pig iron. Pig iron typically contains between 90 and 94% of total iron (depending on the quality of the raw ore), and direct-reduced iron typically has the same range. Because of this, small mills are able to employ scrap metal of lower quality for the remainder of the charge, or they can make steel of a higher grade than they would be able to otherwise. The densely packed form of DRI known as hot-briquetted iron (HBI) was developed for the purpose of making the material more manageable when it came to transporting, handling, and storing it. When directly reduced iron (DRI) is transported while it is still hot, directly from a reduction furnace into an electric arc furnace, a material known as hot direct reduced iron (HDRI) is produced. 
HDRI is another name for directly reduced iron (DRI). This helps to reduce our overall electricity use. In order to use iron ore in the process of direct reduction, the ore can either be pelletized or it can be used in its natural "lump" form. Because it requires the utilization of iron ore particles of a specific size, the fluidized bed method constitutes an exemption to this requirement. Because the process of direct reduction enables the exploitation of natural gas that has been contaminated with inert gases, there is no need to separate these gases in order to put them to other purposes because it is possible to make use of natural gas that has been tainted with inert gases. The presence of any inert gas that may have contaminated the reducing gas, however, has a negative impact on both the effect (quality) of that gas stream and the overall thermal efficiency of the process. This is because inert gases do not react chemically with the reducing gas. Powdered ore and raw natural gas sources are both readily available in certain places, such as Northern Australia. As a result, there is no requirement to transport the gas, which eliminates the costs involved with doing so. Because it is more efficient to transport the ore than the gas, the DRI facility is nearly always located in close proximity to a supply of natural gas. This is due to the fact that transporting the ore is more expensive. The DRI process yields iron that is 97% pure at its end product. It is possible to make DRI by exchanging syngas for renewable hydrogen gas, which may then be put to use in the manufacturing process. Because of this, there will no longer be a requirement to make use of fossil fuels in the manufacturing of iron and steel. Problems Because iron that has been directly reduced is particularly susceptible to oxidation and corrosion if it is not carefully protected, steel is normally produced from it as quickly as feasible in most cases. Due to the fact that bulk iron has a pyrophoric character, it is also capable of catching fire. Direct reduced iron (DRI) contains some siliceous gangue (if made from scrap, as opposed to new iron produced by direct reduction of iron with natural gas), which must be eliminated prior to the production of steel. This is in contrast to pig iron, which is produced in a blast furnace and is nearly pure metal. Pig iron can be found in its purest form when it is called "pig iron." 