Kinetics of Reduction of Iron Oxides and Ores by Carbon

Theoretical considerations and experimental findings point out that reduction of iron Oxides and Ores by Carbon proceed via the gas phase, whenever the later is present. The overall reaction is a coupling of the following two component reactions. viz.

Gasification of carbon C(S) CO2 (g) = 2C0 (g) & Reduction of iron oxide mFe.0y(S) -f- CO (g) = nFezOw [S) CO2 (g)

Recent kinetic studies have established that the gasifi-cation reaction controls the rate of the overall process under the circumstances normally encountered.

A critical evaluation of these studies have been pres-ented. The available information on the kinetics and mechanism of the two component reactions have also been critically reviewed.