Shadegan Steel Industry Company (SSIC) Plan was observed in 2002 with special attention to the development requirements and region`s environmental considerations. Execution of this 256 ha project was started in 2005 for developing the steel industry in Khuzestan, creating jobs and eliminating deprivation. This large project includes direct reduction and steelmaking units. Execution of direct reduction unit launched by KSC in 2013 and three years later, in 2016, this important and effective project was opened after trial stages and production of the first shipments of sponge iron. The total capacity of SSIC`s direct reduction and steelmaking units are 800,000 and 1 million tons, respectively, which can be expanded to 2 million tons.
First in the World
In fact, SSIC`s direct reduction unit is the first in the world built based on a completely Iranian technology and method called Persian Reduction or “PERED”. Earlier, the design of steelmaking processes in Iran was based on global technologies such MIDREX. For the first time, Iranian experts succeeded in using direct reduction technology and building a factory that produces world-class sponge iron. This new Iranian method is now registered in EU.
In PERED, the system uses a reducing gas to chemically separate oxygen from the pellet (iron oxide) and carbonize the reduced product. The reducing gas includes a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and other elements that are formed in the reformer from the rearrangement of the methane molecule.By entering the furnace and rising in the furnace, the reducing gas increases the possibility of more contact with the pellet and the probability of success of reduction.
Among the features of PERED, providing a continuous system of iron oxide reduction and less fuel consumption due to heat recovery from the gas in the reformer are the most important .As well, in the special design of this system, carbon dioxide and steam produced during the reduction of iron oxide are used in the catalytic conversion of methane.
