Patent ID: 7608129

Claim:
An apparatus for producing DRI comprising a reduction reactor having a reduction zone in its upper part and a cooling zone in its lower part; means for charging iron-oxide-containing particles to said reduction zone, a reducing gas recycle loop including as elements thereof said reducing zone, means for circulating a high-temperature reducing gas comprising H 2 and CO through said reduction zone to reduce iron oxide particles therein to produce hot DRI and a depleted residual reducing gas with H 2 O and CO 2 by-products, a cooler scrubber for removing H 2 O from the residual reducing gas, a CO 2 removal system for removing CO 2 from the residual reducing gas for yielding an upgraded recycle reducing gas, a heater for the upgraded recycle reducing gas, a source of free-oxygen-containing gas for feeding to said upgraded recycle reducing gas to further raise the temperature of such recycle gas and to react at least with hydrocarbons present in the recycle gas, and piping to join these cooling gas recycle loop elements; a cooling gas recycle loop including as elements thereof said cooling zone for cooling down said hot DRI, a cooler scrubber for cooling gas effluent piped from the cooling zone along said loop, one or more ejectors connected into said cooling gas recycle loop capable of functioning as the sole means for driving cooling gas through the cooling gas recycle loop and for mixing the motive gas with the cooled and scrubbed cooling gas upon being recycled to back to said cooling zone, a high-pressure natural gas supply from outside merchant source piped to each such ejector so as to serve as the motive gas for each such ejector, and piping to join these cooling gas recycle loop elements; and means for discharging cooled DRI from said cooling zone.