Patent ID: 7993430

Claim:
A process for producing molten iron with a combination of a moving-hearth reducing furnace and an iron bath-type melting furnace, comprising: charging a bedding carbonaceous material on a hearth of the moving-hearth reducing furnace and placing carbonaceous material-containing agglomerates containing a powdery iron oxide source and a powdery carbonaceous reductant on the bedding carbonaceous material; thermally reducing the carbonaceous material-containing agglomerates while moving the hearth in the moving-hearth reducing furnace to generate solid reduced iron and simultaneously thermally carbonizing the bedding carbonaceous material to generate char; classifying the solid reduced iron and the char into a coarse particle portion having an average particle diameter of 1 mm or more and the rest, a fine particle portion without substantial cooling; continuously charging only the coarse particle portion into the iron bath-type melting furnace from thereabove; and blowing oxygen-containing gas into the iron bath-type melting furnace to melt the solid reduced iron and to thereby generate molten iron.