Title of Invention	A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE HOT TRANSPORT OF DIRECT REDUCED IRON(DRI)
Abstract	A method for the transport of hot direct reduced iron for steel melting shop, which comprises the following steps: a. Collecting the hot direct reduced iron in a product distribution chamber under controlled conditioned of air, i.e. Oxygen in an inert gas being passed to Product distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume; b. Allowing gravity flow of hot Direct Reduced Iron through a feed pipe to feed hot direct reduced iron container at controlled rates i.e. at set production rate; c. Providing an inert gas like Nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot direct reduced iron at appropriate place; d. Allowing the nitrogen gas protected hot Direct reduced iron stream into a hot Direct reduced iron container which has previously been flushed with an inert gas like Nitrogen; e. The hot Direct reduced iron stream being allowed into the top of the transport container, through, if desired Nitrogen seal in the container;

Title of Invention

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE HOT TRANSPORT OF DIRECT REDUCED IRON(DRI)

Abstract

A method for the transport of hot direct reduced iron for steel melting shop, which comprises the following steps: a. Collecting the hot direct reduced iron in a product distribution chamber under controlled conditioned of air, i.e. Oxygen in an inert gas being passed to Product distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume; b. Allowing gravity flow of hot Direct Reduced Iron through a feed pipe to feed hot direct reduced iron container at controlled rates i.e. at set production rate; c. Providing an inert gas like Nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot direct reduced iron at appropriate place; d. Allowing the nitrogen gas protected hot Direct reduced iron stream into a hot Direct reduced iron container which has previously been flushed with an inert gas like Nitrogen; e. The hot Direct reduced iron stream being allowed into the top of the transport container, through, if desired Nitrogen seal in the container;

Full Text	FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10; rule 13) TITLE OF THE INVENTION A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE HOT TRANSPORT OF DIRECT REDUCED IRON (DRI) APPLICANT ESSAR STEEL LIMITED having its registered office at 27 km Surat Hazira Road, Hazira 394 270, Dist: Surat Gujarat, India, an Indian Company INVENTORS Bailey Russel Eugene, an American citizen Gupta Pramod Kumar, an Indian citizen Chaudhari Motilal, an Indian citizen All of ESSAR STEEL LIMITED having its registered office at 27 km Surat Hazira Road, Hazira 394 270, Dist: Surat Gujarat, India, an Indian Company PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION The following complete specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. 14 MAR 2006 Field of the Invention : This invention relates, in one aspect to an apparatus for hot transport of direct reduced iron. In another aspect, this invention relates to a method for the hot transport of direct reduced iron. Prior Art and Drawbacks: In the known method, a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is fed into hot briquetting machines to form briquettes and then it is quenched to allow handling at ambient temperature. The disadvantage of this method is that the sensible heat contained in the hot DRI is lost, high heat load is placed on the process water cooling system, product quality and carbon are lost in the quenching process and moisture is added to the product. This hot discharge direct reduction furnace product (hot DRI) is typically discharged at 500 to 750° C hot briquetted and quenched for handling at 30 to 90° C. Energy (heat) and product (hot DRI) quality (percent metalization) are lost in the typical discharge/briquetting/quenching process. Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) with typical particle mass of 0.5 to 2.0 Kg is more difficult to melt than smaller particle size material. Thus the known art does not envisage apparatus for hot transport of direct reduced iron and instead includes hot briquetting machines to form briquettes from the hot direct reduced iron, it uses a quenching equipment for cooling the briquette to temperature or near about room temperature before transporting the briquette to the next stage. Objections of the Invention : It is therefore a principle object of the invention to propose a method and an system for the hot transport of direct reduced iron, so as to conserve the sensible heat contained in the hot direct reduced iron. It is another object to propose such a method and system whereby it is possible to maintain the desirable quality of the product at the reactor discharge which was not hitherto possible. 2 A further object of the invention is to propose such a method and a system whereby the heat load on the plant water system is substantially reduced by elimination the quenching step of the known process. A still further object is to eliminate the moisture content delivering the hot direct reduced iron to the steel melting facility, which was not possible in the known quenching process. Yet another object is to avoid the operating hours of the hot briquetting machines, quenching and discharge system, thereby, eliminating the overall maintenance cost per ton of plant product namely direct reduced iron. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following paragraphs. Brief Description of the Invention : According to this invention, there is provided a method for the hot transport of DRJ for steel melting shop, which comprises the following steps : a. collecting the hot DRI in a distribution chamber under controlled condition of air i.e. oxygen in an inert gas being passed to product distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume. b. allowing gravity flow of hot DRI through a feed pipe into a hot DRI container at controlled rates, i.e. at set production rate. c. Providing an inert gas like nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot DRI at appropriate place. d. Allowing the hot nitrogen gas protected hot DRI stream into a hot DRI container which has previously been flushed with an inert gas like nitrogen. e. Hot DRI stream being allowed into the top of the transport container, through, if desired nitrogen seal in the container. In this method, the gravity flow of the hot DRI stream is carried out with minimal quantity of fines descending into the hot transport container and the said feeding of the hot transport container is carried out in such a manner, whereby, natural segregation takes place, the bigger particle rolling down the side of the pile while the smaller particles traveling straight down. 3 Thus, when preparing to fill the hot DRI transport container, a purging cycle is begun to insure that the atmosphere in the container contains as minimum of oxygen as possible and a dust collection is carried out to service the hot DRI container fill port before the feeding is carried out. Similarly, when preparing to start filing the container, adjustments are made to the briquetter feed system to cause the hot DRI to back up in the reactor discharge system and spill over into the hot Ki CORtam©r iccu mi pipe anu mo Dan vaivo ai mo Cuiiiainoi mi pipe 10 uponou anu men mo onuo gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened. Further arrrxeciian to thic itu/entinn there ic atcn nrnuirlerl a cucfem for the hot tranennrt of hot DRi to steei making facility comprising: a. Hot direct reduction furnace product distribution chamber for distributing hot DRI to b. The feed pipe having its one end (upstream end) connected to the hot product distribution chamber while its downstream end is connected to a hot DRi container to aiiow gravity fiow of the materia! from the distribution chamber to the said container. c. There being provided a slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe, while there is provided a seal type baH valve nearer the downstream end of the container. d. The hot DRI container having a slide gate valve at its bottom end and a seal leg at the top of its cover. e. There being provided inert gas flushing ports or inlets in the lower end of the container. f. The cover having an opening mechanism white, g. The whole container and lid with its auxiliaries connections having been seated on a support cradle, which is mounted on a transport vehicle. In this system, the slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of it. 4 The said feed pipe is provided with an inert gas port, preferably N2 gas port, in its intermediate region. The seal type ball value at the downstream end of the transport pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of the same. The cover of the hot DRI container is provided with seal leg on its top and operated by a pneumatic cylinder. The cover is provided with a set of top cover opening mechanism, distributed around the top cover and operated pneumatically. The hot DRI container is arranged at a lower level from the product distribution chamber facilitating gravity flow through the feed pipe. The hot DRI container is transportable on the transport vehicle to the cite of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and there is provided a lifting mechanism for lifting the hot DRI container and positioning it above the mouth of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and necessary thermocouples, N2 seal, pneumatic means and automatically operable auxiliaries are provided in the container. Brief Description of the Drawings : The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein, Figure 1 is a schematic (flow diagram) from the hot discharge reactor to the transport container. Figure 2 is an elevation view of the connection from the hot DRI transport container to the Electric Arc Furnace(EAF). Detailed Description of the Drawings : It will be seen form the Figures of the drawings that the system (1) comprises of a product distribution chamber (2) connected to a hot direct reduced iron container (3) through a feed pipe (4) for the hot reduced iron. The hot material flows from the distribution chamber (2) by gravity to the container (3) 5 The feed pipe (4) is provided with necessary auxiliaries such as expansion bellows (4a) and (4b). There is provided a slide gate valve (4c) at the top portion of the feed pipe (4) nearer to the distribution chamber down stream after the expansion valve. At the lower portion of the feed pipe, there is provided a seal type ball valve (4d) down stream after the bellow. The feed pipe is connected through a seal leg (5) flitted to the top of the cover (6) of the container (3). The top cover (6) is operated through a top cover opening mechanism (7). The main container (3) is seated on a saddle (9) supported on a transport vehicle (10) The lower end of the container is provided with a slide gate valve (11) operated pneumatically by service air network. For steel melting purposes, there is provided an electric arc furnace (12) with usual electrode (13) and has a waier cooied chute (14) at its fop end through which, the hot direct reduced iron is discharged from the container (3). The container remains lifted from the transport vehicle using a crane facility. The connection into the hot DRI flow stream (process) is designed to limit the amount of fines descending to the hot trans^^ort vessel bu natural seoreoatlon such as can be observed in an iron ore pile. The bigger particies tend to roii down the side of the pile white the smaller particles (fines) tend to travel straight down. The hot DRi Is then directed through an alioy pipe, by gravity or other means, to the container at the ground level, where it is supported by a cradle on a trailer or other type of carrier. The container feed pipe has a slide gate and automatic acting shut off valve and purging capability to provide a positive closure of the outlet from the process Figure 1 and Figure 2. The hot DRI container is fitted with a tight shut off gate on top, a slide gate and a sealing blind flange on the bottom to provide sealing during purging, filing, transport and waiting periods. A 6 purge gas (inert gas) supply may be fixed on the carrier to provide a positive pressure to the container while being moved or waiting if deemed necessary. The hot DRI container has connections for nitrogen, thermocouples, pressure indicators etc. as deemed necessary. The weight of the container is to be determined by load cells, gamma ray device or other means if deemed necessary. The Chief Process Details are as follows: 1. When preparing to fill the container, a purging cycle is begun to insure the atmosphere in the container contains minimum oxygen. 2. The dust collection system is lined up to service to hot DRI container fill port. 3. When prepared to start filling the container, adjustments are made to the briquetter feed system to cause the hot DRI to back up in the reactor discharge system and spill over to the hot DRI container feed fill pipe. 4. The ball valve at the container fill pipe is opened and then the slide gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened. 5. The DRI container filling cycle is begun and thermocouples in the container monitor the hot DRI level. 6. When the container is full, the valves in the fill pipe are closed and the fill arrangement is disconnected from the hot DRI container and the container is sealed. 7. The container is then transported to the steel melting shop by trailer or other carrier where nitrogen is connected to the container to maintain a slightly positive pressure on the vessel to insure no entry of ambient air to the vessel. 8. The container is lifted by the charging crane in the melt shop and taken for the charging operation to begin. 9. Upon discharging the hot DRI container to the melting furnace, it is returned to the waiting cradle and returned to the hot discharge direct reduction plant where the cycle begins once more. 7 Special Advantages of the Invention: 1furnace and be discharged from the steei making furnace in the siag or into the combustion system which limits the amount of undersize desired in the hot DRI charge. steel making furnace causing a loss of materia) (yield) and create excess load on the dust removal systems down stream. 3. Hot DRi contains no moisture. Water quenched HBf or DRi exposed to the atmosphere contains moisture. Vaporizing this moisture in an EAF is costly in terms of power. 8 CLAIM : 1. A method for the transport of hot direct reduced iron for steel melting shop, which comprises the following steps: a. Collecting the hot direct reduced iron in a product distribution chamber under controlled conditioned of air, i.e. Oxygen in an inert gas being passed to Product distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume; b. Allowing gravity flow of hot Direct Reduced Iron through a feed pipe to feed hot direct reduced iron container at controlled rates i.e. at set production rate; c. Providing an inert gas like Nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot direct reduced iron at appropriate place; d. Allowing the nitrogen gas protected hot Direct reduced iron stream into a hot Direct reduced iron container which has previously been flushed with an inert gas like Nitrogen; e. The hot Direct reduced iron stream being allowed into the top of the transport container, through, if desired Nitrogen seal in the container; 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the gravity flow of the hot direct reduced iron stream is carried out with minimal quantity of fines descending into the hot transport container while feeding the same. 3. A method as claimed in claim 2, where in, said feeding of the hot transport container ^ is carried out in such a manner, whereby natural segregation of bigger and smaller particles takes place, the bigger particle rolling down the side of the pipe while the smaller particle traveling straight down. 4. A method as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein, when preparing to fill the hot DRI transport container, a purging cycle is begun to insure that the atmosphere in the container contains as minimum of oxygen as possible. 5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein, a dust collection is carried out to service the hot DRI container fill port, before the feeding is carried out. 9 6. A method as claimed in claims 1 to 5, wherein, the ball valve at the container fill pipe is opened and then the slide gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened. 7. A system for the hot transport of hot DRI to steel making facility comprising. a. Hot direct reduction furnace product distribution chamber for distributing Hot Direct Reduced Iron to required feed pipe/s; b. The feed pipe having its one end (upstream end), connected to the hot product distribution chamber while its downstream chamber is connected to Hot Direct Reduced Iron container to allow gravity flow of the material from the distribution chamber to the said container to feed the same container; c. There being provided a slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe, while there is provided a seal type ball valve nearer the downstream end of the container; d. The hot DRI container having a slide gate valve at its bottom end and a seal leg at the top of its cover; e. There being provided inert gas flushing ports or inlets in the lower end of the container. The hot direct reduced iron container is purged using inert gas from the ports / inlet provided in the lower end of the container. f. The cover having an opening mechanism; g. The whole container and lid with its auxiliaries connections having been seated on a support cradle, which is mounted on a transport vehicle. 8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of it. 9. A system as claimed in claims 7 and 8, wherein the said feed pipe is provided with an inert gas port, preferably N2 gas port, in its intermediate region. 10. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 9, wherein, said seal type ball valve at the downstream end of the transport pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of the same. 10 11. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 10, wherein, the cover of the hot DRI container is provided with seal leg on its top and operated by a pneumatic cylinder. 12. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein, the cover is provided with a set of top cover opening mechanism, distributed around the top cover and operated pneumatically. 13. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 12, wherein the hot DRI container is arranged at a lower level from the product distribution chamber facilitating gravity flow through the feed pipe. 14. A system as claimed in claims 7 and 13, wherein, the hot DRI container is transportable on the transport vehicle to the cite of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and there is provided a lifting mechanism for lifting the hot DRI container and positioning it above the mouth of the EAF. 15. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 14, wherein, thermocouples, N2 seal, pneumatic means and automatically operable auxiliaries are provided in the container. 16. A method for the hot transportation of hot DRI to a steel melting facility substantially as herein described. 17. A system for the hot transportation of hot DRI to a steel melting facility substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 26th day of March 2002 ESSAR STEEL LIMITED By their Agent and Attorney (KARUNA GOLERIA) of DePENNING & DePENNING

Full Text

FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10; rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE HOT TRANSPORT OF DIRECT REDUCED IRON (DRI)
APPLICANT
ESSAR STEEL LIMITED having its registered office at
27 km Surat Hazira Road, Hazira 394 270,
Dist: Surat Gujarat, India, an Indian Company
INVENTORS
Bailey Russel Eugene, an American citizen Gupta Pramod Kumar, an Indian citizen Chaudhari Motilal, an Indian citizen All of ESSAR STEEL LIMITED having its registered office at 27 km Surat Hazira Road, Hazira 394 270, Dist: Surat Gujarat, India, an Indian Company
PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following complete specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
14 MAR 2006

Field of the Invention :
This invention relates, in one aspect to an apparatus for hot transport of direct reduced iron.
In another aspect, this invention relates to a method for the hot transport of direct reduced iron.
Prior Art and Drawbacks:
In the known method, a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is fed into hot briquetting machines to form briquettes and then it is quenched to allow handling at ambient temperature. The disadvantage of this method is that the sensible heat contained in the hot DRI is lost, high heat load is placed on the process water cooling system, product quality and carbon are lost in the quenching process and moisture is added to the product.
This hot discharge direct reduction furnace product (hot DRI) is typically discharged at 500 to 750° C hot briquetted and quenched for handling at 30 to 90° C.
Energy (heat) and product (hot DRI) quality (percent metalization) are lost in the typical discharge/briquetting/quenching process.
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) with typical particle mass of 0.5 to 2.0 Kg is more difficult to melt than smaller particle size material.
Thus the known art does not envisage apparatus for hot transport of direct reduced iron and instead includes hot briquetting machines to form briquettes from the hot direct reduced iron, it uses a quenching equipment for cooling the briquette to temperature or near about room temperature before transporting the briquette to the next stage.
Objections of the Invention :
It is therefore a principle object of the invention to propose a method and an system for the hot transport of direct reduced iron, so as to conserve the sensible heat contained in the hot direct reduced iron.
It is another object to propose such a method and system whereby it is possible to maintain the desirable quality of the product at the reactor discharge which was not hitherto possible.
2

A further object of the invention is to propose such a method and a system whereby the heat load on the plant water system is substantially reduced by elimination the quenching step of the known process.
A still further object is to eliminate the moisture content delivering the hot direct reduced iron to the steel melting facility, which was not possible in the known quenching process.
Yet another object is to avoid the operating hours of the hot briquetting machines, quenching and discharge system, thereby, eliminating the overall maintenance cost per ton of plant product namely direct reduced iron.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following paragraphs.
Brief Description of the Invention :
According to this invention, there is provided a method for the hot transport of DRJ for steel melting shop, which comprises the following steps :
a. collecting the hot DRI in a distribution chamber under controlled condition of air i.e. oxygen
in an inert gas being passed to product distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume.
b. allowing gravity flow of hot DRI through a feed pipe into a hot DRI container at controlled
rates, i.e. at set production rate.
c. Providing an inert gas like nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot DRI at appropriate
place.
d. Allowing the hot nitrogen gas protected hot DRI stream into a hot DRI container which has
previously been flushed with an inert gas like nitrogen.
e. Hot DRI stream being allowed into the top of the transport container, through, if desired
nitrogen seal in the container.
In this method, the gravity flow of the hot DRI stream is carried out with minimal quantity of fines descending into the hot transport container and the said feeding of the hot transport container is carried out in such a manner, whereby, natural segregation takes place, the bigger particle rolling down the side of the pile while the smaller particles traveling straight down.
3

Thus, when preparing to fill the hot DRI transport container, a purging cycle is begun to insure that the atmosphere in the container contains as minimum of oxygen as possible and a dust collection is carried out to service the hot DRI container fill port before the feeding is carried out.
Similarly, when preparing to start filing the container, adjustments are made to the briquetter feed system to cause the hot DRI to back up in the reactor discharge system and spill over into the hot
Ki CORtam©r iccu mi pipe anu mo Dan vaivo ai mo Cuiiiainoi mi pipe 10 uponou anu men mo onuo
gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened.
Further arrrxeciian to thic itu/entinn there ic atcn nrnuirlerl a cucfem for the hot tranennrt of hot
DRi to steei making facility comprising:
a. Hot direct reduction furnace product distribution chamber for distributing hot DRI to
b. The feed pipe having its one end (upstream end) connected to the hot product
distribution chamber while its downstream end is connected to a hot DRi container to
aiiow gravity fiow of the materia! from the distribution chamber to the said container.
c. There being provided a slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe, while
there is provided a seal type baH valve nearer the downstream end of the container.
d. The hot DRI container having a slide gate valve at its bottom end and a seal leg at the
top of its cover.
e. There being provided inert gas flushing ports or inlets in the lower end of the container.
f. The cover having an opening mechanism white,
g. The whole container and lid with its auxiliaries connections having been seated on a
support cradle, which is mounted on a transport vehicle.
In this system, the slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of it.
4

The said feed pipe is provided with an inert gas port, preferably N2 gas port, in its intermediate region.
The seal type ball value at the downstream end of the transport pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of the same.
The cover of the hot DRI container is provided with seal leg on its top and operated by a pneumatic cylinder.
The cover is provided with a set of top cover opening mechanism, distributed around the top cover and operated pneumatically.
The hot DRI container is arranged at a lower level from the product distribution chamber facilitating gravity flow through the feed pipe.
The hot DRI container is transportable on the transport vehicle to the cite of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and there is provided a lifting mechanism for lifting the hot DRI container and positioning it above the mouth of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and necessary thermocouples, N2 seal, pneumatic means and automatically operable auxiliaries are provided in the container.
Brief Description of the Drawings :
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,
Figure 1 is a schematic (flow diagram) from the hot discharge reactor to the transport container.
Figure 2 is an elevation view of the connection from the hot DRI transport container to the Electric Arc Furnace(EAF).
Detailed Description of the Drawings :
It will be seen form the Figures of the drawings that the system (1) comprises of a product distribution chamber (2) connected to a hot direct reduced iron container (3) through a feed pipe (4) for the hot reduced iron. The hot material flows from the distribution chamber (2) by gravity to the container (3)
5

The feed pipe (4) is provided with necessary auxiliaries such as expansion bellows (4a) and (4b). There is provided a slide gate valve (4c) at the top portion of the feed pipe (4) nearer to the distribution chamber down stream after the expansion valve.
At the lower portion of the feed pipe, there is provided a seal type ball valve (4d) down stream after the bellow.
The feed pipe is connected through a seal leg (5) flitted to the top of the cover (6) of the container (3).
The top cover (6) is operated through a top cover opening mechanism (7).

The main container (3) is seated on a saddle (9) supported on a transport vehicle (10) The lower end of the container is provided with a slide gate valve (11) operated pneumatically by service air network.
For steel melting purposes, there is provided an electric arc furnace (12) with usual electrode (13) and has a waier cooied chute (14) at its fop end through which, the hot direct reduced iron is discharged from the container (3).
The container remains lifted from the transport vehicle using a crane facility.
The connection into the hot DRI flow stream (process) is designed to limit the amount of fines descending to the hot trans^^ort vessel bu natural seoreoatlon such as can be observed in an iron ore pile. The bigger particies tend to roii down the side of the pile white the smaller particles (fines) tend to travel straight down.
The hot DRi Is then directed through an alioy pipe, by gravity or other means, to the container at the ground level, where it is supported by a cradle on a trailer or other type of carrier. The container feed pipe has a slide gate and automatic acting shut off valve and purging capability to provide a positive closure of the outlet from the process Figure 1 and Figure 2.
The hot DRI container is fitted with a tight shut off gate on top, a slide gate and a sealing blind flange on the bottom to provide sealing during purging, filing, transport and waiting periods. A
6

purge gas (inert gas) supply may be fixed on the carrier to provide a positive pressure to the container while being moved or waiting if deemed necessary.
The hot DRI container has connections for nitrogen, thermocouples, pressure indicators etc. as deemed necessary. The weight of the container is to be determined by load cells, gamma ray device or other means if deemed necessary.
The Chief Process Details are as follows:
1. When preparing to fill the container, a purging cycle is begun to insure the atmosphere in the container contains minimum oxygen.
2. The dust collection system is lined up to service to hot DRI container fill port.
3. When prepared to start filling the container, adjustments are made to the briquetter feed system to cause the hot DRI to back up in the reactor discharge system and spill over to the hot DRI container feed fill pipe.
4. The ball valve at the container fill pipe is opened and then the slide gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened.
5. The DRI container filling cycle is begun and thermocouples in the container monitor the hot DRI level.
6. When the container is full, the valves in the fill pipe are closed and the fill arrangement is disconnected from the hot DRI container and the container is sealed.
7. The container is then transported to the steel melting shop by trailer or other carrier where nitrogen is connected to the container to maintain a slightly positive pressure on the vessel to insure no entry of ambient air to the vessel.
8. The container is lifted by the charging crane in the melt shop and taken for the charging operation to begin.
9. Upon discharging the hot DRI container to the melting furnace, it is returned to the waiting cradle and returned to the hot discharge direct reduction plant where the cycle begins once more.
7

Special Advantages of the Invention:
1furnace and be discharged from the steei making furnace in the siag or into the combustion system which limits the amount of undersize desired in the hot DRI charge.
steel making furnace causing a loss of materia) (yield) and create excess load on the dust removal systems down stream.
3. Hot DRi contains no moisture. Water quenched HBf or DRi exposed to the atmosphere contains moisture. Vaporizing this moisture in an EAF is costly in terms of power.
8

CLAIM :
1. A method for the transport of hot direct reduced iron for steel melting shop, which
comprises the following steps:
a. Collecting the hot direct reduced iron in a product distribution chamber under
controlled conditioned of air, i.e. Oxygen in an inert gas being passed to Product
distribution chamber must not exceed 3% by volume;
b. Allowing gravity flow of hot Direct Reduced Iron through a feed pipe to feed hot
direct reduced iron container at controlled rates i.e. at set production rate;
c. Providing an inert gas like Nitrogen into the stream of gravity flowing hot direct
reduced iron at appropriate place;
d. Allowing the nitrogen gas protected hot Direct reduced iron stream into a hot
Direct reduced iron container which has previously been flushed with an inert gas like
Nitrogen;
e. The hot Direct reduced iron stream being allowed into the top of the transport
container, through, if desired Nitrogen seal in the container;
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the gravity flow of the hot direct reduced
iron stream is carried out with minimal quantity of fines descending into the hot
transport container while feeding the same.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2, where in, said feeding of the hot transport container
^ is carried out in such a manner, whereby natural segregation of bigger and smaller
particles takes place, the bigger particle rolling down the side of the pipe while the smaller particle traveling straight down.
4. A method as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein, when preparing to fill the hot DRI transport container, a purging cycle is begun to insure that the atmosphere in the container contains as minimum of oxygen as possible.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein, a dust collection is carried out to service the hot DRI container fill port, before the feeding is carried out.
9

6. A method as claimed in claims 1 to 5, wherein, the ball valve at the container fill pipe is opened and then the slide gate at the upper end of the fill pipe is opened.
7. A system for the hot transport of hot DRI to steel making facility comprising.
a. Hot direct reduction furnace product distribution chamber for distributing Hot
Direct Reduced Iron to required feed pipe/s;
b. The feed pipe having its one end (upstream end), connected to the hot product
distribution chamber while its downstream chamber is connected to Hot Direct
Reduced Iron container to allow gravity flow of the material from the distribution
chamber to the said container to feed the same container;
c. There being provided a slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe,
while there is provided a seal type ball valve nearer the downstream end of the
container;
d. The hot DRI container having a slide gate valve at its bottom end and a seal leg at
the top of its cover;
e. There being provided inert gas flushing ports or inlets in the lower end of the
container. The hot direct reduced iron container is purged using inert gas from the
ports / inlet provided in the lower end of the container.
f. The cover having an opening mechanism;
g. The whole container and lid with its auxiliaries connections having been seated on
a support cradle, which is mounted on a transport vehicle.
8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the slide gate valve nearer the upstream end of the feed pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of it.
9. A system as claimed in claims 7 and 8, wherein the said feed pipe is provided with an inert gas port, preferably N2 gas port, in its intermediate region.
10. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 9, wherein, said seal type ball valve at the downstream end of the transport pipe is pneumatically operable and is provided with an expansion bellow ahead of the same.
10

11. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 10, wherein, the cover of the hot DRI container is provided with seal leg on its top and operated by a pneumatic cylinder.
12. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein, the cover is provided with a set of top cover opening mechanism, distributed around the top cover and operated pneumatically.
13. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 12, wherein the hot DRI container is arranged at a lower level from the product distribution chamber facilitating gravity flow through the feed pipe.
14. A system as claimed in claims 7 and 13, wherein, the hot DRI container is transportable on the transport vehicle to the cite of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and there is provided a lifting mechanism for lifting the hot DRI container and positioning it above the mouth of the EAF.
15. A system as claimed in claims 7 to 14, wherein, thermocouples, N2 seal, pneumatic means and automatically operable auxiliaries are provided in the container.
16. A method for the hot transportation of hot DRI to a steel melting facility substantially as herein described.
17. A system for the hot transportation of hot DRI to a steel melting facility substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 26th day of March 2002
ESSAR STEEL LIMITED By their Agent and Attorney
(KARUNA GOLERIA) of DePENNING & DePENNING

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE HOT TRANSPORT OF DIRECT REDUCED IRON(DRI)

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