Partially-reduced iron producing apparatus and partially-reduced iron producing method

1. A partially-reduced iron producing method comprising the steps of:

laying a portion of raw material pellets as ignition raw-material pellets to a predetermined height on an endless grate, the raw-material pellets made of a material formed by mixing and pelletizing a reduction carbon material and a raw material containing iron oxides;

heating the ignition raw-material pellets laid on the endless grate to a reduction temperature range by heating means, and then packing an added portion of the raw-material pellets on the ignition raw-material pellets;

heating the added raw-material pellets adjacent to the ignition raw-material pellets by use of a heat of the ignition raw-material pellets to generate and combust a flammable volatile component from the reduction carbon material in the raw-material pellets;

causing a temperature of the added raw-material pellets to further rise by use of a combustion heat of the flammable volatile component, so that a reduction reaction proceeds and a carbon monoxide gas is generated, while causing the added raw-material pellets to be heated by the combustion heat, so that a flammable volatile component is generated from the reduction carbon material in the added raw-material pellets;

increasing a concentration of the carbon monoxide gas that is near the added raw-material pellets having the temperature further raised, to a combustion range of the carbon monoxide gas by supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the raw-material pellets, so that the carbon monoxide gas combusts and a combustion zone is formed, the oxygen-containing gas made by circulating a remaining portion of the flammable volatile component and the carbon monoxide gas and mixing the remaining portion and the carbon monoxide gas with air; and

moving the combustion zone sequentially in a bed height direction of a packed bed of the raw-material pellets in a period between the packing of the raw-material pellets onto the ignition raw-material pellets and discharging thereof, so that the packed bed of the raw-material pellets is thermally reduced and a partially reduced iron is produced.

2. The partially-reduced iron producing method according to claim 1 , wherein a laying height of part of the raw-material pellets is higher than 5 mm but is lower than 20 mm.

3. A partially-reduced iron producing apparatus comprising:

ignition raw-material pellet supply device configured to lay a portion of raw-material pellets as ignition raw-material pellets to a predetermined height on an endless grate, the raw-material pellets made of a material formed by mixing and pelletizing a reduction carbon material and a raw material containing iron oxides;

heating device configured to heat the ignition raw-material pellets laid on the endless grate to a reduction temperature range;

raw-material pellet supply device configured to pack an added portion of the raw-material pellets on the ignition raw-material pellets heated by the heating device:

the heating device configured to heat the added raw-material pellets by the heat of the ignition raw-material pellets to generate and combust a flammable volatile component from the reduction carbon material in the raw material pellets; and

exhaust gas circulation device configured to supply an oxygen-containing gas to the added raw-material pellets heated by the heat of the ignition raw-material pellets, the oxygen-containing gas made by circulating part of an exhaust gas discharged from the added raw-material pellets by a heat of the ignition raw-material pellets and mixing it with air, wherein

a partially-reduced iron is produced by thermally reducing the ignition raw-material pellets and the added raw-material pellets in a bed height direction thereof through a combustion region for the raw-material pellets and a heating region for the raw-material pellets, the combustion region formed on an upstream side in a travelling direction of the endless grate by supplying the oxygen-containing gas having a predetermined oxygen concentration to the ignition raw-material pellets heated by the heating device, the heating region formed downstream of the combustion region for the added raw-material pellets in the travelling direction of the endless grate by supplying the oxygen-containing gas having a lower oxygen concentration than the predetermined oxygen concentration to the added raw-material pellets.

4. The partially-reduced iron producing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the heating device is a heating furnace capable of controlling an interior temperature thereof, and

the heating furnace has such a length that allows the heated ignition raw-material pellets to be maintained at a high temperature for a predetermined period.