US Patent 7854786 Reduction process and plant

Reduction process and relative plant for the production of metallic iron by means of the direct reduction of iron ore, in which a reduction shaft is connected to a source of reducing gas obtained from the gasification of coal. The process advantageously comprises a step in which a portion or all of the synthesis gas entering the plant circuit is processed to separate the methane from the rest of the components of said synthesis gas. The advantageous management of the extracted methane enables the entire reduction process to be optimized, making the efficiency of the process independent of the methane content in the original synthesis gas and making it possible to control the carbon content of the product more accurately and more easily.