Promising directions for reducing CO₂ emissions in production of vanadium cast iron

The current stage of development in metallurgy is characterized by unprecedented attention to reducing CO₂ emissions. Replacement of carbon with hydrogen in smelting of cast iron is a method of reducing CO₂ emissions; however, the production of hydrogen is also associated with CO₂ emissions. The carbon monoxide utilization rate during indirect reduction in a blast furnace is 28–38%, in contrast to direct reduction, in which the utilization rate is more dependent on contact area between the reducing agent and oxides. Use of ore-coal briquettes is a promising direction for increasing the utilization rate of the reducing power of carbon in a blast furnace. The study investigates the efficiency of using ore-coal briquettes in production of vanadium cast iron from the perspective of reducing CO₂ emissions. We show that carbon consumption for direct reduction of titanium-magnetite concentrate is six times lower than for indirect reduction. Using ore-coal briquettes in blast furnace charge can reduce the specific fuel carbon consumption in production of vanadium cast iron, which will reduce CO₂ emissions.