1
25-091
The Production of Zero Carbon Emission Pig Iron with the
E-Iron Process
John J. Simmons
Carbontec Energy Corporation, Bismarck, ND
ABSTRACT
There is considerable interest in the iron and steel indus-
try in the development of technologies that can reduce
carbon dioxide emissions, as the iron and steel industry
is the third largest producer of carbon emissions in the
world, after automobiles and the power generation indus-
try. The E-Iron Iron Nugget Making Process, invented by
Dr. Komar Kawatra and Dr. Tim Eisele, provided a major
breakthrough in the iron making process as the process
uses biomass in the form of hard wood or soft wood as
the reductant in the place of coal. Dr. Kawatra recognized
that biomass is rich in both carbon monoxide and hydro-
gen, two important reducing agents. This resulted in initial
experiments conducted by Dr. Kawatra and Dr. Eisele in
the laboratories of the Chemical Engineering Department
of Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech)
that prepared self-reducing pellets with wheat flour as
the reductant and limestone/dolomite as the flux. Initial
results were encouraging so they extended their work to
include hardwood, which is in huge supply in the forests
of Michigan and Minnesota, as the reductant. Dr. Kawatra
has also applied the E-Iron Technology to other iron bear-
ing minerals to produce pig iron grade iron nuggets. He
used the E-Iron Process to convert red mud, a high iron
waste product of the aluminum industry, into pig iron
nuggets with the rare earth elements reporting to the slag.
This work resulted in a patent with Dr. Kawatra and Dr.
Michael Archambeau named as the inventors. Dr. Kawatra
then extracted the rare earth elements as a separate high
value bi-product using oxalic acid, which he produced from
carbon dioxide. Dr. Kawatra also conducted a test program
that produced pig iron nuggets from New Zealand beach
sands. The vanadium in the beach sands was retained in the
iron nuggets, recoverable as a valuable bi-
product in a separate process. The titanium dioxide
in the beach sands reported to the slag. This demonstrates
the potential use of the E-Iron Process to convert the large
ilmenite reserves in Northern Minnesota into pig iron and
titanium dioxide. Another use of the E-Iron Process discov-
ered by Dr. Kawatra was its ability to produce iron nuggets
from manganiferous ores. Dr. Kawatra was able to direct
the manganese into either the metal or slag by adjusting
process temperature. The above discoveries are included
in several patents that were assigned to Carbontec Energy.
This presentation will only address the use of the E-Iron
Process to produce pig iron nuggets from steel mill waste
and un-pelletized, mid-grade iron ore.
Carbontec Energy Corporation agreed to sponsor
additional research directed at improving this new technol-
ogy that would later be trade named, The E-Iron Process.
Carbontec Energy conducted further work that
proved that the E-Iron technology could also convert steel
mill waste into metallurgically acceptable iron nuggets.
Carbontec also collaborated with the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory and Purdue University Northwest to
conduct a Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored pro-
gram that would use their high performance computer
capability to both verify and model the E-Iron Process.
Purdue University Northwest reported that the E-Iron
Process can produce pig iron nuggets with 85% less carbon
emissions than a blast furnace. The E-Iron Process is similar
to the ITmK3 process, developed by Kobe Steel, that also
produces iron nuggets but uses coal as the reductant.
25-091
The Production of Zero Carbon Emission Pig Iron with the
E-Iron Process
John J. Simmons
Carbontec Energy Corporation, Bismarck, ND
ABSTRACT
There is considerable interest in the iron and steel indus-
try in the development of technologies that can reduce
carbon dioxide emissions, as the iron and steel industry
is the third largest producer of carbon emissions in the
world, after automobiles and the power generation indus-
try. The E-Iron Iron Nugget Making Process, invented by
Dr. Komar Kawatra and Dr. Tim Eisele, provided a major
breakthrough in the iron making process as the process
uses biomass in the form of hard wood or soft wood as
the reductant in the place of coal. Dr. Kawatra recognized
that biomass is rich in both carbon monoxide and hydro-
gen, two important reducing agents. This resulted in initial
experiments conducted by Dr. Kawatra and Dr. Eisele in
the laboratories of the Chemical Engineering Department
of Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech)
that prepared self-reducing pellets with wheat flour as
the reductant and limestone/dolomite as the flux. Initial
results were encouraging so they extended their work to
include hardwood, which is in huge supply in the forests
of Michigan and Minnesota, as the reductant. Dr. Kawatra
has also applied the E-Iron Technology to other iron bear-
ing minerals to produce pig iron grade iron nuggets. He
used the E-Iron Process to convert red mud, a high iron
waste product of the aluminum industry, into pig iron
nuggets with the rare earth elements reporting to the slag.
This work resulted in a patent with Dr. Kawatra and Dr.
Michael Archambeau named as the inventors. Dr. Kawatra
then extracted the rare earth elements as a separate high
value bi-product using oxalic acid, which he produced from
carbon dioxide. Dr. Kawatra also conducted a test program
that produced pig iron nuggets from New Zealand beach
sands. The vanadium in the beach sands was retained in the
iron nuggets, recoverable as a valuable bi-
product in a separate process. The titanium dioxide
in the beach sands reported to the slag. This demonstrates
the potential use of the E-Iron Process to convert the large
ilmenite reserves in Northern Minnesota into pig iron and
titanium dioxide. Another use of the E-Iron Process discov-
ered by Dr. Kawatra was its ability to produce iron nuggets
from manganiferous ores. Dr. Kawatra was able to direct
the manganese into either the metal or slag by adjusting
process temperature. The above discoveries are included
in several patents that were assigned to Carbontec Energy.
This presentation will only address the use of the E-Iron
Process to produce pig iron nuggets from steel mill waste
and un-pelletized, mid-grade iron ore.
Carbontec Energy Corporation agreed to sponsor
additional research directed at improving this new technol-
ogy that would later be trade named, The E-Iron Process.
Carbontec Energy conducted further work that
proved that the E-Iron technology could also convert steel
mill waste into metallurgically acceptable iron nuggets.
Carbontec also collaborated with the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory and Purdue University Northwest to
conduct a Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored pro-
gram that would use their high performance computer
capability to both verify and model the E-Iron Process.
Purdue University Northwest reported that the E-Iron
Process can produce pig iron nuggets with 85% less carbon
emissions than a blast furnace. The E-Iron Process is similar
to the ITmK3 process, developed by Kobe Steel, that also
produces iron nuggets but uses coal as the reductant.