2
BACKGROUND: CARBONTEC ENERGY
CORPORATION
Carbontec Energy Corporation, a recognized developer of
technology for the energy and other industries, has spon-
sored research at Michigan Tech for several years. A pro-
cess developed and patented by Carbontec, for the energy
industry, was licensed to a group that included a major Wall
Street Investment firm and two large utilities. This technol-
ogy was used in four plants that reported after tax earn-
ings of more than $1.3 Billion. Carbontec Energy’s share
of these earnings provided the capital that the company
used to pursue further projects, most of which were related
to the reduction of carbon emissions. Carbontec followed
up the early research at Michigan Tech with a pilot plant
program that used a tunnel furnace to convert three types
of iron ore concentrates and three types of biomass into
high quality, pig iron grade iron nuggets. Based in the suc-
cess of this program, Carbontec Energy formed E- Iron
International, LLC to commercialize the E-Iron technol-
ogy. E-Iron will build an initial 300,000 tonne/year E-Iron
plant in Port Mt. Vernon, Indiana. This plant will convert
steel mill waste into iron nuggets using finely ground rail-
road ties as the reductant. The production of this plant will
replace a part of the 4 million tonnes of pig iron currently
imported into the United States.
INTRODUCTION
A major research program, supported by Carbontec Energy
and conducted by Dr. Kawatra and Dr. Eisele, was designed
to further develop the E-Iron Process. This research pro-
gram included the sponsorship of graduate students whose
research was directed at confirming and improving the
E-Iron process under the guidance of Dr. Kawatra, then
Chair of the Michigan Tech’s Chemical Engineering depart-
ment. The program resulted in iron nugget patents issued
in the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada,
South Africa, Australia and several other iron producing
European countries.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE
E-IRON PROCESS
Carbontec Energy followed up the iron making research at
Michigan Tech with additional laboratory programs which
were conducted at the University of Minnesota’s Natural
Resources Research Institute, Coleraine, Minnesota,
(NRRI) and a pilot plant program conducted in a linear tun-
nel furnace owned by Tundra Industries, White Bear Lake,
Minnesota. The Tundra furnace was used in a commercial
operation that converted sheelite, an ore of tungsten, into
tungsten metal. The furnace provided an ideal test facility
as it was designed to operate under reducing conditions at
a temperature of 1475°C or above, the optimum operating
temperature of the E-Iron Process. Iron ore concentrates for
the pilot plant test program were obtained from the taco-
nite plants owned by Arcelor Mittal and The United States
Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel). Superior Mineral Resources
(SMR), a privately held Minnesota based royalty company,
owned by the Pillsbury, Longyear and Bennet families, also
provided iron ore concentrates for the test program.
Self-reducing briquettes were prepared for Carbontec
from the above iron ore concentrates with three types of
biomass as the reductant, namely hardwood, softwood and
sugar beet plant residue. Limestone/dolomite was used as
the flux and the binder consisted of a blend of molasses
and lime.
The pilot plant program, operating on a 24/7 basis,
was carried out under the direction of Carbontec Engineers
and two independent engineering companies, Noramco
Engineering Corporation, Hibbing, Minnesota and Barr
Engineering Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The
engineers reported the production of pig iron grade iron
nuggets that averaged 98% iron and 1.5% carbon from all
three iron ore concentrates and the three types of biomass
reductants.
THE USE OF THE E-IRON PROCESS TO
CONVERT STEEL MILL WASTE INTO
IRON NUGGETS
A program, sponsored jointly by Carbontec Energy
and Arcelor Mittal, was conducted at the University of
Minnesota’s Natural Resource Research Institute (NRRI),
to determine if the E-Iron Process could convert steel mill
waste into iron nuggets. Harold Kokal, Senior Research
Engineer of Arcelor Mittal, provided samples of steel mill
waste generated by Arcelor Mittal’s Indiana Harbor basic
oxygen furnace (BOF) and their blast furnace, that were
used in this test program. Two BOF waste product samples
produced high quality iron nuggets, described below in
Table 1. The third sample, representing blast furnace slag
was low in iron and did not produce a satisfactory product.
A shortcoming of the original iron nugget process
was the requirement to use coal on the bed of the furnace
refractory that supported the self-reducing pellets. The coal
was used to prevent the metal and slag from sticking to the
Table 1.
Sample No.
%
Yield
Metallic
%FE
%
Carbon
%
Sulfur
3009 66.9 94.9 3.7 0.13
3018 40.6 96.1 2.9 0.36
BACKGROUND: CARBONTEC ENERGY
CORPORATION
Carbontec Energy Corporation, a recognized developer of
technology for the energy and other industries, has spon-
sored research at Michigan Tech for several years. A pro-
cess developed and patented by Carbontec, for the energy
industry, was licensed to a group that included a major Wall
Street Investment firm and two large utilities. This technol-
ogy was used in four plants that reported after tax earn-
ings of more than $1.3 Billion. Carbontec Energy’s share
of these earnings provided the capital that the company
used to pursue further projects, most of which were related
to the reduction of carbon emissions. Carbontec followed
up the early research at Michigan Tech with a pilot plant
program that used a tunnel furnace to convert three types
of iron ore concentrates and three types of biomass into
high quality, pig iron grade iron nuggets. Based in the suc-
cess of this program, Carbontec Energy formed E- Iron
International, LLC to commercialize the E-Iron technol-
ogy. E-Iron will build an initial 300,000 tonne/year E-Iron
plant in Port Mt. Vernon, Indiana. This plant will convert
steel mill waste into iron nuggets using finely ground rail-
road ties as the reductant. The production of this plant will
replace a part of the 4 million tonnes of pig iron currently
imported into the United States.
INTRODUCTION
A major research program, supported by Carbontec Energy
and conducted by Dr. Kawatra and Dr. Eisele, was designed
to further develop the E-Iron Process. This research pro-
gram included the sponsorship of graduate students whose
research was directed at confirming and improving the
E-Iron process under the guidance of Dr. Kawatra, then
Chair of the Michigan Tech’s Chemical Engineering depart-
ment. The program resulted in iron nugget patents issued
in the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada,
South Africa, Australia and several other iron producing
European countries.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE
E-IRON PROCESS
Carbontec Energy followed up the iron making research at
Michigan Tech with additional laboratory programs which
were conducted at the University of Minnesota’s Natural
Resources Research Institute, Coleraine, Minnesota,
(NRRI) and a pilot plant program conducted in a linear tun-
nel furnace owned by Tundra Industries, White Bear Lake,
Minnesota. The Tundra furnace was used in a commercial
operation that converted sheelite, an ore of tungsten, into
tungsten metal. The furnace provided an ideal test facility
as it was designed to operate under reducing conditions at
a temperature of 1475°C or above, the optimum operating
temperature of the E-Iron Process. Iron ore concentrates for
the pilot plant test program were obtained from the taco-
nite plants owned by Arcelor Mittal and The United States
Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel). Superior Mineral Resources
(SMR), a privately held Minnesota based royalty company,
owned by the Pillsbury, Longyear and Bennet families, also
provided iron ore concentrates for the test program.
Self-reducing briquettes were prepared for Carbontec
from the above iron ore concentrates with three types of
biomass as the reductant, namely hardwood, softwood and
sugar beet plant residue. Limestone/dolomite was used as
the flux and the binder consisted of a blend of molasses
and lime.
The pilot plant program, operating on a 24/7 basis,
was carried out under the direction of Carbontec Engineers
and two independent engineering companies, Noramco
Engineering Corporation, Hibbing, Minnesota and Barr
Engineering Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The
engineers reported the production of pig iron grade iron
nuggets that averaged 98% iron and 1.5% carbon from all
three iron ore concentrates and the three types of biomass
reductants.
THE USE OF THE E-IRON PROCESS TO
CONVERT STEEL MILL WASTE INTO
IRON NUGGETS
A program, sponsored jointly by Carbontec Energy
and Arcelor Mittal, was conducted at the University of
Minnesota’s Natural Resource Research Institute (NRRI),
to determine if the E-Iron Process could convert steel mill
waste into iron nuggets. Harold Kokal, Senior Research
Engineer of Arcelor Mittal, provided samples of steel mill
waste generated by Arcelor Mittal’s Indiana Harbor basic
oxygen furnace (BOF) and their blast furnace, that were
used in this test program. Two BOF waste product samples
produced high quality iron nuggets, described below in
Table 1. The third sample, representing blast furnace slag
was low in iron and did not produce a satisfactory product.
A shortcoming of the original iron nugget process
was the requirement to use coal on the bed of the furnace
refractory that supported the self-reducing pellets. The coal
was used to prevent the metal and slag from sticking to the
Table 1.
Sample No.
%
Yield
Metallic
%FE
%
Carbon
%
Sulfur
3009 66.9 94.9 3.7 0.13
3018 40.6 96.1 2.9 0.36