7TH EUROPEAN COKE AND IRONMAKING CONGRESS - ECIC 2016

POSCO launched in 1992 the FINEX® development program in cooperation with Primetals Technologies (formerly VAI) in order to create an alternative ironmaking process to compete with the blast furnace process and operating on low-grade, low-cost raw materials. As indicated in Figure 1, POSCO has been successful in commercialization of the process through a series of scale-up development from a 15 t/day model plant started in 1996 to a 150 t/day pilot plant in 1999 followed by a 0.6 MTPA FINEX® demonstration plant in 2003. Upon successful demonstration of the process, the first commercial FINEX® plant with a capacity of 1.5 MTPA was constructed at Pohang Works and commenced operations in April 2007. Based on the successful results of the first commercial plant, the second commercial plant with a capacity of 2.0 MTPA was built at Pohang Works and the plant has been put into operation since January 2014. Up to now, it has shown noticeable operational results in the aspect of performance, raw material, environment, and energy. They indicate that the process is not completed but can be continuously evolved to be suited to various local conditions. POSCO is poised to make a significant contribution to the global steel industry with an innovative ironmaking technology, FINEX®.