EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

Rising energy demand and steadily decreasing quality of raw materials due to the global resource depletion are great challenges to the steel production today. The FINEX® Process has been developed jointly by POSCO, Korea and PRIMETALS Technologies Austria, to provide the iron making sector with the capability to lower hot metal production costs, environmental pollutions and to increase the flexibility in terms of operation and the choice of raw materials. FINEX® is a new technology combining a gas-based reduction in a series of fluidized bed reactors and a reduction smelting in a melter gasifier. The innovative process concept of FINEX® produces hot metal identical to the blast furnace route, however without coke oven and sintering plant. Commenced in April 2007, the first 1.5 mtpa commercial plant has demonstrated the competiveness as an alternative iron making route. Another 2.0 mtpa third generation FINEX® (3G) plant was installed at POSCO, Pohang Works and has been operating satisfactorily since its blow-in in January 2014. Based on the well-proven plant concept, new process features, the highly competitive production costs and environmental advantages, the FINEX® Process is a proven alternative to Blast Furnace. It can also be integrated into an existing plant having a Blast Furnace and enhance performance by synergies arising from Finex and Blast Furnace.