Evaluation for Carbonization Rate of Porous Iron Whisker with CO

Currently, research and developments are underway for steel production using hydrogen-direct reduced iron and large-scale electric arc furnace (EAF). Fe₃C has attracted attention as a carburizing agent and clean source of iron for EAF steel production to lower the concentration of impurities. However, production capacity of cementite is low since the carbonization reaction rate of reduced iron pellet is limited by gas diffusion inside micropores in the pellet.

In this study, the carbonization reaction rate of porous iron whisker with approximately 95% of porosity was examined. The porous iron whisker can be produced through carbothermal reduction of fine iron ore and biochar mixture. The carbonization reaction rate of the porous iron whisker was approximately three times faster than that of fine iron particles. The porous iron whisker has advantageous for rapid cementite production compared to fine iron particles since the effective surface area is larger in the porous iron.