Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron and an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron using the same, and more specifically to an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron by compacting reduced materials containing direct reduced iron and manufacturing compacted iron, and an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron that manufactures molten iron using the same. Background Art

Currently, approximately 60% of the world''s iron production is produced using a blast furnace method that has been in development since the 14th century. According to the blast furnace method, iron ore, which has gone through a sintering process, and coke, which is produced using bituminous coal as a raw material, are charged into a blast furnace together and oxygen is supplied thereto to reduce the iron ore to iron, and thereby manufacturing molten iron. The blast furnace method, which is the most popular in plants for manufacturing molten iron, requires that raw materials have strength of at least a predetermined level and have grain sizes that can ensure permeability in the furnace, taking into account reaction characteristics. For that reason, as described above, coke that is obtained by processing specific raw coal is used as a carbon source to be used as a fuel and as a reducing agent. Also, sintered ore that has gone through a successive agglomerating process is mainly used as an iron source.

Accordingly, the modern blast furnace method requires raw material preliminary processing equipment, such as coke manufacturing equipment and sintering equipment. Namely, it is necessary to be equipped with subsidiary facilities in addition to the blast furnace, and to also have equipment for preventing and minimizing pollution generated from the subsidiary facilities. Therefore, there is a problem in that a heavy investment in the additional facilities and equipment leads to increased manufacturing costs.

In order to solve these problems with the blast furnace method, significant effort has been made in iron works all over the world to develop a smelting reduction process that produces molten iron by directly using raw coal as a fuel and

a reducing agent and by directly using fine ore, which accounts for more than 80% of the world''s ore production.

When fine reduced iron, which is converted from fine iron ores, is directly charged into the melter-gasifier, the fine reduced iron is not only scattered but also permeability of gas in the melter-gasifier is deteriorated. Therefore, an apparatus for briquetting fine reduced iron and charging is into the melter-gasifier has been developed. Namely, an apparatus for manufacturing briquettes compacts fine reduced iron to manufacture reduced materials.

However, in a conventional apparatus for manufacturing briquettes, an opening through which fine reduced iron is charged is directed to a lower side in a downward direction. Therefore, fine reduced iron that is charged through the opening quickly falls downward in the charging hopper. In addition, the falling fine reduced iron impacts a roll that compresses the fine reduced iron. Therefore, since a torque of the roll is largely changed, there is a problem in that a motor that drives the roll is frequently stopped. In addition, since the fine reduced iron are charged with a fast speed, there is a problem in that the gas charged with the fine reduced iron is not easily ventilated.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

As described above, an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron, which does not influence a roll that compacts the fine reduced iron even if the fine reduced iron is charged, is provided. In addition, an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron provided with the above-described apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron is provided. Technical Solution

An apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron according to an embodiment of the present invention includes i) a charging hopper having an opening through which reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are charged; ii) a shock-absorbing member that is installed in an upper side of the charging hopper; and iii) a pair of rolls that form a gap therebetween by being spaced apart from each other and that compress the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron that is discharged from the charging hopper and passes through the gap, thereby manufacturing the compacted iron. The shock-absorbing member collides with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron that falls through the opening and distributes them into a lower side of the charging hopper.

Here, the shock-absorbing member may include i) a guiding portion that communicates with the opening; and ii) a shock-absorbing portion that is installed at a lower side of the guiding portion to collide with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron that falls through the guiding portion. In addition, one end of each of the guiding portion and the shock-absorbing portion are spaced apart from each other to form a space, and the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron may be distributed into a lower side of the charging hopper through the space.

In addition, the shock-absorbing member may further include at least one connecting portion to fix the shock-absorbing portion on the one end of the guiding portion. The above-described at least one connecting portion may be stick-shaped, and may include a plurality of connecting portions to be connected to each other with a gap therebetween. In addition, the plurality of connecting portions may be spaced apart from each other at equal distances. The above-described shock-absorbing portion may include a shock- absorbing surface that is collided with by the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron. Here, the shock-absorbing surface may be located in a direction crossing a charging direction of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron, and may be located in a direction to be perpendicular to the charging direction thereof. In addition, the above-described area of the shock-absorbing surface may be in a range from one-eighth to one-fifth of a cross-section area of the guiding portion, and substantially five thirty-secondths thereof.

The above-described shock-absorbing portion may further include a slanted side surface surrounding an edge of the shock-absorbing surface, and may have a truncated cone-shape among shapes having the slanted side surface and the shock- absorbing surface. In addition, the slanted side surface may be slanted to make an angle of a range from 50 degrees to 60 degrees, and substantially 52 degrees.

Meanwhile, an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron according to an embodiment of the present invention includes i) the above-described apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron; ii) a crusher that crushes the compacted iron that is discharged from the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron; and iii) a melter- gasifier into which the compacted iron crushed by the crusher is charged. The melter-gasifier melts the compacted iron. In addition, lumped coal or coal briquettes can be supplied to the melter-gasifier. Advantageous Effects

Since an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron according to an

embodiment of the present invention includes a shock-absorbing member communicating with the opening, and the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are charged into the charging hopper while being distributed. Therefore, since the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron do not directly impact the roll, a rapid torque change of the motor that drives the roll can be prevented.

In addition, since the rapid torque change of the motor does not occur, malfunction of the motor can be prevented, and thereby stable operation can be realized. Therefore, manufacturing cost of the molten iron can be reduced while production efficiency is increased.

In addition, since the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are charged into the charging hopper while being distributed, gas charged together with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron or the gas generated therefrom is easily removed. Since the apparatus for manufacturing molten iron according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the above-described apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron, molten iron of a good quality can be manufactured with a low cost.

In addition, since coal collected from a production site can be used as lumped coal or coal briquettes, production cost and pollution are reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic solid cross-sectional view of a charging hopper. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a shock-absorbing member.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the charging hopper cutting along a line IV-IV of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron provided with the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the attached drawings in order for those skilled in the art in the field of the present invention to easily perform the present invention. However, the present invention can be realized in various forms and is not limited to the embodiments explained below. In addition, like reference numerals refer to like

elements in the present specification and drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100 includes a charging hopper 10 and a pair of rolls 20.

In the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100 shown in FIG. 1, a roll casing 24 is placed therebelow, and a feeding box 30 is installed on an upper side of the roll casing 24 A lower end of the charging hopper 10 is inserted into and combined with a feeding box 30, and is placed thereon. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are charged through an opening 16 located at a center of the charging hopper 10 shown in FIG. 1 along a direction indicated by an arrow. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are manufactured from iron ore. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron may further contain additives, and are reduced and manufactured while passing through multi-stage fluidized-bed reduction reactors. Reduced materials containing fine reduced iron manufactured by using another method can be charged into the charging hopper 10. A ventilation opening 14, which is formed on an upper side of the charging hopper 10, removes the gas charged together with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron into the charging hopper 10. A screw feeder 12 is installed in the charging hopper 10 to be slanted at an acute angle with a vertical direction. The screw feeder 12 discharges the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron entering into the charging hopper 10 toward the pair of rolls 20 by force. The screw feeder 12 is provided with a screw 122 in a lower end thereof (shown in FIG. 4). The screw 122 discharges the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron collected in a lower side of the screw feeder 12 downward by rotating a motor (not shown) installed to an upper side of the screw feeder 12. Although an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100 provided with the screw feeder 12 is shown in FIG. 1, the screw feeder 12 may not be installed in the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100. That is, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron can be discharged downward by using gravity without the screw feeder 12.

In addition, the charging hopper 10 includes a shock-absorbing member 18 (shown in FIG. 2) installed at an upper inside thereof to be communicated with the opening 16. The shock-absorbing member 18 collides with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling through the opening 16, thereby distributing the collided reduced materials containing fine reduced iron into a lower side of the

charging hopper 10. The shock-absorbing member 18 will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The feeding box 30 pre-compacts the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron discharged to the lower side of the charging hopper 10. In addition, the feeding box 30 uniformly distributes the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron along a longitudinal direction (Y-axis direction) of the pair of rolls 20. The pair of rolls 20 located in the roll casing 24 compact the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron discharged from the charging hopper 10 to manufacture compacted iron. The pair of rolls 20 are spaced apart from each other and form a gap therebetween. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron enter into the gap and are compacted by the pair of rolls 20 that rotate in opposite directions to each other. The compacted iron is manufactured by using the above method. A roll cover 26 is attached to an outer side of the pair of rolls 20.

FIG. 2 illustrates an inner cross-sectional structure of the charging hopper 10 provided with the shock-absorbing member 18. Remaining elements except the shock-absorbing member 18 in the charging hopper 10 are omitted from the drawing for convenience of explanation. The shock-absorbing member 18 includes a guiding portion 182, a shock-absorbing portion 184, and a connecting portion 186. The guiding portion 182 communicates with the opening 16. The shock-absorbing portion 184 is installed in a lower side of the guiding portion 182, thereby colliding with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling through the guiding portion 182. The connecting portion 186 connects the guiding portion 182 to the shock-absorbing portion 184 with a space therebetween.

The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron charged through the opening 16 are guided into the charging hopper 10 along the guiding portion 182. As shown in FIG. 2, the guiding portion 182 is formed to be cylinder-shaped. On the contrary, the guiding portion 182 may be formed in other shapes.

The connecting portion 186 connects one end 1822 of the guiding portion 182 to the shock-absorbing portion 184. The connecting portion 186 is stick-shaped. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron discharged to a lower side of the guiding portion 182 collide with the shock-absorbing portion 184 while being discharged through a space S. Therefore, the connecting portion 186 is manufactured to be a stick-shaped, thereby maximizing the space S. On the other hand, the shock-absorbing portion 184 is fixed on a location to be remote from a center of the guiding portion 182, and thereby the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron can efficiently fall into a lower side of the charging hopper 10. In this

case, the connecting portion can be formed as a bent shape. A plurality of connecting portions 186 are used, and each of them are installed to be spaced apart from each other. The plurality of connecting portions 186 are spaced apart from each other by an equal distance. Therefore, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are uniformly distributed through the space S.

The shock-absorbing portion 184 is spaced apart from the guiding portion 182 by the connecting portion 186. The shock-absorbing portion 184 is spaced apart from the guiding portion 182, thereby forming the space S for distributing the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron therebetween. The shock- absorbing portion 184 includes a shock-absorbing surface 1842 and a slanted side surface 1844. The slanted side surface 1844 surrounds an edge of the shock- absorbing surface 1842. The shock-absorbing surface 1842 collides with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling along the guiding portion 182. As the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron collide with the shock- absorbing member 1842, the falling speed thereof is reduced. As the falling speed of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron is reduced, the falling reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are prevented from directly imparting a shock to the roll located at a lower side of the charging hopper 10. To maximize the above effect, the shock-absorbing surface 1842 is located in the best possible direction to be capable of imparting impact energy to the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron. That is, the shock-absorbing surface 1842 is located in a direction crossing a charging direction of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron, that is, a direction crossing a longitudinal direction of the guiding portion 182. The slanted side surface 1844 is formed to be slanted for the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron colliding with the shock-absorbing surface 1842 to slide well along the slanted side surface 1844. As shown in FIG. 2, the shock-absorbing portion 184 is formed to have a truncated cone shape. More specifically, the shock-absorbing portion 184 is formed to have a circular truncated cone shape. Due to the shape of the above described shock-absorbing portion 184, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron collide well with the shock- absorbing portion 184 to be distributed into the lower side well. Furthermore, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are uniformly distributed in all directions. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the cross-sectional structure of the shock- absorbing member 18 shown in FIG. 2. The structure of the shock-absorbing

portion 18 will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3.

Firstly, colliding efficiency of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron that falls through a guiding surface 182 is optimized by controlling an area S2 of the shock-absorbing surface 1842 and a cross-sectional area Sl of the guiding surface 182. The area S2 of the shock-absorbing surface 1842 can be in a range from one-eighth to one-fifth of the cross-section area Sl of the guiding surface 182. Here, the cross-section area Sl of the guiding surface 182 means a cross-sectional area of an internal space of the guiding portion 182 that is cut along the Y-axis direction, that is, a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the guiding portion 182.

If the area S2 of the shock-absorbing surface 1842 is less than one-eighth of the cross-section area Sl of the guiding surface 182, most of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling along the guiding portion 182 do not collide with the shock-absorbing surface 1842, but are directly charged into the charging hopper 10 (shown in FIG. 1) along the slanted side surface 1844. Therefore, an impact that the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron impart to a lower side of the charging hopper 10 cannot be diminished. On the contrary, if the area S2 of a shock-absorbing surface 1842 is over one-fifth of the cross-sectional area Sl of the guiding surface 182, most of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron collide with the shock-absorbing surface 1842 while being stacked thereon. Therefore, the guiding portion 182 may be blocked by the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron stacked on the shock-absorbing surface 1842.

More specifically, if the area S2 of the shock-absorbing surface 1842 is substantially five thirty-secondths of the cross-section area Sl of the guiding surface 182, that is, five thirty-secondths thereof or close to five thirty-secondths thereof, the shock-absorbing surface 1842 can most efficiently shock-absorb the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron.

Meanwhile, a slanted angle of the slanted side surface 1844 is controlled to distribute the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron into the lower side of the charging hopper 10 while the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron fall. For this, an angle α of the slanted side surface 1844 with respect to the Y-axis direction may be in a range from 50 degrees to 60 degrees.

If the angle α of the slanted side surface 1844 is less than 50 degrees, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron can be stacked thereon since the angle α is too small. Therefore, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are stacked on the slanted side surface 1844, thereby blocking a space between the

guiding portion 182 and the shock-absorbing portion 184. On the contrary, if the angle α of the slanted side surface 1844 is over 60 degrees, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron fall with a rapid speed. Therefore, gas charged together with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron and gas discharged therefrom cannot be easily discharged outside since they fall with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron.

More specifically, the angle α of the slanted side surface 1844 is substantially 52 degrees, that is, 52 degrees or similar thereto, so the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron can be the most efficiently distributed to fall while the gas can be discharged outside well.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional surface cutting along a line IV-IV of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 schematically shows a process in which the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron charged into the charging hopper 10 fall.

If the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI are charged through the opening 16, they fall while being firstly guided along the guiding portion 182. Next, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI collide with the shock-absorbing surface 1842 while a falling speed thereof is reduced. The falling speed of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI falling through the guiding portion 182 is rapid at about 40m/ s in a conventional apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron without the shock-absorbing member. Therefore, without the shock-absorbing member, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI can directly impart a large impact to the pair of rolls 20 (shown in FIG. 1, the same hereinafter). Therefore, the torque of the motor (not shown) driving the pair of rolls 20 is rapidly changed, and thereby the motor is stopped or malfunctions. However, this phenomenon does not occur due to the shock-absorbing member 18 in an embodiment of the present invention.

Next, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI passing through the guiding portion 182 fall to a lower side of the charging hopper 10 through the space 10. The reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI slides along the slanted side surface 1844. Simultaneously, gas that has entered together with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI or gas generated therefrom is ventilated through the ventilation opening 14 (shown in FIG. 1, the same hereinafter).

Next, the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI falling through the charging hopper 10 and colliding with the shock-absorbing member 18 collide with a surface of a wall of the charging hopper 10 with a reduced falling

speed and then enter into a lower side of the screw feeder 12. The gas contained in the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron DRI can be efficiently removed through the above-described process while an impact imparted to the roll can be diminished. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an apparatus for manufacturing molten iron

200 provided with the above-described apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100.

The apparatus for manufacturing molten iron 200 includes the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100, a crusher 40, and a melter-gasifier 60. The crusher 40 crushes compacted iron discharged from the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron 100. The melter-gasifier 60 melts the compacted iron crushed by the crusher 40 after being charged thereto. A storage bin 50 temporarily stores compacted iron crushed by the crusher 40. Since structures of the crusher 40 and the melter-gasifier 60 can be easily understood by those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

Coal such as lumped coal or coal briquettes is supplied to the melter- gasifier 60. For example, coal with a grain size of over 8mm that is collected from a production site can be used as lumped coal. Coal with a grain size of not more than 8mm that is collected from a production site can be pulverized, have binders added thereto, and be molded by a press, thereby being manufactured into coal briquettes.

After the above-described coal is charged into the melter-gasifier 60, oxygen is supplied to the melter-gasifier 60, the compacted iron is melted, and molten iron is discharged through a tap (not shown). Using the above-described method, molten iron of good quality can be manufactured.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We Claim:

1. An apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron, the apparatus comprising: a charging hopper having an opening through which reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are charged; an shock-absorbing member that is installed in an upper side of the charging hopper, the shock-absorbing member colliding with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling through the opening and distributing the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron into a lower side of the charging hopper; and a pair of rolls that form a gap therebetween by being spaced apart from each other and compress the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron that is discharged from the charging hopper and pass through the gap, thereby manufacturing the compacted iron.

2. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the shock-absorbing member comprises: a guiding portion that communicates with the opening; and a shock-absorbing portion that is installed at a lower side of the guiding portion to collide with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron falling through the guiding portion.

3. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein one end of the guiding portion and the shock-absorbing portion are spaced apart from each other to form a space, and wherein the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron are distributed into a lower side of the charging hopper through the space.

4. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein the shock-absorbing member further comprises at least one connecting portion to fix the shock-absorbing portion on the one end of the guiding portion.

5. The apparatus of Claim 4, wherein the at least one connecting portion is stick-shaped.

6. The apparatus of Claim 5, wherein the at least one connecting

portion comprises a plurality of connecting portions to be connected to each other with a gap therebetween.

7. The apparatus of Claim 6, wherein the plurality of connecting portions are spaced apart from each other by equal distances.

8. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein the shock-absorbing portion comprises a shock-absorbing surface colliding with the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron, and is located in a direction crossing a charging direction of the reduced materials containing fine reduced iron.

9. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein an area of the shock-absorbing surface is in a range from one-eight to one-fifth of a cross-sectional area of the guiding portion.

10. The apparatus of Claim 9, wherein the area of the shock-absorbing surface is substantially five thirty-secondths of the cross-sectional area of the guiding portion.

11. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein the shock-absorbing portion further comprises a slanted side surface surrounding an edge of the shock- absorbing surface.

12. The apparatus of Claim 11, wherein the shock-absorbing portion is truncated cone-shaped.

13. The apparatus of Claim 12, wherein the slanted side surface is slanted to make an angle in a range from 50 degrees to 60 degrees with a vertical surface in a longitudinal direction of the guiding portion.

14. The apparatus of Claim 12, wherein the slanted side surface is slanted to make an angle of 52 degrees with a vertical surface in a longitudinal direction of the guiding portion.

15. An apparatus for manufacturing molten iron, the apparatus comprising:

an apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron of Claim 1; a crusher that crushes the compacted iron that is discharged from the apparatus for manufacturing compacted iron; and a melter-gasifier into which the compacted iron crushed by the crusher is charged, the melter-gasifier melting the compacted iron.

16. The apparatus of Claim 15, wherein lumped coal or coal briquettes are supplied to the melter-gasifier.