Construction of new principle of ironmaking process enabled to decrease by half in CO_2 emissions

减少二氧化碳的排放是应对全球变暖的迫切要求。钢铁工业约占日本人为温室气体排放量的14%。炼铁过程中的自然资源，即铁矿和煤，其性质将发生巨大变化。因此，积极利用这种变化是很重要的。本研究的目的是寻找一种新的炼铁工艺原理，可以显著减少二氧化碳的排放。在80atm高温条件下，用铁矿石和碳质材料复合材料进行了一系列还原实验。建立了还原行为数据库。进一步提出了复合材料的优化结构和新的工艺原理。

The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has been urgently required to cope with the global warming. Iron and steel industry occupies approximately 14%of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions of Japan. Drastic change of the properties is expected on the natural resources of ironmaking process, i. e., iron ore and coal. Therefore, it is important to positively utilize such change. The objective of the present study is to search for a new principle of ironmaking process, which can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emission. A series of the reduction experiments was carried out using composite materials of iron ore and carbonaceous materials under 80 atm at the elevated temperature. The database of the reduction behavior was prepared. Further, the optimum structure of the composite and new process principle was proposed.