Mesabi Nugget: World's First Commercial ITmk3 Plant

摘要

ITmk3 is a rotary hearth furnace ironmaking technology that uses coal to produce a premium quality pig iron product. Steel Dynamics, Inc. and Kobe Steel, Ltd. are constructing a 500,000 tons-per-year plant at Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota, USA that will supply nuggets to SDI's meltshops. This will be the world's first commercial-scale ITmk3 facility and start-up is planned for the third quarter of 2009. This paper reviews the market need for the process, describes the ITmk3 technology, reviews the project background, provides details of the plant construction, and discusses how it fits in with SDI's raw material strategy.