DRI plants – investing in advanced raw material production
Ezz Steel has invested heavily in direct reduction plants (DRPs) to provide the highest quality direct reduced iron (DRI) feedstock for its steelmaking processes.
The most recent investment of $550m in a new DRI plant at the Suez plant brings our total DRI output capacity to 5 million tons per year. That made Ezz Steel the largest producer of DRI in the Middle East and the second largest in the world (2017).
Producing iron by direct reduction gives us a high-purity ingredient for steelmaking, with very low levels of residual elements.
Fouad Emam, Corporate Chief Technical Officer – Ezz Steel
$550m invested in newest DRI Mega Module at Suez
Energy-efficient process for iron ore reduction
In three of our direct reduction plants, iron ore (oxide pellets or lump ore) is reduced using the Midrex technology. This is an energy-efficient process that uses natural gas reforming to produce the required reducing gases (CO and H2). Our newest DRI plant in Suez uses HYL technology by Danieli to produce high-quality feedstock.
Full integration for improved efficiency and quality control
Two Ezz Steel plants now have direct reduction facilities in-house, delivering a continuous feed of high-purity iron into the steelmaking process. Integrating the DRI plants into the steelmaking process in this way creates significant operational efficiencies, improves quality control and optimizes energy use.
The direct reduction plants feed directly into electric arc furnaces in a continuous process.
