Green Steel And Vanadium Production In Uzbekistan

Abstract

The Tebinbulak deposit is a titania-magnetite vanadium-containing ore deposit located in Uzbekistan. An evaluation of this ore was completed to determine the feasibility of processing the material for steel production, with a vanadium-based material as a second valuable product. Two different process routes were proposed. The first process investigated salt roasting followed by leaching of the iron concentrate to remove vanadium. The vanadium-free concentrate is subsequently pelletized, and then processed in a natural gas based (NGB) direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking facility. The second process involved pelletizing the vanadium-containing iron concentrate followed by ironmaking in a NGB DRI facility. The DRI is then smelted in an electric smelting furnace (ESF) to produce vanadium-containing hot metal and a discard slag rich in titania. The vanadium is extracted from the hot metal in a vanadium removal step prior to steelmaking in a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) with bottom blowing. Benefits and economics of each process route were assessed. The best process route was selected for implementation. The selected process flowsheet allows for usage of hydrogen and green electrical energy in the future, ensuring green steel and vanadium production in Uzbekistan. This paves the way for Uzbekistan to build an integrated steelmaking complex and to be independent from imported scrap/pig iron or HBI from Russia or other neighbouring countries.