Hydrogen Plasma Direct Reduction of Hematite

Author

• Joseph W. Govro
• Todd Sander
• Jeffrey D. Smith, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
• Sridhar Seetharaman
• Ronald O'Malley, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

The use of hydrogen gas as an alternative for carbonaceous reductants in the ironmaking process is a topic of great popularity in the decarbonization efforts in the steelmaking research community. The potential kinetic benefit of utilizing ionized hydrogen (hydrogen plasma) in a DRI (direct reduced iron) process was investigated through the utilization of a plasma reactor. Single pellet isothermal reduction studies were performed with both hydrogen plasma and hydrogen gas at both 750°C and 850°C. A mathematical model was utilized to determine the effect of temperature and gas species on reduction kinetics. A kinetic enhancement using hydrogen plasma was observed at both temperatures.

Recommended Citation

J. W. Govro et al., "Hydrogen Plasma Direct Reduction of Hematite," Aistech Iron and Steel Technology Conference Proceedings, vol. 1, pp. 358 - 367, Jan 2026.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.33313/390/038

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Comments

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Grant DE-EE0009250

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-093076745-7

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1551-6997

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2026