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Reduction kinetics of fine iron ore powder in different gas mixtures were investigated in high-temperature fluidized bed at a scale of kilograms. Influence of processing parameters, such as particle size, gas flow velocity, height of charge, temperature, compositions of gas mixture, and percentage of inert components, on reduction kinetics was experimentally determined under the condition of fluidization. The equations for calculating instantaneous and average oxidation rates were deduced. It was found that an increasing H2O percentage in the gas mixture could obviously decrease the reduction rate because the equilibrium partial pressure of H2decreased with increasing content of H2O in the gas mixture and then the driving force of reduction reaction was reduced. When the H2content was high, the apparent reaction rate was so rapid when the average size of iron ore fines was less than 1 mm that the reaction temperature can be as low as 750 °C; when the average size of iron ore fines was more than 1 mm, a high reaction temperature of 800 °C was required. In addition, it was also found that the content of H2O should be less than 10% for efficient reduction.

The reduction kinetics and mechanisms of hematite ore with various particle sizes with hydrogen at low temperature were studied using the thermogravimetric analysis. At the same temperature, after the particle size of powder decreases from 107.5 μm to 2.0 μm, the surface area of the powder and the contact area between the powder and gas increase, which makes the reduction process of hematite accelerate by about 8 times, and the apparent activation energy of the reduction reaction drops to 36.9 kJ/mol from 78.3 kJ/mol because the activity of ore powder is improved by refining gradually. With the same reaction rate, the reaction temperature of 6.5 μm powder decreases by about 80 °C compared with that of 107.5 μm powder. Thinner diffusion layer can also accelerate the reaction owing to powder refining. The higher the temperature, the greater is the peak of the reduction rate; at the same temperature, the greater the particle size, the smaller is the peak value of the reduction rate; both inner diffusion and interface chemical reaction play an important role in the whole reaction process.

The reduction kinetics and mechanisms of hematite ore with various particle sizes with hydrogen at low temperature were studied using the thermogravimetric analysis. At the same temperature, after the particle size of powder decreases from 107.5 μm to 2.0 μm, the surface area of the powder and the contact area between the powder and gas increase, which makes the reduction process of hematite accelerate by about 8 times, and the apparent activation energy of the reduction reaction drops to 36.9 kJ/mol from 78.3 kJ/mol because the activity of ore powder is improved by refining gradually. With the same reaction rate, the reaction temperature of 6.5 μm powder decreases by about 80 °C compared with that of 107.5 μm powder. Thinner diffusion layer can also accelerate the reaction owing to powder refining. The higher the temperature, the greater is the peak of the reduction rate; at the same temperature, the greater the particle size, the smaller is the peak value of the reduction rate; both inner diffusion and interface chemical reaction play an important role in the whole reaction process.