There is an increasing demand for an ironmaking process with lower capital cost, energy consumption and emissions than a blast furnace. It is the hypothesis of the present work that an optimized combination of two reasonable proven technologies will greatly enhance the overall process. An example is a rotary hearth furnace (RHF) linked to a smelter (e.g., AISI, HIsmelt). The objective of this research is to select promising process combinations, develop energy, materials balance and

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... models for the individual processes, conduct a limited amount of basic research on the processes and evaluate the process combinations. Three process combinations were selected with input from the industrial partners. The energy-materials and productivity models for the RHF, smelter, submerged arc furnace and CIRCOFER were developed. Since utilization of volatiles in coal is critical for energy and CO 2 emission reduction, basic research on this topic was also conducted. The process models developed are a major product developed in this research. These models can be used for process evaluation by the industry. The process combinations of an RHF-Smelter and a simplified CIRCOFER-Smelter appear to be promising. Energy consumption is reduced and productivity increased. Work on this project is continuing using funds from other sources.