COLERAINE —The University of Minnesota’s Natural Resources Research Institute, or NRRI, launched a new simulator to test innovations in iron refining Thursday, July 27, in Coleraine.
The simulator is a direct reduced iron furnace, which uses gases like hydrogen or carbon to strip oxygen from iron, to make a purer product.
Direct reduced iron is not a new product, but furnaces that use it are becoming more popular in the steel industry. The Range’s newest mine Mesabi Metallics will use this method, and Keetac added the capability in 2024.
However, experimenting with the newer process at a commercial level can be costly. According to NRRI Taconite Chair Brett Spigarelli, the new simulator will address this issue.
“What this furnace will do,” Spigarelli said, “is essentially is allow the industry on the Range right now to de-risk transition into this industry.”
The simulator’s significance comes from its size. At around 2,000 pounds, Spigarelli said their machine is about 20 times larger than other testing simulators, which makes it more accurate and scalable for commercial sizes.
“It looks just like a big potato that you can take the lid off of, and then you can put stuff inside of it,” Spigarelli added.
The launch event Thursday focused on the team of researchers, government officials and industry professionals whose work moved the simulator toward completion.
NRRI Executive Director Rolf Weberg praised the project’s constant collaboration.
“I couldn't ask for a more committed, hardworking, mission-focused and just damn fun people to work with and see where this thing goes,” Weberg said.
The project’s supporters included the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation. At the event, Commissioner Ida Rukavina said her department provided a $600,000 development grant to the project, in addition to $2 million in matching funds. Most of the department’s funding comes from taxes levied on the mining industry.
“This means that dollars generated by mining stay here in the region, supporting our communities where mining takes place,” Rukavina said.
The project began its first design period in 2017. According to NRRI, the project has received over $2 million in federal funding in addition to $1.6 million from state and institute funds.
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And: U of M's Natural Resources Research Institute launches new simulator to test innovations in iron refining.
