Abstract
In the present work, we reduced high-grade iron ore pellets (Provided by VALE, Brazil) by employing different reducing atmospheres, namely pure hydrogen and MIDREX. The reduced pellets were then melted in electric arc furnace laboratory equipment. The pellets’ microstructure was characterized through SEM and XRD before and after each reduction experiment in TGA. During melting, optical emission spectroscopy analyses allowed to precisely measure the melt elements and evaluate the hydrogen content in the pellets. Both slag and steel composition and microstructure were revealed by SEM observations after the melting operations.