Abstract: A method of producing reduced iron and light oil from iron ore and heavy oil which comprises a thermal cracking step of subjecting heavy oil to thermal cracking while retaining iron ore particles in a fluidized state to produce light oil and simultaneously to deposit coke as by-product on the surface of the iron ore particles; a gasification step of putting the coke-deposited ore in contact with an oxidizing gas including steam and oxygen in a fluidized state to react the coke with the gas thereby to produce a reducing gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide and of heating the coke-deposited ore upward of a reduction temperature of iron ore by partial oxidization of the coke; and a reduction step of reducing the coke-deposited iron ore in a fluidized state by the reducing gas to produce reduced iron. When the gasification step is performed by an oxidizing gas containing a majority of steam and up to 15 vol. %, based on the steam, of oxygen at 800.degree.-1000.degree. C. under a pressure of 0-10 kg/cm.sup.

Abstract: The invention provides a novel process for concurrently carrying out production of reduced iron and thermal cracking of heavy oils in which the reaction of thermal cracking is performed in a fluidized state with the fine iron ore as the fluidized medium and the particles of the iron ore become coated with deposits of the carbonaceous by-product material. The fine iron ore with the carbon deposited thereon is introduced in a fluidized-bed reducing furnace and there reduced into reduced iron by contacting with a reducing gas which is produced in a gas reformer from the cracked gas or the residual oil separated from the products of the thermal cracking. In an improvement of the above process, the gas reformer is operated as a fluidized-bed reactor with the reduced iron as the fluidized medium and acting as the reforming catalyst.