A large amount of finely dispersed manganese ore left after benefication operations or blown out from the furnaces is unsuitable for direct use in electric furnaces and blast furnaces, therefore it is necessary to granulate it in order to have the efficient use of its fine ore particles in metallurgy. To make our research more of practical use, we found it is reasonable not only work over manganese fines sintering but also to attempt mitigating the negative effect on the environment produced by the further sintering and apply the biofuel within the total fuel mass. Under laboratory conditions, the studies have been carried out with the objective to obtain manganese sinter, in which wood biomass is applied, namely initial and pre-pyrolyzed, at temperatures of 673, 873, 1073 and 1273 K. The amount of biofuel in the sinter blend was 25 wt.%. It has been established that the biomass use causes the decrease in the specific capacity of the sintering plant. However, for the efficient manganese ores sintering process, the biofuel of high pyrolysis temperature of 1273 K is required. To achieve the specific capacity and the yield to be as high as those when coke breeze is only used, the amount of the biofuel for manganese ore sintering should be less than 25 wt.% of the solid fuel. Additionally, it has been revealed that the further increase in the biofuel ratio in the total fuel amount is possible on condition that its reactivity is decreased, or larger particles of the biofuel are used.

Customer satisfaction is getting more and more importance world-wide. Informatics tools and methods are used to research customer satisfaction based on a detailed analysis of consumer reviews. The examined reviews are written in natural languages and some Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques such as Text Mining, Aspect Sentiment Analysis, Data Mining and Machine Learning are used for the study. As input for running the investigations, we use different internet resources in which the accumulated customer reviews are available. These are for example yelp.com, tripadviser.com and tophotels.ru, etc. To see and show the efficacy of the proposed approach, we have carried out experiments on hotel client satisfaction. The results have proven the effectiveness of the proposed approach to decision support in product quality management and support applying them instead of traditional methods of qualitative and quantitative research of customer satisfaction.

Перспективним напрямком утилiзацiї технiчного гiдролiзного лiгнiну є його застосування в металургiйному виробництвi, в першу чергу при пiдготовцi залiзорудної сировини i доменному процесi. Значний резерв при цьому зосереджений в агломерацiйному процесi. Для полiпшення паливних властивостей лiгнiну, а також для видалення, з можливiстю уловлювання, токсичних речовин, слiд здiйснити його попереднiй пiролiз. Експериментально вивчено вплив технiчного гiдролiзного лiгнiну рiзного ступеня пiролiзацiї на процес залiзорудної агломерацiї i властивостi отриманого агломерату. Вихiдний лiгнiн пiддавався попереднiй термiчнiй обробцi до кiнцевої температури 400, 600, 800 i 1000 °С без доступу повiтря. Спiкання агломерату за участю пiролiзованого лiгнiну проводили на лабораторнiй агломерацiйнiй установцi. Пiсля спiкання визначали мiцнiсть агломерату, дослiджували його макроструктуру. Хiмiчний склад зразкiв агломерату дослiджували методом рентгенофлуоресцентного аналiзу. В результатi проведених експериментiв визначена можливiсть замiни 25 % коксового дрiб'язку лiгнiном, попередньо пiролiзованим при температурi 800 °С. За таких умов основнi показники агломерацiйного процесу, такi як вертикальна швидкiсть спiкання, вихiд придатного продукту i питома продуктивнiсть установки, практично не змiнюються. Спостерiгається незначне зниження мiцностi агломерату на удар i на стирання, однак данi показники залишаються на технологiчно прийнятному рiвнi. Слiд зазначити, що при використаннi лiгнiну в якостi агломерацiйного палива виявляється тенденцiя до деякого зниження вмiсту залiза в агломератi. Дослiдження макроструктури агломерату показало збiльшення дiаметра пор при частковiй замiнi коксового дрiб'язку лiгнiном, причому з пiдвищенням температури пiролiзу лiгнiну, обсяг пор збiльшується. Проведенi дослiдження пiдтвердили можливiсть вирiшення актуальної екологiчної проблеми утилiзацiї технiчного лiгнiну, шляхом застосування його в агломерацiйному процесi з попередньою його пiролiзацiєю. Перспективним напрямком подальших дослiджень є розвиток способiв пiдготовки технiчного гiдролiзного лiгнiну до використання в залiзоруднiй агломерацiїКлючовi слова: утилiзацiя промислових вiдходiв, технiчний гiдролiзний лiгнiн, пiролiз, залiзорудна агломерацiя UDC 622.788:662.6/9:504

<p class="AMSmaintext">Dominating globally and within Ukraine, the blast-furnace practice for iron production requires iron ore sintering preparation wherein the significant amount of fossil fuel is consumed, accompanied by harmful emissions into the environment. Pursuing the purpose to mitigate this negative impact, we address the promising direction of biomass utilisation for a partial replacement of fossil fuels in iron ore sintering. This paper considers the benefits of fossil fuels substitution with biomass, the world practice of biomass utilisation in iron ore sintering and the scope of the biomass energy potential in Ukraine. The study for obtaining sinters with the use of raw biomass fuels (sunflower husk, walnut shell) and charcoal has been carried out via lab-scale sintering pot. The influence of various biomaterials types on the process of iron ore sintering have been investigated and the obtained sinter quality in comparison with the conventional types of the fuels allows establishing the feasibility of replacing 25 % of coke breeze by charcoal or by walnut shell. The sunflower husk application is possible if preliminary preparation of the material for increasing bulk density is assumed to be carried out, for instance, by pressing.</p>

Purpose. The research purpose is to substantiate the use of biocoke as a fuel in the iron ore sintering, as well as its influence on the performance and properties of the resulting sinter. To completely replace conventional coke breeze, biocoke is produced using 5 wt.% biomass wood pellets at different carbonization temperatures of 950 or 1100°C. Further, the influence of biocoke on the sintering process and the sinter quality is studied at a high proportion of biomass pellets of 10, 15, 30, 45 wt.% and a carbonization temperature of 950°C. Methods. Carbonization is performed in shaft-type electric furnaces to produce laboratory coke or biocoke. Afterward, the sintering of iron ores is conducted on a sinter plant. To assess the sintering process and the quality of the resulting sinter, the filtration rate is determined on a laboratory sinter plant using a vane anemometer designed to measure the directional flow average velocity under industrial conditions. The sinter reducibility is studied using a vertical heating furnace to assess the effect of coke and biocoke on the sinter’s physical-chemical properties. Findings. It has been determined that biocoke, carbonized at a temperature of 950°C, has good prospects and potential for a shift to a sustainable process of iron ore sintering. Originality. It has been proven that biocoke with a biomass pellet ratio of up to 15 wt.%, obtained at a temperature of 950°C, does not affect the parameters characterizing the sintering process. The sinter strength indicators correspond to the use of 100 wt.% conventional coke breeze. Biocoke used with a high proportion of biomass pellets of 30 and 45 wt.% causes a deterioration in the sinter quality. Practical implications. The results of using biocoke with the addition of 5-15 wt.% biomass pellets and at a temperature of 950°C are within the standard deviation, which makes it possible to use biocoke with 15 wt.% biomass pellets instead of industrial coke breeze.