Metallurgical characteristics of iron ore agglomerates of various basicity (reducibility, strength after reduction (LTD+6.3), temperatures of the beginning and ending of softening) have been investigated. The phase composition (XRD) of iron ore agglomerates and their microstructure were analyzed by optical microscopy. Various dependences of influence of the basicity of iron ore agglomerates on their metallurgical characteristics with respect to the proportion of phase components that have been obtained. It has been shown that an increase in the proportion of stabilized silicoferrite (SFCA) in the agglomerate has a positive effect on their strength after reaction, which will further increase the productivity of the blast furnace and significantly reduce dust emission.

Questions about the oxidative roasting of iron ore raw materials (agglomerates and pellets) are studied. Features of the phase structure of the iron ore raw materials containing titan and vanadium are discussed. Reducibility, durability, and the softening and melting temperatures of metallurgical iron ore raw materials are studied in vitro. The objects of the research are titaniferous ores containing different amounts of titan dioxide. The behaviors of agglomerates and pellets in a blast furnace are studied, and the influence of their physical and chemical properties on heat and mass transfer processes are researched by means of a mathematical model. The main indices of blast furnace smelting—productivity, coke consumption, composition of top gas, cast iron, and slag—are shown. It is established that the increase in titanium dioxide content in pellets, as the amount of concentrate with increased TiO2 content increases, does not cause deterioration in the quality of iron ore raw materials being prepared for blast furnace smelting. At the same time, as the hot strength of raw materials increases, the temperature at which softening begins increases and the temperature interval of softening of materials decreases.

The paper presents the results of studies of the chemical, phase composition and metallurgical characteristics of titanomagnetite sinter. The iron ore used in blast furnaces of JSC ‘EVRAZ NTMK’ is titanomagnetite sinter obtained from ores of the Gusevogorsky deposit. Samples of sinter with different basicities as well as with addition of binding polymers in the amount of 300 and 500 g per ton of sinter were investigated. The results of industrial tests of the production and blast furnace smelting of sinter with different basicities and additives of binding polymers are presented on the example of the operation of blast furnaces no. 5 and 6 of JSC ‘EVRAZ NTMK’. It was shown that an increase in the basicity of the sinter from 2.1 to 2.4 and the introduction of a polymer binder (in the amount of 500 g per ton of sinter) positively affect the complex of sinter metallurgical characteristics – durability after reduction, reducibility, softening and melting temperatures, and also decrease the coke rate in blast furnace smelting by 1.0–1.2%.

Strength characteristics of iron ore agglomerates of various basicity (mechanical strength and abrasion resistance, thermomechanical strength) have been investigated. The chemical and phase compositions of iron ore agglomerates, their microstructure and local chemical composition were analyzed. Dependences of the strength characteristics of iron ore agglomerates of various basicity on the morphology of silicate bond have been obtained. Dependences of influence of basicity of iron ore agglomerates on their strength characteristics depending on the proportion of phase components are obtained. It has been shown that an increase in the proportion of stabilized silicoferrite (SFCA) in the composition of agglomerates has a positive effect on their thermomechanical strength, which will increase the productivity of the blast furnace and significantly reduce the emission of dust.

The metallurgical characteristics of pellets (reducibility, strength after reaction, softening start and end temperatures), phase composition (X-ray phase analysis), and porosity were studied. Blast furnace smelting parameters were calculated using laboratory pellets with different basicities and degrees of metallization. Pellets were obtained from complex titanium-magnetite ores. The vanadium extraction of this ore into metal did not exceed 10 % during smelting of metallized pellets in an arc steelmaking furnace, but special techniques could raise this to 85 %. According to calculations from the Institute of Metallurgy of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMET UB RAS), vanadium extraction up to 80–90 % can be achieved by using high-base and partially metallized pellets. The influence of changes in the composition and metallurgical characteristics of titanomagnetite pellets with increasing basicity (especially relative to strength after reduction) should be taken into account.