Alternative to deal with high level of fine materials in iron ore sintering process

Granulation Behavior of an Iron Ore Sintering Mixture Containing High Grade Pellet Feed with Different Specific Surface

“…Amount of fines below 0.15 mm that remain agglomerated after drop test as a function of the pellet feed specific surface.GI and strength of quasi-particles stabilized, meaning that for the level of pellet feed tested, 25%, it was the minimum value of specific surface needed for good sintering performance as confirmed through sintering pot test results reported by Oliveira et al 2019 17). …”

“…Other authors investigated the use of concentrates and pellet feed, which were previously pre-treated in roller press aiming to increase its specific surface, in sintering process showing that the pre-treatment allows to use these materials without losing process permeability. [14][15][16] Those findings were recently reinforced by Yang et al 2) who investigated different size distribution of specular hematite ore types and Oliveira et al 17) whom reported that it was also possible to replace coarse sinter feeds without losing productivity.…”

“…It can be observed that the fraction below 0.045 mm of the pressed pellet feed presents the highest specific surface area through both techniques, similar results were reported in literature. 17,23) Concerning the ballability index (K), it increases as the specific surface of the pellet feed increases, reaching values over 0.6, which is considered a good level of K factor for a good agglomeration behavior according to Jian et al 15)…”

“…For a complete chemical and mineralogical characterization of the pellet feed, sinter feeds, as well as of the raw materials used in the present work, the reader is referred to the work of Oliveira et al 17)…”

“…The micropellet particles became more important recently due to the increase of fine particles below 0.15 mm as a result of the incorporation of pellet feed or concentrates into the iron ore mixtures as reported by different authors. [14][15][16][17]20,21) The samples were analyzed by optical microscopy, using a Carl Zeiss ® microscope, AxioImager Z2m model. An image analyzer software was used and the agglomerated particles (quasi-particles, micropellets, non-agglomerated particles) were quantified in different types by dot counting.…”