Drying of Brazilian Iron Ore in Spherical Pellets.

Abstract

Heating and drying are important in order to meet pellet specifications in the steel making industry. Besides, the drying of iron ore for trading may be effected by the intermittent formation of agglomerates. As a consequence, it is important to understand the drying of such materials. Drying assays of spherical pellets suspended in an oven at 50 o C were developed. We analyzed and compared the drying kinetics of two pellets (2.0 cm and 1.4 cm). A discussion was presented about the drying behavior. Moreover, the critical moisture content, constant drying rate, and effective diffusivity for the hindered drying were estimated.