Effect of temperature patterns on iron nugget formation in fluxless processing of titanomagnetite

Abstract

The technology used to process titanomagnetite is currently limited to the rotary kiln-electric furnace. Other techniques are being developed, including the separation of iron in the form of iron nugget from the reduction of titanomagnetite with coal without any flux addition. The effect of different temperature patterns on the formation of iron nuggets from titanomagnetite was studied. The initial temperature was varied from 700 to 1380 °C, while the final temperature was kept constant at 1380 °C. The experiment results showed that the initial temperature affected the formation of iron nuggets. Initial temperatures of 700–1100 °C produced many iron nuggets up to 3 mm in size and an initial temperature of 1200 °C produced one nugget with a size of about 4 mm. Initial temperatures of 1300 and 1380 °C did not produce any iron nuggets due to the formation of metallic iron crust on the surface of the reduced briquettes. The optimum initial temperature was 1000 °C to achieve high iron recovery in the nuggets.