Interaction of iron oxides with different minerals and ions at room temperature

The magnetite slurry processed in the pelletizing plant at LKAB is an extremely complex system consisting of chemicals from the flotation pulp, ions from process water, as well as minerals added before the balling of the ”green” pellets.

In the present project we have approached this difficulty by subdividing the system of interacting species into three areas viz. the interactions between magnetite-collector, magnetite-ions, and magnetite-particulate additives.

One PhD student is working within each of the three areas; Elizaveta Potapova, Payman Roonasi, and Xiaofang Yang, respectively. In addition two senior researchers are involved, with projects within the same areas completing the work of the PhD students. All three sub-projects are of course strongly interrelated and demand a close collaboration between the participating researchers.

The main issue here is to elucidate the effect of the various constituents in the slurry on the surface properties of magnetite, especially its agglomeration properties.

The ultimate goal is to come up with an improved process for green-pellet production at LKAB. Most of the experiments are utilizing spectroscopic methods, especially FTIR-ATR Spectroscopy, although many other sophisticated techniques are at our disposal.

Jonas Hedlund, Division of Chemical Technology.
Allan Holmgren, Division of Chemistry.