Oxidation and sintering mechanism of pellets

In the production of iron ore pellets from magnetite ore, the oxidation and sintering process have a strong influence on the final pellet quality. A complete oxidation of magnetite to hematite is of importance both in the pellet production and in the following reduction in the blast furnace. At sufficiently high temperatures the hematite formed will dissociate back to magnetite. The introduction of additives, such as olivine, might lower the dissociation temperature. The main goal of the project is to create a deeper understanding of the processes and parameters controlling sintering and oxidation to improve the control over the final pellet quality.

The project consists of three parts

I.    Determination of sintering, oxidation and dissociation processes at particle level.
II.    Determination of sintering and oxidation process and the interaction between the two at pellet level.
III.    Evaluation and comparison of the results obtained at both particle level and pellet level.

Bo Björkman, bo.bjorkman@ltu.se
Jonas Hedlund, jonas.hedlund@ltu.se
Charlotte Andersson, charlotte.andersson@ltu.se
Lena Fjellström, lena.fjellstrom@lkab.com
Seija Forsmo seija.forsmo@lkab.com