A Novel Sintering Process for Porous Iron Ore Sintering with Enhanced Productivity

The present work proposes a novel process to sinter porous iron ore (porosity similar to 23-24%) with enhanced productivity and quality. The iron ore is pre-processed in the presence of calcined lime for the temporary closure of pores, which further prevents water absorption during the granulation process in drum in the presence of water. The calcined lime coated iron ore provides surface coating on them, which enhances the reaction kinetics, inhibits water absorption into the pores, and espousal to early slag formation during sintering. The sinter productivity, product yield (+5 mm), and cold strength property have shown a significant improvement when the pot sintering experiments are performed through the proposed process.

Automated summary

This study proposes a new process for sintering porous iron ore with improved productivity and quality. The process involves pre-processing the iron ore in the presence of calcined lime to temporarily close the pores and prevent water absorption during granulation. The coated iron ore with calcined lime enhances reaction kinetics, inhibits water absorption, and prevents early slag formation during sintering. Pot sintering experiments using this proposed process show significant improvement in sinter productivity, product yield, and cold strength property.