Effect of Surface Area on Green Properties of Micro Pellets

Abstract

The effective utilization of iron ore slimes is important not only from the point of view of optimum utilization of iron values in the mined ore but also for preventing environmental pollution. A significant amount of slime is being accumulated at the tailing dam of one of the iron ore mines in Bailadila region. With the present scale of operation, the tailing dam will be filled in another 10 years. Owing to this, the problem of the hazards of environmental pollution caused by water, contaminated with iron ore slimes, spilling out of these dams have become a serious concern. Thus, it has become necessary to look for some alternative routes of utilization of these slimes. These slimes, generated during processing, can be utilized through hybrid pellet sintering method. The hybrid pellet sintering processes requires production of micro pellets of size 4-8 mm, which can be used in place of iron ore fines during sintering. In the present study, the effect of surface area on the properties of green micro pellets has been studied. Slimes that are not amenable for micro pellet production due to low surface area [700-900 cm2/grams], are subjected to grinding and surface area need to be optimized for minimum grinding cost. This paper attempts to describe the effect of surface area on micro pellets properties and minimum surface area required to produce micro pellets with sufficient strength to produce sinter.