Development of carbon composite iron ore slime briquettes for using in ironmaking

Abstract

Iron ore slime is a micro-fine of size below 20 µm in majority and rich in alumina and silica. It is neither suitable for pelletization nor sintering. Jhama coal is not also used in the iron making because of its poor caking property and thermal stability of lump. Therefore, the composite fluxed briquettes in a combination of these two materials were made to use this in low shaft furnace or mini blast furnace wherein, Jhama coal will be acting as a reducing agent and heat source, which may replace the use of costly metallurgical coke in the subsequent iron making process. The present work develops a process for making composite briquettes with slime and Jhama coal with a fluxing agent without any external binder or very little amount of binder to replace the fluxing agent. The developed briquettes provide sufficient strength of up to 104 kg/cm2 , 70% reducibility index, 28% reduction degradation index, and good metallization after reduction which shows its suitability for low shaft furnace or mini blast furnace