DEVELOPMENT OF SINTERED PELLETS MADE OF BLAST

FURNACE FLUE DUST AND BLAST FURNACE SLUDGE

1


Susanta Pramanik
2

Swapan Kumar Mitra
3
Prince Kumar Singh
4

Abstract
Sinter is considered to be half prepared burden for Blast Furnaces. Moreover the iron
and steel industry is burdened with lot of industrial wastes which create disposal
problem and also eats up the economy of the plant. Two of such materials are Blast
Furnace dust containing eighty percent iron and Blast furnace sludge. These
materials cannot be agglomerated as it is. It decreases the productivity of the sinter
plant. In this experimental work pellets were made with blast furnace flue dust and
blast furnace sludge in a laboratory disc pelletizer. These pellets were sintered along
with iron ore fines and limestone fines. The reducibility of this sinter is as comparable
with iron ore super flux pellets. In this paper the techno economics of the sinter
making with ferrogeneous waste made pellets is described.
Key words: Sinter; Pellets; Blast furnace flue dust; Blast furnace sludge;
Productivity.

























1
Technical contribution to the 6
th
International Congress on the Science and Technology of
Ironmaking ICSTI, 42
nd
International Meeting on Ironmaking and 13
th
International Symposium on
Iron Ore, October 14
th
to

18
th
,

2012, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2
Assistant Professor, MME Department, N.I.T Durgapur, India.
3
Professor and Dean, Faculty Welfare, N.I.T Durgapur, India.
4
M-Tech Student, MME Department, N.I.T Durgapur, India.
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1 INTRODUCTION

Production process in iron and steel industry involve the formation of large amount of
by product. These byproducts cause large volume of waste streams. Iron and steel
production form the backbone of industrialization in the country.
The byproduct is a concern to the environment and adds to the loss of revenue to the
iron and steel producers. The steel byproducts for example dust and sludge cause
environmental degradation, loss of high value metal, demand legal complication and
finally make the world uninhabited for the generation to come.
These waste materials are primarily used for landfill but the utilization of these waste
materials may reduce the fastly depleted the primary resources. The rising prices of
metals make such utilization economically attractive.
In an integrated iron and steel plant, several ferrogeneous waste materials are
generated.
(2-5)
The reduction of iron oxide in Blast Furnace results in generation of
number of solid waste. Those are Blast Furnace slag, flue dust and gas cleaning
plant sludge. Crystalline slags are usually used in road making while granulated slag
in construction. However dust catchers dust and Gas Cleaning Plant sludge are
dumped and hence require process of utilization. One solution for further reuse of
waste materials such as ferrous and carbon containing dusts is the injection into
various metallurgical aggregate to use for burning, fluxing. A number of technologies
have been developed to allow better utilization of iron steel plant fines in primary
operation. Utilization of plant wastes for production of quality sinters improves the
productivity of the furnace at the same time plant waste materials are recycled. It also
decreases the fuel rate for the sintering process. With the shortage of metallurgical
coke growing day by day the total cost of producing sinter is becoming more
expensive.
Many researchers have worked on recycling of this work plant waste as sinter. The
objective of this work represents possible utilization of blast furnace flue dust sludge
from SAIL-DSP after agglomeration of both in a disc pelletizer using bentonite as a
binder through sintering process as a substitute of coke breeze due to high price.

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

2.1 Raw Material

The raw materials used for agglomeration are Blast Furnace flue dust and sludge
along with water (10% of total mass). Bentonite, molasses and dextrin.are the
different binders used. The chemical composition and sieve analysis are reported in
Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1. Chemical analysis of B.F. flue dust and B.F. sludge
ELEMENT FLUE DUST B.F. SLUDGE
Fe(T) 43.01 27.37
CaO 6.31 8.97
SiO
2
7.05 12.0
MgO 2.22 4.03
Al
2
O
3
3.1 3.9
Na
2
O 0.22 0.07
K
2
O 0.57 0.31


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Table 2. Sieve analysis of iron bearing waste material
Sieve size (micro m) Flue dust % Blast furnace sludge %
1000 20 300
500 10 250
300 20 250
150 30 200
75 10 -

B.F. Flue dust and sludge is obtained from the blast furnaces of SAIL-DSP. The blast
furnaces of SAIL-DSP operate with 67% sinter and 33% iron ore where iron ore
contains 72% Fe
2
O
3
and sinter contains 54% total Fe. Coke used contains 19% ash
while foreign coal blending is 17% in coke making.

2.2 Production of Pellets

The pellets were prepared in a disc pelletizer with a diameter 56 cm, angle of
inclination 36.21, disc rotating speed 29 rpm, and residence time of 10 minutes.
Agglomeration was carried out by taking 3 types of binders and varying their
amounts. The required amount of binders and the raw material were fed to the
pelletizer. The raw mix composition is given in Table 3. The predetermined amount of
water with respective binders was spread onto the rolling bed of material in the disc
pelletizer. The machine was put on and the spherical pellets were allowed to form. A
scraper was used to wash out the material sticking onto the disc.
At the end of the experiments, the pellets were collected and indurated. The green
pellets were dried in air for 2 days to ensure the evaporation of water used during the
process. For bentonite made pellets they were heated up to 300C for 1 hr and then
isothermally indurated at 900C for 1 hr. But for dextrin and molasses made pellets
they were heated in an air oven at 150C for 1 hr.
At the end of drying /induration the samples were screened to collect the fraction of
less than 5 mm, which is also a measure of the productivity of the pellet. The fraction
less than 5 mm was obtained by trial and error by varying the time and at last it was
fixed at 10 minutes.

1
Pruduct|u|ty u the mach|ne =
wt.u the pe||etx u 5mm x|ze (gm)
wt.u the charge ed tu the d|xc(gm)
X 1


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Table 3. Composition of pellet mixes
Binder nature
Amount of
binder
Amount of flue
dust
Amount of Blast
Furnace sludge
I.D. No.
Bentonite
2 300 - B
FD
2
3 300 - B
FD
3
4 300 - B
FD
4
Dextrine
2 300 - D
FD
2
3 300 - D
FD
3
4 300 - D
FD
4
Molasses
2 300 - M
FD
2
3 300 - M
FD
3
4 300 - M
FD
4
Bentonite
2 - 300 B
SL
2
3 - 300 B
SL
3
4 - 300 B
SL
4
Dextrine
2 - 300 D
SL
2
3 - 300 D
SL
3
4 - 300 D
SL
4
Molasses
2 - 300 M
SL
2
3 - 300 M
SL
3
4 - 300 M
SL
4
Bentonite
2 150 150 B
FD+SL
2
3 150 150 B
FD+SL
3
4 150 150 B
FD+SL
4
Dextrine
2 150 150 D
FD+SL
2
3 150 150 D
FD+SL
3
4 150 150 D
FD+SL
4
Molasses
2 150 150 M
FD+SL
2
3 150 150 M
FD+SL
3
4 150 150 M
FD+SL
4

2.3 Testing of Pellets

The strength of the pellets were calculated by shatter index, drop test, compressive
strength.

2.3.1 Drop test
In this test the pellets were drop repeatedly from a height of 0.45 m on a 10 mm thick
steel plate until they broke. The final value of no. of drop was taken as the average of
four such test values.

2.3.2 Compressive strength
The average compressive strength of dried pellets are calculated by compressing at
least 10 pellets (5 pellets of size less than 3 mm and 5 of size less than 10 mm
diameter) between parallel steel plates up to their breakage. The mean value of
tested pellets gives their compressive strength. This test is carried out on a platform
balance with weight indication by means of a pointer. The pellets to be tested were
placed on the lower steel plate of the balance and is gradually compressed with a
steel plate while the pointer position is observed. The pellets breakage was indicated
by the jumping back of the pointer. The max load observed corresponds to the
compressive strength of the pellet. The pellets with an optimum strength were than
subjected to use in the sinter mix.
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Table 4. Property of Pellets. The properties of pellets is shown in Table 1.
Pellet Character Shatter Test Drop Test Compression Test
B
FD
2 22 13 375
B
FD
3 21 14 383
B
FD
4 21 14 385
D
FD
2 23 12 362
D
FD
3 22 13 372
D
FD
4 21 14 380
M
FD
2 27 8 290
M
FD
3 26 9 312
M
FD
4 23 12 359
B
SL
2 27 8 295
B
SL
3 25 10 331
B
SL
4 24 11 346
D
SL
2 30 6 248
D
SL
3 26 9 312
D
SL
4 27 8 293
M
SL
2 39 - -
M
SL
3 37 - -
M
SL
4 33 3 203
B
FD+SL
2 26 9 317
B
FD+SL
3 24 11 348
B
FD+SL
4 20 15 400
D
FD+SL
2 30 6 255
D
FD+SL
3 27 8 299
D
FD+SL
4 23 12 365
M
FD+SL
2 37 - -
M
FD+SL
3 36 - -
M
FD+SL
4 32 4 215

It is concluded that the pellets made by bentonite ie heat hardened pellets have
optimum strength and were used in sinter making.

2.4Sintering of Iron Ore and Iron Bearing Waste Pellets

The sintering experiments were conducted in a laboratory down draft sinter machine.
The dimension of the sintering pot is given below:
Total height of pan 26.5 cm
Hearth area 306.25 cm
2

Top area 542.5 cm
2

Capacity of the machine 16 kg
Suction pressure -1120Pa
Suction valve has four notches. They are 0% , 33.33 % ,62.66%, 100%.
The manometer was used to measure the differential pressure across the bed, and
that between bed and outlet pipe. Water manometer was used to measure the
pressure.
Thermocouples were needed to measure the temperature of wind box. Chromel-
alumel thermocouple was used for this experiments.


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2.4.1 Raw materials used for sintering
The raw materials used are iron ore fines, limestone fines, coke breeze and pellets of
waste ferrogenous material. Iron ore was collected from Bolani mines, limestone from
Birmitrapur (Orissa) India and coke breeze from SAIL-DSP.
The chemical and sieve analysis of raw material other than pellets have been shown
in Tables 5 and 6.

Table 5. Chemical analysis of raw material
Fe(t) CaO SiO2 MgO Al2O3 LOI Ash V.M. F.C.
Iron ore 53.2 - 3.04 - 2.65 2.68 - - -
Lime - 70.00 - - - - - - -
Lime
stone
- 50.24 6.23 1.12 1.28 39.06 - - -
Dolomite - 28.08 3.89 20.49 1.56 - - - -
Coke
breeze
- - - - - - 23.11 5.51 70.00

Table 6 Sieve analysis of raw material
Sieve size
(mm)
Iron ore
%
Coke
%
Limestone
%
Dolomite
%
+9.5 5 5 - -
-9.5+6.3 40 20 - -
-6.3+3.35 20 20 10 10
-3.35+1.0 20 20 45 60
-1.0+.5 5 10 10 10
-0.5 10 25 35 20
0.1 100 100 100 100

2.4.2 Sintering charge calculation
Basic assumptions for calculation of charge mixes for sinter to be produced in pilot
sinter plant:
basicity (CaO/SiO
2
) =1.5, 1.73, 2.2
iron ore =3 kg. in all experiments
amount of coke breeze =300 gm. In all experiments
5% handling loss was considered
By mass balance the raw material mixes is calculated for three grades of sinter.

Table 7. Burden for sintering
Raw Material Basicity of Sinter -1.5 Basicity of Sinter -1.73 Basicity of Sinter -2.2
Iron ore
(Grams)
3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000
Coke Breeze
(gm)
300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300
Limestone
(gm)
335 383 400 432 465 400 445 471 490 535 550 660 697 770 843
Waste Pellets
(gm)
0 200 400 600 800 0 200 400 600 800 0 200 400 600 800
Return sinter 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200
Identification
number
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15


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Sintering was carried out according to this burden and their identification number is
provided. The sintering mix was added with 10% Water and the same was added into
the pan. The top layer was uniformly ignited with wooden pieces and jute soaked in
kerosene. The bed height was maintained at 100 mm. The ignition was done under
suction pressure of 750 Pa while sintering was performed under three different valve
openings. The suction valve was regulated manually the timetemperature graph of
sintering of particular type is shown below in Figure 1.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

o
f

w
i
n
d

b
o
x
Time (min)
Fig 3.7 Temperature Vs Time

Figure 1. Typical temperature versus time for sintering of particular mix.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The sinter produced by the various compositions, have been tested for physical
strength, chemical analysis and reducibility. The data have been shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Chemical analysis of sinter
I D
No.
Fe Fe
2
O
3
FeO Al
2
O
3
MgO CaO SiO
2
CaO/SiO
2

S1 55 68 8.3 7.8 1.38 4.63 3.08 1.5
S2 55.1 69.45 7.5 7.2 1.47 5.39 3.61 1.5
S3 55.5 70.73 7.6 6.9 1.59 5.64 3.76 1.5
S4 55.8 71.90 7.1 6.7 1.69 6.07 4.05 1.5
S5 56.2 71.0 7 6.5 1.82 6.45 4.30 1.5
S6 55.2 69 8.2 5.6 1.51 5.40 3.14 1.73
S7 55.7 69.75 7.6 5.1 1.58 6.33 3.66 1.73
S8 55.9 71.6 7.6 4.95 1.61 6.61 3.82 1.73
S9 56.4 72.1 7.2 4.6 1.68 7.09 4.01 1.73
S10 54.7 73.3 6.8 4.1 1.71 7.53 4.34 1.73
S11 55 69.6 8.3 6.87 1.8 7.18 3.26 2.2
S12 55.6 70 7.7 5.63 2.0 8.32 3.78 2.2
S13 56.1 72 7.65 5.1 2.18 8.65 3.93 2.2
S14 56.9 72.8 7.1 4.9 2.32 9.26 4.21 2.2
S15 57 73.5 6.95 4.3 2.4 9.80 4.45 2.2
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It is seen that:
total fe increases with increasing amount of waste.
amount of iron oxide decreases with increasing amount of waste.
The flue dust and sludge contains enough of iron ore fines which lead to the increase
of FeO with increasing amount of waste.

Table 9. Variation of Coke rate with varying % of waste in sinters
Sinter I D No. Waste % Basicity Coke Rate
S1 0

1.5


185
S2 10 152
S3 13.3 146
S4 20 136
S5 26.6 107
S6 0


1.73


165
S7 10 154
S8 13.3 140
S9 20 132
S10 26.6 103
S11 0


2.2


133
S12 10 117
S13 13.3 109
S14 20 101
S15 26.6 96

The coke rate decreases with increase in waste and also for high basicity sinter. The
waste contains some carbon (Fixed Carbon contained in Flue Dust is 8.21% and in
Sludge is 11.06%) which reduce the coke requirement during actual sintering. More
carbon is available during the process.

Table 10. Productivity of sintering machine with varying % of waste utilization in sinters
Sinter I D No. Waste % Basicity Productivity
S1 0


1.5

3.49
S2 10 3.50
S3 13.3 3.51
S4 20 3.92
S5 26.6 4.17
S6 0

1.73


3.7
S7 10 4.0
S8 13.3 4.2
S9 20 4.5
S10 26.6 4.68
S11 0


2.2
4.69
S12 10 4.89
S13 13.3 4.94
S14 20 5.11
S15 26.6 5.21

Productivity increases slightly with increase in basicity as well as waste addition.
Productivity is directly linked with sintering rate. Addition of CaO increases the
sintering rate because it undergoes endothermic dissociation. Microscopic studies
showed that the bulk of original material was liquid during sintering. High surface
tension and low viscosity of the melt combined with short solidification time and high
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temperature co-efficient of viscosity have led to rapid sintering. In some cases the
vertical velocity of sintering process decreases leading to no increase in productivity.

Table 11. Physical strength of the sinters produced with varying % of waste at different basicity
Sinter I.D No. Tumbler index Abrasion index Shatter Index
S1 73 8.5 62
S2 74 7.5 65
S3 72.8 8.3 69
S4 76 6.5 72
S5 78 5 73
S6 74.2 7.6 62.5
S7 75 7 67
S8 75.3 6.8 69
S9 75.9 7 73
S10 77 5.5 73.5
S11 72.5 8.2 63
S12 73 8 66
S13 73.2 8 68
S14 75 7 71
S15 76 6.5 72

The sinter strength increased with increasing flue dust and Blast Furnace sludge
pellets. This is attributed to increasing amount of melt in the charge with increasing
amount of Flue Dust -Sludge pellets.
The Reducibility of sinter was done by carbon mono oxide at the rate of 1.5 l/ min,
temperature 900
0
C and reduction time 90 min.
% Weight loss =(Wi Wf) / Wi x 100
Wi =Initial weight before reduction
W
f
=Final weight after reduction

Table 12. Reducibility of the sinters with varying % of waste at different basicity
Sinter identification no Waste % Basicity % Weight loss
S1 0


1.5

21
S2 10 19
S3 13.3 18.7
S4 20 17.9
S5 26.6 16.2
S6 0


1.73


22.5
S7 10 20.5
S8 13.3 19.8
S9 20 18.9
S10 26.6 17
S11 0


2.2
24.3
S12 10 22.3
S13 13.3 21.7
S14 20 20.9
S15 26.6 20

The reducibility of sinter decreases with increase in waste percentage due to the fact
that the magnetite (Fe
3
O
4
) phase which is less reducible than hematite increases in
the sinter mix with increasing the amount of flue dust and sludge pellets in sinter
charge and this need more coke to reduce.
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4 CONCLUSION

From the above study it can be concluded:
The most suitable pellets (8-10 mm) of Blast Furnace sludge - Flue dust are to
be produced using bentonite (4%) as binder in a disc pelletizer at angle of
inclination 36.21 rotating speed 29 rpm, and residence time of 10 min.
Waste made pellets to be used in sinter making of 4% bentonite and 10%
moisture shows highest mechanical property with 1120 pascal suction
pressure
Pellets when used in sintering of iron ore:
a) Mechanical properties of sinter improved with 13 % waste utilization of iron
ore sinters.
b) Productivity increases slightly with increase in basicity as well as waste
addition.
c) The coke rate decreases with increase in waste and also for high basicity
sinter
d) In the chemistry of sinter produced total Fe increases with increasing
amount of waste as well as amount of iron oxide decreases with increasing
amount of waste.
e) Reducibility of sinter decreases with increase in waste amount.
Sinter made with waste pellets having basicity 2.2 has a better mechanical strength.
Superflux sinter is required for Iron and Steel industry in India.
Using waste materials leads to decrease the amount of fluxing material.

REFERENCES

1 Effect of Recycling Blast Furnace Flue Dust as Pellets on the Sintering Performance. N.
A. EI, M. E. H. Shalabi (CMRDI)
2 B. Das, S. Prakash, P.S.R. Reddy, V.N. Misra, Resources, Conservation and Recycling
50 (2007) 40.
3 A.K. J ouhari, P. S. Datta, V. N. Misra, Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
(Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. C), 112 (2003) 65.
4 A. Rehmat, M.C. Mensinger, In: Second International Symposium on Extractionand
Processing for the Treatment and Minimization of Wastes; (1996), 2730.
5 Sintering by recirculation of ferrogenous waste Ratna Dasgupta and P. S. R. Reddy
(IMMT Bhubaneswar).


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