Characterization of Minerals, Metals, and Materials 2016

Edited by: Shadia Jamil Ikhmayies, Bowen Li, John S. Carpenter, Jiann-Yang Hwang, Sergio Neves Monteiro, Jian Li,
Donato Firrao, Mingming Zhang, Zhiwei Peng, Juan P. Escobedo-Diaz, and Chenguang Bai
TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2016

ASSIMILATION REACTION CHARACTERISTIC NUMBER FOR EVALUATING THE

ASSIMILATION OF IRON ORE IN SINTERING

*
Yong Zhao, Keng Wu , Ruiling Du, Wei Shen, Xiaodong Du, Chunen Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing
Beijing, 100083, China
*Email: 541348637@qq.com

Keywords: iron ore, sintering, assimilation reaction characteristic number, assimilation process.

Abstract

The assimilation properties of iron ores are important during sintering. The amount of formed calcium
ferrite was firstly used to evaluate the assimilation. Then, temperature and time of assimilation were
proposed rather than the former one, which simplify the process and improve the operability of
experiments. However, the factors affecting the temperature were always neglected and using several
indexes to evaluate the assimilation was inconvenient. In this paper, the assimilation reaction
characteristic number taking the actual sintering temperature as the reference temperature was put
forward to evaluate the assimilation of iron ores. This assimilation reaction characteristic number was a
dimensionless number including kinds of important information during the assimilation reaction process.
Results showed that the assimilation characteristic number can reflect the overall process of assimilation
reaction between ores and CaO, which could help further analyze the assimilation difference of ores.

Introduction

In the sintering process, the phenomenon that iron ore reacts with CaO to create liquid phase is called
assimilation [1]. The assimilation characteristic has been extensively studied to evaluate the reactivity
between iron oxide of ores and CaO in flux [2-5]. Appropriate assimilation characteristic of iron ores
could help produce binding phase with good property, needed for high quality sinters. The sintering
process is a complex physical and chemical process. Assimilation between nuclear particles and
adhering fines occurs in the high temperature zone called combustion zone of sintering bed, and it lasts
for just a few minutes. To investigate the assimilation characteristic, previous researchers tried to
simulate the actual sintering process, and analyzed the sintered sample. It’s very complicated to carry
out in lab. Current method is measuring the lowest assimilation temperature of iron ores proposed by
Prof. Wu [6]. Previous researches on assimilation characteristic of ores are listed as follows.

Previous Research on Assimilation Characteristic of Iron Ores

Loo has come up with two simple model systems to study the assimilation process between ores and flux.
This method required the samples more strictly in the particular size between 0.71 and 1.0 mm [7]. Noda
put forward a simple and direct method to evaluate assimilation characteristic of iron ores by measuring
the volume shrinkage during sintering [8]. Noda believed that the volume shrinkage of the sample can
reflect the amount of calcium ferrite liquid phase to a certain extent. This method was very brief but
fuzzy. Hida [9] also defined an assimilation ratio. In Hida’s paper, the iron ore made into cube was put
on the CaO sample of cylinder. The sintered sample was cut out from the middle. The cross sectional
area unassimilated (S cm2) was measured. Then the assimilation ratio can be obtained by comparing to

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the cross sectional area before sintering (S0 cm2).
Based on the previous researches, Wu proposed a method by measuring the lowest assimilation
temperature to characterize the assimilation of iron ores. He proposed to search a lowest target
temperature of the reaction on the interface between ore and CaO. When the reaction was observed, the
target temperature was then considered to be the lowest assimilation temperature. This method greatly
simplified the experimental process. But factors such as time and heating, affecting the temperature,
were ignored. Wu’s method results are given in table 1 [10].

Table 1. The results of experiments on the lowest assimilation temperatures K

Assimilation
Ore Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6
temperature(K)
A 1488 1250 M 1200 U 1230 M 1215 O
B 1468 1200 M 1170 U 1185 U 1195 O
C 1641 1250 U 1300 U 1350 U 1360 U 1370 M 1380 M
D 1446 1200 M 1170 U 1180 M 1175 M
E 1505 1200 U 1250 M 1225 U 1235 M 1230 U
Where, M: reaction between ore and CaO has overreacted; U: reaction between ore and CaO hasn’t
occurred; O: reaction between iron and CaO has just begun
Using WU’S method to characterize the assimilation of iron ores may greatly simplify the measuring
method. But it could ignore some important information during the assimilation process.
Therefore, Northeastern University used visual high temperature furnace to observe the process of
assimilation reaction between ores and CaO [11]. And the assimilation characteristic of iron ore was
described by two parameters: assimilation temperature and assimilation time [12]. Shougang Research
Institute of Technology added a high temperature microscope to the infrared heating furnace. The
assimilation process was described by four characteristic temperatures [13]. Although the assimilation
characteristic of iron ore associates with assimilation reaction temperature and rate, it would be
inconvenient to use two or more parameters to describe it. For example, the assimilation characteristic
was considered as one of the parameters in the model of evaluation system for iron ore powder [10].
The heating rate of sintering bed is very fast as a whole. But in different stages, the heating rate is
different. For example, the dry zone has a very fast heating rate with maximum of 1700~2000 K/s and
minimum of 450~650 K/s. When it comes to the preheating zone, the heating rate has fallen a lot. The
maximum is 500 K/s and the minimum can be 100 K/s (anhydrous dry materials). In other words, the
heating rate will fall dramatically around the peak of the temperature curve, which is exactly the section
for iron ores to finish the sintering. The assimilation reaction between ores and CaO should occur in this
zone. And previous study [14] also shows that no calcium ferrite formed before the iron ore melted no
matter the heating rate was fast or slow.
In this paper, the assimilation reaction characteristic number was proposed based on previous measures.
The information, such as the assimilation starting temperature, assimilation finishing temperature, the
amount of assimilation and assimilation lasting time, can be obtained through a camera set beside the
high temperature furnace. In order to reduce the influence of thermal hysteresis, a lower heating rate was
applied. Then the assimilation properties of five ores were evaluated by this new index.

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