ABSTRACT

In iron ore sintering, packing the granules onto the sintering strand to form a porous bed with optimum
permeability is a complex dynamic process. The packed bed voidage is the key factor determining the flame
front speed and the final sinter productivity and quality. Previous studies have found that granules are soft
quasi-particles with a typical structure of nuclei with an adhering fines layer. The deformation of the adhering
layer greatly affects the bed voidage during packing, which is related to the strength of the adhering layer
and the force exerted on the granules. In this study, tablets simulating the particle size distribution in the
adhering layer of granules were made for four single ore blends. Both the tensile strength and shear strength
properties of these tablets were investigated as a function of water content by the uniaxial compression test
and direct shear test respectively. The results of compression tests show that the adhering layer becomes
weaker and more compliant with the increase of moisture. The most porous ore has a more rigid adhering
layer than the other three tested iron ores at any given moisture content. In direct shear tests, the internal
friction angle of the adhering layer ranged from 31°to 37°and varied little with the moisture content or ore
type. The cohesion constant is around 1 kPa and is quite small compared to the stress applied to the
granules during packing. Combined with the results of granulation and packing experiments, the influence of
the adhering fines layer deformation on the degree of voidage loss is specifically discussed.

INTRODUCTION
Iron ore sintering is an important pre-processing technology for providing ferrous charge to blast furnaces in
integrated steel mills. Prior to ignition, the raw materials need to be subjected to granulation followed by a
packing process of the so-formed granules onto the sintering strand. Based on the widely accepted Ergun
equation (Ergun 1952; Zhou et al. 2016), the voidage of the packed bed acts as a key factor determining the
green bed permeability, which subsequently influences the final sinter productivity and quality (Loo and
Hutchens 2003; Zhou et al. 2012; Zhou et al. 2015).
Some studies recently have explored the mechanisms determining bed voidage during sintering (Hinkley et
al. 1994; Xu et al. 2006; Zhou et al. 2016). Hinkley et al. (1994) first proposed two packing mechanisms of
tightening size distribution and granule deformation, the former mechanism increasing bed voidage while the
latter mechanism decreases bed voidage. Xu et al. (2006) reported another two mechanisms of changing
granule density and inter-particle friction. They pointed out that granule deformation becomes significantly
effective at decreasing bed voidage when the granulation moisture content is larger than a critical value.
Zhou et al. (2016) investigated the influence of binder dosage on bed voidage and developed a more
fundamental voidage model considering the spread of granule size distributions and the cohesive forces as
well as the potential for granule deformation. They recommended that the strength of the granule adhering
layer should be further quantified to improve the proposed voidage model.
Generally, granulation in sintering is performed in a drum for a few minutes with water acting as a binder. It is
widely acknowledged that the pendular force caused by water bridges is the main force bonding the particles
during granulation, resulting in a typical granule structure of nuclei with some adhering fines (Formoso et al.
2003). This agglomeration process has been well explained by a simple population balance model, which
can give acceptable predicted results covering a wide range of ore blends (Waters et al. 1989; Ekwebelam et
al. 2007; Nyembwe et al. 2016). Based on the granulation model, there are some intrinsic difficulties in
quantifying the granule adhering layer strength. First, the nature of the particles in the adhering layer (e.g.
shape and surface properties) varies greatly since several kinds of raw materials are blended and granulated.
Secondly, the size of particles in the adhering layer and the thickness of the adhering layer change
substantially with the raw material properties and granulation conditions. Therefore, the interactions between
the particles in the granule adhering layer are rather complex and difficult to describe using fundamental
parameters.
Some researchers have tried to evaluate the granule strength in sintering using some simple assumptions.
Maeda et al. (2009) converted only the fine iron ore particles (-0.125 mm) into pellets to simulate the granule
adhering layer and measured the pellet dropping strength and compressive strength. Okazaki et al. (2005)
measured the cohesive strength of the adhering layer by adopting a tensile strength measurement method
for a fine packed bed. They chose 5 intervals of size including the -0.063 mm, 0.063-0.125 mm, 0.125-0.25
mm, 0.25-0.5 mm and 0.5-1 mm size fractions The mass ratio of each size interval was kept the same to
form a packed bed of fine ores. However, the simplified methods mentioned above are far removed from the
actual configuration of the granule adhering layer. More specific work is needed to understand more about
the strength of the granule adhering layer under typical blending and granulation conditions.