Pe

ll
eti
zat
ionofi
ronor
e

S
ubmi
tt
edby
:
Y
ous
efAde
lHa
ssa
nen
S
ubmi
tt
edt
o:
Pr
of.
Dr.
Haf
ezAhme
d
Dr
.La
mia
aZa
ky

1
I
ntr
oduc
ti
on
I
r onorea ndir
onorepe ll
etsar
eimpor t
a ntsource sofir
onf orma nufacturi
ngs t
eel.
Thei ronor eproducti
onha ssignif
ic
ant l
ye xpa ndedi nr ecentye ars
,owi ngt o
i
nc rea
s ings tee
lde ma ndsinde vel
opingc ountries,sucha sChi naa ndI ndia
.
Howe v er,thecontentofir
onorei ndepos i
tsha sde t
e r
iorate
da ndl ow-gradeiron
or ehasbe enprocesse
d.T hefi
nesr es
ul t
ingfrom t hee nri
chme ntbys epar
a t
ion
afterliberati
onbys i
zer e
ducti
onmus tbea gglome ratedinape lle
tizi
ngpl ant
.
Conseque ntl
y,thenumbe rofpell
eti
zingpl antsi se x
pe ct
edt oi ncreaseint he
future.

T
hequa li
tyrequi
rementsofpell
et,suchasphys
ica
l,chemi
cala
ndmeta
ll
urg
ica
l
s
pecif
ic
ati
ons,depe ndone a
chi ronmaki
ngfurna
c eandthoser
equi
rement
s
i
nfl
uencetheoperat
ionoftheir
onor epel
l
eti
zi
ngplant
.

Thei
de aofroll
i
ngmoi stf
ineoreinadrumt oformba l
lsandthendryingandfi
ri
ng
i
twa sfir
stpatentedbyA.G.Ande rs
soninSwe denin1912.Furtherdevel
opment
waspe rf
ormedt obri
ngthei de
at oreal
it
y.In1943,E .W.Daviesandc o-
worker
s
demons t
ratedt heprocessusinga ne x
peri
me nta
ls ha
ftfurnace.Comme r
cial
oper
a t
ions t
art
e dinthe1950si nSwedenus i
ngvertical
-s
haft
-ki
lnsforfi
ri
ngthe
pel
le
ts.Plantcapaci
ti
eswe r
ebe tween10,
000a nd60,000tons/
y ear
.

T
hewor l
dins t
all
edpel
l
eti
zingc a
paci
tyisc
urr
ent
lyest
imate
dt obe480.
7mil
li
on
t
ons/y
ear.AsshowninnextF i
gur
e,Chi
napres
ent
sthelar
gestpr
oduc
ti
oncapa
cit
y,
f
oll
owedbyt heUnit
edSta
te sandBraz
il
.

2
Pe
ll
eti
zi
ngi
sthepr
oces
sofcompress
ingormoldi
ngamat
eri
ali
ntot
heshapeofa
pel
l
et.Awi
derang
eofdif
fer
entma t
eri
al
sarepel
let
iz
edi
ncl
udi
ngchemi
cals
,ir
on
or
e,ani
mal
compoundfee
d,pla
sti
cs,
andmore.

T
hei
ronor
epe
ll
eti
zi
ngpr
oce
ssc
ons
ist
soft
hre
ema
ins
teps
:
Pell
eti
zi
ngfeedprepar
ati
ona ndmixing
:thera
wma ter
ial(
ir
onoreconc
entrat
e,
addit
ive
s—a nt
hra
cit
e,dol
omi te
—a ndbinde
rsarepr
eparedinter
msofpa r
ti
c l
e
si
zeandc he
micals
peci
fi
cat
ions,dose
d,andmix
edtoge
thertofe
edthepel
le
tiz
ing
proces
s;

Bal
l
ingprocess
:thegr
eenpe
ll
eti
sther
oll
edpell
etwi
thouta
nyt hermalproc
ess
.
I
tisobtaine
dunde rst
ri
ctc
ontr
olofmois
tur
ea ndhasas phe
r i
cals
ha peand
di
ameterof8–16mm;

I
ndurat
ion proces
s:thegreen pel
l
etsa r
eha rdenedin ahi
g htemperat
ure
pr
ocess
inga tcontr
oll
edheat
ingrat
es,anda i
mingtoachi
evethephysi
caland
meta
ll
urgi
calrequi
rement
sforhandl
i
ng,t
ransport
ati
on,a
ndfi
nal
a ppl
i
cat
ion.

3
Pe
ll
eti
zi
ngofi
ronor
e
I
ronor epe l
l
etsaresphe r
esoftypi
cal
l
y6–16mm( 0.24–0.63in)t
obeus edasraw
ma t
erialforblastfurnaces.Theytypi
cal
lyconta i
n64%- 72% Fea ndvari
ous
addit
ionalma ter
iala dj
usti
ngt hechemic
alcompos i
tion and theme ta
ll
urgi
c
propert
iesofthepe l
l
et s
.[
1]Typi
cal
lyl
imes
tone
, dolomitea ndoli
vi
neisaddedand
Bentonit
eisuseda sbi
nde r.

Theproce
ssofpel
let
izi
ngcombine
smi x
ingoft
herawma t
eri
al,
for
mingthepel
let
andat her
maltre
atme ntbaki
ngthesoftraw pe
ll
ettohardspher
es.Theraw
mater
iali
srol
le
dintoaba l
l,t
henfi
redinakil
norintr
avel
l
inggra
tetosi
ntert
he
par
ti
cl
e si
ntoahar
ds pher
e.

Thec onfigurat
ionofironorepel
letsa spacke dspheresinthebl as
tf urnaceallows
airtoflowbe twe enthepell
ets
,dec r
e asi
ngt heresis
tancetot hea irthatflowsup
throught helayersofma te
ria
lduringt hes me l
ti
ng.Thec onfi
g urati
onofi ronor e
powde ri nabla s
tfur
na cei
smor etightl
y -
pack e
da ndr e
stri
ctsthea i
rflow.T hisi
s
ther easonthatironoreispref
erre
di nt heformofpe l
let
sr a
the rthani nthef orm
offinerpa rt
ic
les.

Pr
epa
rat
ionofr
awma
ter
ial
s
Additi
ona lmater
ialsa readde dt ot he ir
on ore( pel
l
e tfeed)to me ett he
requir
eme ntsofthef inalpell
ets
.T hisisdonebypl ac
ingt hemixtur
ei nt he
pell
etiz
e r
,whichc anholddiffer
entt ypesoforesa ndaddit
iv e
s,andmi x
ingt o
adjustthechemicalcompositi
ona ndtheme t
all
urg
icpropert
iesofthepell
ets.In
general,the fol
lowing stagesa rei ncl
udedi nt his per
iod ofpr ocess
ing:
concentrati
on/s epa r
ati
on,homog eniz
ati
onoft hesubstancerati
os,mi l
l
ing,
cl
a ss
if
icat
ion,i
ncr
e as
ingthic
kness,homog eni
zati
onofthepulpa ndf
il
teri
ng.

4
F
orma
tionoft
her
awpe
ll
ets
Theforma t
ionofrawi r
onor epell
e ts
,als
ok nownaspel
leti
zi
ng,hastheobject
ive
ofpr oduci
ngpe l
letsina na ppropria
teba nd ofsi
zesa nd wit
h me chani
cal
properti
eshig
huse f
ulnessduri
ngt hes t
resse
softra
nsf
erence,t
ranspor
t,anduse.
Bothme c
hanic
alforcea ndthe r
ma lprocessesar
eusedt oproducethec orr
ect
pell
etpropert
ies
.F r
oma ne qui
pme ntpointofvi
ewther
ea retwoalter
nati
vesfor
i
ndustria
lproduct
ionofironorepe ll
ets:t
hedr umandt
hepe ll
eti
zi
ngdisk.

T
her
mal
proc
ess
ing
I
nor dert oc onfertot hepe ll
etshighres
ist
anceme ta
ll
urgi
cme cha ni
csand
appropr i
atecha r
acte
rist
ics,
thepell
etsar
esubj
ectedtothe
rmalproce
s s
ing,whi
ch
i
nvolve sstag
e sofdrying,prehe
ati
ng,fi
ri
ng,af
ter
-fi
ri
ngandcool
ing.Thedurati
on
ofe a
c hs t
agea ndthet e
mpe rat
urethatt
hepell
etsares
ubjec
tedtoha v
eas tr
ong
i
nfluenc eonthef i
nalproductqual
it
y.

Cha
ll
eng
esa
ndi
nnov
ati
onsi
nir
onor
epe
ll
eti
zi
ng
Thepr opertiesofi ronor ede pendmuc honi tsg enesis
.Di f
ferentoresha ve
dis
tinctc ha racter
isti
csa nd varyi
ngpe r
forma ncesint hemi ninga nd int he
me t
a l
lurgicalproce s
se s.Orepar t
icl
es ha pe,siz
e ,text
urea ndc apabil
it
yofwa ter
ret
ent i
on,c a
pilla
ritya ndc ohes
ives tr
e ng thamongdi fferentparticl
esdetermine
thev el
oc i
tyofpe l
letgrowt hduringballinga ndpe ll
etporosity
.Or echarac
teri
sti
cs
als
oi nf l
ue nce on t he r equi
reda mountofbi ndert o produc e pel
le
tswi th
sat
isfactori
lyqua li
ty.T heus eofironor eswi ths mall
erc r
y s
talsi
zea ndlessdense
str
uc t
ur e us uall
yr esul t
si n pe l
le
tswi th betterre ducibi
li
ty,impa ct
ing the
perf
or ma nceofi ronma k
ingrea ct
ors.T he ref
ore,differentironor esshouldbe
val
ue di nfunc t
ionoft hebe nefi
tfromt he iruse.

5
The influence oforec haracteri
sti
cs on benefi
ci
ati
on,c oncentr
ati
on,a nd
pell
eti
zinga r
eimport
antforprocessopti
miza
t i
on,i
mprov i
ngproductqual
i
ty,and
conseque nt
ly,moreeffi
ci
entus eofna tur
alr es
ource
sa ndenergy.Hence,as
descr
ibe dbyMor aesandRibe i
ro,thegrowingimportanceofthistopi
cthatis
ref
erredt oasgeometa
ll
urgyisevident
.

Miningc ompani
e sworktowardobtai
ningpel
le
tswithcust
omize
dpr oper
ti
esfor
eacht ypeofi r
onma kingproce
ssa nda l
sotome ets pe
cif
icrequi
rementsof
dif
ferentiron-ands te
e l
maki
ngc ompani
es.Hence
,t heamounta ndquali
tyof
suppli
edi r
onorepr oductsa
reimporta
ntbutalsot
opr ovi
deadivers
it
yoftypes
ofpell
e t
s.

Ther
efore,thereas
onswhyne
winv
est
ment
sinpe
ll
eti
zi
ngc
apa
cit
yar
eli
kel
yto
occ
ura r
et hefol
l
owing
:

thepe l
l
e t
izi
ngpr ocessisc urr
ent l
ythemos twi del
yus edoptionforpr oducing
sui
tabl ea ggl
ome ratesf ori r
onma k
ing appli
cati
onsf r
om f i
ne sofi ron or e
conce nt
rates;quali
tyrequi r
eme ntsforDRpe ll
etsarehighe
ra nds i
ncelumpor e
ofther equir
e dqua l
it
yisnota vail
able,pel
let
saretheonlyviabl
ef e
edf ornewDR
plants;pell
etsprovideadv anta
ge stoe ndusers
,suchasimpr ovedproducti
vityof
blastfurnaces,oppor t
unitytoinc reas
et heFec onte
ntoft hec har
gema te
r i
als
,
ands upe r
iore nv
ironme ntalperformanceofpe l
letplant
sasc ompa r
edt osinter
plants;thema inironproduc i
ngs ystems,bl
astfurnac
e,andDRr eact
ors,willnot
ber eplace
di nthene arfuture.

6
S
umma
ry

Apel
letpl
antconta
insaseri
esofbal
li
ngdr
umswheret
heironor
econc
entr
atei
s
f
ormedint
os oftpel
le
ts,i
nmuc hthesamemanne
rthatonerol
l
sasnowbal
l,t
o
makeapel
letabout

t
hesi
zeofama r
ble(
bet
ween1/4"and1/2")
.Pe
ll
etsar
escre
enedt
ome etthe
s
izes
peci
fi
cati
on,wit
hunde
rsi
zedorover
siz
edpell
etsc
rus
hedandret
urne
dt o
t
hebal
li
ngdrums.

Thes oftpel
let
sa rethende li
ver
edtot heroll
erfe
e derforfi
nalr
emov a
lofthe
fi
nes,whi c
ha r
ea lsoreturnedtot heba ll
i
ngc i
rcuit
s.Now thes of
tpe l
l
ets
,
cor
r e
c t
lysi
zed,aredeli
ver
e dtothetr
a vel
inggra
tefurnaceforf
urt
herdryi
ngand
preheati
ng.Thegrateisf
ir
e dbynatur
a l
g a
s.

Fr
omt hi
spoi
nt,thepel
l
etsarec
ha r
ge di
ntothel
arg
erot
aryk
il
nwhe
ret
heya
re
heat
-har
dene
da t2,
400degr
eesFahrenhe
it.

T
hepe
ll
etsa
redi
scha
rge
dint
other
evol
vi
ngc
ool
era
ndt
henmov
edt
othepe
ll
et

7
scr
eeningplant
,ontot hepe l
l
e tl
oadoutsys
tem.Thewhol
eproce
sscons
ume s
energyintheform ofe l
ect
ric
ityandnatur
algas
.Overt
hepa s
tseve
ralyears
,
mil
li
onsofdol l
arshavebe e
ns penttoimpr
oveenerg
yeff
ic
ienc
yandtorecoup
wasteheatandre-us
eitintheproces
s.

T
hes
eef
for
tsha
ves
igni
fi
cant
lyr
educ
ede
xpe
ndi
tur
esone
ner
gy.

pell
eti
zi
ngpr
oces
sha snowbe encompl et
ed.Thepe l
let
sarerunthroughafi
nal
s
creeni
ngtoremovet hosenotme e t
ings i
zespecif
ic
ati
onsort hosethatar
e
c
hippedorbrok
eni ntofines.Pel
l
etst hatme etthene c
ess
a r
ys tanda
rdsar
e
c
onve y
edtot
hepell
etstoc
k pi
l
e ,
whichholdsabout30,
000tons
.

Pe
ll
etL
oadouta
ndS
hippi
ng

T
hepe l
l
etsar
enowr e
adyfors
hippingbytra
intocus
tomersort
ooredock
s.They
a
resenttobl
astf
urnace
sandsteelmil
ls,wher
etheywil
lbeturne
dint
ofini
she
d
s
tee
l.