Sintering of Iron Ore PDF

GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC DHANBAD
Sintering of iron ore

[project & seminar]
By abhishek malakar
2015
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Sintering
of
Iron Ore
(project & seminar)
Page 2 of 32
Please use purchased version to remove this message.
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Definition of sintering
3. The need for sinter
4. Literature survey
5. Raw material
6. Principle & mechanism of sinter
7. Different process of sintering
8. Dwight-Lloyed sintering process
9. Flow sheet of sintering
10.Sinter machine specification
11. Types of sinter
12 Effect of fine iron ore
13. Quality aspect of sinter w.r.t. BF performance
14. Factor affecting sinter quality
15. Parameter controlling sintering process
16. Sintering technology improvement & Economics
17. Advantages of sinter
18. Disadvantage of sinter
19. Future of sintering
20. Conclusion
Page 3 of 32
Q. sintering of iron ore
1. INTRODUCTION:-
40 to 50% iron ore becomes under size which may create

pollution in the plant of the mine site. For the utilization of
the variable ore, it is necessary to agglomerate the fines into
the required size for charging in the blast furnace.
Agglomeration is the size incensement process of the fines

ore.
Agglomeration is defined as the process to prepare a suitable

Blast furnace feed for smooth, proper and efficient running
of the Blast furnace operation.
The process of agglomeration can be classified as follows:
i) Briquetting.
ii) Nodulising
iii) Vacuum Extrusion process.
iv) Sintering.
v) Pelletizing.
Page 4 of 32
There are two process of agglomeration for iron ore:
1. Sintering
2. Pelletisation
Less than 100 mesh fine iron ore is used for sintering
whereas more than 100 mesh is used for the pelletisation.
Therefore, they are not competitor. They are complimentor
of each-other.
2. DEFINITION OF SINTERING:
Sintering is a process of agglomeration of fine mineral

particles into a porous and lumpy mass by incipient fusion
caused by heat produced by combustion of solid fuel within
the mass itself.
Sinter:
It is the product of sintering. It is a porous mass.
3. THE NEED FOR SINTER
(i) To utilize the fines generated during the mining

operation.
Page 5 of 32
(ii) To utilize different additives like mill scale, flue dust,
hearth slag etc. in an integrated steel plant.
(iii) The need for charging prepared burden in Blast

Furnaces to increase productivity and lower fuel rate
4. LITERATURE SURVEY
Humans have used the process of sintering for thousands of

years. Some of the first sintered products were bricks heated
in open-pit fires to add strength. After that the waste fines
material began to sinter. It has been seen that the fines of
ore can be used effectively to agglomerate it. So, the theory
of sintering came into practice with the aim of utilizing the
waste material.
This technology was developed for the treatment of the

waste fines in the early 20th century. Since then sinter has
become the widely accepted and preferred Blast Furnace
burden material.
Presently more than 70% of hot metal in the world is
produced through the sinter. In India, approximately 50%
of hot metal is produced using sinter feed in Blast Furnaces.
Large sinter strands 6 m wide and with a sintering area of
Page 6 of 32
400 m2, are capable of producing 30–45 t/m2/day.
5. RAW MATERIALS USED FOR SINTERING
1. Iron bearing material:

i. Fine iron ore=> -10mm to 100 mesh
ii. Mill scale
2. Coke breeze=> less than 6mm
The amount of coke breeze requires for sintering is
6-8% for 1200-1300 ͦC temperature.
3. Flux:
i. Fine limestone=> -10mm
ii. LD converter slag
iii. Sand dune- it is used to control the alumina
content.
Advantages of adding flux to sinter
• It generates slag with the impurities present in the iron

ores and solid fuels producing a suitable matrix for
cohesion of the particles
• It improves the physical and metallurgical properties of
sinter
• It reduces the melting temperature of the iron ore blend
Page 7 of 32
• It promotes the calcination reaction of the limestone
(CaCO3 =CaO + CO2) outside of the blast furnace hence
saving heat consumption in the blast furnace.
•
4. Moisture:
Moisture is mixed for the heat carrier and for giving
the sticking property to the fines.
10-15% water is necessary in the sintering process.
6. PRINCIPLE AND MECHANISM OF SINTERING
The principle of sintering involves the heating of iron ore

fines along with flux and coke fines or coal to produce a
semi-molten mass that solidifies into porous pieces of
sinter with the size and strength characteristics
necessary for feeding into the blast furnace. It is
basically an agglomeration process achieved through
combustion.
The iron ore sintering is carried out by putting mixture
of iron bearing fines mixed with coke breeze on as
permeable grate. The top layer of this sinter bed is
Page 8 of 32
heated to the sintering temperature 1200-1300Ԩ by a
gas or oil burner and air is drawn downward.
• The top layer of this sinter bed is heated to the sintering

temp. (1200C-1300C) inside a Ignition Hood furnace. In
the ignition hood the air is drawn downwards, through
the grate with the help of exhaust blowers (Waste Gas
Fan) connected by means of Waste gas main.
• The narrow combustion zone developed initially at the

top layer by layer to the sintering level. The cold blast
drawn through the bed cools the already sintered layer
the thereby gets itself heated. The heat contained in the
blast is utilized in drying and preheating the lower layers
in the bed. In advance of combustion therefore each
Page 9 of 32
layer gets dried and preheated by the heat transferred
from the upper combustion zones. The lower portion of
the bed absorbs much of the heat in the gases.
• In the combustion zone, bonding takes place between

the grains and a strong and porous aggregate is formed.
The process is over when the combustion zone has
reached the lowest layer of the bed. The sinter cake is
thus tipped from the grate in hot condition . It is then
broken, cooled in sinter cooler cold sized and sent to
the Blast furnace.
The heat wave travels down in the bed with

approximately a constant velocity given by an
expression:
Where, H= heat capacity of gas per unit volume
h= the heat capacity of solid per unit volume
W= normal volume of fluid per unit cross-section of

the bed per minute
Page 10 of 32
F= the void fraction per unit volume of bed.
Bonding action
During the sintering process, binding takes place due to:
1. Mechanical bonding
2. Chemical bonding
Mechanical bonding
The process of the bonding of the fine particles at high

temperature takes place due to recrystallisation, grain
growth and diffusion process.
Recrystallisation: it is the rearrangement of the crystal

structure above the recrystallisation temperature.
ࢀ࢘ = (0.3 to 0.5)ࢀ࢓
Where,Tr = recrystallisation temperature
Tm= melting temperature in Kelvin
the coefficient is 0.5 for the iron.
Grain growth: the rate of change of diameter of the grain is

inversally proportional to the grain at constant temperature.
Page 11 of 32
ࢊࡰ
= ૚/ࡰ
ࢊ࢚
ࡰ ∝ √࢚
A grain boundary(GB) is the transition area or interface

between adjacent crystallites (or grains) of the same
chemical and lattice composition, not to be confused with a
phase boundary. The adjacent grains do not have the same
orientation of the lattice thus giving the atoms in GB shifted
positions relative to the lattice in the crystals. Due to the
shifted positioning of the atoms in the GB they have a higher
energy state when compared with the atoms in the crystal
lattice of the grains. It is this imperfection that makes it
possible to selectively etch the GBs when one wants the
microstructure visible. Striving to minimize its energy leads to
the coarsening of the microstructure to reach a metastable
state within the specimen. This involves minimizing its GB
area and changing its topological structure to minimize its
energy. This grain growth can either be normal or abnormal,
a normal grain growth is characterized by the uniform growth
and size of all the grains in the specimen. Abnormal growth is
Page 12 of 32
when a few grains grow much larger than the remaining
majority.
Diffusion: During the heating of ores or grains atoms or

molecules migrate from one grain to another grain and cause
to bind the grains.
ࢊ࢓ ࢊࢉ
ࢊ࢚
= −ࡰ ࢊ࢞
Chemical bonding
It is the process of bonding due to incipient fusion iron

silicate called as fayalite. Its chemical formula is ‫ܱ݁ܨ‬. ܱܵ݅ଶ
and its melting point is about 1100Ԩ.
Iron ore contains silica and mill scale is added. During the
heating of coke, iron ore also reduced as:
‫݁ܨ‬ଶ ܱଷ + ‫ ܱ݁ܨ → ܥ‬+ ‫ܱܥ‬ଶ
For the bonding action, about 3% FeO is required.
7. DIFFERENT PROCESSES OF SINTERING:-
• Huntington and Heberlein Pot Process-fpr non-Ferrous

metal Industry.
• Batch Sintering-Greenwalt Single Pan Process

Page 13 of 32
• Allmanns Ingenoirs Bryans Multi Pan Process
• Dwight-Lloyd Continuous Sintering Process
Dwight-Lloyd sintering process is used iron ore sintering.
8. Dwight-Lloyed sintering process:-
The machine is made of pallets, mount or two rotating drums

having grate.
Accessories of the sinter machine:
1. Raw material storage bins
Page 14 of 32
2. Mixer: Generally most of the sinter plants are provided
with separate mixing and balling drums. But the latest
generation of sinter plants are provided with a combined
mixing and balling drums.
The main purpose of mixing drum is to homogenize the
sinter mix . The diameter of the drum , the RPM and the
space factor play a major role in achieving higher degree
of mixing.
3. Hopper
4. Labler
5. Ignition hood
6. Drums- for the movement of endless chain:- The balling
drum (Nodulising drum) ensures that fines are coated on
the nuclei particles, thus produce higher size balls. This
facilitates in improving the mean size of sinter mix and
hence the permeability of mix. Here again the diameter ,
RPM and space factor play a major role in achieving
higher degree of balling.
• Very little water is added in mixing drum and major
quantity of water is added in the balling drum
Page 15 of 32
• The amount of water added and the method of water
addition in the balling drum also control the degree of
balling and hence the permeability of sinter mix.
7. Endless chain- made of pallets
8. Suction pipe & Suction box: The rate of flow of the air
through the bed is controlled by the vacuum under the
bed and the permeability of the bed.
The optimization of the gas dynamics parameters of the
sinter machines enables one to achieve higher under
grate suction and thus substantial improvements in the
techno-economic parameters of the sinter production.
9. Sinter box.
10.Sinter crusher
Process
A layer of controlled size sinter (bedding) is fed to the

bottom of the sinter machine grates for the protection
of the grates. After this the moistened micro pellets of
the raw materials mix is fed and leveled.
After the material is leveled on the sinter machine, the
surface of the charged material on the sinter machine is
Page 16 of 32
ignited using gas or oil burners. Air is drawn through the
moving bed causing the fuel to burn. Sinter machine
velocity and gas flow are controlled to ensure that “burn
through” (i.e. the point at which the burning fuel layer
reaches the base of the strand) occurs just prior to the
sinter being discharged. During the machine movement
the sintering of the material bed on the grate proceeds
downward. Waste gas circuit is to be fully leak proof,
not allowing air from atmosphere to be sucked by the
system. This results into saving of power in the waste
gas circuit.
At the end of the machine the sintered material in the
form of cake is discharged into the hot sinter crusher.
Here the hot sinter cake is crushed to a pre-determined
maximum particle size. From here the sinter is
discharged onto sinter cooler which can be either
straight line or circular cooler. After cooler the sinter is
transferred to the screening section.
In the screening section the product sinter, bedding and
return fines are separated. Return fines, not suitable for
Page 17 of 32
downstream processing, are conveyed to a bin for
recycling in the sintering process.
Waste gases are treated for dust removal in a cyclone,
electrostatic precipitator, wet scrubber or fabric filter or
to the chimney.
Fixing of feed rate :- For sending raw mix to sinter

machine for sintering, fixation of feed rate of materials is
done considering capacity of the sinter machine and
quality requirement of blast furnace.
Feed rate fixed is :

Iron ore fines 250 T/hr.
Flux 75 T/hr.
( Feeding of Flux depends on available lime in sinter
required in blast furnace.Available lime means CaO –
SiO2 in sinter.)
Coke 20 T/hr.
Waste materials 20 T/hr.
Sinter return 60 T/hr.
Lime dust 02 T/hr.
Page 18 of 32
Table: Indian sintering plant and their performance
Steel plant Rated Sintering Suction Bed height Sinter % sinter in

capacity area m2 x w.g. mm mm production B.F.,
Mt/year no. of t/m2/hr Burden
strands
1. bokaro 4.94 252/312 x 1350 350 1.30 70
3
2. bhilai 4.18 75 x 4 1100 300 1.32 60
3.Rourkela 1.80 125 x 2 900 527 1.20 45
4.Durgapur 1.50 140 x2 and 945 400 1.00 35
180 x 1
5. Tata 2.54 75 x 2 and 1000 and 340 1.45 65
steel 192 x 1 1328 600 1.50
6. VSP 2.45 312 1250 400 1.35 70
9. Flow chart of sintering:-
Page 19 of 32
Sinter machines
Sinter machines are of two types i) circular and ii) Straight
line.
Straight line Machines are also being known as Dwight and
Lloyd machines. Dwight and Lloyd constructed the first
continuous sinter plant in 1906.Circular sinter machines are
normally suitable for blast furnaces having useful volumes of
650 Cu m and less.
.
Subject unit 12 Sqm 17 Sqm 25 Sqm 33 Sqm

machine machine machine machine
Annual 1000 172 253 404.5 556

Production tpa
Total Power Kw 700 1500 1750 2400
requirement
Land needed for Sqm 8000 9000 10000 12000
plant
Land needed for Sqm 800 3400 35000 3600
building
Table: main parameters of circular sinter machine
Various features of the circular machines are as below.

• When compared with the straight line machines the capital
investment costs are low and the construction periods are
short.
Page 20 of 32
• Sealing is better and air leakage is less in these machines
since the wind boxes move synchronously with grates and
since water sealing is adopted.
• Discharging system makes the size of cold sinter such that
there is no need of an additional crusher.
• The circular machines are having high operational
flexibility.
Straight line machine:
Straight line machines are normally used for large sinter
plants. Present straight line machines are installed having
widths from 2 meters to 5 meters and with effective sintering
areas from 200 to 600 Sqm. The productivity of such
machines typically ranges from 30 to 46t/Sqm/day.
Capacities of such machines range from 190,000 tons per
annum to 6.5 Mtpa.
10.Sinter Machine Specification for each machine

• Length - 78 M
• No. of pallets - 130
• Sintering area – 252M2
• Bed height - 480mm
• Exhauster - 02 Nos.
Page 21 of 32
• Aspirator - 02 Nos.
• Cooler – Blower- 06 Nos.
• Balling Drum - 02 Nos.
• Drum Cooler - 01 No.
• Straight line Cooler - 01 No.
11. TYPES OF SINTER
Depending upon weather bases have been incorporated in

the Sinter mix, sinters are divided into three broad classes: -
(i) Non Fluxed OR ACID SINTERS: - Those where no flux is

present or is added in the ore.
(ii) BASIC SINTER OR Self Fluxing SINTER: - Those where

sufficient flux has been added in the sinter mix to provide a
basicity that is desired in the final slag, taking into
consideration only the burden acids. An extra flux is added to
the BF burden, to take care of coke ash acids.
(iii) SUPER BASIC OR SUPER FLUXED SINTER: - In these type of

sinters an additional flux is added to the mix to provide for
Page 22 of 32
the desired final slag basicity, taking into account the acids
content of both ore as well as the coke ash.
12. EFFECT OF IRON ORE FINES SIZE ON SINTERING:

Sl.No Size Lime %yield VSS Prod. T.I
(mm) (Kg/t) (+5mm) mm/min t/m2/h %
1 0-15 0.0 70.6 18.6 1.182 69.3
2 0-8 0.0 76.5 19.6 1.272 68.3
3 0-8 20.0 75.6 20.1 1.326 67.2
4 0-6 20.0 80.3 20.3 1.418 67.3
5 0-5 20.0 81.0 21.6 1.489 66.7
13.QUALITY ASPECT OF SINTER-WITH RESPECT TO BLAST

FURNACES PERFORMANCE
• CHEMICAL
1. Fe% in Sinter
2. CaO % in Sinter
3. SiO2 % in Sinter
4. MgO% in Sinter
Page 23 of 32
5. Al2O3 % in Sinter
6. FeO % in Sinter
7. K2O % in Sinter
• PHYSICAL
1. SINTER SIZE ANALYSIS –in terms of Cum+10mm and -

5mm
2. TUMBLER INDEX
3. SHATTER INDEX
4. RDI (Reducibility Degradation Index)
5. RI (Reducibility Index)
14. FACTORS AFFECTING SINTER QUALITY
(1) Size of The Charge Mix: The strength of sinter is

directly related to the size distribution of the charge
mix. If size is large, the contact area will be less and the
strength of the sinter will be low and conversely if size is
too small the contact area of particles will be large and
the strength will be high.
Page 24 of 32
Ideal size of ore Fines -10 mm to + 100 mesh
Coke breeze -3.2 mm 85%
Flux - - 3.2 mm 85%
(2) Fuel content: - Variation in Fuel content in Charge

Mix affect the peak Temperature attained during
sintering, the combustion zone will not be uniform
leading to poor bed permeability, This increases return
fines generation
(3) Moisture: - The presence of moisture in the Charge

mix has several advantages. It maintains proper
permeability in the bed during sintering. This is
beneficial from the point of view of heat transfer during
sintering.
(4) Re-circulating load or Return fines addition: - For

higher output of the sinter strand the circulating load
should be low. A low circulating load however, reduces
the permeability of the bed. An optimum-circulating load
is established for maximum output of the acceptable
sinter to the Blast Furnaces.
15. Parameters Controlling Sintering Process

Page 25 of 32
• Fuel content for heat input
• Ignition intensity- Temperature of Ignition Hood Furnace
• Moisture content of mix to control its permeability.
• Machine speed control to obtain complete Burn through
• Return Fines Addition
• Waste Gas Temperature
• Sintering Temperature or Burn through Temperature
• Pressure drop across the Sinter Bed- Main Suction
• Bed Height
• Calcined Lime addition- to improve bed Permeability.
16. SINTERING TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS
• High intensity mixing and nodulizing

• Ignition furnace for optimum maintenance and
operation
• Travelling Grate with longer lasting pallets
• Minimized off-gas volumes with effective sealing.
• Reduction in off-gas cleaning capacity through Selective
Waste Gas
Page 26 of 32
• Recirculation
• Discharge station for long service life
• Direct charging to cooler with maintenance-free
cascade classifier for
• natural segregation and improved cooling efficiency and
reduced
• emissions
• Efficient sinter cooling and installation of heat recovery
system
• Energy savings together with reduced emissions
• Sinter plant control systems
Economics
Typical figures indicating capital cost of setting up of a
sinter plant are shown below :
• Civil work % of total cost
Foundation 10
Buildings 23
• electricals 15
• sinter machine 16
• sinter cooler 7
• Blower, apron etc. 7
• RMP Equipment 10
• Gas main, blunker etc. 7
Page 27 of 32
• Miscellaneous 5
Total 100
•
The operating cost-breakdown is typically as follows:
• Wages 30%
• Repairs maintainance,
Supplies, utilities etc. 50%
• Transportations & general
Survices 5%
• Fixed expense 15%
Total 100
17. ADVANTAGE OF SINTER
i) Agglomeration of fines into hard, strong and irregular

porous lumps which gives better bed permeability.
ii) Elimination of 60 - 70 % of sulphur and Arsenic (if

present) during sintering.
iii) Elimination of moisture, hydrated water and other

volatiles on the sinter strand with a cheaper fuel.
iv) Increased the softening temperature and narrowing

down of the softening range.
Page 28 of 32
v) As the calculation of flux takes place in sinter strand,
super-fluxing saves much more coke in the furnace.
vi) It increases the Blast Furnace productivity.
vii) Lime rich bosh slag hinders reduction of silica, absorbs

vaporized silicon and sulphur to produce low- Si, low-S
iron.
viii) Increase of sinter percentage in Blast Furnace burden,

increases the permeability, hence reduction and heating
rate or burden increases, so the productivity also.
ix) Utilization of solid wastes generate within steel works.
18. DISADVANTAGE OF SINTER
i)100% sintered (iron ore) can not be charged in the blast

furnace. By sintering one can not create uniform sizes.
19. FUTURE OF SINTERING
• The future of sintering and pelletising is directly related

to the future of the iron making processes that use
sinter and pellets, mainly the Blast furnace and DR
process.
Page 29 of 32
• The future of these processes in turn depends upon
steel
• production and consumption, which have been on an
upward trend.
• Environmental interest
• Commitments to minimise CO2 emission mainly by
striving to minimise overall energy consumption.
20. CONCLUSIONS:
• Indian economy is growing at 8-9% currently and likely to

grow at rates
>10%.
• Steel demand and supply will grow in the same way riding
piggyback on the growing infrastructure.
• India is likely to develop a steel making capacity of 120-150

MTPA by the year 2020 and around 400 MTPA by the year
2040.
Page 30 of 32
• Since good iron ore deposits are depleting fast
beneficiation technologies will have to be adopted to meet
iron ore demand.
• Agglomeration technologies such as pelletisation and

sintering will have to be added to Indian steel plants so that
concentrates can be used and the agglomerated products
used in iron making to produce iron and steel economically
and in eco-friendly way. Existing sinter plants need to be
upgraded to use concentrate.
• The Agglomeration technologies are constantly being

upgraded to meet stringent environment standards. The
same need to be incorporated in existing units to make these
more eco-friendly.
The end.
Page 31 of 32
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GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC DHANBAD

Sintering of iron ore

40 to 50% iron ore becomes under size which may create

Agglomeration is the size incensement process of the fines

Agglomeration is defined as the process to prepare a suitable

Sintering is a process of agglomeration of fine mineral

It is the product of sintering. It is a porous mass.

3. THE NEED FOR SINTER

(i) To utilize the fines generated during the mining

(iii) The need for charging prepared burden in Blast

Humans have used the process of sintering for thousands of

This technology was developed for the treatment of the

5. RAW MATERIALS USED FOR SINTERING

1. Iron bearing material:

• It generates slag with the impurities present in the iron

6. PRINCIPLE AND MECHANISM OF SINTERING

The principle of sintering involves the heating of iron ore

• The top layer of this sinter bed is heated to the sintering

• The narrow combustion zone developed initially at the

• In the combustion zone, bonding takes place between

The heat wave travels down in the bed with

Where, H= heat capacity of gas per unit volume

h= the heat capacity of solid per unit volume

W= normal volume of fluid per unit cross-section of

During the sintering process, binding takes place due to:

The process of the bonding of the fine particles at high

Recrystallisation: it is the rearrangement of the crystal

Where,Tr = recrystallisation temperature

Tm= melting temperature in Kelvin

the coefficient is 0.5 for the iron.

Grain growth: the rate of change of diameter of the grain is

A grain boundary(GB) is the transition area or interface

Diffusion: During the heating of ores or grains atoms or

It is the process of bonding due to incipient fusion iron

‫݁ܨ‬ଶ ܱଷ + ‫ ܱ݁ܨ → ܥ‬+ ‫ܱܥ‬ଶ

For the bonding action, about 3% FeO is required.

7. DIFFERENT PROCESSES OF SINTERING:-

• Huntington and Heberlein Pot Process-fpr non-Ferrous

• Batch Sintering-Greenwalt Single Pan Process

• Dwight-Lloyd Continuous Sintering Process

Dwight-Lloyd sintering process is used iron ore sintering.

8. Dwight-Lloyed sintering process:-

The machine is made of pallets, mount or two rotating drums

Accessories of the sinter machine:

1. Raw material storage bins

A layer of controlled size sinter (bedding) is fed to the

Fixing of feed rate :- For sending raw mix to sinter

Feed rate fixed is :

Steel plant Rated Sintering Suction Bed height Sinter % sinter in

9. Flow chart of sintering:-

Subject unit 12 Sqm 17 Sqm 25 Sqm 33 Sqm

Annual 1000 172 253 404.5 556

Table: main parameters of circular sinter machine

Various features of the circular machines are as below.

10.Sinter Machine Specification for each machine

11. TYPES OF SINTER

Depending upon weather bases have been incorporated in

(i) Non Fluxed OR ACID SINTERS: - Those where no flux is

(ii) BASIC SINTER OR Self Fluxing SINTER: - Those where

(iii) SUPER BASIC OR SUPER FLUXED SINTER: - In these type of

12. EFFECT OF IRON ORE FINES SIZE ON SINTERING:

13.QUALITY ASPECT OF SINTER-WITH RESPECT TO BLAST