IRON ORES PROCESSING

Occurrence of IRON

A large number of minerals contain iron; however, only a few are used commercially as
sources of iron. Minerals containing important amounts of iron may be grouped
according to their chemical compositions into oxides, carbonates, sulfides and silicates.
Table 1 illustrates the oxide and carbonate classes of iron minerals and indicates the
mineral species commonly used as sources of iron. Oxide minerals are the most important
sources of iron, with the carbonates, sulfides and silicates being of minor importance. In
the descriptions of the important iron ore minerals or mineral groups that follow, the
chemical compositions are for the pure minerals the iron content of commercial ores or
concentrates generally is lower, due to the presence of gangue and other impurities.

Table 1, Iron Bearing Minerals

a. Magnetite
Magnetite has a chemical composition of Fe3O4, corresponding to 72.36% iron and
27.64% oxygen; has a color of dark gray to black, and a specific gravity, 5.16 to 5.18.
b. Hematite
Hematite has a chemical composition of Fe2O3 corresponding to 69.94% iron and
30.06% oxygen, has a color from steel gray to dull red or bright red, can be either earthy,
compact or crystalline, and has a specific gravity of 5.26.
c. Iron Pyrites

Pyrite is a brass-yellow mineral with a bright metallic luster. It has a chemical

composition of iron disulfide (FeS2) and is the most common sulfide mineral.
 Extraction of Iron

The cast iron is generally extracted from haematite (Fe2O3). The various steps involved
in the process are as follows:

1. Concentration. The ore is crushed with the help of jaw crushers into small pieces
of about 5 cm size. The crushed ore is washed with a stream of water whereby
lighter sand particles are washed away and the heavier are particles settle down.

2. Calcination. The concentrated are is heated strongly in the presence of air. This is
called calcination. During calcination following changes take place:
 Moisture is driven out.
 Sulphur, arsenic and phosphorus impurities are expelled as their volatile
oxides.
 Carbonate are changes into oxide are.

FeCO3 → FeO + CO2

 Ferrous oxide changes into ferric oxide.

4FeO + O2 → 2Fe2O3

3. Smelting. After calcination the ore is subjected to reduction with carbon in a blast
furnace (please refer to the figure below). The calcined ore, coke and lime stone
are mixed in the ratio 8: 4 : 1 and are fed into the furnace.

4. lime is a flux. Reactions which take place in the furnace are as follows:

(i) Coke bums at the base to produce CO2 which rises up.

C + O2 → CO2 , H = – 406 kJ mol-1

The reaction is exothermic and temperature here is upto about 2173 K. This region is
called combustion zone.

(ii) As CO2 rises up it is reduced to CO with the coke.

CO2 + C → 2CO, H = + 173 kJmol-1

(iii) Near the top of the furnace, where temperature is about 873 K, the oxides of iron
(Fe2O3 and Fe3O4) are reduced to iron and Fe by carbon (II) oxide

Fe2O3 + CO → 2FeO + CO2

3Fe2O3 + CO → 2Fe3O4 + CO2
Fe3O4 + 4CO → 3Fe + 4CO2

(iv) In the middle portion of the furnace where temperature is about 1073 to 1273 K, FeO
is reduced to iron while coke is oxidized to CO.
CO2 + C → 2CO
FeO + CO → Fe + CO2
FeO + C → Fe + CO

Lime stone decomposes to produce CaO which combines with silica (impurity) to form
slag.

CaCO3 → CaO + CO2

CaO + SiO2 → CaSiO3
Molten slag is lighter than molten iron and forms the upper layer. This region is called
slag formation zone.
Midrex Process

The Midrex direct reduction flowsheet is shown in Fig. 1. The main components of the
process are the shaft furnace, the gas reformer and the cooling gas system. The
temperature and composi-tion of the gas to the shaft furnace is controlled to maintain
optimum bed temperature for reduc-tion, degree of metallization, carbonization level and
efficient utilization of the reducing gas.
The direct reduction furnace is a steel vessel with an internal refractory lining in the
reduction zone. The solids flow continuously into the top of the furnace through seal legs.
The reduction furnace is designed for uniform movement of the burden through the
furnace. The cooled DRI is continuously discharged through seal legs at the bottom of the
furnace. Inert gas is injected into the seal legs to prevent escape of process gases. The
DRI is screened to remove fines that are usually briquetted to provide a usable DRI
product.

Fig. 1, Midrex direct reduction system