THE USE OF PELLET SCREENINGS IN THE SINTERING PROCESS
O USO DE PELLET SCREENINGS NO PROCESSO DE SINTERIZAÇÃO
Pereira, Helio Cardoso; Souto, Philippe Rocha Santos; Peres, Antônio Eduardo Clark; Ritz, Volker Johan
Abstract
With the progressive deterioration in iron ore quality worldwide in recent years, steelmakers need to seek alternatives to mitigate the deficiency of this raw material. Investments in the use of high grade concentrate and the application of pre-agglomeration technologies are alternatives to make up for this deficit without affecting the utilization in the sintering process. As a possibility to avoid such investment, pellet screenings in comparison with the current natural sinter feed that can be found in the market, presents advantages such as low alumina and silica contents, but also low loss on ignition (LOI) and suitable particle size distribution. Sintering tests were performed at the SGA (Studiengesellschaft für Eisenerzaufbereitung) laboratory in Germany to evaluate the performance of this product when added to typical sintering mixtures used in Western Europe. The test results showed gains in the chemical, physical and metallurgical quality of the sinter produced.
Keywords
Resumo
Com a deteriorização progressiva da qualidade do minério de ferro em todo o mundo nos anos recentes, fabricantes de aço precisam buscar alternativas para mitigar a escassez de sinter feed de alto teor. Investimentos no uso de concentrados de alto teor e a aplicação de tecnologias de pré-aglomeração são alternativas para suprir essa deficiência. Como possibilidade para evitar tais investimentos onerosos, o pellet screenings, em comparação com o sinter feed natural atualmente disponível no Mercado, apresenta vantagens tais como baixos teores de alumina e sílica, baixo nível de perda ao fogo e distribuição de tamanho de partículas adequado. Ensaios de sinterização foram executados no laboratório SGA (Studiengesellschaft für Eisenerzaufbereitung), na Alemanha, para avaliar o desempenho desse produto quando adicionado a misturas típicas de sinterização usadas na Europa Ocidental. Os resultados mostraram ganhos de qualidade química, física e metalúrgica do sínter produzido.
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Referências
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