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To cite this article: T. Umadevi, M. G. Sampath Kumar, P. C. Mahapatra, T. Mohan Babu &
Madhu Ranjan (2009) Recycling of steel plant mill scale via iron ore pelletisation process,
Ironmaking & Steelmaking, 36:6, 409-415, DOI: 10.1179/174328108X393795
Article views: 29
Download by: [University of Duisburg Essen] Date: 18 July 2016, At: 07:55
Recycling of steel plant mill scale via iron ore
pelletisation process
T. Umadevi*, M. G. Sampath Kumar, P. C. Mahapatra, T. Mohan Babu and
Madhu Ranjan
Mill scale is an iron oxide waste generated during steelmaking, casting and rolling. Total
generation of mill scale at JSWSL is around 150 t/day and contains 6070%FeO and 30
35%Fe2O3. To recover the iron, the mill scale must be smelted in a blast furnace or other reduction
furnace; however, it is usually too fine to use without previous agglomeration such as via pellet or
sinter mix. JSWSL operates a 4?2 Mtpa pellet plant to produce pellets for Corex and BF
ironmaking units. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of mill scale on pellet properties.
Downloaded by [University of Duisburg Essen] at 07:55 18 July 2016
Detailed laboratory basket trials were conducted using up to 40% of mill scale in the pellet mix.
The addition of mill scale up to 10% is considered to provide the optimum balance of chemical,
physical and metallurgical properties of the pellet.
Keywords: Iron ore pelletisation, Mill scale, Macrostructure and microstructure, Green pellets properties, Physical and metallurgical properties
pellet property up to 40% mill scale addition but T.I of which causes shrinkage of core and separation from the
the fired pellet property is comparable up to 10% mill pellet shell which results in considerable pellet quality
scale addition. impairment.
CCS and FeO% of the fired pellets increases with Depending on the pellet firing conditions, carbon
increasing mill scale addition from 10 to 40% (Fig. 10). content and internal heat, magnetite in the core may or
These two properties are comparable with desired may not be completely reoxidised to haematite after
properties of the pellets up to 10% mill scale addition. cooling.5 The process of oxidation of magnetite into
At higher additions of mill scale, FeO% was found to haematite is the most important aspect since it has
increase due to additional heat produced from the a decisive influence on the strength of the pellets.
exothermic reaction causing the core to be heated to a Conversion of magnetite to haematite which is a
higher temperature than the pellet surface. This pro- strongly exothermic reaction, favours grain growth and
duces more magnetite (Fe2O3.FeO) along with slag sintering of the particles of iron ore concentrate to form
hard, strong pellets.6
Owing to higher heat in the core with 2040% mill
Table 3 Mix proportion of raw material scale, the pellet core contains more magnetite, so full
strength is not attained and hence pellets with high
Mill scale, %
retained Fe3O4 show lower strength.
% 0 10 20 30 40
Table 4 Machine process parameters
Iron ore fines 94.1 84.6 75.0 65.4 55.9
Mill scale 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 Parameters Value
Bentonite 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
Limestone 3.6 3.2 2.7 2.2 1.8 Feedrate, t h21 465
Corex sludge 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 Machine speed, m min21 2.24
B2 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 Firing temperature, uC 1262
Carbon 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 Burn through temperature, uC 457
A macrostructure of pellet with 10% mill scale; B macrostructure of pellet with 20% mill scale; C macrostructure of pellet
with 30% mill scale; D macrostructure of pellet with 40% mill scale
5 Macrostructure of pellet with 1040% mill scale
Effect of mill scale addition on metallurgical of the pellets have cracks/fractures. This could be due to
properties the excessive heat generated due to exothermic reaction
RDI (26?3 mm) and RDI (20?5 mm) of the pellets within the pellet (pellets with 30 and 40% mill scale
increase and reducibility decreases with increasing mill additions were still red hot (500550uC) even after the
scale addition from 10 to 40% (Figs, 11 and 12). Both second cooling zone.
RDI (26?3 mm) and RDI (20?5 mm) results are Also during the reduction process, the conversion
comparable with desired properties of the pellets up to of haematite to magnetite is followed by a volume
10% mill scale addition; however, reducibility of the
pellet is comparable up to 30% mill scale addition. Table 6 Green and red pellets: desired properties
The firing of pellets was very good with 10% mill
scale, but for pellets with 2040% mill scale, around 60% Properties Desired value
A microstructure of pellet with 10% mill scale; B microstructure of pellet with 20% mill scale; C microstructure of pellet
with 30% mill scale; D microstructure of pellet with 40% mill scale
6 Microstructure of pellet with 1040% mill scale
increase.7 This initiates cracks due to mechanical stresses haematite during cooling cycle. Higher magnetite
in the core and outer mantle of the pellet. Lower (Fe3O4) content in pellet decreases its reducibility.
strength pellets cannot sustain high mechanical loads It was observed that crack formation and FeO% in the
during reduction,8 thus the reduction degradation index fired pellet increased and pellet properties decreased
increases. with increasing in mill scale addition. This can be
In Corex/blast furnace during transformation of overcome by considerably reducing the firing tempera-
haematite to magnetite, the structural metamorphosis tures and carbon content in the green pellets so that the
from a hexagonal to cubic structure gives rise to volume exothermic heat of mill scale can be effectively used.
expansion, increased porosity, cracks and fissures, thus The green pellet properties like GCS and drop number
haematite is much more reducible than magnetite.9 It is are comparable with desired pellet properties up to 20%
highly desirable that all the lower oxides (magnetite) of mill scale addition; however, fired pellet properties like
the pellet formed during heating should be oxidized to FeO, T.I, CCS, RDI (26?3 mm) and RDI (20?5 mm)
7 Effect of mill scale (%) on GCS and drop number 10 Effect of mill scale on FeO and CCS
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