ISSN 0967-0912, Steel in Translation, 2008, Vol. 38, No. 12, pp. 10011002. Allerton Press, Inc., 2008.

Original Russian Text I.S. Bersenev, R.A. Poluyakhtov, V.A. Gorbachev, M.P. Ershov, G.A. Zinyagin, Yu.G. Yaroshenko, 2008, published in Stal, 2008, No. 12, pp. 1416.

Using Hematite Ore in Sinter and Pellet Production1

I. S. Berseneva, R. A. Poluyakhtova, V. A. Gorbacheva, M. P. Ershova,
G. A. Zinyaginb, and Yu. G. Yaroshenkoc
a

OOO NPVP TOREKS, Yekaterinburg, Russia

ZAO Obedinennaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya, Moscow
c Ural State Technological UniversityUral Polytechnic Institute, Yekaterinburg, Russia
b

DOI: 10.3103/S0967091208120140
1

Practically all the iron-ore deposits currently

worked in Russia are magnetite deposits. However, the
easily accessible reserves are being depleted, and new
sources of iron ore for ferrous metallurgy are required.
One promising approach is the use of oxidized (hematite, limonite, martite, goethite) ore for sinter and pellet
production.
At OOO NPVP TOREKS, research in 2007 and
2008 addressed the production of high-quality iron-ore
pellets from hematite ores of different chemical composition, including ore obtained by hydraulic extraction.
Chemical analysis of samples reveals a high iron content (6468%), mainly in hematite form (1.36.8%
FeO) and a low content of sulfur, phosphorus, and
arsenic. Thus, these ores are promising for ferrous metallurgy. However, appropriate technology for sinter and
pellet production must be developed.
The first step is to investigate sinter production in
the Lebyazhinsk sinter plant at OAO Vysokogorskii
GOK. In the experiments, the concentrate from wet
magnetic enrichment is gradually replaced by hematite
ore containing 68.8% Fetot, 1.35% FeO, 95.72% Fe2O3,
0.52% CaO, 0.32% MgO, and 0.97% SiO2. The granulometric composition of the hematite ore is as follows:
Fraction, mm
Content, %

>2.0
3.2

2.01.0
3.1

1.00.1
32.3

gas permeability of the bed because the hematite ore

has a considerably lower aptitude for pelletization than
is typical of the concentrate. In addition, with increase
in the content of hematite ore in the batch, more solid
fuel is required for sintering, which is associated, in
turn, with the lack of heat supply from magnetite oxidation for sintering. Analysis of blast-furnace smelting
at OAO Chusovskoi Metallurgicheskii Zavod shows
that the use of the sinter obtained may reduce coke consumption (to 4%) and slag yield (to 11%) and increase
the productivity (to 4%). However, the use of such
hematite ore at OAO Vysokogorskii GOK calls for
improvement in the technology so as to ensure satisfactory quality of the sinter and productivity of the sintering machine. In particular, because of the poor pelletization properties of the oxidized ore, the limestone
must be replaced by roasted lime (Fig. 3). The results
show that it is possible, in principle, to use hematite ore
in the production of iron-ore sinter. However, we are
interested not only in the sintering of multicomponent
batch with a relatively low content of hematite ores but
also in the production of sinter and pellets in which all
the iron ore is of hematite type.

<0.1
61.4

Melting temperature, C
1240

The experimental results show that, when using

hematite ore, the iron content in the sinter increases
with increase in its content in the batch (from 56.5%
with no hematite ore to 62.5% with 59% hematite ore)
and the melting point of the batch increases (Fig. 1),
with simultaneous decrease in productivity of the
machine (Fig. 2). This may be attributed to decrease in
1 The

experimental work was conducted at the sinter plant at OOO

Chusovskoi Metallurgicheskii Zavod (under the direction of
R.R. Syrtlanov), in the sintering-pan equipment at OAO
Vysokogorskii GOK (under the direction of Ya.V. Shrainer), and
at OAO Kachkanarskii GOK (under the direction of E.V. Ershov),
with the participation of specialists V.I. Klein, A.A. Kutuzov, and
D.N. Shipitsin from OOO NPVP TOREKS.

1001

1220
1200
1180
1160
1140
1120

10

20

30
40
50
60
Content of hematite ore, %

Fig. 1. Dependence of the temperature at which the batch

begins to melt on the content of hematite ore.

1002

BERSENEV et al.
Productivity g, t/(m2 h)
1.4

1.150

62

1.050

61

0.950

1.2

60

0.850

1.0

59

0.750

0.8

58

0.650

0.6

57

0.550

0.4

0.450

0.2

Fe tot, %

Productivity, t/(m2 h)

63

56

10

20 30 40 50 60
Content of hematite ore, %

70

With lime

Without lime

10

20
30
40
Content of hematite ore, %

50

60

Fig. 2. Dependence of the total iron content in the sinter and

the productivity of the machine on the content of hematite
ore in the batch.

Fig. 3. Dependence of the sintering productivity g on the

content of hematite ore in the batch.

A promising trend is the use of rich hematite ore in

pellet production. It is found that the pellet strength will
only be sufficient if the size of the material is <0.1 mm
and the content of the <0.05 mm fraction is at least
70%. Therefore, material with a specific surface of
12001650 cm2/g is used in the production of laboratory pellets from hematite ore. In tests, it is established
that the moisture content of the pellets from finely
ground hematite ore is less than that of pellets of iron
quartzites from the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly. The
experimental pellets are roasted in laboratory conditions analogous to those in roasting machine 2 at
Mikhailovsk mining and enrichment facility. The
strength of the roasted pellets is less than for regular
Mikhailovsk pellets. This means that the roasting conditions must be different in order to obtain high-quality
pellets from hematite ore and concentrates than for
magnetite ore.
The metallurgical value of the pellets largely
depends on the iron content. However, Russian sinter
plants usually produce pellets with no more than 58.0%
Fe. At OOO NPVP TOREKS, sinter of a wide range of
basicity has been produced in laboratory conditions so
as to utilize batch in which hematite accounts for 100%
of the iron ore. The iron content in the sinter produced
is 6467%, with a basicity of 0.702.42. The initial ore
contains 67.9% Fetot and 8.6% FeO; the basicity is 0.70.

As already noted, the sintering properties of the ore

must be improved in order to produce high-quality
granulated batch and satisfactory gas permeability of
the bed. Two means of intensification of sintering are
considered: the introduction of binder; and mechanical
activation of the ore surface (by grinding). The use of
lime with binding properties is only possible in limited
quantities, since there are few impurities in the ore, and
it is inexpedient to increase the basicity above 2.5. The
use of bentonite has also been proposed. However, it
considerably intensifies clumping. (The mean clump
diameter is increased by 45%). When using such batch,
the gas permeability of the bed declines considerably
on account of the increased moisture content. The second means of improving the clumping properties is
crushing of the ore. With increase in specific surface by
145 cm2/g, clumping increases by 2130% (abs.) and
the mean clump diameter by 3245%. Experimental
sintering of such batch shows that the solid-fuel consumption must be increased in order to ensure satisfactory sinter strength. The cake takes on a large-pore
structure, and the FeO content is increased to 2535%.
Our research confirms that the use of hematite ore in
pellet production is promising. However, new technologies must be developed, since Russian technologies
intended for pellet roasting and sintering of magnetite
ore do not perform adequately with hematite ore.

STEEL IN TRANSLATION

Vol. 38

No. 12

2008