Estimation of Sintering Kinetics of Oxidized Magnetite Pellet Using Optical Dilatometer

• The quality of magnetite pellet is primarily determined by the physico-chemical changes thepellet undergoes as it makes excursion through the gaseous and thermal environment in theinduration furnace. Among these physico-chemical processes, the oxidation of magnetite phaseand the sintering of oxidized magnetite (hematite) and magnetite (non-oxidized) phases are vital.Rates of these processes not only depend on the thermal and gaseous environment the pellet getsexposed in the induration reactor but also interdependent on each other. Therefore, a systematicstudy should involve understanding these processes in isolation to the extent possible andquantify them seeking the physics. With this motivation, the present paper focusses on investigatingthe sintering kinetics of oxidized magnetite pellet. For the current investigation, sinteringexperiments were carried out on pellets containing more than 95 pct magnetiteconcentrate from LKAB’s mine, dried and oxidized to completion at sufficiently low temperatureto avoid sintering. The sintering behavior of this oxidized pellet is quantified throughshrinkage captured by Optical Dilatometer. The extent of sintering characterized by sinteringratio found to follow a power law with time i.e., Ktn. The rate constant K for sintering wasdetermined for different temperatures from isothermal experiments. The rate constant, K, varieswith temperature as lnTKð1=nÞ ¼ lnK0 QRT ; and the activation energy (Q) and reaction rateconstant (K¢) are estimated. Further, the sintering kinetic equation was also extended to a nonisothermalenvironment and validated using laboratory experiments.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Metallurgi och metalliska material (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Metallurgy and Metallic Materials (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Process Metallurgy

Processmetallurgi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)