Processing of iron nugget from low grade iron ore

Abstract

The production of raw metals has been changed for several years. Blast furnace and gas-based direct reduction have been used to produce industrial metals from iron ore, but they have many drawbacks such as high capital cost, a lot of slag in the product, and environmental problems. A solution for these issues is a new technology known as IT Mark Three (Itmk3). This study evaluates the ITmk3 process to produce iron nuggets and the parameters that control the quality of the iron nuggets, such as weight ratios of feeds, the reduction time, and the reduction temperature. The goal of this work is to find the optimal conditions to produce the iron nuggets from a low-grade iron ore (40% iron content). The drop test results show the suitable condition (endure up to 6 drops) for making a pellet, with a diameter of 4 cm and a height of 2 cm, by using the mole ratio of Bentonite/Fe = 0.035. For the reduction, the suitable conditions for making iron nugget are the mol ratios of C/Fe = 1.6, Limestone/Al2O3+SiO2 = 0.65, the reduction temperature of 1300 °C, and the reduction time of 60 minutes.