An Optimal Route for the Preparation of Metallized Composite Pellets from Ilmenite Concentrate

• Published in: Journal of sustainable metallurgy Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 1102 - 1115
• Main Authors: Nayak, Deepak, Ray, Nigamananda, Dash, Nilima, Rath, Swagat S., Pati, Soobhankar, De, Partha S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Dry strength; Earth and Environmental Science; Electric arc furnaces; Environment; Ilmenite; Metallic Materials; Metallizing; Optimization; Pellets; Reducing agents; Research Article; Sustainable Development; Composite pellet; Reduction behavior; Metallization; Ilmenite; Dry strength
• ISSN: 2199-3823; 2199-3831
• DOI: 10.1007/s40831-021-00410-x

The present communication describes an investigation on the preparation of metallized composite pellets from ilmenite concentrate. It was observed that the pellet size in the range of 8–12 mm, a binder dosage of 4 wt%, and internal carbon of 5 wt% are the optimum levels that help the pellets attain the desired drop number (~ 10) and dry strength (~ 30 kg/pellet). When subjected to reduction tests at a temperature of 1200 °C for 6 h, the composite pellets show better metallization (~ 80%) than the raw ilmenite pellets with an equal amount of reductant. The reduced ilmenite composite pellets also display a reasonable decrepitation value of 4.9%, thereby making them suitable to be used directly in arc furnaces for titania slag production. A comparative characterization study by SEM–EDS indicated that larger amounts of metallic grains are uniformly distributed throughout the matrix in the composite pellets. Graphical Abstract