E Sintering Process of Iron Ore Fines

e Sintering Process of Iron Ore Fines
Sintering plants are normally associated with the production of hot metal in blast furnaces
in integrated steel pants. The process of sintering is basically a pre-treatment process step
during iron making to produce charge material called sinter for the blast furnace from iron
ore fines and also from metallurgical wastes (collected dusts, sludge and mill scale etc.).
The sintering technology was originally developed for the purpose of using the iron the
metallurgical waste of a steel plant and iron ore fines in the blast furnace. But currently the
focus has changed. Now the sintering process aims to produce a high quality burden for the
blast furnace. Today sinter is the main metallic burden for a large blast furnace.
The Principle of sintering
The principle of sintering involves the heating of iron ore fines along with flux and coke
fines or coal to produce a semi-molten mass that solidifies into porous pieces of sinter with
the size and strength characteristics necessary for feeding into the blast furnace.
It is basically an agglomeration process achieved through combustion.
The Product Sinter
The product of the sintering process is called sinter and is having good following quality
characteristics
1. Chemical analysis
2. Grain size distribution
3. Reducibility
4. Sinter strength
Typical properties of sinter are given in Tab 1
Tab 1 Typical properties of sinter

Item Unit Value
Fe % 56.5 to 57.5
Feo % 6.0-8.0
SiO2 % 4.0 to 5.0
Al2O3 % 1.8 to 2.5
CaO % 7.5 to 8.5
MgO % 1.6 to 2.0
Basicity (CaO/SiO2) 1.7 to 2.9
ISO Strength (+6.3mm) % >75
RDI (-3 mm) % 27-31
The product sinter is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig 1 Sinter
Advantages of adding flux to sinter
Sinters are classified into acid sinter, self-fluxing sinter and super fluxed sinter.Self-fluxing
sinter brings the lime required to flux its acid components
(SiO2, Al2O3). Super-fluxed sinter brings extra CaO to the blast furnace. For self-fluxing
and super-fluxed sinter, the lime reduces the melting temperature of the blend and at
relatively low temperature. Incase ofself-fluxing and super-fluxed sinter, the lime reduces
the melting temperature of the blend and at relatively low temperatures (1100 Deg C to
1300 Deg C) strong bonds are formed in the presence of FeO. The following are the
advantages of adding flux to the sinter
 It generates slag with the impurities present in the iron ores and solid fuels
producing a suitable matrix for cohesion of the particles
 It improves the physical and metallurgical properties of sinter
 It reduces the melting temperature of the iron ore blend
 It promotes the calcination reaction of the limestone (CaCO3 =CaO + CO2) outside
of the blast furnace hence saving heat consumption in the blast furnace.
The Process
The process of sintering begins with the preparation of the raw materials consisting of iron
ore fines, fluxes, in-plant metallurgical waste materials, fuel and return fines of the sinter
plant. These materials are mixed in a rotating drum and water is added in order to reach
proper agglomeration of the raw materials mix. This agglomeration is in the form of micro-
pellets. These micro pallets assist in obtaining optimum permeability during the sintering
process. These micro pellets are then conveyed to the sintering machine and charged.
A layer of controlled size sinter (bedding) is fed to the bottom of the sinter machine grates
for the protection of the grates. After this the moistened micro pellets of the raw materials
mix is fed and leveled.
After the material is leveled on the sinter machine, the surface of the charged material on
the sinter machine is ignited using gas or oil burners. Air is drawn through the moving bed
causing the fuel to burn. Sinter machine velocity and gas flow are controlled to ensure that
“burn through” (i.e. the point at which the burning fuel layer reaches the base of the strand)
occurs just prior to the sinter being discharged. During the machine movement the sintering
of the material bed on the grate proceeds downward. Waste gas circuit is to be fully leak
proof, not allowing air from atmosphere to be sucked by the system. This results into
saving of power in the waste gas circuit.
At the end of the machine the sintered material in the form of cake is discharged into the
hot sinter crusher. Here the hot sinter cake is crushed to a pre-determined maximum
particle size. From here the sinter is discharged onto sinter cooler which can be either
straight line or circular cooler. After cooler the sinter is transferred to the screening section.
In the screening section the product sinter, bedding and return fines are separated. Return
fines, not suitable for downstream processing, are conveyed to a bin for recycling in the
sintering process.
Waste gases are treated for dust removal in a cyclone, electrostatic precipitator, wet
scrubber or fabric filter.
The material flow of the sinter plant is shown in Fig 2.
Fig 2 Material flow in a sinter plant

The flexibility of the sintering process permits conversion of a variety of materials,
including iron ore fines, captured dusts, ore concentrates, and other iron-bearing materials
of small particle size (e.g., mill scale) into a clinker-like agglomerate.
Sinter machines
Sinter machines are of two types i) circular and ii) Straight line. Straight line
Machines are also being known as Dwight and Lloyd machines. Dwight and
Lloyd constructed the first continuous sinter plant in 1906.Circular sinter machines are
normally suitable for blast furnaces having useful volumes of 650 Cu m and less. The man
parameters of some of the circular machines are given
in Table 2.
Table 2 Main Parameters of Circular Sinter machines

12 Sqm 17 Sqm 25 Sqm 33 Sqm
Subject Unit machine machine machine machine
Annual Production 1000 tpa 172 253 404.5 556
Total Power
requirement kW 700 1500 1750 2400
Land needed for
plant Sqm 8000 9000 10000 12000
Land needed for
building Sqm 800 3400 35000 3600
Various features of the circular machines are as below.
 When compared with the straight line machines the capital investment costs are low
and the construction periods are short.
 Sealing is better and air leakage is less in these machines since the wind boxes
move synchronously with grates and since water sealing is adopted.
 Discharging system makes the size of cold sinter such that there is no need of an
additional crusher.
 The circular machines are having high operational flexibility
A circular sinter machine is shown in Fig 3

Fig 3 Circular machine
Straight line machines are normally used for large sinter plants. Present straight line
machines are installed having widths from 2 meters to 5 meters and with effective sintering
areas from 200 to 600 Sqm. The productivity of such machines typically ranges from 30 to
46t/Sqm/day. Capacities of such machines range from 190,000 tons per annum to 6.5 Mtpa.
A straight machine is shown in Fig 4.
Fig 4 Straight line machine
Important issues related to sinter And sintar plants
1. Use of sinter reduces the coke rate and enhances tbhe productivity in blast furnace
2. Sintering process helps utilization of iron ore fines (0-10 mm) generated during iron
ore mining operations
3. Sintering process helps in recycling all the iron, fuel and flux bearing waste
materuals in the steel plant.
4. Sintering process utilizes by product gases of the steel plant.
5. Sinter can not be stored for a long time as it generate excessive fines during long
storages
6. Sinter generates excessive fines during multiple handling

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e Sintering Process of Iron Ore Fines

The Principle of sintering

It is basically an agglomeration process achieved through combustion.

The Product Sinter

Typical properties of sinter are given in Tab 1

Tab 1 Typical properties of sinter

Advantages of adding flux to sinter

The material flow of the sinter plant is shown in Fig 2.

Fig 2 Material flow in a sinter plant

Table 2 Main Parameters of Circular Sinter machines

Various features of the circular machines are as below.

A circular sinter machine is shown in Fig 3

Fig 4 Straight line machine

Important issues related to sinter And sintar plants

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