Package – 4 (Sinter Plant)

Introduction
Sinter is normally the major component of the blast furnace (BF) charge burden. Sinter
consists of many mineral phases produced during process of sintering of iron ores. The quality
and properties of sinter are dependent on the mineral structure of sinter.

Sintering is a process of agglomeration of fine mineral particles into a porous and lumpy mass
by incipient fusion caused by heat produced by combustion of solid fuel within the mass itself.
The sintering process is a pre-treatment step in the production of iron, where fine particles of
iron ores and also secondary iron oxide wastes (collected dusts, mill scale etc.) along with
fluxes (lime, limestone and dolomite) are agglomerated by combustion.  Agglomeration of the
fines is necessary to enable the passage of hot gases during the blast furnace operation.

Sintering has been referred to as the art of burning a fuel mixed with ore under controlled
conditions. It involves the heating of fine iron ore 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.

Sinter Plant complex installed to produce 4.74 MT gross sinter annually to meet sinter
requirement of the blast furnace.

Junction houses for incoming raw material (Route) : JH71 and JH72

Outgoing Product sinter (Route) : JH24

Raw Materials

- Blended mix (comprising 100% iron ore fines, 100% steel plant arisings like mill scale,
flue dust, RMP waste, LD slag, 100% BF sinter return fines, 80% crushed flux and coke
breeze)
- 20% corrective additions of coke breeze and crushed flux (composite/separate)

Blast furnace return fines (BFRF) generation has been considered as 10% of total gross
sinter production from sinter plant.

Raw Material Requirements

Raw materials t/ yr t/ day t/h

Iron ore fines 3870392 11728 489
Crushed limestone 228472 692 29
Crushed dolomite 303493 920 38
Crushed coke breeze 238702 723 30
Flue dust 42625 129 5
Mill scale 42625 129 5
 LD slag - - -
BF return fines 473616 1435 60
Blended mix 5199925 15757 657
Crushed limestone 57120 173 7
Crushed dolomite 75875 230 10
Crushed coke 59680 181 8

Indicative size distribution of the raw material

Size
Sl. No. Material Percentage
(mm)
(-) 10 95% (min)
1 Composite Iron Ore Fines (-) 8 90%
(-) 1 30% (max)
(-) 5 100%
2 Limestone / Dolomite (-) 3 90% (min)
(-) 1 50% (max)
(-) 5 100%
3 Coke Breeze (-) 3 90% (min)
(-) 0.5 35% (max)
4 Mill Scale (-) 3 100%
5 Flue Dust (-) 3 100%
6 BF sinter return fines (-) 5 100%
7 Calcined lime (-) 1 97%

Indicative chemical composition of Raw Material (%)

Raw Fe Si02 Al203 Ca0 MgO S P LOI

materials

Iron Ore 64.0 - 1.81 - 0.02 0.05

20-36 - -
Fines 65.0 2.5 max max

Limestone 46.0 - 1.0 - 39.0 -

- 9.0 - 9.5 - 48.0 1.5 42.0

Dolomite 28.0- 18.0 - 41.0-

- 25 - 35 - 30.0 21.0 45.0

Coke
breeze ash 5.75 55.0 30.0 3.0 0.7 -

Mill scale 72.0 0.64 0.5 0.1 -

-
Flue dust 33.46 11.58 3.1 7.83 1.89 6.8

Coke Breeze proximity analysis (Dry basis) (%)

 Raw Material Ash VM Fixed Carbon
Coke Breeze 12 1 87

Sources of Raw Material

Raw Material Source

Iron Ore Captive Source of NMDC at Bailadila Iron Ore Mines

BF Grade Limestone (CaO: 46- Chhattisgarh (Chitapur Potnar-Baranji, Deorapal areas of Jagdalpur
48%) Tehsil Bastar), Madhya Pradesh (Satna-Maihar region)

Chhatisgarh (Phatkabhanda, Kumli, Machkot, Tiria, Taipodre and

BF Grade Dolomite Gumalwada areas in Jagdalpur Tehsil of Bastar District), Madhya
pradesh State Mining Corporation (MPSMC) located at Baradwar.
Coke Breeze Internal generation from the coke oven batteries
In plant arisings Mill scale, flue dust, RMP arisings, LD slag from internal generation
Calcined Lime LDCP

Material Balance (Dry & Net)

Input % t/y t/h Output % t/y t/h

Blended Mix 57.15 5199925 657 BF 52 4736160 598

sinter
Corrective 0.63 57120 7 Hearth 8 727890 92
Limestone layer
0.83 75875 10 In plant 25 2255970 284
Corrective
return
Dolomite
fines
Corrective 0.66 59680 8 Losses 15 1378600 174
Coke
Calcined
Breeze 0.94 85250 11
lime
In plant 25 2255970 284
return fines
Hearth layer 8.00 727890 92
Water 7.00 636910 80
Total 100.00 9098620 1148 Total 100.00 9098620 1148

Estimated Heat Balance – Including Heat Recovery from Sinter Cooler

Heat In 415.7 Solid fuel (400.3), Mixed gas (13.5), Heat recovery from
cooler (1.9)
 Heat Out 415.7 Sinter (177.5), Process (123), Waste Gas 69.2), Losses /
Radiation (46)
Delta Heat 0

Quality of Sinter

The anticipated chemical composition and metallurgical properties of Sinter are:

Constituents Value (%)

Fe(t) 58.95
Fe2O3 73.10
FeO 10.00
SiO2 4.78
Al2O3 2.14
CaO 7.52
MgO 1.97
Basicity (CaO / SiO2) 1.57
ISO Tumbler index (+) 6.3
75% (min.)
mm
Reducibility Index (RI) 65% (min.)
RDI 30% (max.)

Specific Consumption of Raw Materials (Dry & net), kg/t of skip sinter

i) Iron Ore Fines : 908

ii) Limestone : 67
iii) Dolomite : 89
iv) Calcined Lime : 20
v) Flue Dust : 10
vi) Coke Breeze : 70
vii) Mill Scale : 10

Design and operating parameters

The Sinter plant will have a rated sinter output capacity of 4.74 Mt/y based on 7920 hrs working and
minimum 1.3 t/m2/hr specific productivity. However, the equipment and facilities will be designed for
25% over and above the rated capacities. The design and operating parameters of the Sinter Plant
are:

SI. No. Item Description Unit Value

1 No. of sinter machines x area No. x m 2
1 x 463.5
2 Productivity, rated (min.) t/m2/h 1.3
3 Annual sinter production (gross) t/y 4736160
4 Size of finished sinter mm 5-40
sinter
5 Annual working regime d/y 330
6 No. of working hours/ day h/d 24
7 Under-grate suction mm WC 1700
8 Sinter m/c bed height (including 40 mm 700 750
-

to 50 mm hearth layer)
9 Cooler type Circular (deep bed dip rail)
10 Temperature of coaled sinter deg. C Below 100
11 Dust content in exhaust gases at mg/Nm3 Below 50
12 stack gaseous energy
Specific KCal/t-gross sinter 15,000 max.
13 consumption
Specific electric energy consumption Kwh/t-gross sinter 35 max.
14 Specific coke breeze consumption Kg/t-skip sinter 70 max.
15 Sinter basicity -- 1.5 - 2.0

Sinter Plant Layout

Technical Specifications

Equipment Specifications

The design capacity of each equipment will be 1.25 times the rated capacity. The pallet width of sinter
machine is 4.5 m, extensible to 5 m.

Technological Specifications

1. Storage & proportioning unit:

- The storage & proportioning building will house single row of sixteen (16) bins for storage of
various raw materials.
- Blended mixed bins will be provided with air cannon system to ensure free flow of materials
from respective bins.
- ESP dust will be transported to ESP dust bin by pneumatic dust conveying system.
- Blended mixed and corrective additions of flux/ fuel will be fed to respective proportioning bins
by separate reversible shuttle conveyors.

a) Reversible Shuttle belt conveyor for feeding proportioning bins

For blended mix:
 Quantity: One
Belt width: 1600 mm
Capacity: 1500 tph (design 3000 tph)

For corrective additions:

Quantity: One
Belt width: 1200 mm
Capacity: 300 tph (design 600 tph)

b) Reversible Belt Conveyor for feeding in-plant sinter return fines to bins
Quantity: One
Belt width: 1200 mm
Capacity: 450 tph (design 900 tph)

- The indicative distribution of bins for storage of different materials in storage and proportioning
unit along with their storage capacities are:

SI. Material Size Bulk No. of Effective Storage Storage Remarks

no. (mm) density bins volume – capacity, capacity, hr
(t/m3 ) each bin t (approxi
(m3 ) mately)
1. Blended -10 1.8 9 540 8748 Single outlet
mix
2. Crushed -3 1.6 2 540 1728 Single outlet
lime Stone
/ dolomite
3. Coke -3 0.6 2 540 648 Single outlet
breeze
4. In plant -5 1.7 2 380 1292 Twin
sinter outlet/hot
returns
standby
weigh feeder

5. ESP -1 1.0 1 100 100 Single

dust
outlet

- The indicative distribution of belt weigh feeders for different bins with capacities and belt width
are:

SI. No. Material No of bins No. of belt weigh Capacity, tph Belt width, mm
feeders
1 Blended Mix 9 9 250 (rated) 1400
2 Crushed lime 2 2 10 (rated) , 40 1000
Stone/ dolomite (design)
3 Coke breeze 2 2 10 (rated) , 40 1000
(design)
4 In plant sinter 2 2 + 2 (Hot stand by) 220 (rated) 1400
returns
2. Lime dosing-cum-mixing unit
a. Lime storage and dosing: Two load cell mounted lime bins of capacity 2 X 175 m 3 effective
volume each. Lime of size < 1 mm will be fed to lime bins pneumatically (rated capacity 20 tph)
from lime tankers.
b. High intensity mixer unit: Mixing unit will house 1 no. intensive mixer (rated capacity 1200
tph).

3. Nodulising Unit
Nodulising will be carried out in a separate intensive granulator (rated capacity 1200 tph) housed
at the top near the feed end side of sinter machine. Raw mix will be fed to noduliser from mixer by
means of a series of belt conveyors.

4. Sintering Unit
In the sintering unit, moistened raw mix will be fed to the shuttle mix distributor by belt conveyors
from the granulator. Description of major technological equipment is furnished below:
a. Raw Mix and hearth layer feeding system: The raw mix feeding system comprises shuttle
mix distributor, raw mix surge hopper (effective volume 30 m 3 and lined with ceramic liner as
per SVAI standard design) mounted on load cells with main gate and 5 sub gates with
actuating mechanism, drum roll feeder, slope angle sensing probe, deflector plate, bad level
control system and other accessories.

The hearth layer feeding system consists of feeding conveyor, hearth layer surge hopper
(effective volume 70 m3 as per SVAI standard design and lined with 500/400 liner), adjusting
gate, leveller plate, swinging type discharge chute and other accessories.
- Shuttle mix distributor assembly (1 set)
- Raw mix surge hopper assembly (1 set)
- Sliding gate (5 pieces) with actuating mechanism
- Drum roll feeder assembly (1200 tph)
- Deflector plate
- Hearth layer surge hopper
- Shut off gate (Below HL surge hopper)
- Discharge chute (swinging type)

b. Ignition furnace and post heat hood: Ignition furnace provided after the sinter mix feeding
system, will be fabricated from stainless steel rolled sections and mounted on wheels. The
hood will be refractory lined. This furnace will be designed for providing optimum ignition time
 with necessary gas and air piping, valves, instrumentation and control systems, regulation
system, safety devices etc.
Post heat hood will be provided after ignition furnace to avoid sudden chilling of water. Hot air
at 300-400 deg. C from circular cooler after due cleaning will be used for combustion air as well
as for post heat hood.

c. Sintering Machine Assembly (1 unit): The sinter machine proper with 463.5 m2 suction area.
The pallet width is 4.5 m, extensible to 5 m.

Type Down-draught off-strand cooling

Rated capacity (in feed):
Mixed material feed- 1150 tph
Hearth layer feed- 92 tph
Sinter m/c discharge Compatible with sinter m/c feed
capacity , tph capacity.
Area under suction 463.5 m2
Centre to centre distance 113.6 m (willbe finalized during
engineering).
Suction length 103 m
Pallet width 4.5 m (extensible to 5 m)
Pallet length 1.5 m
Under grate suction 1700 mmWC
Hearth layer depth 40-50 mm
Bed height 700 mm + 50 mm overfill
Side wall height 700 mm
Speed range 1.0 — 6 m/ min.
Type of drive/kW VVVF, Reversible/approx. 80kW

d. Wind Main (2 nos.): Wind legs below wind boxes from sinter machine will be connected to
wind mains for suction of flue gas through the moving bed. Flue gas thus sucked by main
exhausters will pass through wind mains. Suitable no. of compensators will be provided on
wind main for heat compensation.
Spillage conveyors (belt width-1000 mm) below wind mains: 2 sets each of 75 tph.

e. Double cone dust valves:

Location : Below wind main dust hoppers
Material handled : Sinter fines
Particle size : < 10 mm
Temperature : 160°C
Capacity : 20 tph
 f. Hot sinter breaker assembly (1 no.): Hot sinter breaker, with rated capacity matching with
sinter machine discharge capacity, is designed to disintegrate hot sinter cake (4.5 m X 1.5 m X
0.7 m) discharged from individual pallet car at the discharge end of sintering machine to below
200 mm. The breaker drive unit will comprise shaft mounted gear box.

5. Cooling Unit
a. Circular Annular Dip Rail Deep Bed Sinter Cooler (1 no.): This sinter cooler will be provided
for cooling of (-) 200 mm hot sinter below 100 deg. C by up draughting ambient air through
cooler bed. Cooling Drive Units will be mounted (2 nos, VVVF) on a spring loaded frame.

b. Cooler Fans: The number (2/3) of coolers fans shall be frozen. These fans will be located
outside the cooler ring.

c. Vibro-feeder below discharge hopper for controlled discharge of sinter from cooler to
belt conveyor: A discharge hopper, mounted on load cells will be provided at the discharge
end of the circular cooler. The cooled sinter from hopper will be discharged by means of vibro
feeder, 1000 tph rated capacity.

6. Cold Sinter Crushing Unit

For size stabilization, cooled sinter (0-200 mm) from cooler is discharged onto the cascade chute
by a belt conveyor. Cascade chute will have feed capacity commensurate with sinter cooler
discharge capacity. Sinter is segregated into < 40mm and > 40mm fractions in cascade chute with
+40mm fraction passing through the downstream double roll crusher having rated capacity of 350
tph for size reduction to less than 40 mm. The -40 mm fraction from the cascade chute directly
joins the belt conveyor leading to the screening building.

7. Cold Sinter Screening Unit

This unit will house two separate streams of linear motion cold sinter screens consisting of one
product / hearth layer screen and one return fines screen for parallel operation. Each screen of
sinter screens will be able to cater to 50% of the rated production with 25% cushion in design.

The product / hearth layer screens and return fines screens will have rated capacities of 500
tph and 236 tph respectively each. Cooled sinter will be fed to two lines of product / HL screens
parallel through belt conveyor and movable saddle (motorized) with stone box construction. (-) 10
mm faction segregated at product / hearth layer screen will be fed to return fines screen having
aperture size of 5 mm. 5-10 mm faction separated from RH screen.

8. Waste Heat Recovery Unit

 - Effective waste heat recovery unit will be provided at cooler feed end.
- Hot air at 300-400 Deg C coming out of hot sinter receiving section of cooler will be sucked by
hot combustion air fans (1W+1S).
- Multicyclone
Quantity : 1 no.
Temperature : 350-400 Deg C
Particle size : < 1 mm
- Hot combustion air fan
Purpose : For supply of dedusted air to the ignition burner
Quantity : 1W+1S
Temperature : 300-400 Deg C

Conclusion
 There are certain advantages of using sinters as opposed to using other materials which include
recycling the fines and other waste products, to include flue dust, mill scale, lime dust and
sludge. Processing sinter helps eliminate raw flux, which is a binding material used to
agglomerate materials, which saves the heating material, coke, and improves furnace
productivity. Use of sinter reduces the coke rate and enhances the productivity in blast furnace.

 Sintering process helps utilization of iron ore fines (0-10 mm) generated during iron ore mining
operations.

 Sintering process helps in recycling all the iron, fuel and flux bearing waste materials in the steel
plant.

 Sintering process utilizes by product gases of the steel plant.

 Sinter cannot be stored for a long time as it generates excessive fines during long storages.

 Sinter generates excessive fines/dust during multiple handling in the sinter plant.
Some Glimpse of Sinter Plant

Sinter Plant

Pallet Car Area