Variation in physico-chemical properties of iron oxide pellets using bentonite with calcium hydroxide as binder

Abstract

Bentonite and calcium hydroxide are the widely used binding materials in iron ore pelletizing plants. This investigation deals with studying the effect of using a mixture of both binders on the green, dry, and indurated iron oxide pellet properties. The binder mixtures consist of 0.4% bentonite, and varying percentage of calcium hydroxide (ranges from 0.5 to 4%). The objective is studying the possibility of partially replacing the expensive bentonite with cheap lime hydrate in pelletizing iron oxide. The results show that, on using binder mixture composed of 0.4% bentonite and 0.5% calcium hydroxide, a deterioration of the physico-chemical properties of the mill scale pellets was observed. Whereas, by increasing the percentage of calcium hydroxide in the binder mixture beyond 0.5%, a substantial enhancement in these properties was achieved.