Improving the Fluxed Pellets

Performance by Hydrated Lime Instead

of Bentonite as Binder
J Pan1, D Q Zhu2, M Emrich3, T J Chun4 and H Chen5

ABSTRACT
In this paper, the technology of producing fluxed pellets by using hydrated lime as binder instead
of bentonite was carried out. The properties of the two types green balls (0.8 per cent bentonite and
2.0 per cent hydrated lime) were as follows: drop numbers of 4.8 - 5.0 times/0.5 m, compressive
strength of 19.7 - 24.2 N/pellet and thermal shock temperature of 280 - 385, respectively, under
the same conditions of 1.5 per cent coke, 1.45 basicity and balling at 8.5 per cent moisture for
13 min in disc pelletiser. Comparing with bentonite as binder, the compressive strength of fired
pellets with hydrated lime is elevated by 13.8 per cent and climbs up to 3113 N/pellet under the
following conditions: preheating at 1050C for ten minutes and firing at 1300C for 15 min. In
the mean time, the hydrated lime also improves the metallurgical performance of fired pellets.
The reduction index was enhanced from 68.6 - 70.6 per cent, RDI+3.15 increased from 90.1 to
98.8 per cent and reduction swelling index dropped from 22.4 - 7.4 per cent, respectively. The
mineral compositions and microstructure of fired pellets shows that the fired pellets containing
2.0 per cent possess more calcium ferrite and magnesium ferrite and compact microstructure,
leading to the higher compressive strength.

INTRODUCTION
In fluxed pellets, limestone and sometimes dolomite are
added to the iron concentrate, which already contains silica
gangue. By adding calcium (and magnesium) through the
pellet burden, the blast furnace removes the need to charge
limestone directly to the furnace and can more accurately
control the distribution of slag forming components in the
burden. Adding calcium flux to iron ore pellets changes the
chemistry of these liquid bridges from iron silicates to iron
calcium silicates (Robert, Frederick and Donald, 2008). In
producing fluxed pellets, MgO content significantly affects the
firing performance of fluxed pellets and more MgO content
leads to the lower compressive strength of preheated pellets
(Zhang, 2009; Wang, Liu and Chen, 2004).
Hydrated lime has been used as a binding agent for fluxed
pellets in several plants, including Algorabo in Chile (Bleifuss
and Goetzman, 1991; Pimentel De Souza, 1976). It is technically
feasible to produce a fully fluxed pellet that has acceptable
physical and metallurgical qualities using hydrated lime.
Substitution of hydrated lime significantly decreases the total
energy requirement for the process which provide direct cost
savings (Panigrahy, Jena and Rigaud, 1990; Abouzeid, Negm
and Kotb, 1985 ). When fluxed pellets are produced, bentonite
is only used as binder to improve green ball properties, mainly
in drop numbers, compressive strength and thermal shock
temperature. However, hydrated lime acts as binder and flux,
and fewer fluxes are required, which is helpful in improving
the strength of preheated and fired pellets. Therefore, in this
paper the use of bentonite and hydrated lime as binder to
produce fluxed pellets was studied.
EXPERIMENTAL
Raw materials
The raw materials include the Brazilian iron ore fines, coke,
bentonite, hydrated lime and limestone, all of which were
supplied by Vale, Brazil. The chemical compositions are
shown in Table 1. It can be found that the iron ore fines are
good quality for making pellets due to high-grade assaying
65.5 wt per cent Fetotal, and low silica, alumina and other
impurities, such as S, P, and non-ferrous metals. The iron ore
fines possess the static ballability index of 0.94 and the size of
iron ore fine 75.8 per cent passes 0.043 mm.
The bentonite contains 90.5 per cent montmorillonite, higher
swelling volume of 57.5 per cent and the water adsorption
of 299 per cent and fine size of 78.4 wt per cent passing
0.043 mm. The hydrated lime and limestone possess the CaO
content of 67.1 - 52.2 per cent, size of 76.8 - 80 per cent passing
0.043 mm, respectively.

1. Associate Professor, Central South University, HePing Building, Changsha Hunan 410083, PR China. Email: pjcsu@mail.csu.edu.cn
2. Professor, Central South University, HePing Building, Changsha Hunan 410083, PR China. Email: dqzhu@mail.csu.edu.cn
3. Professor, Vale, Brazil. Email: EmrichMarcus@126.com
4. Student, Central South University, Central South University HePing Building, Changsha Hunan 410083, PR China. Email: springcsu@126.com
5. Student, Vale, Shanghai Office. Email: chenhong@126.com

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J PAN et al

TABLE 1
Chemical composition of materials.

Elements Fe total FeO SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO Na2O P S LOI

Haematite 65.51 0.172 1.39 1.851 0.005 0.011 0.042 0.0315 0.012 1.635
Bentonite 5.89 - 51.82 21.77 0.30 2.60 1.42 0.0058 0.023 13.20
Hydrated lime 0.14 - 1.42 0.23 67.10 0.32 0.046 0.065 0.084 29.33
Limestone 0.42 - 1.49 0.45 52.22 2.10 0.048 0.0011 0.060 42.62
Coke breeze 4.99 - 6.61 4.41 1.03 0.23 0.099 0.032 - 79.41

Limestone was chosen as the flux to ensure 1.45 basicity of
the pellets. The coke breeze containing 75.2 per cent Fixed C
(air dried basis) and the size of 85 per cent passing 0.043 mm
was used to reduce heat supplement from the combustion of
gas fuel during preheating. The coke dosage of 1.5 per cent was
Preheating and roasting of pellet
Figure 2 shows the effect of preheating temperature on the
compressive strength of preheated pellets. With an increase

Thermal shock temperature/

450
fixed in the experiment.
400

Experimental procedure 350

The flow sheet of pelletising tests in this paper include the 300
traditional section, mixing iron ores with binder, limestone
250
and coke breeze at a given ratio and basicity of 1.45, balling
in a disc pelletiser and firing in a tube furnace to make fired 200

pellets. 25
Drop numbers/times/0.5m Compressive strength/N

The iron fine ores were ground using high pressure grinding
rolls (HPGR) of 250 mm in diameter and 120 mm width at 20

30 rev/min and in open circuit to improve its ballability by

changing the number of passes through the rollers. The result 15

of the HPGR product was evaluated by measurement of the

specific area using the Blaine method. The moist iron fine ores 10

was pretreated by HPGR at a normal feed rate of 30 kg/min. 6

Fluxed pellets were made from the mix of pretreated iron 5

fine ores, binder and limestone in a disc pelletiser of 0.8 m in
diameter and 0.2 m rim depth, rotational speed at 38 rev/ 4
min and inclined at 47 to the horizontal. The drop numbers
3
and compressive strength of the finished green balls were
measured to evaluate the ability of the green balls to remain 2
intact and retain their shape during handling, respectively. 0 .4 0 .8 1 .2 1 .6 2 .0
H y d ra te d lim e
2 .4
B e n to n ite
Dry balls were preheated and roasted in a tube furnace of
B in d e r d o s a g e /%
50 mm in diameter and 600 mm width in the experiment.
The compressive strength and metallurgical performance of FIG 1 - Effects of binder dosage on green balls properties.
the roasted balls were measured to evaluate the quality of the
roasted balls. 1200
0.8% bentonite
2.0% hydrated lime
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1000

Binder dosage in balling

Compressive strength/N

800
The effects of binder dosage on green balls properties are
shown in Figure 1. With an increase in binder dosage, the drop
numbers and thermal shock temperatures sharply increase. 600

However, the compressive strength of green balls reaches peak

value at 0.8 per cent bentonite to 2.0 per cent hydrated lime 400
and then remains unaffected. The two types green balls were
carried out under the same conditions of 1.5 per cent coke,
1.45 basicity and balling at 8.5 per cent moisture for 13 min in 200

disc pelletiser, and the drop numbers, compressive strength

and thermal shock temperature are 4.8 - 5.0 times/0.5 m, 950 1000 1050 1100
19.7 - 24.2 N/pellet and 280C - 385C, respectively. The Preheating temperature/
qualities of green balls containing 2.0 per cent hydrated lime
are superior to those with 0.8 per cent bentonite under the FIG 2 - Preheating temperature versus the compressive strength of
same optimum conditions. preheated pellets.

510 IRON ORE CONFERENCE / PERTH, WA, 11 - 13 JULY 2011

 IMPROVING THE FLUXED PELLETS PERFORMANCE BY HYDRATED LIME INSTEAD OF BENTONITE AS BINDER
in preheating temperature the compressive strength of
preheated pellets climbs. The compressive strength of
preheated pellets with 0.8 per cent bentonite are higher than
those preheated pellets containing 2.0 per cent hydrated
lime when the preheating temperature was less than 1050C.
However, the compressive strength for two types of pellets is
close to each other when they were preheated to 1100C. The
preheating temperature for attaining the compressive strength
of 749 to 557 N/pellet is 1050C for preheated pellets with
0.8 per cent bentonite and preheated pellets containing two
per cent hydrated lime, respectively.
It can be seen from Figure 3, that with an increase in
firing temperatures, the compressive strength of fired
pellets increases significantly. The compressive strength
of fired pellets containing 0.8 per cent bentonite increases
slowly when firing temperature was above 1250C.
However, the compressive strength of fired pellets
containing 2.0 per cent hydrated lime climbs sharply
when firing temperature is elevated from 1150 - 1300C.
Compared with the fired pellet containing 0.8 per cent
bentonite, the compressive strength of fired pellets with
2.0 per cent hydrated lime is elevated by 13.8 per cent
and climbs up to 3113 N/pellet when firing temperature
is 1300C. In summary, the hydrated lime can improve
the firing performance of fluxed pellets significantly at
higher temperature. It can be concluded that the pellets
comprising 2.0 per cent hydrated lime possess the better
firing performance.
3200 0.8% bentonite
2.0% hydrated lime
2800
Compressive strength/N
2400
2000
1600
1200
800
1150 1200 1250 1300
Firing temperature/
FIG 3 - Effect of firing temperature on the compressive strength of fired pellets.
The chemistry of fired pellets is given in Table 2 at the
optimum conditions of preheating at 1050C for ten
minutes and firing at 1300C for 15 min. Iron grade of
fired pellets is higher than 61 wt per cent Fetotal, and other
impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus and nonferrous
metals are low, which is helpful to improve blast furnace
performance.
TABLE 2
Chemical composition of fired pellets.
Element Fetotal FeO SiO2 Al2O3
1# 61.80 3.60 3.23 1.70
2# 61.91 4.47 3.12 1.46
IRON ORE CONFERENCE / PERTH, WA, 11 - 13 JULY 2011
TABLE 3
Metallurgical performance of fired pellets.
Items RI RSI RDI+3.15
1# 68.6 22.4 90.1
2# 70.6 7.4 98.8
Metallurgical performance and microstructure
of fired pellet
It is seen in Table 3 that fired pellets containing 2.0 per cent
hydrated lime possess excellent metallurgical performance,
such as reducibility index higher than 70 per cent, reduction
swelling index lower than eight per cent and RDI+3.15 higher
than 98 per cent, which are much better than those of fired
pellets with 0.8 per cent bentonite of preheating at 1050C
for ten minutes and firing at 1300C for 15 min. Therefore,
hydrated lime is superior binder as compared to bentonite in
production of fluxed pellets.
Table 4 shows the mineral compositions of fired pellets.
Compared the fired pellets containing 0.8 per cent bentonite,
fired pellets containing 2.0 per cent hydrated lime possess
more calcium ferrite and magnesium ferrite and less melt mix,
leading to higher compressive strength of fired pellets.
Figures 4 and 5 demonstrate the compositions and
microstructure of fired pellets. The fired pellets containing
2.0 per cent hydrated lime possess the more compact
microstructure than that of fired pellets containing 0.8 per
cent bentonite, resulting the higher compressive strength of
fired pellet. Therefore, hydrated lime can not only replace
bentonite as binder to enhance the firing behaviours of
green balls, but also effectively improve the metallurgical
performance of fluxed pellets which can be used as high
quality feed for blast furnace.
CONCLUSIONS
Hydrated lime used to replace bentonite as binder not
only increased the green balls properties and compressive
strength of fired pellets, but also played an important role
in improving the metallurgical performance of fired pellets.
Compared with the fired pellets containing 0.8 per cent
bentonite, the compressive strength of fired pellets with
2.0 per cent hydrated lime is elevated by 13.8 per cent and
climbs up to 3113 N/pellet under the following conditions
of preheating at 1050C for ten minutes and firing at
1300C for 15 min.
The hydrated lime also improves the metallurgical
performance of fired pellets, the reduction index being
enhanced from 68.6 - 70.6 per cent, RDI+3.15 increased
from 90.1 - 98.8 per cent and reduction swelling index
dropped from 22.4 - 7.4 per cent, respectively. The mineral
compositions and microstructure of fired pellets shows
that the fired pellets containing 2.0 per cent hydrated lime
possess more calcium ferrite and magnesium ferrite and
compact microstructure, leading to the higher compressive
strength.
CaO MgO Pb Zn S P
4.68 1.47 0.001 0.003 0.002 0.006
4.52 1.28 0.001 0.003 0.002 0.003
511
J PAN et al

TABLE 4
Mineral compositions of fired pellets.

Items Fe2O3 Fe3O4 Calcium ferrite Solid Solution Fayalite Magnesium ferrite SiO2 Glasigkeit
1# 77.10 9.20 - 9.90 0.9 0.30 0.30 2.30
2# 71.24 15.74 4.25 1.31 1.40 2.38 1.55 2.13

FIG 4 - Compositions and microstructure of 1# fired pellet under SEM.

FIG 5 - Compositions and microstructure of 2# fired pellets under SEM.

REFERENCES Panigrahy, S C, Jena, B C and Rigaud, M, 1990. Characterization

Abouzeid, A Z M, Negm, A A and Kotb, I M, 1985. Iron ore fluxed
pellets and their physical properties, Powder Technology,
42(3):225-230.
Bleifuss, R L and Goetzman, H E, 1991. Replacement of limestone
and dolomite with lime/dolomite hydrate for the production of
fluxed pellet, in Proceedings 37th Annual Meeting, Minnesota
Section, pp 195-206 (AIME).
Pimentel De Souza, R, 1976. Production of pellets in CVRD using
hydrated lime as binder is growing up fast, in Proceedings 35th
Annual Ironmaking Conference, pp 182-196 (AIME).
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moss and bentonite as binders, Metallurgical and Materials
Transactions B, Process Metallurgy, 21(3):463-474.
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slag formation in the magnetite core of fluxed iron ore pellets,
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fluxed pellet production for Shougang, Sintering and pelletizing,
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512 IRON ORE CONFERENCE / PERTH, WA, 11 - 13 JULY 2011