Production of high quality iron pellets by changing the composition and firing conditions

Abstract

There are no Iron ore mininhg activities and very few Iron extraction activities in Sri Lanka due to high electricity consumption and non availability of proper survey results of those ore deposits. Main components need for Iron melting are Iron ore. Limestone and Coke. The Hematite (Fe203.XH20) percentage in Dela Iron ore is 88.71%, Si02 percentage is 7.18% and AI2O3 percentage is 1.07%. Blast furnace is the most suitable method to extract Iron in Sri Lanka considering the cost and the necessary resources. Cupola furnace has the same mechanism of the blast furnace which has been used for laboratory scale Iron melting . By changing the composition and firing condition, high quality pellets were produced. While extracting Iron, huge amount slag formation is the main draw back in Iron making. By comparing degree of magnetism, degree of reduction, apparent porosity, apparent specific gravity, bulk density and water absorption, high quality pellets were produced. The optirruzed carbon percentage for pelletizing with optimized in duration temperature were determined using above tests. Physical, chemical errors and further improvement of this procedure have been discussed in this research.