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Abstract
Innovative energy saving technologies have been developed to improve the efficiency of coal usage, especially in ironmaking. One of these technologies is a product known as the carbon composite iron ore hot briquette (CCB) – a self-reducing iron ore–carbon composite that uses the thermal plasticity of coking coals as a binder to enhance mechanical strength. This paper proposes an alternative method for manufacturing self-reducing briquettes which consists of pressing a mixture of the fine particles from coking coal and pellet feed iron ore in a cylindrical die followed by a heat treatment. The effects of the coal particle size, heating rate, coal/ore ratio and briquetting pressure were investigated with regard to the compressive strength and bulk density of the briquettes. Optimal results were obtained using a fine coal particle size (0.053–0.103 mm), a high heating rate, 25% coal content in the briquetting mixture, and a briquetting pressure of 53 MPa.