Manipulation of slag separation properties from pig iron nuggets with flux additions to dried greenball mixture

ABSTRACT

Pig iron nugget process is one of the direct smelting processes developed as an alternative to the traditional blast furnace process. Throughout the process, slag-free pig iron nuggets, which have similar properties to the blast furnace pig iron and white cast iron, are produced by single-stage heat treatment of dried greenballs. During the process, slag separation from the metallized areas can be enhanced by adjustment of the slag’s chemical and physical properties. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of flux addition rates (basic to acid ratio) to the dried greenball mixture on pig iron nugget production and slag separation. Thus, this study involved the heat treatment of six different greenball mixtures, which contained various amounts of limestone addition (basic to acid ratios, 0, 0.63, 1.02, 1.42, 1.85, and 2.29) utilizing a laboratory-scale resistance box furnace or simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry and thermalgravimetric analyzer. The samples produced by heating in the box furnace were analyzed for their morphological and chemical properties utilizing optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), macroscopic observations, iron titrations, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. It was determined that the highest percentage of iron yield in the nugget for the process and the highest distribution of iron in magnetic slag were obtained when utilizing the greenball mixture, which contained 7.5 wt% limestone as flux (basic to acid ratio of 1.42).

KEYWORDS:

• Direct smelting
• flux
• slag
• pig iron nuggets

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.