Early sintering phenomena pertaining to hot briquetted iron

A significant part of tlie reserves of iron ore in Australia is fine particles of hematite. A fluidised iron ore reduction plant using FINMET® technology was installed to add value to these natural resources. The final product is a compact of highly metallised iron fines called 'hot briquetted iron' or HBI. Although the process constitutes an ideal way of reducing fine particulates of iron ore, there are some fundamental issues regarding the agglomeration of the iron particulates during the reduction as well as the consolidation of the briquettes that remain unresolved. Specifically, the mechanism of consolidation of the particles into briquettes, taking into account the actual characteristics of the particles and process conditions, have been not been clarified. The main aim of this project is to provide some basis for a better understanding of the consolidation process used to form HBI from the reduced iron particles obtained from FINMET® process. It is expected that the results of this study would assist in an explanation of the rationale of some of the common problems presented in the final product.