Utilisation of unconventional ferrous materials by sintering

To sustain stable operation of a blast furnace, iron ore fines produced during mining and ore dressing processes need to be agglomerated into lumps. Sintering is the most economical and widely used agglomeration method for iron ore fines. Also, the sintering technology can be used for recycling of metallurgical wastes produced by the ironmaking process. The aim of the project was to study the sintering behaviour of three kinds of unconventional ferrous materials (New Zealand ironsand, mill scale and filter cake wastes) and assess the feasibility of their utilization by sintering. The effects of sintering conditions on the formation of mineral phases during iron ore sintering were investigated to gain better understanding of sintering mechanism. Raw materials used in this study were supplied by BlueScope Ltd.