Studies on the cold bonded briquettes of iron and steel plant by-products as burden material for blast furnaces

Abstract: During the various stages of iron & steel production a number of iron bearing by-products are generated. These by-products can be made into cement bonded agglomerates for use as burden material for blast furnaces. In order to improve the quality of agglomerates the effect of various processing parameters on the properties of cement bonded briquettes has been studied. It has been found that the room temperature properties of briquettes depend upon various processing parameters. The study has also shown that the strength of briquettes falls after heating in nitrogen environment and after reduction. Under certain reducing conditions the cement bonded briquettes exhibit tendency for catastrophic swelling. The fall in strength and the swelling of briquettes depend upon a number of factors like the composition, the conditions of reduction / heating, type of pellet and the binders used. A model to describe the swelling process has also been propounded.