Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of Alumina on Calcium Ferrites Development in the Goethite Ore Sinters

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As one of the most common constituent of gangue in iron ore, it has been known that alumina plays an important role in the formation of silico ferrite of calcium aluminum (SFCA), which are derivatives of calcium ferrites. SFCA is the most desirable bonding phase in iron ore sinter due to its high reducibility and mechanical strength. Alumina has been known to promote the formation of SFCA in the sintering process of iron ore, but it also increases the porosity of sintered ore and viscosity of primary melt, and decreased the physical properties of the sintered ore. In order to achieve better understanding about the effect of alumina on sintered iron ore, three kinds of powdered iron ores were investigated under similar condition of identical alumina source and content. The iron ores used in the experiments were Carajas, Yandi, and Australian Premium Iron (API) ores. The formation temperature of primary melt, phase composition, and porosity of each sintered iron ore were measured to find out how they are related. Results showed that the estimated temperature of initial primary melt formation decreased with the addition of small amount of alumina then increased with the further addition of alumina in Yandi ore while in Carajas and API ores, the initial primary melt formation temperature was always increasing with alumina addition. More amount of calcium ferrites were formed in the Yandi and API ores sinter than in the Carajas ore sinter, which showed that the Yandi and API ores have better reactivity since they are goethite-based ores. It was concluded that the amount of calcium ferrites generated and porosity were competing factors that may govern the physical properties of sintered iron ores.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

SFCA:

Silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminum

RDI:

Reduction degradation index

LOI:

Loss on ignition

TI:

Tumbler index

API:

Australian premium iron

References

  1. Mobtaker MM, Osanloo M (2015) The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy-Smart Innovation in Mining 353–364

  2. Lu L, Holmes RJ, Manuel JR (2017) Effects of alumina on sintering performance of hematite iron ores. ISIJ Int 47(3):349–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Umadevi T, Deodar AV, Mahapatra PC, Prabhu M, Ranjan M (2009) Influence of alumina on iron ore sinter properties and productivity in the conventional and selective granulation sintering process. Steel Res Int 80(9):686–692

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sinha M, Nistala SH, Chandra S, Mankhand TR (2017) Thermodynamic study of evolution of sinter phases at different alumina level. Ironmak Steelmak 44(2):92–99

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Webster AS, Pownceby MI, Madsen IC, Kimpton, JA (2012) Silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) iron ore sinter bonding phases: new insight into their formation during heating and cooling. Metall Mater Trans B 43:1344–1357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Liao F, Guo XM (2009) Effects of Al2O3 and SiO2 on the formation process of silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) by solid-state reaction. Minerals 9(2):101. https://doi.org/10.3390/min9020101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Scarlett NVY, Madsen IC, Pownceby MI, Christensen AN (2004) In situ X-ray diffraction analysis of iron ore sinter phases. J Appl Cryst 37:362–368

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Higuchi K, Naito M, Nakano M, Takamoto Y (2004) Optimization of chemical composition and microstructure of iron ore sinter for low-temperature drip of molten iron with high permeability. ISIJ Int 44(12):2057–2066

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Machida S, Nushiro K, Ichikawa K, Noda H, Sakai H (2005) Experimental evaluation of chemical composition of viscosity of melt during iron ore sintering. ISIJ Int 45(4):513–521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Okazaki J, Higuchi K, Hosotani Y, Shinagawa K (2003) Influence of iron ore characteristics on penetration behaviour of melt into ore layer. ISIJ Int 43(9):1384–1392

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Loo CE, Leung W (2003) Factors influencing the bonding phase structure of iron ore sinters. ISIJ Int 43(9):1393–1402

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ji Z, Zhao Y, Gan M, Fan X, Chen X, Hu L (2019) Microstructure and minerals evolution of iron ore sinter: Influence of SiO2 and Al2O3. Minerals 9(7):449. https://doi.org/10.3390/min9070449

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Sinha M, Nistala SH, Chandra S, Mankhand TR, Ghose AK (2017) Correlation mechanism properties of sinter phases with their chemistry and its effect on sinter quality. Ironmak Steelmak 44(2):100–107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sinha M, Ramna RV (2009) Effect of variation of alumina on the microhadness of iron ore sinter phases. ISIJ Int 49(5):719–721

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Webster AS, O’Dea DP, Ellis BG, Pownceby MI (2017) Effects of gibbsite, kaolinite and Al-rich goethite as alumina sources on silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) and SFCA-I iron ore sinter bonding phase formation. ISIJ Int 57(1):41–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhu D, Xue Y, Pan J, Yang C, Guo Z, Tian H, Wang D, Shi Y (2020) An investigation into alumina occurance impact on SFCA formation and sinter matrix strength. JMR&T 9:10223–10234

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Chiwandika EK, Jung S-M (2020) Effect of ilmenite ore on phase development of hematite ore sinter. Metall Mater Trans B 51:1469–1484

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hsieh L-H, Whiteman JA (1989) Sintering conditions for simulating the formation of mineral phases in industrial iron ore sinter. ISIJ Int 29(I):24–32

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Webster NAS, Churchill JG, Tufaile F, Pownceby MI, Manuel JR, Kimpton JA (2016) Fundamentals of silico ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) and SFCA-I iron ore sinter bonding phase formation: effects of titanomagnetite-based ironsand and titanium addition. ISIJ Int 56(10):1715–1722

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Nicol S, Chen J, Powncerby MI, Webster NAS (2018) A review of the chemistry, structure and formation condition of silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) phases. ISIJ Int 58(12):2157–2172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Guo H, Guo XM (2019) Effect of alumina on liquid phase formation in sintering process of iron ore fines. Steel Res Int 90:1900138. https://doi.org/10.1002/srin.201900138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Ferrous and Energy Materials Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 37673, Korea

    Dali Hariswijaya, Leonardo Tomas Da Rocha, Edson Kugara Chiwandika & Sung-Mo Jung

Authors
  1. Dali Hariswijaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Leonardo Tomas Da Rocha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edson Kugara Chiwandika
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sung-Mo Jung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sung-Mo Jung.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

The contributing editor for this article was Il Sohn.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hariswijaya, D., Da Rocha, L.T., Chiwandika, E.K. et al. Effect of Alumina on Calcium Ferrites Development in the Goethite Ore Sinters. J. Sustain. Metall. 8, 257–273 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00477-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00477-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation