Measurement of thermal properties of iron oxide pellets

Abstract

The thermal properties of iron oxide pellets of different porosity and prepared by reduction at different rates were investigated in the range of room temperature to about 800°C. The thermal diffusivity a was measured by a laser flash method and the specific heat C _p was measured by adiabatic scanning calorimetry. The thermal conductivity was calculated from the relation λ=aC _ρ p, where ρ is the density of the specimen.

For nonreduced iron oxide pellets, the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity decreased with increase in temperature and porosity. The specific heat increased with increasing temperature and there was a transformation point at which the specific heat reached a maximum. In prereduced iron oxide pellets, the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity were very small compared with the nonreduced pellets and they gradually increased with increasing temperature. The specific heat had a minimum and a maximum at about 300 and 600°C, respectively, and the scale of these features became smaller with increase in the reduction rate.