EFFECT OF SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND WATER CONTENT ON PROPERTIES OF IRON ORE PELLETS

Iron ore fines are converted to iron by the following route: Fines --> Pellets --> Reduction to metallic Fe Therefore, the process of formation of pellets has to ensure that its product has required properties to perform as desired during the stage of reduction. This thesis, and the work done as recorded, aims at identifying the optimum values of properties of the chief raw materials of pelletization: iron ore fines and water (moisture) so that the prepared pellets exhibit maximum productivity. The size distribution and water content of the pellets need to be studied and correlated to such pellet properties as strength, percentage reduction and swelling during reduction to obtain relationships between these factors. These results can be used for adopting the most suitable values of process parameters in industrial pelletization.