Utilization of charcoal in the iron-ore sintering process

Abstract

Charcoal is becoming an alternative source of energy to traditional fossil fuels such as coal and coke. In theoretical studies, some types of biomass have been identified as alternative sources of fuel to coke. The use of charcoal for sintering applications has been evaluated in separate experiments in the world. These experiments indicate that charcoal can replace a portion of the coke breeze (approximately 20-30%). The aim of this thermodynamic study was to evaluate the possibilities of charcoal utilization in iron-ore sintering process. Thermodynamic analysis has shown that the main factors determining the composition and properties of sinter are chemical composition of input materials (including fuels), thermodynamics of fuels burning, and oxidation potential of the gaseous phase (CO2/CO ratio). The main objective of this work was to determine the effects of coke substitution by charcoal in the laboratory sintering process with respect to combustion efficiency and sinter quality. The coke substitution andenergy requirement provided by charcoal was in range of 8 to 86%. The use of charcoal fuel resulted in a decrease in sintering time and the replacement of coke with charcoal may lead to increase in sinter productivity. Overall, the results from the laboratory scale tests suggest that replacement of coke breeze energy with an equivalent amount of energy from charcoal in the iron-ore sintering process is possible and has no negative inuence on technological and ecological parameters.