Influence of Thermal Treatment and handling Conditions on Fired Pellet Physical Properties

摘要

Over the last 5 years, a major research program was conducted at the CRM pilot plant to evaluate the feasibility of using larger pellets for the continuous recirculation of the hearth layer. The objective was to avoid contamination of fresh production with lower quality recycled pellets. This project led to the questioning of some fundamental aspects of pelletizing, such as idealpellet diameter and validity of the actual physical tests used to characterize pellet deterioration during transportation. This paper also describes a new drop test which can be used to evaluate fired pellet strength and to predict more precisely their behavior during subsequent handling. The test can also serve als a tool to diagnose process problems, maximize furnace productivity and minimize energy consumption.