Microwave Assisted Liberation of High Phosphorus Oolitic Iron Ore

The influence of microwave treatment on the liberation of iron ore from the high phosphorus oolitic iron ore from Aswan region, Egypt was studied. The effect of microwave power, exposure time and grain size on the liberation of iron ore was investigated. The microfractures and cracks of the samples were characterized before and after microwave treatments. The heating rate of high phosphorus oolitic iron ore was studied. Crystallinity of hematite was characterized before and after microwave pretreatment. The results indicated that intergranular fractures formed between the gangues (fluorapatite and chamosite) and hematite after microwave treatment, leading to improved liberation of iron ore and a significant reduction in comminution energy. Percentages of fraction ≤ -0.125 mm increased from 46.6% to 59.76% with increased exposure time from 0 to 60 seconds. The heating rate of iron ore showed that microwave treatment was less efficient at smaller particle sizes for a fixed applied power density. Crystallinity of hematite increased with the microwave exposure time.

Reduction Characteristics of High Phosphorus Iron Ore in Reducing Parameters Similar to Blast Furnace Conditions

The strong global demand for iron and steel has necessitated the utilization of various low grade iron ores, which are not suitable for direct utilization in ironmaking processes. The low grade iron ores cannot be dressed effectively using the traditional mineral processing methods because of complicated min-eral compositions. The main problem associated with exploiting these deposits is the dissemination of fine silicate minerals and the high level of phosphorus content due to the poor liberation of iron minerals from the gangues. The pre-sent manuscript is aimed to investigate reduction properties of iron ores rich in phosphorous in order to study the suitability of using these ores in iron blast furnace. Representative technological samples of iron ore are collected from Eastern South Aswan iron ore mine in Egypt. The principal gangue contents are SiO2 7.76%, and P2O5 1.13%. Iron and phosphorus exist in the form of hematite 78% and apatite respectively. The ore was fired at 1000°C for 3 hours. The green and fired samples were isothermally reduced at conditions which closely represent the theoretical reduction conditions in different zones of blast furnace. The influence of reduction conditions on the reduction behaviour and the morphology of the reduced samples were investigated. After reduction apatite is changed to Calcium phosphate beside fayalite and quartz. The reduction rate of fired samples is greater than that for the green ones and that was confirmed by morphological examination. At cohesive zone condition, the effect of firing on reduction characteristics cannot be distinguished.

Phosphorus Removal of High Phosphorus Iron Ore by Gas-Based Reduction and Melt Separation

A new method （gas-based separation plus melt separation） has been proposed to remove phosphorus of the high phosphorus iron ore which was 1.25 % of phosphorus content and 50. 0% of iron content. HSC chemistry package and the coexistence theory of slag structure were adopted for theoretical analysis. The gas-based reduction was carried out using a fixed bed reactor and the ore sample of 80 g with an average particle size of 2 mm were reduced using CO or H2 at temperature of 1 073 K for 5 hours. 50 g of the reduced sample with 3.0% CaO as additive was then subjected to melt separation in an electric furnace at temperature of 1 873 K under Ar atmosphere. In each run, SEM, EDS, optical microscopic examination and chemical analysis of the reduced ore sample, the metal sample and the slag sample were conducted. Results of all gas-based reduction experiments showed that iron metallization ratios were some 65% and the phosphorus compounds in the ore remained unchanged. It was agreed well with the simula- tions except for the iron metallization rate being less than predicted value; this difference was attributed to kinetics. Results of melt separation experiments showed that P content in metal samples is 0.33% （metal sample from H2 reduction product） and 0.27% （metal sample from CO reduction product）. The phosphorus partition ratios of both cases were less than predicted values. Some P in the metal samples existed as slag inclusion was considered to be the reason for this discrepancy.

Removal of Phosphorus From High Phosphorus Iron Ores by Selective HCl Leaching Method

The selective HCl leaching method was used to remove phosphorus from high phosphorus iron ores. The hydroxyapatite in high phosphorus iron ores was converted into soluble phosphate during the process of HCl leaching. The effects of reaction time,particle size,hydrochloric acid concentration,reaction temperature,liquid-solid ratio and stirring strength on the dephosphorization ratio were studied. The results showed that the dephosphorization ratio can exceed 98% under the conditions of reaction time 30-45 min,particle size 0.147 mm,hydrochloric acid concentration 2.5 mol/L,reaction temperature 25 ℃,liquid-solid ratio 5：1 and stirring strength 5.02-12.76 s-1. After dephosphorization reaction,the content of phosphorus in iron ore complied completely with the requirements of steel production.

Phosphorus migration mechanism between iron and high phosphorus gangue phase at high temperatures

The phosphorus migration mechanism during melting separation of non-carbon-reduced high phosphorus iron ore was investigated.Firstly,the equilibrium compositions of hydrogen-reduced high phosphorus iron ore at different temperatures were simulated by the use of equilibrium composition module of HSC Chemistry software.Then,thermodynamic calculation was verified by the real heat treatment of simulated hydrogen-reduced high phosphorus iron ore with several pure reagents including self-made pure fluorapatite.The iron particles in the simulated samples gathered and grew up during heat treatment.Meanwhile,the hypoeutectic structure of Fe-P with grid shape of high phosphorus phase and circular shape of low phosphorus phase emerged within those iron particles.With the penetration of phosphorus from the periphery into the iron particles,the grid structure became denser and denser.It proves that the elemenlal phosphorus can be reduced from the gangue phase by metallic iron without solid carbon at high temperatures.

Intensifying Gaseous Reduction of High Phosphorus Iron Ore Fines by Microwave Pretreatment

Gaseous reduction kinetics of the high phosphorus iron ore fines from Hubei in China and effect of microwave pretreatment on the gaseous reduction behavior were studied. Gaseous reduction kinetics were investigated by TG （Thermogravimetric） methods using LINSEIS STA PT 1600 thermal analysis equipment. Microwave pretreatments to the ore fines with four power levels were performed using a high temperature microwave reactor. Its effect was examined by TG methods and its mechanism was analyzed by SEM （scanning electron microscope） and EDS （energy dispersive spectrometer）. Gaseous reduction tests were carried out using a tubular furnace. Results of kinetic study indicate that controlling step of the gaseous reduction of the ore fines is a mixing control of gas internal diffusion and interface chemical reaction when reduction fraction is less than 0.8 and is solid state diffusion when reduction fraction is more than 0.8. Microwave pretreatment of the ore fines could change the pore structure of the oolitic unit to generate cracks, fissures and loose zones, which promotes reduction in the early stage and delays the occurrence of sintering. Gaseous reduction tests show in the condition that the ore fines are pretreated with a microwave power of 450 W for 4 min and reduced under temperature of 1 273 K, the gaseous reduction of the ore fines could be apparently intensified. Using CO or H2 as a reductant and ore fines being reduced for 1.5 to 2 h , increase of metallization rate of the ore fines is 10% to 13%.