Characterization of sinter return fines

Sintering is agglomeration of fine grained iron ore for blast furnace burden preparation. During the sinter transportation process fine sinter (–5 mm) is produced which cannot be charged in the blast furnace as high percentage of fines creates gas flow problem in blast furnace. The screened sinter is recycled to the raw material bedding and blending plant. The productions of these fines therefore result in loss of revenue for the sinter plant. In SP#4 around 22–25% of the return fines are generated, which is much higher than the world average of 15%. The aim of this project is to study the composition and phase chemistry of return fines. Iron ore sinter samples were collected from sinter plant of Tata Steel. Different size fractions of the return fines were subjected to chemical analysis and characterization study. It was observed that there is difference in chemistry (mainly Alumina content) as well as in phase percentage of the different size fractions of the return fine