An Optimal Route for the Preparation of Metallized Composite Pellets from Ilmenite Concentrate

The present communication describes an investigation on the preparation of metallized composite pellets from ilmenite concentrate. It was observed that the pellet size in the range of 8–12 mm, a binder dosage of 4 wt%, and internal carbon of 5 wt% are the optimum levels that help the pellets attain the desired drop number (~ 10) and dry strength (~ 30 kg/pellet). When subjected to reduction tests at a temperature of 1200 °C for 6 h, the composite pellets show better metallization (~ 80%) than the raw ilmenite pellets with an equal amount of reductant. The reduced ilmenite composite pellets also display a reasonable decrepitation value of 4.9%, thereby making them suitable to be used directly in arc furnaces for titania slag production. A comparative characterization study by SEM–EDS indicated that larger amounts of metallic grains are uniformly distributed throughout the matrix in the composite pellets. Graphical Abstract