New pilot furnace for simulation of the firing of iron ore pellets in the Travelling Grate and Grate Kiln processes

The present work has aimed to design, build and put into operation a pilot furnace comprised by a pot grate and a rotary kiln for utilization in the simulation of firing experiments of hematite iron ore pellets both with the Travelling Grate and the Grate Kiln processes. With the furnace already made evaluation tests were performed with all the process control equipments and trimming and calibrating them when necessary. The firing conditions/thermal profile for a typical brazilian hematite ore were determined conducting the firing experiments for a blast furnace pellet type utilizing the Grate Kiln process. In the firing experiments performed it was demonstrated the technical feasibility of the production of blast furnace pellets made with hematite with excellent physical quality compared to the typical quality of pellets produced in the Travelling Grate process.