Effects of Specularite on the Preheating and Roasting Characteristics of Fluorine-Bearing Iron Concentrate Pellets

Abstract

Fluorine-bearing iron ore is unique and complex. Serious preheating and roasting problems of fluorine-bearing iron concentrate pellets appear during the industrial production by the grate-kiln process. Besides, specularite has low hydrophilicity, undesirable particle size and shape, dense and smooth particle surface and poor assimilation performance. Thus, it has not yet been widely applied in production. This study applied the specularite to improve the preheating and roasting characteristics of the fluorine-bearing iron concentrate pellets. The experiment results indicated that the roasting properties of fluorine-bearing iron concentrate pellets were improved and the compression strength of roasted pellets increased with the addition of 10% specularite. The suitable roasting temperature range was expanded to more than 140 °C. Compared to other addition, the total iron of pellets was also increased. In addition, the improvement mechanism of adding specularite on the properties of fluorine-bearing iron concentrate pellets was discussed.