Reactions between Iron Oxide and gangue minerals at 1273 K under Ar atmosphere

Abstract

CO2 discharged from iron and steelmaking companies is an example of the biggest issues for the protection of global environment and sustainable growth of steelmaking industry. One of the ideas to decrease CO2 emission and energy consumption from ironmaking process is to decrease the average process temperature during ironmaking. This project mainly to investigate on the behaviour of the gangue minerals (Al2O3, SiO2, MgO and CaO) with iron ore and iron oxide at a lower temperature, (1000˚C). The reactivity of each gangue minerals will influence the reaction mechanisms and surface morphology. By applying Powder Metallurgy (PM) method, the samples were mix with a different ratio 1:1, of minimum oxide and iron ore with each gangue minerals, compact and reduce in a tube furnace for 2 hours. Initial and final weight will be taken in order to determine the effectiveness of the reactivity of the gangue minerals with iron ore/oxide. The reactivity of MgO tends to be higher based on the observed peak from the XRD analysis. The formation of iron whisker that relates with the swelling index of the iron can be seen by SEM when SiO2 and CaO added in the samples. Low weight reduced indicates the higher reactivity occurs. This project mainly concentrate in the production of iron in a low temperature that can not only safe for the environment but also save energy and cost consumptions