Article ID: ISIJINT-2022-009
Wet granulation of iron ore powders is a key process in ironmaking. In wet granulation, it is important to determine the optimum content of water added to the original ore powders. To determine the optimum water content, it is important to understand the saturation state in wet ore powder, which can be done by measuring the agitation torque of the wet powder. This study proposes a methodology for determining the optimum water content of various iron ore powders using the agitation torque of wet ore powders. First, measurement of the agitation torque and wet granulation of various iron ore powders were conducted. By comparing the results, it was found that the optimum water content, which was defined as the minimum water content required to diminish fine particles in the original powder, corresponded to the water content exhibiting the maximum agitation torque, regardless of the original powder. Using the agitation torque at different water contents, the saturation degree S, which is the volume ratio of water to the interparticle voids, was calculated, resulting in a range of 0.999 ≤ S ≤ 1.173 at the optimum water content. This suggests that the state between the funicular and capillary states is a suitable saturation state for the wet granulation of ore powders. Consequently, it was demonstrated that it is possible to determine the optimum water content for wet granulation of various iron ore powders based on the water content exhibiting the maximum agitation torque of wet ore powders.
