Consolidation Behavior of High-Fe Manganese Ore Sinters with Natural Basicity

Abstract

ABSTRACTHigh-iron content manganese ore resources are becoming the mainstream raw ores for manganese extraction due to the depletion of high-grade manganese ores. Our previous research has reported the optimization parameters for the sintering of high-Fe manganese ore (abbr. high-Fe Mn-ore) fines. This study further investigated the consolidation behavior of high-Fe Mn-ore sinters with natural basicity. Sintering pot tests showed that the high-Fe Mn-ore sintering required high coke breeze dosage (about 9.9 wt.%). The CO content of the outlet flue gas (7.5 vol.%~8.0 vol.%) in the high-Fe Mn-ore sintering was higher than that in the ordinary iron ore sintering (1.0 vol.%~2.2 vol.%). XRD and SEM-EDS analyses indicated that the major mineral phases in the sinters included Fe-Mn oxides (FexMn3-xO4), ferrotephroite ((Fe,Mn)2SiO4), Ca-,Al-,Mn-,Fe- bearing silicate melts, and a small quantity of hausmannite (Mn3O4) and free quartz (SiO2). Optical microstructure and SEM images showed that the Fe-Mn oxides, Ca-, Al-, Mn-, Fe- bearing silicate melts and ferrotephroite particles are closely interconnected with one another. The formation of Fe-Mn oxides and ferrotephroite were beneficial to the sinter strength. Thermodynamic and phase diagram analyses further demonstrated that the major bonding phases of Fe-Mn oxides and ferrotephroite were easily formed under the strong reductive sintering atmosphere of high-Fe Mn-ores.