Effect of coke ratio on pore structure evolution in the high-temperature zone of sintering bed

Abstract

The high-temperature zone of the sintering bed is the crucial area for material change and structural remodeling, and the heat is provided by coke combustion. Understanding how fuel combustion affects bed structure is of great significance to optimize sintering parameters and sintering quality. In this study, sintering pot tests were carried out under three coke ratios of 4.5%, 5.0% and 5.5%, and liquid nitrogen was used to quench the high-temperature zone sintering. The clear internal structure of the high-temperature zone sinter was obtained using X-ray computed tomography (XCT). Results show that with the increase of coke ratio, the porosity in the high-temperature zone decreases from 54.29% to 51.04% and 48.07%, and the number of terminal nodes, branch nodes and segments of the pore skeleton decreases by 51.6%, 55.2% and 53.1% respectively. The pores in the high-temperature zone are fully fused and developed.