Abstract
Abstract Demand for iron ore worldwide has been steadily increasing, thus implying an increase in the volume of mining resulting in the extraction of ores with higher levels of silicon, phosphorus and sulfur impurities. An extensively used alternative is to perform a pre-treatment of the particles in order to reach the acceptable phosphorus limit in iron ore before its use in steel production. This study aims at the evaluation of the heating process and decrease of the phosphorus content of the particles using microwave energy in iron ore samples percolated by sulfuric acid followed by the leaching technique as a feasible route for the remotion of the phosphorus content in iron ore particles. Using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and statistical analysis techniques, it was possible to observe the characteristics of the iron ore particles after treatment with microwave energy. The results indicated that the developed process is feasible. The results of the kinetic simulation contribute to a better understanding of the phenomena of heating using microwave energy and also to the development of new cleaner technologies aiming to improve the efficiency of the acid baking - leaching technique for the reduction of the phosphorus content in iron ore particles.
Highlights
Iron ore is the most widely mined mineral resource in the Earth’s crust, being the main raw material used in the steel industry
The equilibrium composition of sulfuric acid as a function of temperature using the HSC Chemistry TM 7.1 equilibration modulus can be seen in Figure 7, where it shows that the sulfuric acid solution is decomposed at temperatures above 200°C
The results presented and discussed in this paper are in accordance with those reported by Silva et al.[21,22,23] and Silva[23], where it was observed that after the pretreatment with the microwave energy, the same decrease in the tendency of the diffusional control in the iron ore particles to the particles of the same granulometry without the occurrence of pretreatment[23]
Summary
Iron ore is the most widely mined mineral resource in the Earth’s crust, being the main raw material used in the steel industry. According to the Center for Management and Strategic Studies in its publication entitled “Steel Industry in Brazil 2010-2015”, it was reported the expectation that plowed ores will have higher levels of phosphorus and alumina Such ores, when used as raw material in the steel industry, cause serious damage due to mineralogy and the formation of compounds complexed with phosphorus, which causes significant impacts on the costs and waste generated. According to the work of Young-shi et al.[2] titled “Removal of phosphorus from iron ores by chemical leaching”, it was reported that the casting process obtains great efficiency for the dephosphorization of the iron ore, the process has disadvantages, such as high cost and high energy consumption (fossil fuel) This fact can be attributed to the way in which the element phosphorus can be found in iron ore particles. The phosphorus element can be found in the ore particles complexed with
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