ISSN 0967!0912, Steel in Translation, 2011, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 400403. Allerton Press, Inc., 2011.

Original Russian Text B.P. Yurev, N.A. Spirin, 2011, published in Stal, 2011, No. 5, pp. 912.

Oxidation of Iron!Ore Pellets

B. P. Yureva and N. A. Spirinb
a

Pervouralsk Branch, Ural Federal University, Pervouralsk, Russia

b
Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia

AbstractThe oxidation of magnetite in the roasting of iron!ore pellets is considered, with particular atten!
tion to the influence of various technological factors on the process. Laboratory data are used in optimizing
the design and operational parameters of individual zones in conveyer roasting machines for the heat treat!
ment of magnetite pellets.
DOI: 10.3103/S0967091211050202

The oxidation of magnetite is one of the primary

physicochemical processes associated with the heat
treatment of magnetite pellets. The hematite formed
on roasting pellets is a very active chemical compo!
nent. Sintering of the hematite grains increases the
pellet strength and significantly intensifies the solid!
phase reactions with lime. The end of oxidation is
associated with uniform pellet structure. As a rule, the
presence of an unoxidized core is associated with the
appearance of concentric cracks between the hematite
periphery and the magnetite core, which are often
responsible for pellet disintegration on transportation
and reduction in the blast furnace [1, 2]. The temper!
ature range of oxidation has a great influence on the
properties of the pellets and especially their behavior
on reduction, since the oxidation of magnetite in the
pellets determines the formation of solid!phase fer!
rites [3].
The oxidation of magnetite is accompanied by
considerable heat liberation [4]. Knowing the temper!
ature range of magnetite oxidation, we may distribute
the heat sources rationally over the conveyer roasting
machine. Therefore, it is of interest to study the oxida!
tion of magnetite and the influence of various factors
on this process.
Knowing the oxidation kinetics of iron!ore pellets
at high temperatures is also useful in assessing the
completion of roasting at any time and in optimizing
the thermal conditions within the zones of the roasting
machine.

rates in conveyer machines. The pellets are then

roasted at 9001350C and held at these temperatures
for 5, 10, and 15 min.
In series II, we use a Tamman furnace. The pellets
are placed in a quartz tube (diameter 40 mm), through
which air is passed at 40 l/min. The roasting condi!
tions are as follows:
roasting temperature: 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1100,
1200, 1250, 1300, and 1350C;
roasting time: 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min;
initial furnace temperature: 300C (or the roast!
ing temperature);
cooling conditions: to 1000C in the furnace;
then in air; in air again; and in water.
The roasted pellets are subjected to mineralogical,
chemical, and phasechemical analysis. The oxida!
tion is extremal, according to the results of chemical
analysis for ferrous oxide (Fig. 1). Beginning at 600C,
the FeO content in the pellets sharply falls, with a min!
imum at 10501100C. Further temperature increase
produces more melt in the pellets and accelerates liq!
uid!phase sintering. The degree of isothermal oxida!
tion is reduced, and the FeO content in the pellets
rises. With increase in the roasting time, the FeO con!
tent in the pellets declines at all roasting temperatures;
at 13001350C, it is the same for any roasting time.
Table 1. Characteristics of pellet and concentrate samples

In our experiments, fluxed pellets obtained from

Sokolovsko!Sarbaisk concentrate are used in series I
(Table 1). The pellets are roasted in a tubular electro!
furnace with a device for air heating (at air flow rates
of 55 l/min). A flow rate of 0.200.25 m/s is sufficient
to allow the external diffusional drag to be ignored [5].
The roasting conditions are as follows. First, the pel!
lets are dried for 1 min at a gas temperature of 300C;
then they are heated at 800C for 5 min. The heating
rate is 180200C/min and corresponds to the actual
400

Material
Concentrate
Pellets of
basicity:
0.8
1.2
1.4

Content, wt %

Moisture
content,
CaO
%

Fe

FeO

SiO2

66.2

0.46

28.3

4.3

1.24

10.0

62.4
60.8
60.0

0.46
0.45
0.45

26.0
25.6
24.7

4.5
4.5
4.5

3.60
5.40
6.30

9.3
9.1
8.8

OXIDATION OF IRON!ORE PELLETS

STEEL IN TRANSLATION

Vol. 41

No. 5

2011

24

20
2
16
FeO, %

Table 2 illustrates the influence of pellet heating

and cooling on the FeO content. It is evident that, with
increase in roasting temperature, the FeO content in
the pellets rises in any heating and cooling conditions.
With decrease in the heating and cooling rates, the
FeO content declines.
To study the oxidation of pellets roasted in the
given conditions, we create polished diametric sec!
tions. Their inspection under a microscope reveals dif!
ferent patterns of magnetite replacement by hematite,
corresponding to the degree of magnetite oxidation.
The deposition of secondary hematite depends on
the roasting temperature and time. Low!temperature
hematite in the form of relatively small acicular depos!
its at the edges of the magnetite grains is observed in
the outer region of the pellet at 400, 600, 800, and
100C, with holding for 20, 10, 5, and 2 min, respec!
tively. In the central zone, such hematite is observed
after longer roasting.
Complete oxidation of the magnetite at the pellet
surface is observed at 800, 1000, and 1100C, with
decrease in holding time from 20 to 2 min. In the cen!
ter, the magnetite grains are completely oxidized at
1000C (15!min holding) and 1100C (10!min hold!
ing). With increase in temperature to 1200C (5!min
holding), recrystallization of the secondary hematite
begins; its grains take on microcrystalline isometric
form.
At 1250C (5!min holding), the hematite dissolves
in the melt that forms. With increase in the holding
time, solution begins at 1200C. Above 1300C, the
hematite dissociates and is replaced by magnetite in
the maghemite stage. Research shows that, on high!
temperature roasting, considerable quantities of
maghemite are formed.
In the peripheral zone of pellets heated with the
furnace to 1350C and then quenched in water, relics
of molten hematite grains may be seen in the field of
well!crystallized secondary magnetite grains. Hema!
tite formed below 1200C dissociates, with the forma!
tion of secondary magnetite. Fast cooling of pellets
roasted at high temperature is associated with the for!
mation of maghemite or a solid solution of maghemite
with magnetite.
Chemical analysis indicates the presence of
maghemite in the pellets. The excess FeO in relation
to the hematite observed under a microscope may be
attributed to maghemite. For comparison, we consider
the quantity of ferrous oxide in the magnetic fraction
of the pellets and the elementary!cell dimension of the
magnetite. The presence of Fe2O3 in the solid solution
reduces the cell dimension.
At 1100C, the oxidation of the pellets is a maxi!
mum; the magnetite grains are completely oxidized
over the whole pellet. With increase in temperature in
the center of the pellet, no hematite is formed. At
1250C, hematite begins to dissolve in the slag melt.

401

12

8
4

0
400 800 1200
Roasting temperature, C
Fig. 1. Ferrous!oxide content in pellets as a function of
the temperature, in roasting for 5 (1), 10 (2), 15 (3), and
20 (4) min.

In high!temperature roasting, the hematite disso!

ciates and secondary magnetite with a high Fe2O3 con!
tent is formed in the maghemite stage. Thanks to this
component and the maghemite in the pellets roasted
at high temperatures, they are satisfactorily hardened
on reduction.
On roasting, the hardening of pellets obtained from
rich ore or concentrate with a low content of barren
rock is predominantly due to recrystallization of the
ore grains, which are bonded by crosslinks or form
aggregations in the course of diffusion in the solid or
plastic state. If the unroasted concentrate has an ele!
vated content of barren rock, with slag!forming or
binding agents, slag binding predominates in the
roasted pellets. The presence of about 10% of such
agents is sufficient to form such bonds. In these condi!
tions, isolated ore grains appear in the slag mass.
Table 2. Ferrous!oxide content in pellets as a function of
the temperature (roasting time 10 min), %
FeO content in pellets in different heating and
cooling conditions, %
initial furnace temperature equal
initial
Roasting
to roasting temperature
furnace
temperature,
temperature
C
cooling
300C,
cooling cooling in furnace
cooling
in water in air to 1000C,
in water
then in air
1100
1200
1250
1300
1350

Trace
No data
No data
No data
17.5

4.61
8.65
14.77
19.00
18.50

No data
No data
13.40
12.38
17.00

4.35
6.80
14.00
8.23
13.00

402

YUREV, SPIRIN

Degree of oxidation, %

100
4
3
80 5
60
2
40
1
20
100
80
60
40
20
0
100
80
60
40
20
0

(a)
6

80
60
(b)

5
6

40

0
(c)

2
3

20

Oxidation, %
100
1

2 4 6 8 10 12
Roasting time, min

Fig. 3. Kinetic curves of the oxidation of iron!ore pellets at

1100C (2, 4, 6) and 1300C (1, 3, 5) when the basicity is
0.8 (1, 2), 1.2 (3, 4), and 1.4 (5, 6).

2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Roasting time, min

Fig. 2. Kinetic curves of the oxidation of iron!ore pellets at

900C (1), 1000C (2), 1100C (3), 1200C (4), 1300C
(5), and 1350C (6) when the basicity is 0.8 (a), 1.2 (b),
and 1.4 (c).

In the present case, porosity and clastic micro!

structure is retained in the pellets up to 6001100C
(with holding for 302 min). Only the removal of car!
bon dioxide on carbonate decomposition produces
larger pores. With increase in temperature, the small
hematite grains at the contact point fuse together,
forming crosslinks, but there are no bonds in the pel!
lets; blastoclastic microstructure is formed.
At 1000C (20!min holding) and 1100C (5!min
holding), hematite bonds is formed to create the pel!
lets ore framework. At first, these bonds are weak, but
recrystallization of the hematite on increasing the
roasting time and temperature strengthens the pellet.
The microstructure becomes porphyroblastic, since
the initial silicates retain their grain shape and form
porphyric inclusions in the hematite binder; corre!
spondingly, the small pores combine and take on a
twisting outline. Above 1250C (10!min holding), the
formation of slag binder begins. At high temperature,
the liquid phase steeps all the pellets cementing the
magnetite grains; in other words, slag binder is formed.
The strongest pellets are those that pass through the
liquid!phase stage and are characterized by uniform
granular crystalline structure. This pellet structure is
obtained in high!temperature roasting (above
1300C).
The oxidation kinetics of iron!ore pellets may be
studied in a vertical tube furnace. In Fig. 2, we plot
kinetic oxidation curves for fluxed pellets. It is evident
that, with increase in roasting temperature, the degree
of magnetite oxidation increases up to 1300C for pel!

lets of basicity 0.8 (whose properties resemble those of

unfluxed pellets) but only up to 1200C for pellets of
basicity 1.2 and 1.4. With further increase in tempera!
ture, the degree of oxidation sharply falls. With
increase in basicity from 0.8 (Fig. 2a) to 1.2 (Fig. 2b)
and 1.4 (Fig. 2c), the degree of magnetite oxidation
begins to fall. This is especially pronounced above
1200C. Thus, the degree of oxidation is 100% for pel!
lets of basicity 0.8 at 1200C, with 10!min holding
(curve 4), but 92% for pellets of basicity 1.2 and 80%
for pellets of basicity 1.4. For 1300C, the correspond!
ing figures are 100, 85, and 75%. For pellets of basicity
1.2 and 1.4, 100% magnetite oxidation is observed on
roasting for more than 15 min at 10001200C. There
is no extensive development of liquid phases in that
case.
The dependence of the degree of oxidation on the
temperature and basicity is more clearly shown in
Fig. 3. It is evident that, with 7!min heat treatment, the
degree of oxidation is 70 (1), 80 (3), and 90% (5)
at 1100C and 78 (2), 88 (4), and 100% (6) at 1300C.
With increase in the basicity, the degree of oxidation
falls.
With different basicity, the maximum degree of oxi!
dation is observed at 11001200C: 100, 90, and 85%
for basicity 0.8, 1.2, and 1.4, respectively. At 1350
1400C, the degree of oxidation approaches the initial
value (at 900C), on account of dissociation of the
hematite. Thus, roasting with holding at 1100
1150C produces the maximum degree of magnetite
oxidation.
It is evident in Fig. 4 that the strength of roasted pel!
lets falls markedly with increase in the basicity, except
for the case of pellets roasted at 1100 and 1200C, for
which the strength begins to rise at basicity 1.2. The
drop in pellet strength with increase in basicity at
900 and 1000C is explained in that these temperatures
are not characterized by fusion of the silicate minerals
or by linking of the small hematite grains to form a
chain that may recrystallize and create a hematite
framework for the pellet. The growth in pellet strength
observed at basicity 1.2 and above, at temperatures of
STEEL IN TRANSLATION

Vol. 41

No. 5

2011

OXIDATION OF IRON!ORE PELLETS

1600

Strength, N/pellet

Strength, N/pellet

2000
1

1200

800

400
0
0.8

1.2
1.0
Pellet basicity

403

1600
800

1
2
3

0
900 1100 1300
Roasting pellet, C

1.4

Fig. 4. Strength of pellets of different basicity roasted at

1350C (1), 1300C (2), 1200C (3), 1100C (4), 1000C
(5), and 900C (6), with 5!min holding.

Fig. 5. Temperature dependence of the pellet strength with

10!min holding, when the basicity is 0.8 (1), 1.2 (2), and
1.4 (3).

1100 and 1200C, is due to the formation of hematite

binder: an ore framework whose strength increases with
rise in the treatment temperature.

of the heat treatment on OK!108 (OK!116) roasting

machines at Sokolovsko!Sarbaisk enrichment facility.

In Fig. 5, we see that the pellet strength increases

with increase in treatment temperature to 1250
1300C, regardless of the basicity. Above 1300C, the
strength falls for pellets of basicity 1.2 (2) and 1.4 (3),
because the removal of oxygen and the restructuring of
the crystal lattice in the pellets outer shell (associated
with the dissociation of hematite and the formation of
secondary magnetite) increases the microporosity and
ultraporosity, which weakens the bonds in the structure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was performed under state contract
02.740.11.0152 of the Federal Agency on Science and
Innovation.

CONCLUSIONS
By mineralogical, chemical, and phasechemical
analysis, we have studied the oxidation of iron!ore pel!
lets produced from Sokolovsko!Sarbaisk concentrate.
We have investigated the temperature conditions of
structure formation and the bonds between the miner!
als in the pellets. The oxidation of magnetite was con!
sidered for different heat!treatment conditions. The
dynamics of magnetite oxidation, hematite dissocia!
tion, mineral formation, and strength development in
the pellets was studied as a function of the temperature
and treatment time. The results permit optimization

STEEL IN TRANSLATION

Vol. 41

No. 5

2011

REFERENCES
1. Melamud, S.G. and Yurev, B.P., Oxidation Kinetics of
TitaniumMagnetite Kachkanar Pellets, Metally,
2000, no. 1, pp. 310.
2. Melamud, S.G., Lopatin, Yu.N., and Yurev, B.P.,
Stress State in Roasted Zonal Pellets, Metally, 2002,
no. 1, pp. 39.
3. Yurev, B.P., Bratchikov, S.G., Desyatnik, V.N., et al.,
Temperature Intervals and Kinetics of the Oxidation of
Iron!Ore Granules, Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved., Chern.
Metall., 1970, no. 10, pp. 2124.
4. Yurev, B.P. and Bratchikov, S.G., Heat of Oxidation of
Natural Magnetite, Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved., Chern.
Metall., 1970, no. 6, pp. 1619.
5. Berman, Yu.A. and Markov, A.D., Oxidation Kinetics
of Magnetite!Concentrate Pellets, Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn.
Zaved., Chern. Metall., 1971, no. 1, pp. 3134.