2.5.5.2. MEBIOS: mosaic embedding iron ore sintering

In 2001, Iron and Steel Institute of Japan began a research project on porous meso-mosaic texture sinter with the purpose of incorporating Australian goethite/limonite ores (characterized by a high proportion of ultrafine particles, up to 30% <150 μm) [16]. In this way, the purpose was to use important amounts of fine ores by controlling the void structure of the sinter bed structure (achieving a good sinter bed permeability and sinter yield). Consequence of the project is the MEBIOS process [73], which organizes dense granulated pellets in a conventional sinter mixture, allowing for obtaining well-developed voids and few pores that define a ventilation route, where the aging bed is based on Marra Mamba ore (fine ore and coarsely granulated material) while the induction bed is based on pisolitic limonite ore blended with coke and CaO [16]. In this way, dense large pellets support sinter bed and avoid sinter shrinkage, allowing the appearance of ventilation routes that improve permeability [18].

This process has another version known RF-MEBIOS (Return Fine-Mosaic Embedding Iron Ore Sintering). It was applied on Number 3 sinter plant in the NSSMC Kashima Steel Works, and then it was installed on three commercial sintering machines (Kashima, Wakayama, and Kokura) belonging to Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltc [18].

## 2.5.5.3. CAP: composite agglomeration process

Sinter and pellets are loaded in the blast furnace together, but this causes several problems associated to two aspects: spherical shape of pellets (responsible of the tendency to flow toward the center of the furnace, causing unstable operation); and, higher bulk density of pellets, making them to sink into the coke layer during the burden descent [74]. Jiang et al. developed the Composite Agglomeration Process with the purpose of solving the problems caused by the spheroidal shape of pellets and the increase in the supply of fine grained ores [74]. The process consists in: part of fine grained iron ore is transformed into 8–16 mm green pellets, while the rest and the coarse fine ores are mixed with fluxes, fuels and return fines, and then granulated (primary mixture); green pellets and primary mixture are blended (secondary mixture) and then fed to the sintering machine; the mixture is transformed into the composite agglomerate by ignition and down draft firing; finally, the composite agglomerate is crushed and screened, being the fraction <5 mm considered as return fine.

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The process was used for first time in 2008 by Baotuo Iron and Steel Company, and improvements in sinter bed permeability, decrements in fuel consumption and increases in productivity were observed [75]. Other authors studied the use of CAP in specularite ores [76], titanomagnetite concentrate [77] or fluoric iron concentrates [78].
