Effect of bentonite and molasses binder content on physical and mechanical properties of green and fired mill scale pellets

Abstract The present research reports the effect of binder addition on the physical and mechanical properties of green and fired mill scale pellets. A mixture of mill scale powder and varying weight percentage of bentonite (1, 1.5 and 2 wt.%) and molasses (2.5, 5 and 7.5 wt.%) binders were used separately to prepare green mill scale pellets by hand rolling to form spherical balls of diameter around 10 mm and then fired at 1,100 °C for 1 h. It was observed that the moisture content in pellets made with the addition of bentonite was found in the range of (6.16–6.70 wt.%) which was higher compared to those made with the addition of molasses (2.40–4.18 wt.%). A drop number in the range of (1.33–5.33) and (20.33–47.67) were observed for bentonite and molasses bonded pellets respectively. The compressive strength for bentonite bonded pellets varied from (633–780) N cm −2 and molasses bonded pellets it ranged from (179–213) N cm −2 . X-ray diffraction study revealed the formation of only hematite phase after sintering at 1,100 °C.