Thermodynamic modeling of converter sludge sintering

Currently, a promising area is the development of technologies for sintering or briquetting of converter sludge. Recycling of this sludge into production will allow solving a number of important tasks for modern metallurgy in the utilization of man-made waste, saving raw materials and reducing the cost of steel. The efficiency of utilizing useful components in the composition of briquettes is significantly higher than in any other state (in a fine or polydisperse fraction, in sorted form). In this paper, we consider the development and justification of an integrated approach to thermochemical sintering of converter sludge based on conditioning of iron-containing sludge by non-thermal adsorption dehydration and thermochemical sintering with simultaneous reduction of iron from oxides. Adsorption dehydration to a moisture content of 2 – 3 % is provided by a short-term contact of iron-containing slimes with a porous energy carrier, brown coal semi-coke, which is separated by pneumoseparation and sent for energy technological use, and the iron-containing product mixed with coals is subjected to thermo-oxidative coking. Coking is carried out in an annular furnace with a rotating hearth, where, when temperatures reach 1050 – 1100 °C, a large and durable lump material is formed with 55 – 60 % of the iron-containing product with almost complete reduction. Thermodynamic modeling of converter sludge sintering with coals was carried out. A tool for performing computational experiments using methods of thermodynamic modeling of the studied object was the Terra software package designed to calculate the thermodynamic properties and composition of the phases of equilibrium state of arbitrary systems with chemical and phase transformations. The results of thermodynamic modeling were fully confirmed by the experimental studies. The obtained material is an analog of ferrocox containing 35 – 39 % of iron and 45 – 49 % of carbon, while the zinc oxide content does not exceed 0.017 %.