The problem of the Iron Ore Fines in India

Data has been reported regarding availability and quality of iron ore fines including blue dust. It has been shown that in many cases beneficiation or pretreatment of the ore is necessary before use. As economic consideration is the deciding factor in the selection of the beneficiation technique a term 'Economic Index' has been introduced to evaluate the performance of beneficiation process. From a study of different sintering and pelletization methods followed by Indian steel plants and the raw materials available, it has been concluded that pelletization has much wider scope than sintering. Experimental investigations have, therefore, been carried out on the pelletization of blue dust from Goa and the importance of size, composition basicity on the pellet strength and energy requirement in firing has been brought out. Lastly, on the basis of available informations an idea has been given regarding the capital and process cost in pelletization industry. (P.Sen and D.D.Misra, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur)