Beneficiation Plants and Pelletizing Plants for Utilizing

Low Grade Iron Ore

Tsutomu NOMURA ＊1, Norihito YAMAMOTO ＊2, Takeshi FUJII ＊2, Yuta TAKIGUCHI ＊3
＊1
Technology & Process Engineering Dept., Iron Unit Div., Engineering Business
＊2
Plant Engineering Dept., Iron Unit Div., Engineering Business
＊3
Ironmaking Dept., Kakogawa Works, Iron & Steel Business

Recently, the grade of iron ore deposits has deteriorated be built in the future.
and further development of low grade deposits is Kobe Steel's pelletizing process, called the
desired. Presently, the most effective and often followed KOBELCO Pelletizing System, has various
route taken to utilize such deposits is the provision of advantages and incorporates many improvements
beneficiation plants for upgrading iron ore and pelletizing made on the basis of R&D and operating experiences
plants for agglomerating. Kobe Steel has much experience at the company's own facility. Kobe Steel has
in constructing both beneficiation and pelletizing constructed and delivered a number of such plants
plants and has its own pelletizing process (KOBELCO across the world. The specifics of these plants are
pelletizing system). This paper contains general also explained in this paper.
information on beneficiation and pelletizing plants,
including future expectations for them, and introduces 1. Iron ore - supply and demand outline
the latest activities in connection with the KOBELCO
pelletizing system, with a view to the future. 1.1 Types of iron ore

Introduction Iron ores can be classified in different ways. The

most important has to do with the iron content. In
The production of iron and steel has significantly many cases, ore with a total iron content of 60% to
expanded in recent years, particularly in newly 63%, or greater, is regarded as high grade, and ore
developing countries such as China and India. This with a lower iron content is regarded as low grade.
has resulted in a large increase in the demand for Ores are also classified as follows, according to their
iron ore. The quality of iron ore deposits, however, size and the processing method.
has deteriorated worldwide as a result of long-term - Lump: Ore lumps have diameters of
mining, and the existing mines are having increasing approximately 10mm to 40mm and
difficulty in producing ore with a high grade of are charged as-is into a blast furnace
iron by simple screening. Currently, blast furnaces or into a direct reduction furnace.
are mainly used for ironmaking. They would suffer - Fine: Ore fines have diameters of
from greatly reduced productivity and a high energy approximately 0.15mm to 10mm
consumption rate, if low-grade ore were charged and are agglomerated by a sintering
as-is. The same applies to direct reduction furnaces. plant before being charged into a
Thus, there is a strong desire to improve the iron blast furnace.
grade at the stage of raw material preparation. One - Pellet feed: Pellet feeds have diameters smaller
of the most common approaches is a method of than approximately 0.15mm and are
upgrading ore by a beneficiation process using a agglomerated by a pelletizing plant
physical separation technique, and a number of before being charged into a blast
existing mines have introduced such beneficiation furnace or into a direct reduction
processes to upgrade their ore. Furthermore, low- furnace.
grade mines, which were formerly not profitable, - Concentrate: Concentrate is ore upgraded by a
are being intensively developed by incorporating beneficiation process.
beneficiation plants right from the beginning. - Sintered ore: Sintered ore is ore agglomerated by a
In a beneficiation process, ore is finely ground sintering plant.
to separate impurities. Therefore, the product ore - Pellet: Pellet is ore agglomerated by a
inevitably becomes finer. Fines generated during the pelletizing plant.
screening of high-grade ore can be agglomerated in
a sintering plant; however, the finer fines resulting 1.2 Outline of iron ore production
from the beneficiation process cannot usually
be processed in a sintering plant and must be The production of iron and steel in China has
agglomerated in a pelletizing plant. Therefore, a increased dramatically. In response to the increasing
greater number of pelletizing plants are expected to demand, China has greatly expanded its domestic

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015 8

 production of iron ore. However, this expansion is process. As shown in Fig. 1, the beneficiation process
still insufficient, and the country is importing an mainly comprises the sub-processes of grinding,
increasing amount of iron ore. On the other hand, separating and dewatering.
China's domestic production seems to be reaching
its peak, due to a deterioration in mine quality.1) 2.2.1 Grinding
India used to be a prominent exporter of high-grade
iron ore, but started to tax the export of iron ore in Grinding is a sub-process of finely grinding ore
2007 to prioritize its own domestic demand, and it in advance, such that the ground output can be
will become difficult for India to export iron ore in physically separated into iron ore and impurities
the future.2) Contrary to these forecasts of increasing in the downstream sub-process. In many cases, an
demand, there are predictions that steel scrap will autogenous mill (AG mill) or a semi-autogenous
be increasingly generated as a result of past steel mill (SAG mill) is used for the primary grinding,
production, and this will lead to an increase in the and a ball mill is used as the secondary for further
amount of steel produced using scrap and a decrease grinding. An AG mill uses larger rocks of ore,
in the amount using raw iron. Overall, considering while an SAG mill uses both larger rocks of ore and
the balance of both of the above trends and also the steel balls for the grinding. The ore to be ground
increase in the demand for steel associated with is charged into a shell containing the larger rocks
world economic growth, the demand for iron ore is (and steel balls); it is cylindrical in shape and has
predicted to remain relatively strong.3) a relatively large diameter and short length. As
the shell rotates, its contents are raised high, then
1.3 Structure of iron ore supply dropped, and the ore inside the shell is ground by
the impact of the fall. A ball mill is equipment that
The suppliers of iron ore have undergone solely uses steel balls to grind ore, and its shell body
strategic restructuring since 2000. Three majors, has a smaller diameter and longer length compared
namely, Vale (Brazil), Rio Tinto, and BHP Billiton with an AG mill or with an SAG mill.
(the latter two companies having two head
offices, in the UK and Australia), now account for 2.2.2 Separation
approximately 65% of the iron ore traded across the
world. In addition, semi-majors such as Fortescue The ground material is separated into useful ore
Metals Group Ltd, AU, and Anglo American, UK, and impurities in a separation process. Two types of
and many other smaller businesses are producing separators: i.e., a separator based on the difference in
iron ore; however, they will have limited strategic
impact on the pricing and development of iron ore
mines and the above three majors have a strong
influence on the world market.

2. Outline of Beneficiation plant

2.1 Screening

Run-of-Mine (ROM) excavated from an ore

deposit is loaded on a heavy-duty truck by a shovel
or wheel loader and is transferred to a crushing
process. The primary crushing is usually carried out
by a gyratory crusher. This is followed by secondary
crushing by a cone crusher or jaw crusher. The ore
is then separated into lumps and fines. In the case of
high-grade mines, the ore is shipped at this stage as
the product.

2.2 Beneficiation process

In the case of low-grade mines or where the

product iron grade needs further improvement, the
secondary crushing is replaced by a beneficiation Fig. 1 Example of process flow in beneficiation plant

9 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015

physical properties (e.g., gravity separator, magnetic trapped by the hydrophobic surfaces, after which,
separator or flotation separator) and a separator they float up due to the decrease in density caused
based on size (e.g., screen and screw classifier) are by the trapped air. This phenomenon is used to
usually provided together. accomplish flotation separation.
1) Gravity separation
The true specific gravity of iron ore is 2.2.3 Dewatering
approximately 5t/m3 and is quite different from
the specific gravities of major impurities such as The above separations are usually performed in
silica and alumina (approximately 2.7t/m3). Gravity wet conditions for ease of handling and to prevent
separation is a method of separating iron ore from dust generation. Hence, the separated concentrate is
impurities on the basis of the difference in their in the form of slurry and requires dewatering. This
specific gravities. Gravity separators include jig dewatering is done by filtering the concentrated
separators, which utilize the difference in the fall slurry. Vacuum filters are widely used; however,
velocity in water of objects with different specific it is difficult to decrease the water content of the
gravities, and spiral separators and cyclone cake after filtration to 9% or lower, and the residual
separators, which utilize centrifugal force. These water content increases when the ore is finer, or
separators are the least expensive of the various when the system is installed at a high altitude.
apparatuses used for the separation process. A gradually increasing number of systems have
Some beneficiation processes rely solely on recently been employing pressure filters, adapting
gravity separation, and many others incorporate pneumatic pressure or hydraulic pressure to reduce
gravity separation as a pretreatment step for the moisture content to a level of 8%.
flotation separation and magnetic separation.
Gravity separation is used for relatively coarse ore 2.3 Transportation
(diameters of approximately 0.1mm to 1.5mm.)
2) Magnetic separation Usually, the transportation from a mine to a
Magnetic separation is a technique for separating shipping port is done by rail. Fine ore, on the other
iron ore from impurities on the basis of the hand, can be transported through pipelines in the
difference in their magnetic properties. This type form of slurry. A typical example of this is found
of separation is widely used for the beneficiation of in projects at Samarco in Brazil. Samarco uses two
magnetite ore. A drum with a permanent magnet is pipelines, each having a total length of 396km, to
rotated in slurry and the result is that magnetite ore, transport 24 million tonnes per year of iron ore.
which is magnetic, becomes attached to the surface One of the two was inaugurated in 1977 and still
of the drum and is separated from the slurry, while is used. Even though it calls for a booster pump to
non-magnetic impurities remain in the slurry, thus provide the pressure required for the long distance
accomplishing the separation. The separation of transportation, the running cost is lower compared
hematite ore, which is weakly magnetic, employs an with transportation by rail. Therefore, slurry
apparatus with an electromagnet that can generate a transportation is effective for beneficiation plants as
stronger magnetic force. Recently, such an apparatus long as a sufficient amount of water is available.
is also being used commercially to collect hematite
ore from the tailings. Magnetic force separation 3. Outline of agglomeration plant
is applied to relatively fine ore with diameters of
approximately 0.05mm to 1mm. Among iron ore products, fines and pellet feed
3) Flotation separation are so fine that they cannot be charged as-is into a
Flotation separation is a technique utilizing the blast furnace or into a direct reduction furnace. The
difference in the hydrophilicity of ore surfaces. processes for agglomerating them into chargeable
This technique is used for raw materials with material are sintering and pelletizing; the main raw
small diameters of approximately 0.01mm to material for the former is fines and for the latter,
0.1mm and is often applied to the final stage of pellet feed.
grade improvement, or to the removal of impurities
such as sulfur and phosphorus. The iron ore and 3.1 Outline of sintering plant
major impurities have a similar hydrophilicity; but
adding a chemical (collector agent) that is adsorbed Fig. 2 depicts the process flow of a sintering
selectively to either iron ore or impurities makes plant. Raw materials including iron ore fines,
the surface with the adsorbed agent hydrophobic. limestone and coke breeze (in addition, burnt lime
Air bubbles are then charged from the bottom to be and dolomite as required) are mixed and placed

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015 10

 Fig. 2 Typical flow of sintering plant

Fig. 3 Typical flow of KOBELCO pelletizing system

uniformly on moving cars that have a grate plants can recycle relatively coarse dusts generated
structure. The coke breeze is ignited in an ignition in steelworks. On the other hand, they consume a
furnace and the mixture is agglomerated by the heat large amount of coke breeze, and their exhaust gas
of the combustion of coke breeze. The agglomerated contains a certain amount of sulfur oxides. For this
materials are cooled in a cooler that is either circular reason, an increasing number of sintering plants are
or linear and are delivered as products. In many equipped with exhaust gas desulfurization systems.
cases, the sensible heat of the exhaust air from the
cooler is recovered by a waste-heat boiler. 3.2 Outline of pelletizing plant
The sintered ore thus produced is un-uniform
in shape and generates dust during transportation. Fig. 3 illustrates the flow of a pelletizing plant
Because of this, sintering plants are usually built in (KOBELCO pelletizing system).4) Finely ground raw
steelworks. Typically, these plants have capacities of material is mixed with binder and is granulated into
5 Mt/y to 6 Mt/y, while larger plants with capacities balls (green balls) with a diameter of approximately
of 8 Mt/y to 8.5 Mt/y are also in service. Sintering 12mm. These balls are dried, preheated, fired and

11 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015

cooled to become product pellets.
The product pellets are spherical with high
strength and thus generate little dust during
transportation. The plants are usually built in the
vicinity of a mine, or near the ore shipping port;
however, as in the case of Kobe Steel's Kakogawa
works, a pelletizing plant is often built in steelworks.
The granulation is done by a balling disc or by a
balling drum. The firing is performed in a grate-
kiln-cooler system, as adapted by the KOBELCO
pelletizing system, or in a Straight grate system5)
similar to the one used for a sintering plant.
Until 2000, there had been only two lines
of plants with a capacity of 6 Mt/y; however,
Fig. 4 Typical example of effects of SNCR system
the enlargement of the plant progressed rapidly
thereafter, and nine lines are currently in service
with capacities exceeding 6 Mt/y. In addition, three
more production lines are to be built in few years.
The maximum capacity among these lines is to be
8.3 Mt/y (under construction), which compares with
the capacity of a sintering plant. On the other hand, a
number of small facilities (0.6 Mt/y to 1.2 Mt/y) have
been built and are in service in the vicinity of mines
in India and China.
Fig. 5 Typical application of SNCR system on pelletizing
plant
4. Development of state-of-the-art technology for
Kobe Steel's pelletizing plant

The specifics and features of the Kobe Steel's

pelletizing plant were introduced previously.4) This
paper focuses on the technologies developed since
then.

4.1 Selective non-catalytic reduction

Countries throughout the world, including Fig. 6 General image showing relationship between kiln
developing nations, require that everything possible burner and coal ash deposition
be done to reduce the environmental impact. With
this in mind, a new method has been developed for
reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx). The new technique 4.2 Increased applicability of coals for kiln
belongs to the category of selective non-catalytic
reduction (SNCR) and comprises the spraying of The KOBELCO pelletizing system uses a kiln
ammonia in a relatively high temperature (900 to for firing, enabling the replacement of its main
1,200℃) zone for a relatively long period of time fuel, expensive oil and gas, with inexpensive coal.
to have it react with nitrogen oxide in the zone. Inexpensive coal, however, contains a certain
A newly devised spraying method has enabled amount of ash, which can be deposited on and
the features of high efficiency and a significantly adhere to the interior of the kiln; this may disturb
reduced amount of leakage ammonia, as shown gas passage in the kiln. Several measures have
in Fig. 4. This method is applied to the preheating been devised to prevent such troubles. Of all these
(PH) zone of the traveling grate, which enables the measures, shortening the flame of the kiln burner
reduction of the amount of nitrogen oxide without and using more finely ground coal have been found
much additional capital investment. A typical flow to be particularly effective. This has also been
of this process is shown in Fig. 5. confirmed by actual operation. Fig. 6 6) shows a
general image of the kiln burner and the deposition
of coal ash. In a case where the flame reaches the

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015 12

 reduction process is expected to greatly expand
in the future, because the demand for inexpensive
raw iron that exploits shale gas is increasing, and
so is the demand for direct reduced iron (DRI)
and hot briquetted iron (HBI) as clean raw iron
for steelmaking processes based on scrap. Hence,
the demand for pellets is also expected to increase
significantly.

5.2 Future trends in large-scale plants

Where there is a large deposit of iron ore,

Fig. 7 Relationship between coal fineness and ash
deposition
a large-scale pelletizing plant is planned because
of its investment efficiency. The construction
interior wall of the kiln, coal ash reaches the wall site is selected near a shipping port to facilitate
in a molten state, being deposited on and adhering construction and operation. With the recent increase
to the wall surface. When the flame is shorter, the in the scale of pelletizing plants, each pelletizing
ash is cooled before it reaches the interior wall and plant is required to have a production capacity of 6
is solidified, which prevents it from adhering to Mt/y or greater. It must run with a low consumption
the wall. Fig. 7 is the result of an operational test rate and produce high quality pellets to keep
showing the relationship between the fineness of its product competitive. In particular, there is a
the coal and the deposition of coal ash at the kiln stringent requirement for its products to generate as
inlet.6) The finer the coal is ground, the smaller the little dust as possible because they are shipped all
deposition index (relative amount of deposition). over the world.
In 2010, Kobe Steel constructed a pelletizing
5. Future trends in pelletizing plants and Kobe plant with a production capacity of 6 Mt/y in
Steel's actions Bahrain, and with this experience, the company
will now be able to build a plant with a capacity of
8 Mt/y. Compared with Straight grate systems, the
5.1 Future trends in the agglomeration process KOBELCO pelletizing system uses less process gas
and operates with a thinner bed of green ball, thus
As has been described, the deterioration of mines consuming less electric power for its process fan.
has increased the introduction of beneficiation This system also realizes low fuel consumption, one
processes. Involving grinding, these processes of the lowest in the world, thanks to its optimized
produce concentrate that consists of extremely heat recovery process. Moreover, the kiln used for
fine grains. The grains are so small that their use the firing process enables the pellets to be fired while
in a sintering plant is limited and they will be tumbling. This tumbling action makes the pellets
increasingly used in pelletizing plants. Meanwhile, stronger with less strength variation, as shown in
it has been recognized that, with the improvement Fig. 8,8) which effectively prevents the pellets from
in the high-temperature properties of pellets, high breaking during long-distance transportation. In a
iron grade pellets can be charged into a blast furnace Straight grate system, heating is applied only from
at a high mixing ratio so as to effectively decrease above the static layer of pellets, which causes a large
the amount of slag, reductant and CO2 emissions.7) difference in strength between the top layer and
Therefore, it is envisaged that part of the sintered bottom layer. The pellets in the bottom layer, which
ore charged into a blast furnace will be replaced by are weaker, tend to break during transportation.
pellets. This trend will be accelerated because the Increasing the average strength of the pellets may
environmental impact of pellet production is much improve this issue; however, this may lead to the
smaller than that of sintering processes that consume inclusion of pellets with excessively high strength.
large amount of coke breeze. When producing HBI in a direct reduction process,
It should also be noted that there will be a further these excessively strong pellets make briquetting
increase in the consumption of pellets by the direct difficult. Thus Kobe Steel's process, capable of
reduction process. Pellets usually contain a high producing homogeneous pellets, is more suitable for
grade of iron and generate little dust. With these HBI production.
favorable features, pellets are predominantly used
as a raw material for direct reduction. The direct

13 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015

 Fig. 8 Comparison of product pellets

5.3 Future trends in medium-scale plants the pelletizing process, which has decreased the fuel
cost.
Investing in medium-scale plants is less efficient
than investing in large-scale plants. Therefore, 5.4 Future trends in small-scale plants
medium-scale ones are usually built on the sites
of steelworks so as to realize advantages that A number of mines with relatively small deposits
compensate for the investment inefficiency. A are found in India and China, but they had never
production capacity of 3 to 4 Mt/y is required. Such been the objects of development due to the low
a built-in plant has the following advantages over return on investment. With the recent continued
stand-alone plants: high price of iron ore, however, it is anticipated that
- It can utilize a small-scale feed of iron ore as a there will be more and more development of these
part of the raw material. mines.
- It can produce pellets of a quality optimally In the case of small mines, pelletizing plants are
designed for the steelworks of the owner most likely to be built with beneficiation plants in
company. the vicinity of the mines. Such integration of plants
- It can use byproduct gases of the steelworks as makes it possible to do without facilities for storing
a fuel for pelletizing, which enables the low- concentrate. In addition, collective construction can
cost production of pellets. suppress construction costs. Kobe Steel has a lineup
- It can be both maintained and managed by the of small-scale standard plants with a capacity of 2.5
same personnel. Mt/y and aims at expanding their sales in the future.
- It can recycle dust generated in other facilities
as raw material for pelletizing. Conclusions
Kobe Steel owns a pelletizing plant in the
company's integrated steelworks with blast furnaces Regarding the future production of iron, steel
and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and and iron ore, a steadily increasing number of projects
experience from it. For example, the company will be launched that involve beneficiation processes
effectively recycles and utilizes converter furnace to upgrade ore and to produce pellets. Kobe Steel
dust as the raw material of pellets. Such fine dust has its own pelletizing technology and has built
can work as a binder, and the converter furnace dust eleven pelletizing plants in six countries so far. The
has actually been confirmed to reduce the amount company is highly reputed for the quality of its
of binder used as a secondary effect. The coal product pellets and for its know-how in using coal
utilization technology described above has enabled as the main fuel. In addition, the company has built
the use of inexpensive steaming coal to be used for a large-scale beneficiation plant for iron ore. Kobe

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015 14

 Steel will continue to strive to expand the sales of 3) S. Kozawa. JOGMEC Metal Resources Report. 2012. 5, p.47.
4) S. Yamaguchi et al. R&D Kobe Steel Engineering Report.
these plants and to contribute to the development of 2010, Vol.60, No.1, p.15.
iron ore and steel industries. 5) S. Yamaguchi et al. R&D Kobe Steel Engineering Report.
2010, Vol.60, No.1, p.15.
References 6) Y. Takiguchi et al. COREM 3rd symposium on iron ore
pelletizing. 2013, Oct.
1) Magnus Ericsson. JOGMEC Metal Resources Report. 2010. 7) http://www.lkab.com
3, p.99. 8) S. Yamaguchi et al. R&D Kobe Steel Engineering Report.
2) TEX Report. Iron Ore Manual, 2012, p.76. 2010, Vol.60, No.1, p.17.

Note )
The names of companies and products cited herein
may be trademarks or the registered trademarks of
their respective owners.

15 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 33 FEB. 2015