TY - THES

T1 - Factors Affecting Briquetting Quality of Hot Briquetted Iron

AU - Gruber, Katharina

N1 - embargoed until 20-07-2023

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - This thesis analyses factors affecting briquetting quality of hot briquetted iron (HBI). Therefore, a testing plan was developed and executed at the voestalpine Texas LLC plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The impact of the cooling method (air/water quench), of the feed leg temperature, of the roller speed, of the press torque as well as of the segment wear on the briquette quality was tested by changing these parameters at the briquetting press. The briquette quality was determined by the apparent density and the chips generation during a tumble test. For each test, briquette samples were taken and analyzed in the laboratory. During these tests it is found that air cooling results in significantly less chips generation during the tumble test compared to water quenching. The feed leg temperature positively impacts the apparent density as well as the briquette strength. No correlation was found between roller speed and apparent density. However, the chips generation during the tumble test increases with increasing roller speed. Another result is that briquettes get lighter with increasing roller speed. This suggests that the screw feeder speed is not perfectly aligned with the roller speed. With increasing press torque, the briquette apparent density increases. Moreover, the chips generation decreases, and the briquettes get more abrasion resistance. With increasing press torque, the physical appearance of the briquettes also changes, and they get heavier. This, again, suggests that the screw feeder has to be adjusted. The segment wear does not influence the apparent density of HBI. Nevertheless, there is a higher chips generation during the briquetting process itself. Increasing segment wear leads to changes in the form of the molds, they get deeper and the webbing around the briquettes gets thicker. This is also clearly seen during testing. As a result, the mass of the briquettes increases with increasing segment wear.

AB - This thesis analyses factors affecting briquetting quality of hot briquetted iron (HBI). Therefore, a testing plan was developed and executed at the voestalpine Texas LLC plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The impact of the cooling method (air/water quench), of the feed leg temperature, of the roller speed, of the press torque as well as of the segment wear on the briquette quality was tested by changing these parameters at the briquetting press. The briquette quality was determined by the apparent density and the chips generation during a tumble test. For each test, briquette samples were taken and analyzed in the laboratory. During these tests it is found that air cooling results in significantly less chips generation during the tumble test compared to water quenching. The feed leg temperature positively impacts the apparent density as well as the briquette strength. No correlation was found between roller speed and apparent density. However, the chips generation during the tumble test increases with increasing roller speed. Another result is that briquettes get lighter with increasing roller speed. This suggests that the screw feeder speed is not perfectly aligned with the roller speed. With increasing press torque, the briquette apparent density increases. Moreover, the chips generation decreases, and the briquettes get more abrasion resistance. With increasing press torque, the physical appearance of the briquettes also changes, and they get heavier. This, again, suggests that the screw feeder has to be adjusted. The segment wear does not influence the apparent density of HBI. Nevertheless, there is a higher chips generation during the briquetting process itself. Increasing segment wear leads to changes in the form of the molds, they get deeper and the webbing around the briquettes gets thicker. This is also clearly seen during testing. As a result, the mass of the briquettes increases with increasing segment wear.

KW - HBI

KW - DRI

KW - hot briquetting

KW - direct reduced iron

KW - MIDREX

KW - Heißbrikettieren

KW - Eisenschwamm

KW - HBI

KW - DRI

KW - MIDREX

U2 - 10.34901/mul.pub.2023.266

DO - 10.34901/mul.pub.2023.266

M3 - Master's Thesis

ER -