Fabrication of Agglomerates from Secondary Raw Materials Reinforced with Paper Fibres by Stamp Pressing Process

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Authors

  • Thomas Echterhof
  • Thomas Willms
  • Stefan Preiss
  • Matti Aula
  • Ahmed Abdelrahim
  • Timo Fabritius
  • Davide Mombelli
  • Carlo Mapelli
  • Iñigo Unamuno

External Organisational units

  • RWTH Aachen
  • MFG Metall-und Ferrolegierungsgesellschaft mbH Hafner
  • University of Oulu
  • Politecnico di Milano
  • Sidenor

Abstract

The use of secondary raw materials in metallurgical processes such as steelmaking is an important contribution to the circular economy aspired to by EU members and many other countries. The agglomeration of dusts, fines and sludges is an important pretreatment step to enable the use of these materials in subsequent melting processes, such as steelmaking in electric arc furnaces (EAFs). It also reduces the amount of by-products and waste materials that are currently waste for disposal and are landfilled. The presented research is part of the Fines2EAF project, which aims to increase the value of steelmaking residues by internal recycling and use or reuse in the form of agglomerates. The approach followed in this project is the use of a hydraulic stamp press and alternative binder systems to produce cement-free agglomerates. The first results of lab-scale agglomeration tests of six different recipes with varying pressing forces are presented in this paper. It is shown that the addition of fibres from paper recycling has a strong effect on the cold compression stability of the agglomerates, by far exceeding other effects such as increased pressing force. Overall, the agglomerates produced in the lab show promising characteristics, for example, cold compression stability and abrasion resistance, which should allow for use in EAF steelmaking.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number3946
Number of pages21
JournalApplied Sciences : open access journal
Volume9.2019
Issue number19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2019