Iron ore pelletizing

Metso grate-kiln systems

Iron ore is upgraded to a higher iron content through concentration. The concentrate must be
pelletized in order to feed a blast furnace or a DRI plant.

Metso designs and supplies Grate-Kiln systems. These plants produce pellets at a lower cost and
higher quality than other types of pelletizing systems.

Metso has designed and supplied the most modern and largest grate-kiln systems in the world.
These plants produce pellets at a lower cost and higher quality than other types of pelletizing
systems, such as shaft furnaces or straight grates.



What
Pellets are indurated, spheres of ore with a high iron content and uniform quality.
Pellet plants can produce two varieties of pellets: blast furnace pellets and direct reduction pellets
(DR pellets). Blast furnace pellets are used in the coke-based blast furnace process, which is the
most common method of producing hot metal (molten iron for steelmaking). Blast furnace
pellets are delivered mainly to steel mills.
DR pellets are used in the direct reduction processes to produce sponge iron, which is an
alternative process route, as an initial stage from iron to steel. The DR process is primarily based
on the use of natural gas and has become increasingly common in countries with access to
inexpensive natural gas.

Process
The object of the process is to transform the pelletized concentrate into hardened pellets that can
be used as blast furnace feed or direct reduction furnace feed. The transformation is achieved by
the traveling grate and kiln. The traveling grate transports the pelletized concentrate through a
series of controlled temperature zones to produce a preheated pellet of 800-900C, which is
dropped into the rotary kiln. The rotary kiln finishes the induration and is operated at 1200-
1350C. The indurated pellets are now dropped into an annular cooler where the pellets are
cooled to a suitable temperature for transporting on a belt to load out facilities. The gases from
the cooler are recycled to the kiln and the grate, resulting in the Grate-Kiln being the most energy
efficient system for producing indurated pellets.

Equipment
An iron ore plant contains many pieces of equipment. The major areas or process are the
concentrator, balling, induration and handling. The concentrator is where the ore is ground to a
fine size typically 80% - 45 micron powder and separated from other impurities by magnetic
separation and flotation. The balling area is where the powdered ore is mixed with water, binder
and rolled in rotating drums to create spherical balls. The induration area actually can be broken
down into three areas: grate, kiln, cooler. The grate area is where the pellets are dried and the
induration process is started. The pellets at this stage are becoming stable and can be dropped
into the kiln without braking. The kiln is used to drive heat into the pellets to force the reaction
throughout the pellet. In an effort to recoup all the heat that is currently in the pellet after the
kiln, the pellets fall into a cooler. The Grate-Kiln System is basically a counter-flow heat
exchanger; that is, the material (green pellets and indurated pellets) moves in a direction opposite
to that of the process gas flow.

What are pellets?
Pellets are small balls of iron ore used in the production of steel. They are made with technology that uses the powder that
is generated during the ore extraction process, once considered waste.
What are they used for?
The pellets are used in the production of steel which is used in the construction of bridges, cars, planes,
bicycles, household appliances and much more.
But, before this, the ore goes through a blast furnace that only works when air can circulate freely. For this
reason, the material needs to be big enough so that there are spaces between each piece.
On top of this, the ore needs to be strong enough not to be crushed thereby obstructing the blast furnace.
Thus, the production of pellets is fundamental to the steel production process.