1.1.1.

1 PELLETISATION PROCESS:
The iron ore pelletizing process basically comprises three major steps,
namely;

Grinding of raw materials

Balling

Induration of green balls

Dry Grinding of Iron ore fines

Iron Ore will be received from beneficiation plant of Bolani Iron Ore Mines
and will be ground to required fineness of -45 micron(>80%).
Tentative size of Beneficiated iron ore fines shall be as under:

<6 mm to 1mm- 24%

< 1mm to 150 m- 38%

< 150 m- 38%

Iron ore fines will be received from the storage yard through a series of
conveyors & dried in a Rotary Drier. It will be further conveyed to a Ball
Mill for grinding to achieve desired blain number (approx. 2000) for Pellet
making. The ground Iron Ore will be conveyed to allotted bins in
Proportioning Unit.
Dry crushing & grinding of additives
Limestone and dolomite is available in RMHP bed No.-21, at max. Size of
(- 60mm). These will be first subjected to crushing in either impact
crusher or hammer crusher to get desired size for grinding. After crushing,
it will be subjected to grinding through a separate ball mill having capacity
of ~ 30 tph, to get the flux size <45 micron. Afterwards, ground material
will be pneumatically conveyed to alloted bins in Proportioning Unit.
Coke breeze available to the size of (9-16) mm near existing sinter plant
will be grounded in same Crusher /ball mill in which flux is being grounded
to obtain the desired size of < 45 micron. Then it will be pneumatically
conveyed to alloted bins in Proportioning Unit.
Bentonite required for pellet making will be directly transported through
trucks in desired size (almost 74 microns). No grinding is required for this
as the quantity is very less, and is brought in powder form. It will be
directly transported to Proportioning bins.
Proportioning Unit
Various grounded raw materials like Iron ore fines, additives like limestone,
dolomite, coke breeze and the binder bentonite shall be stored in allocated
bins. They will be withdrawn from their respective bins in precisely
controlled manner as per required feed chemistry through belt weigh

feeder/loss in weight feeder. Proportioned raw materials will be fed to

Mixing unit

Mixing
High intensity mixer shall be used to mix the grounded Iron ore fines,
additives likes Limestone, Dolomite, Coke breeze and the binder
Bentonite. After mixing the raw materials will be conveyed for Balling.
Balling
Balling can be carried out in Drum or Disc pelletizer. However, Disc
pelletizer has been considered in this report, as Pellets formed in disc are
more uniform in size. As a result, the recycle load is much less in disc
pelletizers. Further, open design of the disc provides a clear view of
operation and permits rapid adjustment of variables, such as plough
position, disc inclination, disc speed etc.
Induration
Process description for travelling grate is given below:
Travelling Grate machine is similar in construction to sintering machine.
The green balls are laid over a travelling grate and are subjected to drying,
preheating, firing and cooling on-line in sequence in respective zones of
the grate. Cooled and hardened pellets are discharged from the other end
of the travelling grate. The machine consists of three main parts:

The central part is movable and consists of pallets, composed of a

frame and a supporting structure into which grate bars are inserted.
The pallets are connected by means of sliding seal bars with the
wind boxes in a gas tight manner.

The bottom part is composed of the stationary wind boxes

connected with gas mains and the moving grate.

The upper part comprises the stationary hood above the grate.

Necessary drying, heating or cooling gases through the pellet bed is

carried out in this system. Important process equipment is the fans with
which the process gases are moved through the charge. At one end, the
green balls are charged and the indurated pellets leave the grate at the
opposite end. The entire thermal treatment is performed during one
passage of pellets and the length of the grate is divided into four major
zones viz. drying, preheating, firing and cooling of adequate length.
To protect the grate bars from thermal shocks, hearth and side layers of
indurated pellets are used.