Application of biomass fuel in iron ore sintering: influencing mechanism and emission reduction

The influence of biomass fuel replacing coke breeze on flame front and combustion efficiency were studied. The results show that when coke breeze is replaced, the flame front is accelerated since biomass has superior combustion characteristics. Combustion efficiency is decreased, however, as biomass is of excessively high reactivity, which can both lower the maximum temperature and reduce the time at high temperature of the sinter bed. The proportion of biomass fuel replacing coke breeze should, therefore, not exceed 40%, otherwise, the mineralisation of sinter material is insufficient and the yield and tumbler index of sinter significantly deteriorate. By increasing the size of biomass fuel, sinter indices are improved since the burning velocity of biomass fuel is optimised. When the proportion of biomass fuels is 40%, the emissions of SO2 and NO can be decreased by 40 and 28% respectively.