Influence and mechanism of Indonesia vanadium titano-magnetite on metallurgical properties of iron ore sinter

In order to provide a reliable reference for utilizing Indonesia vanadium titano-magnetite (VTM) in blast furnace (BF) economically, metallurgical properties of iron ore sinter with addition of Indonesia VTM in mixed sintering materials were investigated, including low-temperature reduction degradation index (RDI), reducibility index (RI), and softening/melting properties. Additionally, influenced mechanism of Indonesia VTM on metallurgical properties of sinter was studied. It is found that adding Indonesia VTM in sintering process quickly increases the RDI of sinters, and decreases the RI from 78.02% to 68.43%. Moreover, both beginning temperature (T4) and final temperature (TD) of softening/melting increase gradually, and cohesive zone temperature range (TD–T4) enlarges from 219 ºC to 315 ºC. As a result, the permeability of cohesive zone gets worse, which is proven by the higher maximum pressure drop (δPmax) in softening/melting experiments. It is concluded that, after comprehensively considering all metallurgical properties mentioned above, the proper proportion of Indonesia VTM in sintering process is proposed in the new raw materials conditions.