Study Of The Effect Of Binder Types On The Reduction Process And Metallurgical Properties Of Indonesian Titanomagnetite Iron Sand In The Point Of View Of Tunnel Kiln Process

The deposit of iron sand in Indonesia is about 2120 milion tons. Ironsand deposit can be utilized as an alternative raw material for iron making industries. Processing it into Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) or sponge iron is considered to be the right step to increase its value. In the DRI making, firts, iron sand will be agglomerated using binder and compaction to form briquette shape. There are many studies about the effect of binder types used on briquette mechanical properties. However, a study about the effect of binder types on metallurgical properties is still rarely studied. This research has an aim to study the effect of variation of binder types on Fe total content, reduction degree and the morphology of reduced iron sand briquette. The binder variations which would be used in this research are carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), bentonite, hydrated lime Ca(OH)₂, and starch. Ironsand briquette would be reduced in muffle gas furnace with pre-heat at 950° for 2 hours and holding at 1350°1111C for 10 hours. After reduction process, the furnace was cooled for 6 hours. The reduced product is tested using degree of metallization and characterized using XRD and SEM-EDX. On the other hand, the reduction degree can be calculated based on mass of oxygen removed after reduction process. The CMC-briquette has the highest reduction degree. On the other hand, the Ca(OH)₂-briquette has the lowest reduction degree. The CMC-briquette has a flakes-like morphology, Ca(OH)₂-briquette has a sphere morphology and almost all of particles stick each other. Bentonite-briquette has a sphere morphology and several particles stick each other.