Efficient Utilization of Alloy Powder During Limonitic Laterite Sintering Process

Alloy powderAlloy powder is a typical by-product produced from stainless steel processing, which contains a significant level of valuable metals, such as iron, chrome, and nickelNickel. About 1 million tons of alloy powderAlloy powder are generated in China annually, but as mixed with impurities such as Al and Si, alloy powder is not suitable to be directly smelted into stainless steel by refining. In this study, alloy powderAlloy powder was efficiently utilized during limonitic lateriteLimonitic laterite sinteringSintering process. The effects of adding alloy powder on green bed permeability, the yield and quality indexes of the sinters, and the microstructure of the sinters were evaluated. The results show that the concentrated distribution degree of granules and green bed permeability was improved after adding alloy powderAlloy powder. As the additional amount of alloy powderAlloy powder increased from 0 to 3%, the tumble index and yield of the sinters rose from 50.07% to 54.69% and from 62.04% to 67.35%, respectively.