PHYSICO CHEMICAL CHARACTERISATION OF IND

Industrial dusts are commonly agglomerated using empirical recipes with binders such as bentonite, while sludges are agglomerated into mixes. Those materials contaminate the products, are expensive and generate significant amounts of slag. Achieving cold dust agglomeration with little or no binder requires understanding the controlling parameters in order to predict and optimize the process behavior. This necessitates comprehensive dust characterization to base predictions on measurable characteristics. This work collected 13 Mn-rich dusts over the complete process chain: feed fines, smelting, refining dusts, and ferromanganese alloy dust, marking the first systematic study of dust along the Mn-processing chain for chemical, physical, and mineralogical parameters. Analyses conducted through X-Ray Diffraction, Qemscan®, and laser granulometry demonstrate that mineralogy, Particle Size Distribution (PSD), and morphology transition from complex heterogeneous forms to simple, homogeneous structures along the process chain. The furnace dusts contain oxides and carbonates with volatiles, while the refining dusts consist solely of oxides and metal. Furthermore, the study reveals a variation in particle morphologies and PSD, ranging from jagged irregular shapes to smooth spherical forms. The specific surface areas (SSAs) and cationic exchange capacities (CECs) provide insights into the material properties, indicating a decrease in SSA from ore feed to metal dust.