Assessment of Physicochemical Properties of Dust from Crushing High-Carbon Ferrochrome: Methods for Agglomeration

Fine classes of metal dust generated during the production of ferroalloys increase the likelihood of irretrievable losses, creating the prerequisites for the development of rational methods for processing this material. One of the known technologies for recycling dispersed raw materials in metallurgical processing is their direct remelting. Although this technology is easily feasible, it has several significant drawbacks, among which the main problem remains the high dust carryover of fine material by ascending gas-thermal flows. A potential solution could be the preliminary preparation of raw materials through agglomeration. Domestic enterprises producing various types of ferroalloys have the necessary infrastructure and equipment for agglomerating dispersed ore materials, but the lack of experience and resource-saving technologies for processing metal dust prevents their full integration into metallurgical processing. In this regard, there is significant interest and demand from ferroalloy enterprises for the development of new methods to involve dispersed metal production waste in secondary recycling, adapted to existing agglomeration equipment. Numerous studies have shown that the cheapest method of agglomeration is briquetting. Given the advancement of briquetting technologies, as well as the use of the latest equipment and binding materials in this process, it can be assumed that this will allow for more complete integration of aspiration dust from ferrochrome crushing into metallurgical processing. To test this assumption, studies were conducted on the physicochemical properties of aspiration dust from ferrochrome crushing, assessing the possibility of obtaining an agglomerated product with the required strength parameters. The results of these studies demonstrated the fundamental possibility of producing high-carbon ferrochrome from briquetted material made from aspiration dust of ferrochrome crushing.