Author(s)

S. A. Ibitoye, A. A. Afonja

Department Of Materials Science And Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

This study focuses on the characterization of cold briquetted iron (CBI) using powder diffraction techniques. CBI is under-sized metallic fines produced during the direct reduction process (DR-process), which are made into briquettes when they are cold using sodium silicate and lime as binder and flux respectively. Powder sample of CBI was prepared by crushing and grinding some of the briquettes and sieved through 30-microns aperture. Thereafter, the constituent phases in the sample were identified using X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) techniques and scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that CBI includes among others, 67% metallic iron, 23% cementite, 5% silica and 5% wustite. It was also noted that the concentrations of the constituent phases were not uniformly distributed. The spherical quartz particles were found to be concentrated along the crack lines, which were suspected to be initiator of these cracks and crevices that characterize CBI.

Cold Briquetted Iron, XRD, Melting Furnace, Iron (II) Oxide, Slag

S. Ibitoye and A. Afonja, "Characterization of Cold Briquetted Iron (CBI) By X-Ray Diffraction Technique," Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 7 No. 1, 2008, pp. 39-48. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2008.71003.