Sustainable Steel Production: Evaluating the Reduction Kinetics of Iron Ore Self-Reducing Briquettes with Eucalyptus Charcoal

The steel industry in Brazil is responsible for around 5% of total carbon dioxide emissions, releasing around 1.85 tons of CO2 for every ton of steel produced. The use of charcoal in self-reducing iron ore briquettes can be an alternative to reduce fossil fuel consumption and reduce carbon emissions in the primary steelmaking industry, however, the particle size can affect the reduction process. This study aims to analyze the reduction kinetics of charcoal briquettes in three particle size ranges. To this end, the charcoal was characterized using thermogravimetric analysis to determine the contents of fixed carbon, ash and volatiles, analysis of sulphur in the charcoal by combustion in a tube furnace, determination of particle size by laser granulometer, elemental chemical analysis of the charcoal ash by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The briquettes were reduced in a thermogravimetric balance to 1100 °C with heating rates between 10 and 40 °C/min. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction. Finally, a kinetic study was carried out using the Coats-Redfern method. In all the briquettes, the controlling mechanism was diffusion. In the mixture with fines, the activation energy ranged from 31.95 to 33.72 kJ/mol and 120.29 to 137.17 kJ/mol. For the mixture with medium grain size, the activation energy ranged from 58.1 to 89.42 kJ/mol and 107.83 to 153.50 kJ/mol. X-ray diffraction revealed phases of hematite and magnetite at 800 °C, while at 900 °C phases of wustite and faialite and metallic iron were identified.