En
期刊文章
文章精选
当期目录
过刊浏览
高被引
高下载
特邀文章
专刊合集
待刊文章
Volume 105
您当前的位置：首页 > 期刊文章 > 过刊浏览 > Volumes 96-107 (2025) > Volume 105
Effect of water-powder interaction on the mechanical and metallurgical behavior of integrated steel plant byproducts agglomerates (Open Access)
Sara Scolari*, Davide Mombelli, Gianluca Dall'Osto, Carlo Mapelli
Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Meccanica, Via La Masa 1, 20156, Milano, Italy
10.1016/j.partic.2025.07.019
Volume 105, October 2025, Pages 74-87
Received 20 June 2025, Revised 14 July 2025, Accepted 27 July 2025, Available online 9 August 2025, Version of Record 18 August 2025.
E-mail: sara.scolari@polimi.it
Highlights

• Water expulsion from hydrophobic powders improved briquette's impact resistance.

• Hydrophilic-hydrophilic briquettes showed the best metallurgical performance.

• Hydrophilic powders increased reduction but caused catastrophic swelling.

• Optimized water content doubled mechanical resistance and reduced swelling issues.


Abstract

In 2023, 1888 Mt of steel were produced worldwide, with 70 % via integrated cycle steel plant, generating 34 Mt of dust and 25 Mt of sludge. These wastes are rich in Fe and C but are too fine for direct recycling. Agglomeration is therefore essential to recycle them as suitable feedstock. This work studies how water–powder interactions affect the mechanical (impact resistance, cold compressive strength) and metallurgical (degree of reduction, swelling) properties of self-reducing briquettes made by combining two iron-bearing dusts (BOF dust and a secondary dust) with two reducing agents (BF sludge and another secondary dust) to form hydrophilic–hydrophilic, hydrophobic–hydrophilic, and hydrophobic–hydrophobic mixtures. Water expelled from hydrophobic dust acts as a lubricant during compaction, reducing surface cracks and enhancing eight times the impact resistance. Hydrophilic particles, however, lower impact resistance (failing 10-drop tests) due to hydration repulsion that weakens the briquette. While water absorbed by hydrophilic powders forms gasification channels on drying, enabling a reduction degree up to 94 %, it also causes severe swelling below 1200 °C. The best overall performance was achieved by a hydrophobic–hydrophilic combination with double water content, yielding compressive strength of 18 MPa, degree of reduction of 91 % and swelling of −1.86 %.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Self-reducing briquettes; Integrated cycle by-products; Water-powder interaction; Hydrophilic powder; Hydrophobic powder
文章导读