Brazilian iron ore miner Vale concluded last week the shipment of its first cargo of iron ore briquettes to be tested in a blast furnace outside Brazil.
The product, which can reduce CO2 emissions from steelmaking by up to 10 percent, will be tested in early May at an undisclosed client's blast furnace in Europe.
A total 8,000 mt of the product was shipped from the Port of Açu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, heading for the Port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
The resistance to crushing will also be tested during the transoceanic transportation, estimated to last 20 days, as the product is calcined at a far lower temperature than the conventional pellets, which could result in lower hardness when charged in blast furnaces.
According to Vale, In Brazil 70,000 mt of briquettes have already been tested in six different blast furnaces, totalizing 126 days of use.
“During the tests carried out in Brazil, the briquette succeeded in attending the process requests, allowing the production and operational parameters of the blast furnace to be maintained. The same is expected to happen in the tests in Europe,” the company said.
The briquette is produced from the briquetting of iron ore fines and a technological solution of agglomerants that allows for achieving high mechanical strength at low temperatures.
The product can replace sinter, pellets and lumps in blast furnaces, and pellets in direct reduction furnaces, reducing the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases when compared to traditional processes of iron ore agglomeration (pelletizing and sintering).
The substitution of sinter by brickettes is where the potential reduction of carbon emissions by up to 10 percent can be achieved.
Vale is building two briquette plants at its Tubarão Unit in Vitória, in the state of Espírito Santo, with capacity for six million mt per year. The start-up of the first plant is planned for the end of the first half of the year.