An apparatus for thermally treating lithium ores and other mineral raw material may include a comminution apparatus, a pelletization apparatus, and a thermal treatment apparatus. The pelletization apparatus can be a mechanical fluidized bed reactor. Further, a process for thermally treating lithium ore and other mineral raw material may involve comminuting the mineral raw material in a comminution apparatus to form a first product, pelletizing the first product in a mechanical fluidized bed reactor to form a second product, and thermally treating the second product in a thermal treatment apparatus. Ninety percent of all particles in the second product may have a particle size between 50 μm and 500 μm.

The present invention discloses additive for reducing the roasting temperature of fluxed magnetite pellets and a method of using it, consisting of components: B.sub.2O.sub.3, Mn.sub.2O.sub.3, the B.sub.2O.sub.3 and Mn.sub.2O.sub.3 are pure chemical reagents, the mass of the additive is 0.8%, 4% of the dry basis mass of the magnetite concentrate, respectively, the magnetite concentrate, bentonite clay, calcium flux and additives will be dosed with 12-14% water of the dry base mass ratio of the mixture, prepared into green pellets of 10-12.5 mm in diameter in a disc ball making machine. After the pellets are completely dried, preheat them for 15˜20 min at 600˜1000 ° C. to ensure that Mn.sub.2O.sub.3 is fully decomposed, then roasting is carried out for 15 min at 1200 ° C., and after roasting, the pellets are cooled to room temperature to obtain the finished pellets.

A method for controlling pellet quality in iron ore production includes the steps of mixing water, binder and iron ore particles in at least one mixer to form a mixture (step (i)) and pelletizing the mixture into green pellets (step (ii)). Between step (i) and step (ii), a part of the mixture is taken in a sampling operation, formed into a test specimen and subjected to a test.

Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for producing composite pellets comprising a core comprising: iron ore and a carbonaceous reducing agent; and a shell comprising: iron ore; and having a core and shell transition in a manner such that no visible boundary exists between the core and the shell in a cross-section of the pellet. The methods can be used to produce composite pellets with improved productivity and quality, and the resulting composite pellets can be used to produce direct reduced iron (DRI).

The present disclosure is related to compacted calcium-based granules, in particular pellets, spheroidal/lens-shaped pellets, exhibiting specific chemical and physical properties and comprising a source of calcium and/or a source of magnesium, and optionally one or more additives. The present disclosure further relates to a method for the production of said pellets and to the use of said pellets in, for example, the steel industry, agriculture (in particular precision farming) and the glass industry.

The present invention relates to an ironmaking feedstock comprising a solid CaFe.sub.3O.sub.5 phase. The ironmaking feedstock may be produced by a process comprising reacting a combination of a calcium source and magnetite at elevated temperature under reducing conditions sufficient to produce the solid CaFe.sub.3O.sub.5 phase. The product may be in the form of agglomerates such as pellets, with a compressive strength such that the product is suitable for transportation.

The present invention addresses the problem, in methods for producing a metal or alloy by reducing a mixture that contains an oxide ore, of providing an oxide ore smelting method with good productivity and efficiency. The present invention is an oxide ore smelting method for producing a metal or alloy by reducing a mixture that contains an oxide ore, the method comprising at least: a mixing step S1 for mixing an oxide ore with a carbonaceous reducing agent; a mixture-molding step S2 for molding the mixture obtained to obtain a mixture-molded body; and a reducing step S3 for heating the mixture-molded body obtained at a specified reducing temperature in a reducing furnace.

A process for roasting of metal concentrate wherein concentrate particles are fed into a roaster where they are thermally treated at a temperature in the range of 500 and 1200° C. in a fluidized bed to form a calcine. At least parts of the calcine are withdrawn from the roaster together with a gas stream as a solid fraction. Concentrate particles with a diameter at least 50% smaller than the average diameter of the concentrate particles are separated as small particles and/or particles from the gas-solid-fraction are separated in at least one step as small calcine particles and/or particles are gained in another hydrometallurgical step as other particles. Defined particles are pelletized, whereby at least 80% of the pellets feature a diameter of at least 80% of the concentrate particles average diameter. The pellets are fed into the roaster.

In some variations, the disclosure provides a renewable biocarbon composition comprising from 50 wt % to 99 wt % total carbon, wherein the biocarbon composition is characterized by a base-acid ratio selected from 0.1 to 10, an iron-calcium ratio selected from 0.05 to 5, iron-plus-calcium parameter selected from 5 to 50 wt %, a slagging factor selected from 0.001 to 1, and/or a fouling factor or modified fouling factor selected from 0.1 to 10. Some variations provide a process comprising: providing a biomass feedstock; pyrolyzing the biomass feedstock to generate an intermediate biocarbon stream; washing or treating the intermediate biocarbon stream with an acid, a base, a salt, a metal, H.sub.2, H.sub.2O, CO, CO.sub.2, or a combination thereof, and/or introducing an additive in the process, to adjust a base-acid ratio or other compositional parameter; and recovering a biocarbon composition comprising from 50 wt % to 99 wt % total carbon and optimized for a compositional parameter.

Provided is a smelting method capable of effectively promoting a reduction reaction on pellets formed using nickel oxide ore as starting material to obtain a ferronickel alloy with a high nickel grade of at least 4%. The present invention is a method for smelting nickel oxide ore wherein ferronickel alloy with a nickel grade of at least 4%, the method comprising a pellet-producing step S1 for producing pellets from nickel oxide ore, and a reducing step S2 for reduction-heating of the obtained pellets in a smelting furnace. In the pellet-producing step S1, the pellets are produced by mixing nickel oxide ore with a specified amount of a carbonaceous reducing agent as starting materials. In the reducing step S2, the produced pellets are charged in a smelting furnace in which a carbonaceous reducing agent (furnace bottom carbonaceous reducing agent) has been spread over the entire furnace bottom and reduction-heating is performed.