Setter plates are fabricated from Li-stuffed garnet materials having the same, or substantially similar, compositions as a garnet Li-stuffed solid electrolyte. The Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, reduce the evaporation of Li during a sintering treatment step and/or reduce the loss of Li caused by diffusion out of the sintering electrolyte. Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, maintain compositional control over the solid electrolyte during sintering when, upon heating, lithium is prone to diffuse out of the solid electrolyte.

Setter plates are fabricated from Li-stuffed garnet materials having the same, or substantially similar, compositions as a garnet Li-stuffed solid electrolyte. The Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, reduce the evaporation of Li during a sintering treatment step and/or reduce the loss of Li caused by diffusion out of the sintering electrolyte. Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, maintain compositional control over the solid electrolyte during sintering when, upon heating, lithium is prone to diffuse out of the solid electrolyte.

A grate bar for mounting in arrays of adjacent grate bars in a pallet car of a sintering or pelletizing machine includes an elongate crossbeam extending in a longitudinal direction of a horizontal plane, with a middle section between two opposite end sections. The crossbeam has a generally rectangular cross-section with an upper surface for receiving bulk material thereon, an opposite lower surface, and peripheral surfaces for facing adjacent grate bars. The crossbeam has two legs to vertically secure the grate bar to the pallet car. The end sections of the crossbeam include first interlocking components shaped and arranged such that they cooperate with first interlocking components of grate bars of a neighbouring row of grate bars; thereby limiting relative translations of two neighbouring grate bars in at least a vertical and a horizontal orientation. The first interlocking components have a triangular cross-section in a horizontal plane.

A screening apparatus comprises superposed screening decks with an upper one of the screening decks having a pellet input, and each screening deck ends with an oversize pellet output, the screening decks have screens to screen the green ore pellets from top to bottom, the oversize pellet outputs feeding the travelling grate through pellet chutes with the oversize green ore pellets of one of the upper and the lower one of the screening decks being superposed to oversize green ore pellets of the other one of the lower and the upper one of the screening decks, the pellet chutes defining a curved delivery path with an input slope at the chute pellet input greater than an output slope of the chute pellet output to reduce a delivery speed of the green ore pellets from the oversize pellet output to the travelling grate. There is also provided a method for screening and delivering green ore pellets onto a travelling grate of an induration furnace.

A screening apparatus comprises superposed screening decks with an upper one of the screening decks having a pellet input, and each screening deck ends with an oversize pellet output, the screening decks have screens to screen the green ore pellets from top to bottom, the oversize pellet outputs feeding the travelling grate through pellet chutes with the oversize green ore pellets of one of the upper and the lower one of the screening decks being superposed to oversize green ore pellets of the other one of the lower and the upper one of the screening decks, the pellet chutes defining a curved delivery path with an input slope at the chute pellet input greater than an output slope of the chute pellet output to reduce a delivery speed of the green ore pellets from the oversize pellet output to the travelling grate. There is also provided a method for screening and delivering green ore pellets onto a travelling grate of an induration furnace.

A pallet car for conveying material to be processed is disclosed. The pallet car includes first and second sidewalls formed from sidewall members that each include a metal frame and a heat-resistant liner, such as formed from refractory. The refractory formed on the metal frame of the sidewall members provides insulation for the metal frame without the need for a hearth layer of pre-processed material in the material bed of the pallet car. The sidewall member including the refractory layer increases the effective volume of the pallet car, which increases the overall efficiency of the furnace and material processing procedure.

An induration machine includes a travelling grate for transporting bulk material along a transport direction from a heating zone for heating and/or drying the material to a cooling zone for cooling the material by cooling gas. The machine includes a hood disposed over the travelling grate having a first hood section in the heating zone and a second hood section in the cooling zone; and two recuperation ducts for guiding used cooling gas from the second hood section to the first hood section.

The recuperation ducts are disposed on opposite sides of the hood, are laterally offset with respect to the hood, and are connected to the second hood section by a V-shaped gas collector duct. Each recuperation duct is connected to the first hood section by at least one gas supply duct and has at least one dust purge opening disposed in the lowermost part of the recuperation duct for purging dust from the recuperation duct.

Setter plates are fabricated from Li-stuffed garnet materials having the same, or substantially similar, compositions as a garnet Li-stuffed solid electrolyte. The Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, reduce the evaporation of Li during a sintering treatment step and/or reduce the loss of Li caused by diffusion out of the sintering electrolyte. Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, maintain compositional control over the solid electrolyte during sintering when, upon heating, lithium is prone to diffuse out of the solid electrolyte.

Setter plates are fabricated from Li-stuffed garnet materials having the same, or substantially similar, compositions as a garnet Li-stuffed solid electrolyte. The Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, reduce the evaporation of Li during a sintering treatment step and/or reduce the loss of Li caused by diffusion out of the sintering electrolyte. Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, maintain compositional control over the solid electrolyte during sintering when, upon heating, lithium is prone to diffuse out of the solid electrolyte.

Setter plates are fabricated from Li-stuffed garnet materials having the same, or substantially similar, compositions as a garnet Li-stuffed solid electrolyte. The Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, reduce the evaporation of Li during a sintering treatment step and/or reduce the loss of Li caused by diffusion out of the sintering electrolyte. Li-stuffed garnet setter plates, set forth herein, maintain compositional control over the solid electrolyte during sintering when, upon heating, lithium is prone to diffuse out of the solid electrolyte.