Experimental production of basic pellets by using steel slag as flux

As a by-product of the steelmaking process, steel slag has a large stock and poor stability, which has led to a gradual decline in its utilization. In order to enhance the utilization rate of steel slag, the preparation of basic pellets by using steel slag as the flux was proposed, in consideration of the high basicity of steel slag. The incorporation of steel slag has been demonstrated to enhance the water-holding capacity and the decrepitation temperature of green pellets. The addition of steel slag increases the content of calcium oxide in the pellets, promotes the formation of a fusible phase in the pellets, and thus increases the liquid phase. With the increasing content of steel slag, the porosity of finished pellets gradually increases and the compressive strength decreases, but the compressive strength of finished pellets can all exceed 2500 N. The addition of steel slag can improve the reducibility index of pellets, with the maximum reducibility index increasing by 12.06%; the reduction swelling index is less than 10.9%, and the reduction degradation index is more than 58.4%.