In the iron production processes, sinters and pellets are mostly used as raw materials due to their consistency with respect to physical and chemical properties. However, natural iron ores, as mined, are rarely used directly as a feed material for iron processing. This is mainly due to the fact that they have small contents of iron and high concentration of impurities. Moreover, they swell and disintegrate during the descent in the furnace as well as due to low melting and softening temperatures. This work involves an investigation of the parameters that influence the use of natural iron ores as a direct feed material for iron production. Furthermore, it points out ways in which these can be mitigated so as to increase their direct use in iron production. Natural iron ore from Muko deposits in south-western Uganda was used in this study. Initially, characterisation of the physical and chemical properties was performed, to understand the natural composition of the ore. In addition, investigations were done to study the low temperature strength of the ore and its behaviour in the direct reduction zone. Also, simulations were performed with three models using the experimental data from the direct reduction experiments in order to determine the best model for predicting the direct reduction kinetics of natural iron ores. Chemical analyses showed that the Muko ore represents a high grade of hematite with an Fe content of 68% on average. The gangue content (SiO2+Al2O3) in 5 of the 6 investigated iron ore samples was &lt; 4%, which is within the tolerable limits for the dominant iron production processes. The S and P contents were 0001-0.006% and 0.02-0.05% respectively. These can be reduced in the furnace without presenting major processing difficulties. With respect to the mechanical properties, the Muko ore was found to have a Tumble Index value of 88-93 wt%, an Abrasion Index value of 0.5-3.8 wt% and a Shatter Index value of 0.6-2.0 wt%. Therefore, the ore holds its form during the handling and charging processes. Under low temperature investigations, new parameters were discovered that influence the low temperature strength of iron oxides. It was discovered that the positioning of the samples in the reduction furnace together with the original weight (W0) of the samples, have a big influence on the low temperature strength of iron oxide. Higher mechanical degradation (MD) values were obtained in the top furnace reaction zone samples (3-25% at 500oC and 10-21% at 600oC). These were the samples that had the first contact with the reducing gas, as it was flowing through the furnace from top to bottom. Then, the MD values decreased till 5-16% at a 500oC temperature and 6-20% at a 600oC temperature in the middle and bottom reaction zones samples. It was found that the obtained difference between the MD values in the top and other zones can be more than 2 times, particularly at 500oC temperature. Furthermore, the MD values for samples with W0 &lt; 5 g varied from 7-21% well as they decreased to 5-10% on average for samples with W0 ≥ 5 g. Moreover, the MD values for samples taken from the top reaction zone were larger than those from the middle and bottom zones. During direct reduction of the ores in a H2 and CO gas mixture with a ratio of 1.5 and a constant temperature, the reduction degree (RD) increased with a decreased flow rate until an optimum value was established. The RD also increased when the flow rate was kept constant and the temperature increased. An optimum range of 3-4g was found for natural iron ores, within which the highest RD values that are realised for all reduction conditions. In addition, the mechanical stability is greatly enhanced at RD values &gt; 0.7. In the case of microstructure, it was observed that the original microstructure of the samples had no significant impact on the final RD value (only 2-4%). However, it significantly influenced the reduction rate and time of the DR process. The thermo-gravimetric data obtained from the reduction experiments was used to calculate the solid conversion rate. Three models: the Grain Model (GM), the Volumetric Model (VM) and the Random Pore Model (RPM), were used to estimate the reduction kinetics of natural iron ores. The random pore model (RPM) provided the best agreement with the obtained experimental results (r2 = 0.993-0.998). Furthermore, it gave a better prediction of the natural iron oxide conversion and thereby the reduction kinetics. The RPM model was used for the estimation of the effect of original microstructure and porosity of iron ore lumps on the parameters of the reduction process. / <p>QC 20130531</p> / Sustainable Technology Development in the Lake Victoria Region

Esta Tese tem como objetivo analisar a pesquisa arqueológica e os artefatos coletados no Sitio Arqueológico Afonso Sardinha, localizado no morro de Araçoiaba, Iperó - São Paulo. O resultado da análise permitiu concluir que a área corresponde a um campo de mineração de ferro com a presença de evidências de uma Fábrica de Ferro, de um sistema de aproveitamento de energia hidráulica para movimentar os equipamentos e ferramentas destinadas a produção e de fornos de fundição. Além disso, a datação do material cerâmico (vasilhames e telhas) indica que as atividades de exploração do minério tiveram início no século XVI. / This Thesis has the goal to analyze archaeological research and artifacts found in Afonso Sardinha Archaeological, site located on Mount Araçoiaba, Iperó São Paulo. The analysis result leads to the conclusion that the area corresponds to iron mining field with the presence of Iron Factory evidence, a system that makes use of hydraulic power to move the equipment and tools used in the production and small ovens to melt iron. Besides, the ceramic date (pots and tiles) indicates that mineral digging activities began in the 16th century.

Esta Tese tem como objetivo analisar a pesquisa arqueológica e os artefatos coletados no Sitio Arqueológico Afonso Sardinha, localizado no morro de Araçoiaba, Iperó - São Paulo. O resultado da análise permitiu concluir que a área corresponde a um campo de mineração de ferro com a presença de evidências de uma Fábrica de Ferro, de um sistema de aproveitamento de energia hidráulica para movimentar os equipamentos e ferramentas destinadas a produção e de fornos de fundição. Além disso, a datação do material cerâmico (vasilhames e telhas) indica que as atividades de exploração do minério tiveram início no século XVI. / This Thesis has the goal to analyze archaeological research and artifacts found in Afonso Sardinha Archaeological, site located on Mount Araçoiaba, Iperó São Paulo. The analysis result leads to the conclusion that the area corresponds to iron mining field with the presence of Iron Factory evidence, a system that makes use of hydraulic power to move the equipment and tools used in the production and small ovens to melt iron. Besides, the ceramic date (pots and tiles) indicates that mineral digging activities began in the 16th century.

The topic of osmund iron is of great interest in both historical and metallurgical perspective. Between the 14th and the 17th century osmund iron was exported extensively from Sweden but it has been difficult to characterize and confirm what exactly osmund iron is. Further research should be conducted to improve the understanding of this kind of iron.   This work is primarily focused on medieval osmund iron. It is trying to determine what can be stated about their production methods and how to identify osmund pieces. A literature review was performed, to present an overview of iron production methods in medieval Europe. A metallurgical analysis was conducted on a number of osmund samples from the polish shipwreck ‘Miedsiowiec’, W5., together with samples from bar irons and iron billets from the same ship. Analysis was performed using LOM and SEM with EDS, analysing the crystallographic structure of the samples, and performing slag analysis using EDS to establish statistical trends. One of the aims was to evaluate a previously suggested hypothesis, namely that osmunds were shipped to Danzig from Stockholm, and then refined into iron bars and billets.  The studied iron bars and billets were purely ferritic with some slag inclusions. By looking at the shape of the slag inclusions, it can be stated that the bars and billets were forged differently from the osmund pieces. The osmunds were found to be made by indirect reduction as seen by the prevalence of cementite. It could not be confirmed if the bars and billets were forged by osmunds.  The osmunds showed different trace element compositions, than the iron bars and billets. The microstructure of all the osmunds varies greatly, which was to be expected. The osmunds had a higher carbon content and fewer slag inclusions. The hypothesis that osmunds were refined into iron bars and billets is not supported by the findings of this study. / Osmundjärn är av stort arkeometallurgiskt intresse, som en svensk exportvara som exporterades mellan 1300- och 1600-talet. Det är dock svårt att definitivt avgöra vad osmundjärn är för något. Det krävs därför ytterligare analyser och studier inom detta område för att förbättra vår förståelse av osmundjärn.   Denna studie behandlar upphittade medeltida osmundjärn och stångjärn i syfte att avgöra hur dessa har tillverkats. En litteraturstudie genomfördes som omfattande medeltida järntillverkningsprocesser, den existerande forskningen om osmundjärn samt relevanta forskningsmetoder. Järnproverna som erhölls kommer från den polska skeppsvraket ’Miedsiowiec’, W5. Mikrostrukturen av proverna analyserades med ljusmikroskop och en SEM-EDS analys utfördes. En föregående publicering om osmundar har föreslagit att osmundar exporterades från Stockholm till Gdansk, där de välldes och bearbetades till stångjärn. Osmundarna och stångjärnen som erhölls undersöktes också för att korrektheten i denna hypotes. Stångjärnens mikrostrukturer var ferritiska med ett flertal inneslutningar. Två av de så kallade iron billets hade anisotropiskt formad slagg, jämfört med de så kallade iron bars som hade isotropiskt format slagg. Det bedömdes att osmundarna var tillverkade i en masugn, på grund av perliten som hittades i mikrostrukturen i samtliga osmundar. Mikrostrukturen i alla osmundar varierade dock kraftigt, som väntat. Osmundarna hade också högre kolhalt, och färre slaggpartiklar. Hypotesen om att osmundar bearbetades till stångjärn stöds därför inte av resultaten som hittats i denna studie.