Optimization of briquetting technology of fine-grained metallurgical materials based on statistical models of compressibility

This paper represents the study of the briquetting process optimization of metallurgical charges. A new measure of briquettes' quality - the compression intensity factor, is developed. Using the design of experiments, the nonlinear relationships are established of given factors: the content of plasticizer and moisture, hardness of the particles, dynamic viscosity of the liquid binder, amount of carbonaceous component and the average particle size in the charge. The adequateness of the models was estimated. It is shown that the greatest influence on compressibility has the hardness of the particles while the dynamic viscosity of the liquid binder has a minimum effect. An effective way to control the briquetting process is to change the content of the plasticizer and moisture. In the case of iron-carbon mixtures, it is necessary to control simultaneously the content of carbonaceous ma-terial and the particle size of both components. The article provides detailed recommendations on results implementation.