Reduction and melting behavior of carbon composite lateritic bauxite pellets

Direct reduction of low-grade lateritic bauxite was studied at high temperature to recover Fe and beneficiate Al₂O₃ slag. The results show that a metallization rate of 97.9% and a nugget recovery rate of 85.1% can be achieved when the reducing and melting temperatures are 1350 and 1480℃, respectively. Moreover, a higher-grade calcium aluminate slag (Al₂O₃=50.52wt%) can also be obtained, which is mainly composed of α-Al₂O₃, hercynite (FeAl₂O₄), and gehlenite (Ca₂Al₂SiO₇). In addition, high-quality iron nuggets have been produced from low-grade lateritic bauxite. The nugget is mainly composed of iron (93.82wt%) and carbon (3.86wt%), with almost no gangue (slag).