Mineral Processing
Behzad Nemati akhgar
Abstract
Researchers in various engineering fields are increasingly interested in evaluating the influence of the microstructural properties of minerals, such as hematite, on their reactivity. Hematite behaviour and microstructural changes during mechanical activation (MA) were investigated using the shape parameter. ...
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Researchers in various engineering fields are increasingly interested in evaluating the influence of the microstructural properties of minerals, such as hematite, on their reactivity. Hematite behaviour and microstructural changes during mechanical activation (MA) were investigated using the shape parameter. The laser diffraction analysis indicates the occurrence of agglomeration in the mechanically activated hematite after 60 min of MA. Based on the microstructural studies, the hematite crystallinity reduced to below 16% after 240 min of MA. Microstrain and crystallite size continuously changed during MA, leading to an increase in hematite leaching efficiency by sulfuric acid. The results revealed that the microstrain variation rate is higher than other microstructural parameters. The obtained shape parameter increased from about 0.31 in the initial hematite to 0.88 and 0.66 in the hematite mechanically activated for 60 and 240 min, respectively. The shape parameter study demonstrated that most mechanical energy is stored in the hematite lattice as microstrain after 240 minutes of MA. Considering the lower impact of microstrain on promoting hematite reactivity, shorter MA times could be preferred over prolonged MA, which would reduce costs and increase capacity.
