Collaborating with industry partners Rio Tinto and Shougang Group, researchers at the university’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) developed a novel sinter that is more efficient and comprises less carbon.
 
Xiaodong Ma, leader of SMI’s High Temperature Processing Program, said the sinter will allow for reduced emissions at both the sinter plant and the blast furnace. 
 
“Sinter is an important part of the ironmaking process — it constitutes roughly 70% of the charging material that is added to a blast furnace and therefore ultimately influences the industry’s emissions,” Ma said. “When you talk about carbon and emissions, you are really talking about two stages: the emissions created when the sinter itself is made and then the emissions created by the furnace in which the sinter is used. The sinter we have developed, which is now the intellectual property of Shougang Group, addresses both stages but has a particularly significant effect on the amount of coke consumed at the sinter plant.”
 
Ma added that the sinter has improved reducibility and low slag volume in the blast furnace, resulting in better performance and a reduced coking coal requirement.