Thesis work - Investigation of the shock drying temperature in pellets

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As a thesis student with us, you’ll have the opportunity to put your theoretical knowledge into practice while gaining unique insight into our operations. You’ll become part of our team, contribute to our development, and acquire valuable experience that strengthens both your skills and your CV. We look forward to hearing your ideas and supporting your growth!

Shaping the future

At LKAB, we are leading the transformation of our industry toward a sustainable future. Just as we aim to reshape the world, we are committed to developing every individual on our team, both personally and professionally. Are you ready to help shape the future of the mining and mineral industry?

Background of the assignment

Shock drying temperature is an important factor to be understood when designing a process for drying and induration of pellets. If the heating rate is too fast, water vapor diffusion through the pores might not be enough compared to water vapor generation due to the temperature. Therefore, pressure rises inside the pellets and they break. This is a well-known phenomenon in pelletizing, but highly dependent on pelletizing conditions and the concentrates used.

LKAB has recently conducted tests with a blend of two different ores and the blended pellets did not behave as usual. Therefore, it is required a deeper understading of what are the reasons behind these tests performing poorly compared to regular pellets. The aim of this master thesis is conducting tests to create a basic understanding of how the mixing of two different concentrates affect the shock drying temperature, with and without the addition of solid fuel.

Problem statement

LKAB has several ore bodies containing both hematite and magnetite. It is important to understand, in the planning of future exploration, how hematite ore pellets would behave if they were to be explored. It is also of interest to understand how blending of hematite and magnetite behaves compared to pure magnetite pellets. Some exploratory tests have already been made and, during these tests, pellets with blended hematite and magnetite concentrates have behaved differently. This could be due to several reasons, such as different ore types, addition of solid fuel, or even the pelletizing conditions. Therefore, it is important to understand the behavior of the shock drying temperature (CTH) in these pellets under LKAB controlled and standard conditions. It is important to also try to isolate and investigate the different variables in a consistent manner. The main variables in these experiments are the hematite concentrate amount in the pellet and the presence of solid fuel. It is expected the following tasks under the Master thesis:

• Literature review about CTH.
• Design of an experimental plan to investigate the variables - use of DOE is highly encouraged.
• Participate in experimental runs and observe the behavior of the pellets - interaction with technicians and research assistants.
• Evaluate the data from the experiments. Performing statistical analysis in the data is highly recommended.
• Presentation with the final results.

What you bring

You should have a background in either one of the following: materials or metallurgical engineering, material science, mine engineering or other related fields.
It is important that you have good ability searching literature and summarizing it properly, and are interested in doing experimental work.

Compensation for thesis projects and practical benefits at LKAB

For a thesis project approved by both the university and LKAB, we offer the following compensation:

• 35 000 SEK for a thesis equivalent to 30 ECTS credits.
• 20 000 SEK for a thesis equivalent to 15 ECTS credits.

If two students write together, the compensation is shared.

In addition to financial compensation, we offer:

• Travel reimbursement between the study location and LKAB
• Accommodation can be provided when physical presence on-site is required

More information

Start:  At a mutually agreed date

Location: Forskningscenter (FC) and Agglommererings laboratorium, Malmberget. Remote work is possible for writing and results analysis.

Scope: 30 ECTS credits.

For more information about the thesis project, you are welcome to contact the supervisor/mentor: Linda Karlsson, linda.karlsson@lkab.com, Björn Keskitalo, bjorn.keskitalo@lkab.com, or Roberto Andrade, roberto.andrade@lkab.com

If you have any questions regarding practical matters beyond the thesis project itself, please feel free to contact examensarbete@lkab.com

We appreciate your commitment and will get back to you if we consider your application suitable for the assignment. Thank you for wanting to do your thesis with us!