Anthracite coal as fuel for iron ore sintering is compared with
coke breeze. Anthracite is lower in porosity, higher in density, and
slower in combustion rate. With higher proportion of anthracite in
fuel, permeability of sinter bed tends to decrease resulting in lower
sinter productivity. Higher fuel rate with more replacement of coke
breeze by anthracite is ascribed to the lower density of heat source
particles and to the lower heat value and more volatile matters of
anthracite. A smaller particle size for anthracite is recommended.
Some subsidiary heat sources such as magnetite ore and mill scale
could be helpful for more uniform sintering.