Quantitative image analysis of bubble cavities in iron ore green pellets

Scanning electron microscopy and image analysis was used for quantitative analysis of bubble cavities in iron ore green pellets. Two types of pellets prepared with and without addition of flotation reagent prior to balling were studied. The bubble cavity porosity amounted to 2.8% in the pellets prepared without addition of flotation reagent prior to balling. When flotation reagent was added prior to balling, the bubble cavity porosity increased by a factor of 2.4 and the median bubble diameter was decreased slightly. It was also shown that mercury intrusion porosimetry is not suitable for determination of the distribution of bubble cavities. Finally, our data suggested that the difference in total porosity determined by mercury intrusion porosimetry and pycnometry between the two types of pellets was due to the bubble cavities.