Characterization of Iron Production with Millscale by Product Reduction

Mill scale is a byproduct of metal factory. There are many methods to recycle it for various applications. The aim of this research is to recycle mill scale to produce iron by reduction method with graphite as the reductant agent. The reduction process was carried out by milled the mill scale and graphite powder with weight ratio of 4 : 1 by using High Energy Milling with 4,6, and 12 hours milling time variations. The powder then was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and SEM-EDS. The XRD test result shows Fe3C as a main phase. The other detected phases are carbon, magnetite, wustite and Iron as a minor phase. The percentage of detected iron content is increase with milling times at the amount of 6, 10.9, and 13 %. The remanence performance for the 4, 6, and 12 hours of milling time variation is 2.89, 3.39, and 4.98 emu/g, for the coercivity (Hc) is 209.58, 188.47, and 223.65 Oe, and the magnetic saturation number is 22.59, 30.7, 39.15 emu/g. From the Hc value, it is concluded that the powder has superparamagnetic behavior. The SEM-EDS results show that the distribution of Fe is more uniform on the surface of samples with the increasing of milling time.