Abstract: Finely divided material, such as flue dust from a steel making furnace, is processed to reclaim constituents. The material in hopper (11) is pelletized. The pellets are dried in a dryer (16) and fed to a first rotary kiln (21) where they are sintered to provide very hard pellets, during which process volatile constituents are driven off and collected. The sintered pellets are screened to remove finely divided material and fed with reductant, such as finely divided washed anthracite (35), to a second rotary kiln (31). Reduction of the pellets causes a second constituent to be driven off and the second constituent is then oxidized in the kiln and collected as finely divided oxide. The original pellets retain their integrity and become essentially sponge iron.

Abstract: A method is disclosed of producing a corrosion resistant product from a billet comprising a core of finely divided ferrous swarf compacted into briquettes in a stainless steel jacket and in which the billet is heated to a temperature at which it becomes sufficiently plastic to be worked into a finished or semi-finished product by an operation such as rolling. An additive is pre-mixed with the swarf which, when the billet is heated, reacts to form an atmosphere inside the jecket which displaces or prevents the formation of carbon dioxide and/or other gases which at elevated temperatures would oxidise the stainless steel to form chrome oxides at the interface between the jacket and the core. The additive is preferably in powder form. Examples of suitable additives include urea and ammonium chloride.