Abstract
The electrical resistivity of sinter dusts generated from the steel industry and coal fly ash from the coal power plant has been investigated using the high voltage conductivity cell based on JIS B 9915 as a function of temperature and water content. Dust characterization such as the chemical composition, size distribution, atomic concentration, and surface structure has been conducted. Major constituents of sinter dusts were Fe$_2$O$_3$(40∼74.5%), CaO (6.4∼8.2%), SiO$_2$(4.1∼6.0%), and unburned carbon (7.0∼14.7%), while the coal fly ash consisted of mainly SiO$_2$(51.4%), Al$_2$O$_3$(24.1%), and Fe$_2$O$_3$(10.5%). Size distributions of the sinter dusts were bi-modal in shape and the mass median diameters (MMD) were in the range of 24.7∼137㎛, whereas the coal fly ash also displayed bi-modal distribution and the MMD of the coal fly ash was 35.71㎛. Factors affecting resistivity of dusts were chemical composition, moisture content, particle size, gas temperature, and surface structure of dust. The resistivity of sinter dusts was so high as 10(sup)15 ohm$.$cm at 150$\^{C}$ that sinter dust would not precipitate well. The resistivity of the coal fly ash was measured 1012 ohm$.$cm at about 150$\^{C}$. Increased water contents of the ambient air lowered the dust resistivity because current conduction was more activated for absorption of water vapor on the surface layer of the dust.