The application scope of pellet binders is very broad, primarily serving industrial sectors that require the agglomeration of fine powdered materials into pellets with certain strength and metallurgical properties through pelletizing processes. Its core application areas are as follows:
Iron ore fines pelletizing:
Magnetite fines/Hematite fines/Limonite fines/Specularite fines: This is the most important application area for pellet binders. Used to produce oxidized pellets for blast furnaces or pellets for direct reduction (such as Midrex, HYL processes). Binders significantly improve the strength of green and dry pellets, meeting transportation, storage, and smelting requirements.
Iron-containing secondary resources: Such as iron-bearing dust and sludge generated by steel plants (blast furnace dust, converter dust, rolling mill scale, etc.), red mud, etc. Binders help recycle these hard-to-utilize wastes into valuable ironmaking raw materials.
Non-ferrous metal ore fines pelletizing:
Manganese ore fines: Producing manganese ore pellets for smelting manganese ferroalloys (ferromanganese, silicomanganese) or electrolytic manganese metal.
Chromium ore fines: Producing chromium ore pellets for smelting ferrochromium.
Nickel ore fines (laterite nickel ore): In pyrometallurgical processes (RKEF process) or direct reduction processes, pelletizing laterite nickel ore fines is an important pretreatment step.
Concentrates/Lead-zinc concentrates/Other polymetallic ore fines: Before pyrometallurgical smelting, concentrates are sometimes pelletized to improve burden permeability, reduce dust loss, and enhance reaction efficiency.
Direct reduced iron/Hot briquetted iron:
In coal-based or gas-based direct reduction processes, iron concentrate fines are made into cold-bonded pellets or hot briquetted iron (HBI) as raw materials for direct reduced iron, replacing scrap steel or lump ore.
Fluxed pellets:
During pellet production, fluxing agents such as limestone powder and dolomite powder are added to produce fluxed pellets with specific basicity, meeting the burden composition requirements of blast furnaces or direct reduction processes. Binders need to adapt to the characteristics of flux-containing materials.
Refractory and ceramic raw material pretreatment:
Forming green pellets from refractory raw materials or ceramic raw materials such as magnesia powder, bauxite powder, zircon sand powder, etc., to facilitate subsequent calcination or sintering.
Briquetted coal/Coke fines forming:
Some binder technologies can be used to agglomerate coal powder, coke fines, semi-coke powder, etc., into briquetted coal or coke pellets, improving their strength, thermal stability, and combustion efficiency for use in metallurgy, chemical industry, or as civil fuel.
Chemical raw material granulation:
In industries such as fertilizers, catalysts, pigments, and feed additives, it is sometimes necessary to granulate powdered chemical raw materials to improve their flowability, reduce dust, and control dissolution rates.