Developments In Pelletizing

INTRODUCTION During the Bicentennial Year in the United States of America, recognition should be given to the fact that 20 years ago the first large-scale commercial pelletizing plant was started and attained rated capacity. This was the beginning of a new industry. Twenty years ago the total production of pellets was principally from pilot plant facilities and totaled in the thousands of tons per year. At the present time the world production is slightly in excess of 280 million tons per year. This truly is a tremendous growth for any industry. Such a production growth obviously is accompanied by a similar growth pattern in the development of process, equipment, and facilities. During the growth and development period, different materials became more adaptable for processing. For example, initially the pelletizing of iron ores revolved around the magnetite concentrates where the heat of reaction constituted a very important part of the process fuel. During this growth period, specular hematite, earthy hematite, mixtures of hematite and magnetite, and even non-ferrous type materials were pelletized, a function previously thought not practical. The demand for the use of pellets has also broadened their concepts. At first they were made to replace the high-grade iron ores used in blast furnaces. Nowadays, not only have they replaced iron units, but they have had a major influence on the design of larger blast furnaces and have contributed to production rates in excess of 10 000 tons per day from a single furnace. They have also been used in the manufacture of steel, principally for coolants in the BOF practice. More recently, with the improved beneficiation techniques that have been developed over the same period of time, pellets have been used for the direct reduction process and can be used directly