Binding Solutions Limited, a UK-based developer of green steel technology, says it has successfully produced Cold Agglomerated Pellets (CAPs) from 100% Pilbara iron ore, marking the first time a CAP has been produced using ore from the world’s largest iron ore producing region.
Pilbara ores are complex, and do not survive high temperature furnace conditions when pelletised using traditional agglomeration techniques, such as induration, the company says. BSL’s Pilbara CAPs meet recognised furnace test standards and provide a potential route to exploiting value from this prestigious source of iron ore deposits.
The Pilbara CAPs were produced and tested at BSL’s Middlesbrough Technology Centre, using state of the art furnace testing equipment and the skills and agglomeration know how of the experienced technical team.
BSL will continue to work with industry partners to further develop this product and identify opportunities where it can be applied for direct reduction iron making as well as blast furnace applications, it said.
BSL claims its CAP technology can be applied to multiple ore types to deliver significant, near-term reductions in carbon emissions and energy usage of 70% and 80%, respectively, compared with traditional agglomeration technologies. In addition, due to the modular nature of the BSL technology, CAP plants can reduce capital costs by 86% per million tonnes of annual production. BSL’s technology also almost eliminates NOx and SOx pollution.
Dr Matthew Bennett, BSL’s Head of Science, said: “It is globally recognized that goethetic containing ores present challenges that make it difficult to formulate agglomerated pellets that could be used to produce steel. BSL’s approach has been to understand the behaviour of these ores and to develop a technology that takes advantage of their unique mineralogy.”
