In the United States, approximately 62 million tons of iron ore pellets are produced every year. The current practice in pellet production is to utilize bentonite (a clay mineral) as a binder for these pellets, with 637,000 tons of bentonite being used in this applicationevery year. This paper reports the first successful use of high-carbon fly-ashes as a replacement for bentonite in iron-ore pellet production. The carbon content of the fly-ash was found to have no detrimental effects on the quality of the pellets produced, and the carbon contained in the pellets will tend to reduce the fuel needed for pellet sintering. The advantages and disadvantages of fly-ash as a binder are discussed.
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