British Steel trials greener pellets in blast furnace test

British Steel and Binding Solutions Limited (“BSL”) announced the successful completion of a 250 tonne industrial trial of BSL’s Cold Agglomerated Pellets (“CAPs”) in the Queen Bess blast furnace at Scunthorpe. According to the company, BSL’s patented and proprietary CAPs can cut energy usage and CO2e emissions by up to 80% and 70% respectively, by replacing standard pellets and sinter in blast furnaces.

The trial proved the operational effectiveness of BSL’s CAPs in a blast furnace, with blast furnace stability maintained whilst continuing to meet the plant’s required performance parameters. BSL’s CAPs can therefore replace up to 8% of indurated pellets in a blast furnace, offering a viable and near term opportunity for the steel industry to reduce emissions from primary steel making. BSL and British Steel will publish detailed results of the test in the coming weeks. Jon Campbell, Director for British Steel said: “The successful trial clearly demonstrates British Steel’s commitment to exploring new ways of reducing the carbon footprint of our ironmaking operations.”
BSL’s cold agglomeration technology can be used to produce pellets from a wide variety of iron ores for use in blast furnaces, electric arc furnaces and direct reduced iron plants, as well as converting fine byproducts into valuable materials that can be added back to steelmaking furnaces.The successful results of this trial will enable investment in BSL’s planned commercial CAP production facilities. BSL is currently reviewing locations in the UK, Europe and Canada for its first production plant in cooperation with a range of commercial and government partners.
The CAPs were produced at BSL’s Pilot Plant which operated at full capacity and passed a number of significant operational milestones during the production process. The pellets were exhaustively tested at BSL’s onsite laboratory. BSL’s Technology Centre in Middlesbrough is the world’s leading iron ore agglomeration research and product development centre.
Binding Solutions is a fast-growing technology company that has developed a patented process for significantly reducing carbon emissions from steel production. According to BSL, cold agglomeration pellets (CAPs) enable reductions of up to 80% in energy usage and 70% in CO2 e emissions by replacing sinter and induration process that account for approximately 15% of the sector’s emissions. Using cold agglomeration technology can also cut capital requirements by 86% and reduce process complexity delivering commercial benefits to iron ore miners, pellet producers and steel makers. BSL’s technology can also be deployed to monetise waste fines from metals production by converting them into cold agglomerated pellets that can be added back to the furnace , the company says. BSL has an advanced Technology Centre that provides full life cycle testing for clients from laboratory scale to furnace trial.
Source: BSL