What is
Agglomeration.
Agglomeration is the process of particle size enlargement and it is used to transform fine material into manageable, usable and saleable products.
The benefits of Agglomeration
and Agglomeration technologies.
What is Agglomeration?
Most commonly, it refers to the upgrading of material fines into larger particles, such as pellets or granules, but it can also be used to turn sludge-like materials into a dry, granular product. The use of agglomeration solutions has grown from a few key industries to diverse industries as material applications with new applications constantly being developed.
The method and equipment will best suited for each process is based on product goals and the characteristics of the material to be processed. Feasibility testing is therefore often necessary in order to determine the equipment, or equipment combinations, will produce the best results. Below a summary of the various processes and equipment
Agglomeration Technologies.
There are a variety of agglomeration technologies, consisting mainly of the following two categories:
- Tumble growth (no pressure) – The processing of fines in the presence of a binder to form agglomerates
- Pressurised adhesion – The process utilises the principle that materials, when placed under extreme pressure, will adhere to themselves. Not all materials have these properties which means that binders may be added to these materials, making this process more expensive each method and related equipment offer different advantages.
Complete Solutions for Rapid Deployment with Picko.
We offer ready-made agglomeration solutions for quick and easy deployment.
With our very competitive pricing, these solutions provide value for money and a quick return on investment.
The Main Benefits of Agglomeration.
From an economic and environmental perspective, agglomeration offers a variety of multidimensional benefits right thought the value chain:
from raw materials to end-product and waste. The benefits of discussed more specifically below:
Improved handling & transportation
Improved end-product characteristics
Efficient utilisation of raw or waste materials
Significantly reduced dust production
Agglomeration Application.
The use of agglomeration solutions has grown from a few key industries to diverse industries as material applications with new applications constantly being developed. Common industry applications where waste and fine materials are converted into re-usable or saleable products include:
Steel
EAF baghouse dust, coke fines, raw materials, iron ore pellets, process dust, Sponge Iron, steel turnings
Metallic oxides
Waelz oxides, rare earth oxides, zirconium hydroxide, molybdenum trioxide, zircon sand
Ferroalloys
Silicon, ferrosilicon, ferromanganese, ferrochrome
Utilities
Ash, coal, dust, flue gas desulfurization sludge
Copper
Concentrates, smelter dust, precipitates
Gold/Silver
Heap leaching, mine tailings
Cement/Lime
Raw meal, kiln dust
Ceramics
Alumina, catalysts, tile mix, press feed, frits
Glass
Sludge, mill dust, sintered products
Minerals
Alumina, bauxite, lime, dolomite, china clay, magnesia, fluorspar, paint pigments, sulphur, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, lead, zinc
Coal and related
Partial coke oven charge, briquettes treated to obtain formcoke, briquettes for gasification, activated carbon, lignite, peat charcoal graphite, carbon black
Chemicals
Fertilisers, gypsum, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, soil conditioners, aglime, dolomite, soda ash, sodium sulphate, detergents, cleaners, zinc oxide, pigments, dyes, industrial carbons, sodium sulphate, sodium chloride, carbonates, sodium cyanide, potassium cyanide, iron sulphate, potassium bromide, boric acid, urea, calcium hypochlorite
Economical Solution.
- Convert waste to saleable product
- Reduce transportation costs
- Reduce material handling costs and waste
- More flexibility in the choice of raw materials purchased as fine material can now be used at attractive prices
- Upgrading of by-products
- Reduction of packing, storage and transport costs due to higher density of the product
Product Benefits.
- Offers a specified and constant product size-range
- Facilitates dosage use as an agglomerate can represent the exact dose required in a process
- Improves physical appearance
- Simplifies handling and application processes
- Prevents segregation
- Creates precise formulations
Raw Material Benefits.
- Upgrading of raw material fines (waste) to a usable raw material
- Prevention of dust losses
- Increase in porosity, density and meltability of material
- Simplification of transport and shipment
Operational and Process Value.
- Creation of uniform products (size,volume and density)
- As a result of a uniform products, anagglomerate can represent the exact dose required in a process
- Prevent segregation and stabilises mixtures of powders: during handling and transport, heterogeneous mixtures of particles lose their uniformity because of the variation in density, shape and size of the particles.
- Reduction of the volume of a powder
- Improvement of the flowability of the powders, thus preventing problems of feed, dosage or packaging
- Keeps product dust-free
- Improves the compactability of some powders
- Eliminates the problems of dust generation during handling
- Controls the hardness and strength of
products - Controls the dispersion rate of granules
- Solves the problems of powder caking during storage
- Eliminates dust and fines
- Streamlines process and post-process material handling
- Reduces wastage
- Enables the recycling of
waste materials
Environmental Solution.
- Enables the recyclability of industrial waste
- Recycle beneficiated dust in an industrial process
- eliminates pollution problems caused by airborne dust: air and ground pollution
- Can eliminate the need for disposing waste in a landfill
- improves waste product characteristics for cost-efficient recycling
- Improve cost efficiency of waste disposal
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