Product handling
Follow the fired pellet from the plant to its intended ironmaking application.
What happens here
Handling, storage and shipment form the final interface between pellet production and the receiving operation. Product qualification should reflect the intended blast-furnace or direct-reduction application.
Equipment in this stage
Conveyors, transfer systems, storage and load-out equipment.
Inputs to define
Sampling and acceptance points; handling interfaces; shipment records; receiving-plant requirements.
A useful review question
Agree how quality is measured and where responsibility transfers. Preserve product, period and measurement basis in each record.
Continue to the practical guide ↗The product specification continues beyond the cooler
The physical quality reported at the pellet plant does not automatically describe the cargo received by the customer. Each transfer, stockpile operation and loading step creates another opportunity for size segregation or breakage. Compare matched size fractions at defined custody points rather than comparing an unscreened loading sample with a screened receiving sample.
Use a mass balance to distinguish physical loss, downgraded material and material retained in storage. If fines are removed and sold separately, they may retain value but do not belong in the accepted pellet tonnage. Record both streams.
Design a handling review around a real route
| Interface | Design information | Operational evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Conveyor transfer | Drop geometry, impact surface, material trajectory and access | Breakage before/after the transfer and spillage records. |
| Stockpile and reclaim | Stacking method, reclaim sequence and drainage | Size/quality variability by reclaimed lot. |
| Load-out | Final screening and sampling arrangement | Accepted pellets, rejects and shipment traceability. |
| Customer receipt | Agreed sampling, test and claim procedure | Comparable results for the same shipment and methods. |
Transfer improvements should be judged over the whole route. A change that improves one chute but creates a new bottleneck or inaccessible wear point is not a complete solution. Include inspection, cleaning, containment and replacement access in the review.
Worked example: accepted tonnes and iron-unit recovery
Illustrative material balance
A shipment preparation campaign receives 10,000 t of pellets and removes 180 t as fines. With no other loss or inventory change, accepted pellets are 9,820 t and mass yield is 98.2%. If both streams contain 65% total Fe, accepted pellets contain 6,383 t Fe. The fines contain another 117 t Fe; their recovery or sale must be tracked separately.
Iron-unit yield is not necessarily the same as mass yield when product and reject assays differ. Keep all assays and tonnages on a common moisture basis. This distinction matters when comparing a handling modification with an ore-quality upgrade.
Technical references
Metso — iron ore pelletizing process ↗
References support the underlying principles. Diagnostic sequences, worked examples and procurement questions are original engineering analysis; they are not plant operating instructions or verified supplier performance results.
Keep green and fired handling duties distinct
Green pellets must survive the route into the furnace before thermal hardening. Fired pellets face a different series of impacts, storage and transport conditions. Do not transfer a belt-protection result or a fired-pellet test directly to a green-pellet application. Use matched samples to locate where new fines appear.