The discussion centers on the use of whey/lactose as the key ingredient of a binder system utilized in a patented industrial process having broad applications as an energy conservative resource recovery system. Although samples of many other products have been fabricated utilizing this binder, this presentation describes its use in the manufacture of iron ore pellets and iron/steel pellets produced from iron fines captured in pollution control equipment. Commercial introduction of this process should effect large savings in the amount of energy expended in the making of iron ore pellets, permit recycling of iron/steel dust currently discarded, and create a positive use for a currently undesirable byproduct of the dairy industry. Whey/lactose, as the binding agent, is blended with the iron material, an acid and a base, which then is processed through an extruder. The resultant pellets/briquettes are cured at 600 F. This process takes advantage of some chemical-physical properties of the extrusion blend to form materials of structural strength which allow iron resource recovery via the blast furnace. The whey/lactose is thought to improve the binding strength of the pellet/briquette and assist the ionic binding structures which are critical to the ultimate strength of the recovered iron material. © 1979, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.
