Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) is a premium form of DRI that has been compacted at a temperature greater than 650° C at time of compaction and has a density greater than 5,000 kilograms per cubic metre (5,000 kg/m3).
HBI was developed as a product in order to overcome the problems associated with shipping and handling of DRI – due to the process of compaction it is very much less porous and therefore very much less reactive than DRI and does not suffer from the risk of self-heating associated with DRI.
The principle market for HBI is electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, but HBI also finds application as a trim coolant in basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking and as blast furnace feedstock.