Hi, I intend to make small granules (1.7mm to 0.4mm) of a mineral powder by:

1) Mixing very fine (-150 mesh) of mineral powders;

2) Adding about 20% of silicates (50% Na + 50% K silicates) to dry powder & mixing

3) Forming 'seeds' or 'nuclei' by sieving the powder-silicate mixture through 12 mesh (1.44 mm);

4) Placing these seeds on a disc pelletizer & spraying 2% PVA solution (98% water + 2% PVA by weight) till I get desired size granules. I will stir PVA and water at 75 deg. C to get a clear solution.

Will this work so that I get hard granules when I heat the finished pellets to 850-1000 deg C?

I am facing a problem of granules powdering when I use only silicates (added to dry powders) & then spraying a 50% Silicate + 50% water solution as I am doing it now. Totally about 26-27% silicates (by weight of dry powder mass) is being used but when the granules are being recycled in an automated system (pneumatic), abrasion is severe and granules start to powder.