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Furnace contractor completes multitude of projects

5th August 2011

By: Tracy Hancock

Creamer Media Contributing Editor

  

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One of Africa’s biggest smelter and mineral processing furnace contractors Dickinson Group has been awarded several furnace projects for pyrometallurgical customers in South Africa this year.

One such project involves the installation of refractory material on the side and end walls of the furnace at miner Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats’) Mortimer Smelter, in Limpopo.

The project is part of the smelter’s phase two upgrade and was completed this month, says Dickinson Group CEO Trevor Dickinson.

Phase two involves a complete rebuild and upgrade of the existing furnace, increasing its capacity from 19 MW to 38 MW.

The full scope of engineering includes the installation of a new screw feeder system, a hot gas generator, a coal bin, a 1 500 t silo, conveyor belting, a bucket elevator, a coal bunker, refurbished compressors, slag granu- lation modifications, a pneumatic transfer system, upgraded transformers, a new offgas system and a force draught cooler and stack, states the website for the project’s engineering, procurement and construction management contractor, G&H Consulting Engineers.

Meanwhile, Dickinson Group will, this month, start the partial rebuild of copper producer Palabora Mining’s coal-fired rever- beratory (reverb) furnace, in Phalaborwa, Limpopo.

The partial furnace rebuild requires the demolition and installation of about 1 760 t of refractory brickwork in 16 days.

“The project includes the demolition of the reverb roof and boiler take-ups, removal and storage of the buckstay tie beams for reinstallation by the group’s mechanical division, partial demolition of sidewalls to the tap holes and skim bays, as well as the demolition of the burner wall and partial demolition of the pilaster, bridge walls and throat hopper refractories,” explains Dickinson.

About 500 t of matte and slag will also be removed during the demolition operation.

The refractory installation scope includes the cleaning and levelling of the wall foundations and the reinstallation of the burner wall, sidewalls and tapping walls, including the tap hole and skim bay areas, together with the pilaster, bridge walls and the throat hopper refractories.

Further, the group will also complete the installation of refractories on mining group Exxaro’s Mineral Sands division KZN Sands’ number two furnace, in the third quarter of this year.

This project followed the group’s completion of a contract to rebuild KZN Sands’ number one furnace, which involved the demolition of about 1 200 t of slag, metal and refractory material, followed by the installation of 750 t of refractories.

“KZN Sands is focused on the exploration, mining and treatment of mineral sands deposits in KwaZulu-Natal. The company uses hydrau- lic mining at its Hillendale mine, which is 20 km south-west of Richards Bay, to produce slurry for the mine’s primary wet plant,” says Dickinson.

Ilmenite, zircon and rutile are produced from the Hillendale mine, while further processing, including smelting ilmenite to produce titanium dioxide slag, takes place at the central processing complex in Empangeni, 20 km west of Richards Bay.

KZN Sands’ two furnaces have the capacity to produce 250 000 t/y of slag, while its facility has the infrastructure to accommodate another two furnaces.

Ferrochrome and primary vanadium producer Xstrata Alloys has also awarded Dickinson Group contracts for two smelters.

In July, at the Boshoek smelter, near Rustenburg, in the North West, the group supplied and installed brick refractory linings for its preheaters and number two and three furnaces.

“This project included the demolition of the existing linings in the hoods and ducting, and removal of the existing anchors, followed by the guniting of the insulation lining and on-site casting of the hoods,” adds Dickinson.

Another Dickinson Group client is steel and vanadium producer Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium, which contracted the group to perform refractory maintenance services for its 13 rotary kilns at Iron Plants 1 and 2, extend- ing the life of the kiln refractory linings.

“The turnkey services rendered include the demolition and removal of kiln build-up and refractories, using Brokk demolition machines, the removal of existing anchors, shell preparation, welding of the company’s patented rota-lock anchors and the installation of refrac- tory castables,” says Dickinson.

Over the past year, the group has also completed seven major rotary kiln repair projects for Evraz, which accounted for more than 290 running metres of kiln repairs and 3 300 t of refractory materials.

Other work completed this year includes rebuilding Exxaro’s Namakwa Sands number two furnace, a 35 MW direct current arc furnace.

The contract involved the demolition and removal of 250 t of titanium dioxide slag, 275 t of iron and refractory lining and the installation of 860 t of refractories.

Namakwa Sands is located on the West Coast of South Africa and operates facilities at three different locations: a mine and concentration plants at Brand- se-Baai, 385 km north of Cape Town; a mineral separation plant at Koekenaap; 60 km from the mine; and a smelter near Saldanha Bay, 150 km from Cape Town.

Namakwa Sands operates two furnaces where ilmenite is smelted to produce titanium slag and pig iron.

Meanwhile, the group also completed a major six-in-line partial furnace rebuild project for Amplats’ Rustenburg Platinum Mines.

“The project was a R40-million partial rebuild of the six-in-line number one furnace at the Waterval Smelter Metallurgical Complex, in Rustenburg. The scope of works on the furnace ‘hot shut’, which involves shutdown works being completed while the furnace is on line, included the demolition of the side and end walls, installation of refractory lining materials and copper plate coolers, and the supply of related equipment, including the mechanical works associated with the rebuild of the rectangular, six-electrode-in-line electric smelting furnace, in a record time of 30 days,” says Dickinson.

By conducting a ‘hot shut’, Amplat was able to maintain electrical contact on the furnace hearth.

Dickinson says the group’s strategy is to focus on the turnkey refractory and mechanical projects and process needs of metallurgical and industrial process companies primarily in Southern Africa and other selected markets.

The group renders an integrated furnace contracting and refractory service, ensuring that its customers receive rapid response times and integrated project implementation, resulting in reduced risk with fewer contractor interfaces, quality and completion guarantees, safe project implementation, reduced downtime and related production cost savings, the company states.

“Dickinson Group provides cost-effective, tailor-made solutions and a professional service for the execution of turnkey furnace rebuild projects, with experienced management, supervision and highly skilled and motivated personnel, working more than one-million work hours a year,” concludes Dickinson.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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