Newsletter Iron Ore Cleaning
Saving Energy Costs and Solving Environmental Problems by Cleaning Iron Ore
It has never been more important for companies to save costs than today. Melting iron ore in a furnace requires high energy, and every kilowatt saved is important. A customer, whose name we cannot release because of confidentiality agreements, asked Pelletron to find a solution to save costs in their melting process.
THE PROBLEM
Iron ore contains a high amount of fine dust, which settles on the furnace walls and works like an insulator. At a flow rate of 700 metric tons per hour, the accumulating dust amount is huge. Furthermore, the dusty ore creates an environmental problem for the workers, because all transfer systems are open-belt conveyors.
THE IMPACT
The thicker the dust layer, the higher the costs for the melting process. In addition, the workers complain about the potential health effects from the airborne dust.
THE CHALLANGE
Clean the dusty iron ore before it’s loaded on an open-belt conveyor for transportation to the furnace.
THE ANSWER - Use a Pelletron DeDuster® to remove the dust particles
THE SOLUTION
Pelletron’s Bulkmatology® team was challenged to develop a DeDuster® for a discharge flow rate of 700t/h for very abrasive iron ore pellets. The standard Pelletron DeDuster® P2000 was modified for this task. Special wear-resistant wash decks had to be designed for long life application. The only way to cut holes in the wash decks for the penetration of the wash air was to employ water jet cutting. The photos show the DeDuster with closed doors and with open doors. The special wash decks are visible in the photo with open doors.
DeDuster®, doors closed
DeDuster®, doors open, showing wear resistant wash decks
THE SYSTEM
The system consists of an inlet filter, a wash air fan, a DeDuster®, a high efficiency cyclone, a cyclone for wet dust recovery, and an exhaust air fan. The system operates as an open-loop system. Ambient air is pulled by the wash air fan through an inlet filter and pushed into the DeDuster® for “air washing” the iron ore pellets. The patented air wash decks and other patented features of the DeDuster® provide an excellent cleaning of the iron ore pellets. The removed dust is pulled into a high efficiency cyclone by an exhaust air fan. The dust and coarse parts are separated in the cyclone and recovered under the cyclone. The pre-cleaned air is pulled into a second cyclone with wet cleaning. The remaining fine dust is washed out and also recovered under the cyclone. The recovered dust and coarse particles are transported to a pelletizing system after drying. This recovery system makes sure that no iron ore is lost. The cleaned air is released to the atmosphere. As a side effect, the environment in the plant became much cleaner because of the DeDusting.
THE FLOW SHEET BELOW SHOWS THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF THE SYSTEM
Wash air fan at final inspection
ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS
The customer is very satisfied with the performance of the system. The expected energy savings have been achieved, and the complaints of the workers are gone. The customer is considering a second installation for the purpose of dust elimination to improve the environmental conditions in other areas of the plant.
ABOUT PELLETRON CORPORATION
Founded in 1986, Pelletron Corporation provides dedusting solutions to processors and manufacturers in an array of applications including plastics, recycling, automotive, medical equipment, mining, and food.
For more information, please contact MoMaTech GmbH e-mail r.graf@momatech.de, or Pelletron Corporation info@pelletroncorp.com or visit our web page www.pelletroncorp.com.
Download newsletter 02|2009
