Furnace Tapping 2022: LIVESTREAMED SESSION: Session III
Sponsored by: The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, TMS Extraction and Processing Division, TMS: Pyrometallurgy Committee, TMS: Process Technology and Modeling Committee, TMS: Materials Characterization Committee, Industrial Advisory Committee
Program Organizers: Joalet Steenkamp, XPS Glencore; Dean Gregurek, RHI Magnesita; Quinn Reynolds, Mintek; Gerardo Alvear Flores, Codelco; Hugo Joubert, Tenova Pyromet; Phillip Mackey, P.J. Mackey Technology, Inc.
Tuesday 8:00 AM
March 1, 2022
Room: 204B
Location: Anaheim Convention Center
Session Chair: Quinn Reynolds, Mintek
8:00 AM Introductory Comments
8:05 AM Keynote
PGM-Ni-Cu Tapping: An Updated Industry Survey: Isabelle Nolet1; Lucy Rodd1; Tyler Futterer1; Spencer Straub1; Jehane Du Toit1; Wesley Taylor1; 1Hatch
An industry survey of PGM-Ni matte tapping practices was published in 2014 with the aim of providing high-level information on matte taphole design, operation and maintenance practices at different smelting operations. Since then, various innovation trends have been developing within the industry, with regards to safety and automation, environmental considerations and design and monitoring technological advances aiming at enhancing taphole campaign life, minimizing tapping risks, and generally bringing the industry towards safer tapping. Hatch is proposing an updated industry survey, this time including PGM-Ni-Cu producers, with an extended view into those industry developments with specific objectives to encourage cross-pollination across industries and organizations, and provide a useful reference documenting best practices in matte and metal tapping operations in the base metals industry.
8:50 AM Panel Discussion: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Furnace Tapping" - Panelists include Stanko Nikolic, Glencore Technology; Ryan Walton, Rio Tinto Kennecott; Christine Wenzl, RHI Magnesita; Stefan Schmidt, Aurubis AG; and Harmen Oterdoom, Independent Consultant
10:25 AM Break
10:45 AM Invited
Data Analysis to Assess Carry-over Slag: Petrus Pistorius1; 1Carnegie Mellon University
"Carry-over slag" refers to steelmaking slag that is transferred to the steel ladle when tapping a steelmaking vessel (electric arc furnace or oxygen converter). Carry-over slag is oxidizing, causing consumption of deoxidizer (such as aluminum) during ladle processing, and leading to phosphorus reversion to the steel. In principle, mass balances based on the concentrations of several elements - phosphorus, manganese, and aluminum - could be used to assess the amount of carry-over slag. In this work, steel and slag compositions and the amounts of additions during tap were used to estimate the carry-over slag mass, using data from a large number of heats. It is concluded that - for aluminum-killed steel - an aluminum mass balance gives the most reliable estimate.
11:10 AM
Sensor Technologies for Optimized Tapping Procedures: Christine Wenzl1; Magnus Persson1; Ladislav Koncik1; Guenter Unterreiter2; 1RHI Magnesita; 2RHI Magnesita GmbH
Decision-making to tap is often based on experience and mass balance calculations. However better methods are available to optimize the tapping efficiency, making sure tapping occurs at the best moment with minimum losses. Metal tapping should occur at a precise moment when the correct amount is available in the furnace and before overfilling. This moment can be difficult to determine without proper level monitoring. Even for slag tapping, the right timing is difficult to assess and even worse, it often leads to metal value losses and represents a safety hazard. RHI Magnesita offers sensor technologies to help you control levels and detect metal losses. These are used for fact-based decision making ensuring optimized tapping procedures. The paper will describe and discuss the technologies, as well as how to implement them in the furnace operation and what benefits can be achieved.
11:30 AM
Successful Development and Optimisation of Lead ISASMELT™ Furnace Slag Tapping System at Kazzinc Ltd.: Benjamin Hogg1; Mark Prince1; Mark Letchford1; Alistair Burrows2; Timur Tokzhigitov2; Turarbek Azekenov2; Stanko Nikolic; 1Glencore Technology; 2Kazzinc Ltd
The first application of the ISASMELT™ furnace targeted the treatment of MIM lead based feeds in a two furnace oxidation-reduction combination. The first furnace originally transferred molten slag to the second furnace via a water-cooled copper block tap-hole. The next installation of the primary lead ISASMELT™ furnace technology occurred in the 2000s, this time feeding molten slag to a casting machine for solidification. This design had a number of learnings that were incorporated into a recent primary lead ISASMELT™ furnace, built and commissioned in 2012 at the Kazzinc Ltd Metallurgical Complex in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. This paper presents the patented tapping system developed by Glencore Technology as applied to the lead ISASMELT™ furnace at Kazzinc. It focuses on the development process of this simple and effective tapping system, the current application, and how it has been optimised during the past ten years of operational experience.
11:50 AM Concluding Comments