CDE install log washer at Brazilian steel manufacturing plant

Vallourec, manufacturers of hot-rolled steel tubes, have announced an investment in additional iron ore processing equipment to deliver increased efficiencies at the Barreiro plant in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Prior to the delivery of iron ore to the blast furnace the existing equipment on site was not able to liberate or separate the highly clay-bound fines from the lump ore on the more difficult ROMs.

This led to final lump ore being sent onto the smelting process with higher levels of contamination being retained. The knock-on effect on the smelting process was the requirement to exponentially increase flux and coal in the removal of this contamination in order to achieve the high-quality steel that they produced.

CDE identified a solution that could quickly and effectively solve a number of issues within one installation.

‘The integration of the CDE Aggmax has the potential to not only further improve the ability to process lower grade ores while still maintaining a high level final product but also allows them to process even lower grade ores,’ explained Reinaldo Brandao, technical superintendent of Vallourec Mineracao Ltda.

CDE Mining will supply the AggMax 151 system to Vallourec to help tackle achieve this issue. The AggMax 151 is a portable log washer with sizing screen integrated onto a single chassis and will be integrated within the existing Vallourec processing plant. The introduction of the AggMax will break down the clay contamination within the lump iron ore and in the process liberate the alumina particles. The new system would also reduce the friable material present which means a lower proportion of fines will be found in the processed iron ore before it is delivered to the blast furnace.

Reinaldo Brandao explained: ‘By being able to tackle the clay contamination, remove alumina and reduce the proportion of fines in the final product we will see a marked improvement in kiln efficiency.’

Commenting on this project, Stefan Hunger of CDE Mining said: ‘Our log washer technology has been tried and tested in many similar iron ore applications throughout the world and is proven to effectively deal with the issues that were facing Vallourec. This experience allowed us to demonstrate to the Vallourec team that the resulting improvements in kiln efficiency will ensure a quick return on this investment.’