The Aktyubinsk Ferroalloys Plant Ramps up the Aspiration Dust Briquetting
The Aktyubinsk Ferroalloys Plant – JSC “TNC “Kazchrome” Branch being a part of the ERG ramped up the manufacturing of special briquettes by 50 tons per day. Since 2017 they implement an environmental project, the main goal of which is to reuse industrial waste, aspiration dust from gas processing plants, in the production process. Just in 2020 the Company converted the dust from the gas-processing plants into 63 thous. tons of briquettes.
Braxes (extrusion briquettes) are special briquettes produced by mixing dust-like materials (from gas processing plants) with bentonite, clay or bauxite (binder), then the mixture is fed into a special extruder. The output is briquettes of dense structure, which ensures its effective use as fed materials in ferroalloy furnaces of the plant.
- While implementing industrial projects at our Company, we first of all look at the extent to which it helps us to solve the issues related to reducing our environmental impact," said Director of the Aktyubinsk Ferroalloys Plant Zhalgasbay Musabekov. - Two years ago, we opened this pilot site at the slag processing shop and initially the production capacity was 90 tons per day. Nowadays more than 200 tons per day are delivered to Smelting Shop No.1. This shows that the dust collected by our gas scrubbers is immediately returned to the production cycle. Thus we have come to an easy disposal of the dust generated at the plant by the gas processing and aspiration systems of Shops Nos. 1 and 4, and we managed to solve the issue with the storage of this type of waste, which now we do not accumulate, all involved in production.
The braxes are manufactured continuously. The material is supplied to the receiving hopper and then to the extruder. First, the dust is mixed in the pug mills (dry, then with the addition of water). Then raw briquettes are formed from the obtained mixture, the process resembles the work of a giant grinder. Afterwards they are dried in the natural environment, only then sent back to the Smelting Shop. The project is relatively young, and it takes time to finally set up production, consider all the mistakes and adjust the process. The specialists of the plant have developed a number of measures, started pneumatic screening to remove lumps from the initial material, equipped the grid on the receiving hopper, which also "filters" the raw material, installed three new conveyors.
It should be noted that in addition to the company's own developments aimed at reducing the negative impact on the environment, ERG is constantly looking for innovative solutions for processing and storage of waste. Since 2020, ERG Recycling, which specializes in the performance of the cycle of services related to industrial waste, has been operating in the structure of the Group. This division at the Aktyubinsk Ferroalloys Plant has extracted and recycled 150 thous. tons of mature refined slag from ferroalloy smelting in two years.