Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
(SUStainable
OPerations) mechanism for incorporating SD
principles into the design and operation of
industrial processing plants. SUSOP
will fill a
major gap in the current industry approach to SD
integration in design and operation, by providing a
comprehensive and rigorous mechanism to:
Generate feasible plant design and operating
options according to SD principles.
Evaluate the sustainability benefits and
impacts of these options.
Assess each option using an SD-based
decision-support process.
Support the engineering, project management
and subsequent operations of projects.
SUSOP aims to:
Guide the users to the tools they should apply
to evaluate the sustainability impact of their
operations.
Demonstrate the systematic links between
activities across the project or production
cycle.
Provide a framework of SD principles to
guide possible project and production options.
Generate an SD Balance Sheet that illustrates
the benefits and impacts of each option on a
chosen sustainability framework.
Use the SD Balance Sheet to determine the
impact on over-arching SD principles.
Incorporate a dynamic element to predict the
sustainability impacts of each option under
future scenarios.
Methodology
The development of SUSOP draws on three
strands of research:
Examination of literature on the fundamentals
and available SD tools to clarify the state of
play and identify gaps.
Case study development with industrial sites
and consulting companies.
Development of in-house databases and
technology assessment tools to support
SUSOP.
Key Results
The key result of the work so far has been the
development of the SUSOP concept, based on
the collaborative efforts of the CSRP SD program
working group. The acknowledgement that the
processing industries include a vast array of
activities with flow-on effects from pre-feasibility
and planning through to remediation and
restoration have led to the first key element of
SUSOP - entry points across the project and
production cycles. Each industry user can locate
their activity within one of the boxes in Figure 1.
From that starting point, users are guided through
the following process (Figure 2), and will be
directed to key tools and relevant information at
each step.
Figure 1: Multiple entry points on the project / production
cycle (after Allen et al., 1997).
The SD Opportunity Assessment Process for
identification and evaluation of sustainable
development (SD) opportunities is the most
intensive part of SUSOP and requires the most
input from the project proponent or operator.
Figure 2: SUSOP concept diagram.
The initial step, Familiarisation, will ensure the
users and relevant stakeholders are aware of the
meaning of sustainable development and
sustainability in the context of their operation.
Achieving this level of understanding may involve
workshops or training in SUSOP
and SD
concepts.
Following the Familiarisation step, SUSOP
will
guide users through Goal Scoping in an SD and
specific operational sense (i.e. What is the goal of
the project operationally, and what are the key SD
concerns?). Identifying the goals and context
enables the SUSOP
study to be developed
according to an agreed scope.
The Identification step takes the goals and
context, and examines the operation in an effort to
develop options for improving SD performance.
Screening tools and workshops are some of the
elements that can be applied in this step.
Evaluation then guides the user to a selection of
tools or approaches with which to quantify and
rank these opportunities. Examples include life
cycle assessment, ecological footprint, social
assessment, industry ecology, green engineering
etc. A range of approaches will be required for a
comprehensive analysis. An important part of the
research is to identify additional tools that dont
currently exist. Development of these tools will
form part of the research agenda for CSRP 2.
The outputs from this Identification and
Evaluation process then feed information back
into the selected Sustainable Development
Framework. Frameworks such as the 5 Capitals
Model, corporate frameworks or Triple Bottom
Line are all equally valid for use in SUSOP
.
These results will be used to generate an SD
Balance Sheet indicating the benefits and impacts
of the operation or selected alternatives.
The information from the SD Balance Sheet,
combined with Conventional Business Case
data, can then be used in the Decision Support
using tools such as Multi-Criteria Analysis, to
produce a Decision based on the incorporation of
agreed SD principles.
Monitoring and Evaluation is the ongoing
review of the selected options, once implemented.
This step ensures that the expected SD benefits
are achieved and any negative impacts are
minimised. SUSOP
concept that
incorporates a multiple-entry points approach
across the project and production cycles and
utilises a known or customised SD framework
which is then the basis for generating an SD-
based decision.
Conclusions and Future Direction
The SUSOP
Mk I, a formal
documentation of the concept and process, which
is due for completion in 2010.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out under the auspices of
the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing,
which is established and supported under the
Australian Governments Cooperative Research
Centres Program. The authors also acknowledge
the key contributions of the SD Program working
group.
References
1. B.C. McLellan and G.D. Corder SUSOP Concept
Document. CSRP Report. July 2008.
2. Allen, D., F. Consoli, et al. (1997). Public policy
applications of Life-Cycle Assessment. SETAC.
Thermodynamics of Selective Roasting of Arsenic from Tennantite Containing
Copper Concentrates
S. Wright, W. Bruckard and F. Jorgensen
CSIRO, Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, VIC
Background
The CSRP project 2D8 (Early removal and safe
disposal of arsenic and other minor elements
during base metal processing) examined the
selective removal of arsenic from a copper
concentrate and its safe disposal through
alternative processes. While the concept was
developed several years ago, it was only exposed
and evaluated recently (Jahanshahi et al., 2006).
The proposed approach is applicable to ores
where the mineralogy allows separation by
flotation into high and low arsenic (As) streams.
A sample of high As ore from an NSW mine was
chosen as the raw material to demonstrate the
overall treatment at small scale. Differential
flotation produced two copper concentrates
(Bruckard and Davey, 2007). The high As
fraction required further treatment to produce a
material suitable for blending with the low As
fraction for sale. Roasting has potential to remove
the As from the high As stream and produce a
low-volume fume for disposal (Jorgensen, et al.,
2007). This is a major benefit as dispersion of As
into several streams during smelting is minimised.
Roasting can be performed at the
mine/concentrator, away from urban centres (see
Jahanshahi et al., 2006 for more details).
Encapsulation of the fume in geopolymers, (Brew
and Vance, 2007) or other materials such as slags
and concrete with high resistance to leaching
provide an outlet for the fume in the mine as an
engineering material as well a means of safe
disposal. This paper investigates the conditions
needed to selectively remove As from concentrate
through a roasting step. The approach taken
involves use of thermodynamic free energy
minimisation to simulate the high temperature
reactions taking place during the selective
roasting of high As copper concentrate.
Roasting Simulations
The simulations were performed with the CSIRO
Thermochemistry system (Turnbull and Wadsley,
1988). Composition of the simulated concentrate
is given in Table 1. The thermodynamic data of
all relevant As species was included in the system
definition, as well as the potential reaction
products of the concentrate. The thermodynamic
data for Tennatite was taken from the literature
(Seal et al., 1990).
Table 1: Input species used in simulating roasting in a
neutral atmosphere.
Species Mass (g) Species Mass (g)
N
2
gas 100.0
Cu
10
Fe
2
As
4
S
13
11.2 MgO 1.2
Cu
5
FeS
4
20.2 SiO
2
39.0
CuFeS
2
16.4 Al
2
O
3
8.9
FeS
2
0.27 CaO 2.4
The effects of various initial conditions were
evaluated at temperatures between 600 to 800C
with the focus on the As deportment and the
stability of the As containing phases. The results
of various scenarios follow.
Sulphur Dioxide and Temperature
The distribution of As to the gas phase is shown in
Figure 1 at temperatures between 600C and
800C for gas atmospheres containing up to 4%
sulphur dioxide. In a neutral atmosphere (SO
2
free), the removal of As approaches 100% at
600C. However as the SO
2
pressure increases,
complex behaviour with respect to the As
distribution is observed. This can be attributed to
the relative stability of solid calcium arsenate
(Ca
3
As
2
O
8
), calcium sulphide (CaS) and calcium
sulphate (CaSO
4
). Removal of As from the
concentrate approaches 100% in up to 2% SO
2
atmospheres at 650, 700 and 750C.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
SO2 partial pressure (atm)
A
s
d
i
s
t
r
i
b
u
t
e
d
t
o
G
a
s
(
%
)
600
650
700
750
800
Figure 1: Effect of SO2 partial pressure on the selective
removal of As from Cu concentrate.
The stability of calcium phases at 800C is shown
in Figure 2. At low SO
2
partial pressures, CaS is
the dominant phase, but its proportion is reduced
as the SO
2
partial pressure increases, and the
proportion of Ca
3
As
2
O
8
increases. Consequently
less As distributes to the gas phase. Above 4%
SO
2
in the gas, CaSO
4
becomes stable relative to
CaS and Ca
3
As
2
O
8
and the As deporting to the gas
increases. This trend is also repeated at
temperatures below 800C, e.g. Figure 3 shows
the stability range at 650C. As the temperature
decreases, the pSO
2
where CaSO
4
becomes stable
decreases, and is less than 1% at 650C.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
pSO
2
(atm)
C
a
p
h
a
s
e
d
i
s
t
r
i
b
u
t
i
o
n
(
%
)
Ca
3
As
2
O
5
CaS
800C
CaSO
4
Figure 2: Distribution of calcium phases at 800C as a
function of SO
2
partial pressure.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008
pSO
2
(atm)
C
a
p
h
a
s
e
d
i
s
t
r
i
b
u
t
i
o
n
(
%
)
Ca
3
As
2
O
5
CaS
650C CaSO
4
Figure 3: Distribution of calcium phases at 650C as a
function of the SO
2
partial pressure.
Partial Roasting with Air
Addition of oxygen (O
2
) to partially roast the
concentrate yielded different results than
equilibrating a N
2
-SO
2
gas with the concentrate.
In Figure 4 sufficient O
2
was added to N
2
to
produce SO
2
partial pressures matching those
shown in Figure 1. At the same partial pressures
of SO
2
the arsenic removal from the concentrate
was lower with the N
2
/O
2
input than in the N
2
/SO
2
input. The equilibrium sulphur pressure (pS
2
) is
lower in the case of addition of N
2
and O
2
, and
consequently the equilibrium vapour pressure of
As in the gas was lower. If too much air added so
that the pSO
2
is sufficiently high, then magnetite
(Fe
3
O
4
) and ferric arsentate (Fe
3
As
2
O
8
) can be
formed.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02
SO2 partial pressure (atm)
A
s
d
i
s
t
r
i
b
u
t
e
d
t
o
G
a
s
(
%
)
700C
N2 + SO2
N2 + O2
Figure 4: Effect of oxygen addition at 700C (plotted as a
function of pSO
2
) on the separation of As.
Addition of Pyrite
Addition of a sulphidant to increase pS
2
increased
As separation. Under conditions where the As
recovery would normally be low (700C,
pSO
2
=0.011 and 800C, pSO
2
= 0.0029) addition
of pyrite (FeS
2
) increased the removal of arsenic
(Fig. 5).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15
FeS
2
added (g/100g)
G
a
s
e
o
u
s
A
s
d
e
p
o
r
t
m
e
n
t
(
%
)
700C
800C
Figure 5: Effect of FeS
2
added to concentrate on the
recovery of As.
Increasing the sulphur partial pressure increased
the stability of CaS. At 700C maximum removal
of As was achieved by adding 11 g of FeS
2
per
100 g of dry concentrate. At 800C, addition of
25 g of FeS
2
increases the Arsenic deportment to
the gas phase to 100%.
Conclusions
The proportion of arsenic reporting to the gas
phase is related to the temperature and the
thermodynamic stability of Ca
3
As
2
O
8
, CaS and
CaSO
4
. Roasting conditions exist at temperatures
between 600 and 700C where arsenic can be
removed from an arsenic bearing concentrate by
using an a neutral (N
2
) atmosphere or an
atmosphere with a low concentration of SO
2
.
Partial oxidation of the concentrate is not advised,
as the simulations show that the sulphur potential
of the system is lower than the equivalent N
2
/SO
2
gas mixture and that magnetite (Fe
3
O
4
) can be
formed. If too much air is added, ferric arsenate
(Fe
3
As
2
O
8
) becomes stable and arsenic is retained
in the concentrate.
Addition of FeS
2
to the concentrate at
temperatures above 700C increases the sulphur
partial pressure and enhances the stability of CaS
compared to that of Ca
3
As
2
O
8
. This increases As
removal.
There are several potential thermodynamic
operating windows to remove As from an As-rich
copper concentrate. The most appropriate will
depend on the rate at which As can be volatilised
from the concentrate, and the conditions where the
structure of the concentrate and the fuel value of
the concentrate are not compromised.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out under the auspice of the
Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing,
which is established and supported under the
Australian Governments Cooperative Research
Centres Program. This project was financially
supported by CSIRO and CSRP.
References
1. Bruckard W.J. and Davey K.J., 2007. Arsenic
Separation in Copper circuits Using Flotation, First
CSRP Annual Conference, Melbourne, 43-44.
2. Brew D.R.M. and Vance E.R., 2007. Arsenic
Remediation Using Geopolymers, First CSRP Annual
Conference, Melbourne, 47-48.
3. Jahanshahi S., Bruckard W.J., Chen C. and Jorgensen
F.R.A., 2006. Management of Minor Elements in the
Production of Base Metals, Green Processing 2006,
Newcastle, 25-30, AusIMM, Parkville.
4. Jorgensen F.R.A., Hall T.P. and Sanetsis S., 2007.
Selective Removal of Arsenic from a Copper
Concentrate, First CSRP Annual Conference,
Melbourne, 45-46.
5. Seal, R.R., Essene, E.J., Kelley, W.C., 1990. Canadian
Mineralogist, Vol 28, pp. 725-738.
6. Turnbull, A,G. and Wadsley, M.W., 1988, The CSIRO
Thermochemistry System, CSIRO Division of Mineral
Products.
Techno-Economic Evaluation of Early Arsenic Removal from Copper Ores
N. Haque and T. Norgate
CSIRO Minerals, VIC
Introduction
There are significant amount of undeveloped
copper ore deposits containing arsenic minerals
(e.g. enargite and tennantite) which can produce
copper concentrates but these are high in arsenic
(0.7%) (Smith and Bruckard, 2007). Arsenic
contents above 0.5% are generally not acceptable
to smelters. Recently, a new process has been
proposed at CSIRO Minerals to separate high
arsenic copper minerals from other copper
minerals in flotation (Jahanshahi et al., 2006;
Senior et al., 2006) based on exploiting
differences in pulp potential and pH. This
technology involves a two-stage flotation process
accompanied by an additional roasting stage.
There are less environmental impacts with this
new process because of reduced arsenic, sulphur
and SO
2
emissions to the land and air. However,
the new proposed process involves additional
capital (roaster and additional flotation units) and
operating costs. The aim of this techno-economic
evaluation study is to provide first estimates of
any additional benefits from the new flowsheet
compared with conventional copper processing
technology and to determine whether these
additional benefits justify the additional costs of
the process.
Methodology / Technique
Process modelling of the conventional (base case)
flowsheet and the new proposed flowsheet was
undertaken using the METSIM process simulation
software. The mass and energy balances obtained
from the METSIM simulations of the respective
flowsheets were used to estimate the operating
costs of both processes. Several assumptions
were made in estimating these costs as outlined
below.
The roaster is assumed to operate at 700C in a
nitrogen atmosphere and the reaction time in the
roaster is 6 min (Padilla et al., 2001). The roaster
fuel energy requirement was estimated to be 0.27
GJ/t of concentrate, while the electrical energy
consumption was calculated to be 1.5 kW based
on the estimated size (5.2 m long, 1.7 m diameter)
of the rotary kiln for the required feed rate.
Key Results / Findings
The estimated operating cost of the proposed
process was approximately 17% higher ($76/t
conc. cf. $65/t conc.) than the conventional
process. The contributions to the operating cost
of both processes are compared in Figure 1. The
cost of labour was the major contributor followed
by electricity and reagents.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
R
e
a
g
e
n
t
s
E
le
c
t
r
ic
it
y
W
a
t
e
r
L
a
b
o
u
r
C
o
n
s
&
m
a
in
t
F
u
e
l
A
s
s
t
a
b
ilis
a
t
io
n
T
o
t
a
l
O
p
e
r
a
t
i
n
g
c
o
s
t
(
$
/
t
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
e
)
Base case
New process
Figure 1: Comparison of operating cost contributions for
base case and new process.
Estimated revenue for both processes is shown in
Table 1. The price received for the final copper
concentrates from both flowsheets was based on
the copper content (96.7% payable Mining
Journal, December 2006), and an average copper
price over 2006/2007 of US$7000/t (Mining
Journal, November 2007).
Table 1: Revenue from copper concentrate for both
flowsheets.
Parameter Base case New process
Ore (t/h) 1000 1000
Concentrate (t/h) 32.8 34.1
Concentrate grade
- % Cu
- % As
26.4
0.53
25.4
0.08
Cu revenue
- $/t conc
- $/t ore
2234
73.20
2149
73.33
As penalty
- $/t conc
- $/t ore
12.53
0.41
0.00
0.00
Net revenue ($/t ore) 72.79 73.33
Economic benefits of proposed process
Based on the economic results (and underlying
assumptions), the net revenue derived from the
new proposed process over the base case
conventional process was estimated to be $0.54/t
ore. The increased operating cost of the new
process over the conventional process was
estimated to be $0.46/t ore, giving an overall
increase in revenue of $0.08/t ore. However, this
analysis does not take into account the increased
capital cost (additional flotation cells, roaster and
associated equipment). For the assumed base
case nominal flow rate of 1000 t/h ore federate
(approximately 8.0 Mtpa at 92% plant
availability), the additional revenue received after
taking the increased operating costs into account
corresponds to about $0.6 M/y.
Effect of roaster arsenic removal efficiency
The As in the final concentrate product increased
by a factor of about three (2388 ppm cf. 777 ppm)
at 60% efficiency compared with 90% efficiency.
Thus a roaster efficiency of only 60% would see
an arsenic penalty imposed on the final
concentrate of $1.46/t concentrate (or $0.05/t ore),
which reduces the net revenue from $0.54/t ore to
$0.49/t ore, still slightly above the increase in
operating cost ($0.46/t ore).
Highlights / Benefits
Benefits of the proposed new flowsheet include
the following:
Potential utilisation of underdeveloped copper
ore deposits that contain otherwise
unacceptable levels of arsenic.
Processing of this ore using the proposed
process is likely to be economically viable.
The penalty for arsenic content (i.e. US$3 per
0.1% As content above 0.2%, averaged from
various sources) in the copper concentrate
product is significantly reduced due to the
reduction of arsenic using the proposed
process.
If the smelter cannot accept copper
concentrates with arsenic content above 5000
ppm, the economics of the new process
improves significantly since the proposed
process is the only option for utilisation of this
ore.
Removal of arsenic from the flotation circuit
during processing, stabilisation and safe
storage or utilisation would yield additional
benefits.
Reduction of sulphur and SO
2
emission from
the smelter.
It should also be noted that smelter limits for
As are projected to become more stringent in
the future which will further enhance the
benefits of this new approach.
Conclusions and Future Direction
This evaluation showed that the yield of
concentrate will be slightly higher with the
proposed process compared with the conventional
(base case) process. This resulted in an increase
in net revenue (copper revenue less arsenic
penalty) of $0.54/t ore with the new process.
However, it should be emphasised that this
evaluation was based on the premise that the
conventional process was capable of producing a
final concentrate with an arsenic content low
enough to make it acceptable to smelters. If no
acceptable concentrate can be produced from the
ore by conventional processing, meaning a high
arsenic ore body cannot be mined and processed,
then the economic benefits of the new proposed
flowsheet increase dramatically, with potential
environmental benefits as a bonus. These first
estimates of the economic benefits of the new
proposed process are sufficiently encouraging to
warrant further development of the flowsheet.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out with financial support
from CSIRO and the Centre for Sustainable
Resource Processing, which is established and
supported under the Australian Governments
Cooperative Research Centres Program. The
authors gratefully acknowledge Warren Bruckard,
Kevin Davey and Frank Jorgensen from CSIRO
Minerals for their assistance during this study.
References
1. S. Jahanshahi, W.J. Bruckard, C. Chen and F.R.A.
Jorgensen Management of minor elements in the
production of base metals. In: Green Processing 2006
3rd International Conference on the Sustainable
Processing of Minerals, 5-6 June, Newcastle, Australia,
AusIMM & CSIRO. pp 25-30. 2006.
2. R. Padilla, Y. Fan and I. Wilkomirsky Decomposition
of enargite in nitrogen atmosphere. Canadian
Metallurgical Quarterly 2001, 40(3): 335-342.
3. G.D. Senior, P.J. Guy and W.J. Bruckard The selective
floatation of enargite from other copper minerals a
single mineral study in relation to beneficiation of the
Tampakan deposit in the Philippines. International
Journal of Mineral Processing 2006, 81:15-26.
4. L.K. Smith, and W.J. Bruckard The separation of
arsenic from copper in a Northparkes copper-gold ore
using controlled-potential flotation. International
Journal of Mineral Processing 2007, 84:15-24.
Water Conservation in the Mining Industry Case study of gold mining and refining
R. Cocks, G. Ho
1
, S. Dallas
1
, M. Anda
1
and Aidan Giblett
2
(industry supervisor)
1
Murdoch University, Environmental Technology Centre, WA
2
Newmont, WA
Introduction
Water is an essential input to mining and mineral
processing and demand is increasing due to
growing activities. Climate change has resulted in
reduced water availability and this is the case in
arid parts of Australia, where many mining and
mineral processing operations take place.
Governments in Australia now require major
water users to prepare a Water (Efficiency)
Management Plan to achieve reduction in water
consumption. Water auditing is now a well
established tool for conducting a systematic,
structured and rigorous water use performance
assessment that includes costed options for water
conservation. There are benefits resulting from an
industry conducting a water audit that is not only
due to the savings in water costs, but also the
heat/energy and materials dissolved or suspended
in the water. Reduction in heated process water
results in reduction of not only water volume, but
also the cost of heating the water. Reduction in
water volume may also mean reduction in the cost
of pumping the water. Water conservation
includes reduction in the amount of pollutants in
water streams or load of pollutants. Final disposal
of the water will impact less on the environment.
If the pollutants are nutrients (Nitrogen and
phosphorus) the water will be suitable for
landscaping. Minimising final disposal of
wastewater is an objective of water auditing and
water conservation. Zero discharge of stormwater
is a requirement in many cases at mining sites,
and zero emission of contaminated water may be
feasible and an objective to be considered as part
of achieving sustainable development.
Water Auditing and Water Conservation
The water audit process commences with a review
of the audit scope and objectives. Once the
domain of the audit has been agreed, water flows
into and out of the domain are determined and
quantity and quality are measured. Water auditing
is different to environmental auditing ISO 14000
in that quantifying and qualifying water use for
the purposes of auditing water is only covered in
part by ISO 14010 and 14011, and the emphasis
of environmental auditing is compliance with
objectives. The water auditing process will, on the
other hand, provide the objectives for
environmental auditing by recommending or
specifying objectives for achieving water
conservation, that is the water conservation
strategy (Sturman et al., 2004).
In the water audit process water and material
balances are fully carried out in a systematic
manner. Once the scope and objectives of the
water audit have been established a schedule is
drawn up and may include a selection list of the
people that would contribute to, and or be part of
a water audit team. Resources are also tabulated in
the context of availability, and resources that may
be required and would need to be introduced into
the audit process, and for example the need for a
clamp-on Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter for water
flow measurement and meter calibration. A
proposed water audit procedure includes many
facets and starts with a flow diagram of the water
audit domain that identifies the number of unit
operations. Once a site-wide water balance model
has been produced, recommended future changes
to operations and processes are weighted against
the financial capacity for implementing change
and the economic justification to do so within the
scope of water conservation. The collation of data
from an initial site visit underpins a
methodological approach towards conducting a
water audit and achieving a foreseeable outcome
in terms of audit closure. Closure refers to the
difference between input and output flows or
material fluxes, and usually a maximum 10 %
difference is an objective. This also integrates
with the resources on hand and the ability of the
mining company to provide additional support for
ongoing measurement and assessment of the water
balance account.
Application to Gold Mining and Refining
Newmont The Gold Company owns and
operates the Waihi Goldmine in New Zealands
North Island, the Tanami Granites Operation in
the Northern Territory and the Jundee-Nimary
Mine in the Little Sandy Desert north of
Kalgoorlie, WA. Joint venture mines include the
Fimiston-Gidji operation run by Kalgoorlie
Consolidated Gold Mine (KCGM) in a 50-50
share arrangement with Barrick Gold Australia
and the Boddington Gold Mine where 66.67 % is
owned by Newmont and 33.33 % by AngloGold
Ashanti. An approach to sustainable sourcing, use
and reuse of water was met through the use of the
water auditing tool.
Water balance models have been designed for
each case study and in turn set a framework for
water auditing exercises to be carried out in
ongoing research. Historically, Newmont has
audited water use in the refining operation at its
respective mine sites. However, a general audit of
a site-wide water account has yet to be
maintained. A possible exception is the Waihi
Gold Mines compliance with New Zealands
Resource Management Act 1991(RMA) that sets
out a series of amendments pertaining to mines
using land, beds of lakes and rivers, the use of
water and water quality on discharge or seepage
from mining operations. To comply with water
quality conditions set by The RMAs Resource
Consents and Water Rights Bill, comprehensive
routine monitoring of flow rates and water quality
is carried out. With regard to process water
monitoring, the Tanami Granites Operation is by
far the most efficient water-user over its gold mill
and personnel accommodation domain.
Furthermore, several conclusive water audit
exercises have been conducted in 2001 and 2003
at the Granites. The recorded results bear
testament to the validity of conserving water and
accounting for every kilolitre used in gold-ore
processing. Therefore, the question is raised as to
how much raw water will be conserved by
accounting for all water uses and establishing
closure in a site-wide water audit at any of
Newmonts gold mine sites. An overall objective
of carrying out a water audit is to arrive at a water
management strategy for each mine site.
Newmonts water data gathering is
comprehensive both with meteoric water flows
that are described as non-process water stocks and
process water flows used in all aspects of gold
extraction from pits and declines through to
crushing/milling of gold ore and final gold
recovery. At each mine site water data were
collated to form an overall picture of various
water sources, flow rates and end uses.
Information gathering included contacting staff to
retrieve data and opening archival IT systems
where historical data could be obtained. As a
general rule the metallurgical departments were
the greatest source of information followed by
process operations staff and bore/dewatering
personnel. Data acquisition workbooks displayed
an annual consumption rate of raw and recycled
water stocks and excel spreadsheets produced
daily and weekly water consumption rates. From
this information water balance flow diagrams
were produced to inform a methodological
approach and further research by examining site-
wide water flows via a formal water audit
exercise. Examples of both non-process and
process water schematics are illustrated in Figure
1 and Figure 2 respectively:
Figure 1: Pre-audit site-wide water schematic of process
water sources and uses.
Figure 2: Pre-audit site-wide water schematic of non-
process water sources and flows.
Within a water management strategy, continuous
improvement of maintenance procedures support
site-operating systems and a structured
methodology monitors key performance indicators
for ongoing full compliance of, for example;
Waihi Gold Mines Consents permit. Each mine
site was examined in terms of fit for purpose
water use in various operations and for example;
types of water used in dust suppression,
dewatering, site services and elution/gold
recovery. Furthermore, in non-disturbed areas of a
mine sites domain, non-process or environmental
water flows are examined. This methodology aims
to build in water quality to the pre-audit
conditions of achieving audit closure and the
inclusion of a hierarchical table of water quality
and uses (Figure 4).
Results
Figure 3 shows the amount of raw water used per
ounce of gold produced at each mine site. The
figures are a reflection of raw water used for
crushing and milling ore and the amount of gold
produced in any one of the gold recovery
operations. Factors affecting the amount of raw
water used include the amount of gold produced
per tonne of processed ore, where water use
increases with a lower ratio of recoverable gold to
ore tonnage. Other factors not tabled include the
geochemistry of ore relating to rock types and
processes required to recover gold from differing
geological matrices. An example of the difficulty
of gold recovery from a certain ore type is
experienced at KCGM where the high sulphide
content in the Fimiston Pit ore requires further
processing at the Gidji Roaster plant and using
more water to recover the gold from an extra
processing cycle. Therefore, the comparisons are
only an indication of water use efficiencies that
will assist in benchmarking and building an over
all framework of a mine site water account and
ultimate water audit closure. Even though KCGM
uses more water than the other mine sites, a total
water audit of the KCGM domain would lead to
further efficiencies in its gold operations and
water uses.
Figure 3: Comparison of water efficiencies.
The future direction with NZs RMA 91 is that
management of non-process water diversion,
collection and treatment is central to the effective
control of environmental conditions over Waihi
Gold Mines leased area. Typically, sites with an
effective water management strategy maintain a
water balance model as an effective tool for
informed risk based decision making and this
applies to all Newmont mine sites.
The National Water Initiative underpins the
implementation of water use strategies at state
levels. Western Australias State Water Allocation
Strategy advocates the use of water metering at all
stages and classifications of water used in the
operation of, for example; any mining venture.
Within the strategy, a new metering program is
proposed and may be rolled out on a priority basis
with a view that comprehensive metering will
inform government agencies on the draw of water
from the consumptive pool of a region.
To achieve reliable, cost-effective and efficient
performance in water extraction and use, mine
sites will establish a rigorous basis for water
resource management and trading in order to
provide the best available monitoring and
measurement information on water availability
and use. This follows on from the States Rights
in Water and Irrigation (Approved Meters) Order
of 2003 and is relevant to the standards,
technologies and operating practices under review
by the National Water Commission. User-
compliance
with water access entitlement will be monitored
where responsibility lies with user (mine sites)
water meter reporting. The water classification
table sets the basis for a generic application of a
hierarchical approach to a water management
strategy and water audit process.
References
1. Sturman, J., Ho, G., Mathew, K. 2004. Water Auditing
and Water Conservation. London: IWA Publishing.
Water source TDS Mine usage Approx. usage Classification
Scheme < 1,500 mg/L Accom/ops < 1% Potable
Bore potable < 1,500 mg/L Accom/ops
RO elution
< 5% Fresh
Bore brackish 1,500-15,000
mg/L
SAG/Ball mills < 20% Raw
Bore saline 15,000-35,000
mg/L
SAG/Ball mills < 20% Raw
Paleo-channel
Hyper-saline
> 35,000 mg/L Dust suppression Variable Raw
Tailings decant 15,000-35,000
mg/L
Sag/Ball mills 60% of raw water
inflow
Recycled
Treated wastewater 1,500-15,000
mg/L
Revegetation
Tailings dam
< 1% Recycled
Hydrocyclones Barren
elate
15,000-35,000
mg/L
Sag/Ball mills Up to 6 cycles of
re-use
Re-used
Meteoric < 1,500 mg/L Tailings dam
Water storage
Variable Raw
Figure 4: Water Classification Table.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
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e
r
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ic
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Global Australia
Figure 1: Australian and global annual greenhouse gas
emissions for various primary metals (Norgate et al).
9
Towards Carbon Neutral Metal & Cement Production
Reduce GHG &
Limestone
System innovation builds on industrial ecology, regional synergi es,
and collaboration across normal business boundaries
VALUE
IMPACT
Wheat Power Iron & Steel Cement
Bio -
mass
Char
Farming Pyrolysis
Tree
Planting
Soil Quality
Zero Waste
-
Smelting
Planting
Soil Quality
(Salinity Control)
GHG Neutral Renewable
Energy
Cement
Making
Slag Dry
Granulation
Power
Reduce Emission
& Water Usage
Slag
Hot
- Reducing GHG Emissions, Fresh Water Usage and Salinity
Figure 2: Conceptual flowsheet for low GHG steel and
cement production using biomass derived charcoal and dry
granulation of slags.
Overview of the CO2 Breakthrough Program and Linkage to IISI
S. Jahanshahi
1
, J.G. Mathieson
2
and P. Ridgeway
3
1
CSIRO, Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, VIC
2
BlueScope Steel Research, NSW
3
OneSteel, NSW
Introduction
Currently the steel industry is a moderate
contributor to global GHGs, but this ranking may
change given the initiatives on reducing GHGs by
the power generation and transport industries and
the rapid growth in demand for steel. Virgin
production typically produces around 2 t-CO
2
e/t-
steel it is thus imperative to identify major
opportunties for reducing the industrys energy
consumption and GHG emissions and develop
sustainable solutions/technologies in response to
the challenges ahead.
Major Opportunities in Reducing GHG
Emissions
CSIRO life cycle assessment studies have
indicated that extraction and refining of metals
from concentrates are the most energy intensive
steps in the mineral cycle
(i,ii)
, and are thus
responsible for the major portion of GHG
emissions. Taking into account the tonnage of
different metals being produced in Australia and
globally, it then becomes clear that major
opportunities for reducing GHG emissions in the
sector are in the production of steel from iron ore
and aluminium from bauxite (see Figure 1).
Through collaboration with the steel industry,
CSIRO and CSRP are involved in development
and demonstration of technologies for step-change
reductions in GHG emissions in metal extraction
and refining processes. These include:
use of renewable carbon as fuel and reductant
integrated heat recovery and dry granulation
of slags.
These technologies could be linked in the value
chain, as shown in Figure 2, to result in a
reduction of over 500 million tonnes per annum of
GHGs globally. It is interesting to note that the
potential reduction in GHGs resulting from
implementation of these technologies is similar to
the current level of total GHG emission by
Australia.
Renewable Fuels and Reductants
The steel industry is almost entirely dependent on
fossil carbon for fuel and reductant and
contributes significantly to GHG emissions in
Australia and globally. Processed biomass (e.g.
char) is a potential source of renewable energy
and carbon for metallurgical reactors, providing
an essentially GHG-neutral form of fuel/reductant.
By-products (e.g. bio-diesel or electricity) from
production of char from biomass can also
contribute to reduction of GHGs from industry.
The supply of biomass should (and can) be
managed in sustainable or even restorative ways
to avoid adding stress to agricultural and forestry
eco-systems. Our studies have shown that partial
replacement of fossil carbon by bio-char over the
next decade or two will create a demand for
biomass supply of up to 10 million tonnes per
year. Such volumes of biomass could
theoretically be supplied in a sustainable way
through use of large volumes of forestry and saw
mill residues currently being produced and/or
plantation of short rotation-cycle woody biomass,
such as the oil mallee that could meet the
metallurgical carbon requirements of Australias
steel industry. The innovative challenge is to find
viable solutions that capture the inherent
sustainability opportunities associated with the
use of biomass char and other forms of renewable,
recycled or waste carbon. Furthermore, by using
deep-rooted biomass that has been grown in
salinity-prone areas, we will also help to improve
soil quality in those areas. It is worth noting that a
plantation program of short rotation trees (oil
mallee) has already commenced in the WA wheat
belt to lower the water table and hence address the
salinity issue in this region. Full rehabilitation of
salinity-affected farmland will produce 25 million
tonnes per annum of biomass. The local and
overseas steel industries could potentially provide
an excellent market opportunity for such volumes
of renewable carbon.
In addition to the environmental benefits
associated with substitution of biomass-derived
charcoal for coal, there are also some economic
benefits. Studies by Mathieson
(i)
have shown the
value-in-use of pyrolysied woody biomass could
be up to 80 per cent higher than a reference coal
used for pulverised coal injection into a modern
blast furnace. This study shows that conditions
used for pyrolysis of biomass could result in
production of a range of chars with varying value-
in-use, thus it may be possible to design and
produce semi-charcoals that optimise blast
furnace heat and mass balance. This concept of
designer chars is being pursued through the
International Iron & Steel Institutes CO
2
Breakthrough Program, and is focusing on the
production of chars with tuned properties for
different applications in the iron and steel making
processes. These chars are aimed at replacing a
significant portion of the fossil fuel and reductant
used by the industry. In particular, we aim to
develop technologies to replace 100 per cent of
tuyere-injected fuels, i.e. about 30 per cent of
blast furnace fuel (excluding stoves), 50 per cent
of solid fuel used in sintering of iron ore, 2 to 10
per cent of coking coal blend and 100 per cent of
carbon used for recarburiser and slag foaming
agent in steel making over the next 5 to 15 years.
Integrated Heat Recovery and Dry
Granulation of Slags
In most modern smelters, a significant portion of
high-grade waste heat is recovered from processes
through the off-gas handling systems. However,
the thermal energy that resides in the slag is lost to
the atmosphere. Capture and use of such high-
grade waste heat is technically feasible and
economically attractive. Studies have shown
large potential benefits associated with the
application of suitable technology in integrated
metallurgical plants. The challenge has been in
development of a versatile technology platform
that maximises use of by-product energy and
material. This is being addressed through
development of an integrated process for heat
recovery and conversion of the slag into a glassy
by-product suitable for cement production.
An integrated steel plant producing one million
tonnes of steel a year, also produces 300 000
tonnes of slag. The Australian steel industry
produces more than two million tonnes of slag
each year. Blast furnace slags are generally either
water-granulated to produce glassy particles that
can be used in cement production or air-cooled in
large pits for land-fill or low-value applications
such as road base materials. Steelmaking slags are
generally air-cooled and land filled or used in
road-based applications.
Since 2002, CSIRO has been involved in
development of a new technology for waste heat
recovery and dry granulation of slags. The
CSIRO process involves feeding molten slag on to
a disc rotating at high speed. This breaks the slag
into small droplets that solidify rapidly, producing
glassy granules with similar properties to those
produced by water granulation. The granules can
be used as supplementary cementitious material in
the production of cement, which is a key
constituent of concrete. Globally, about 2.3 billion
tonnes of cement is produced every year.
Producing one tonne of Portland cement
consumes about 3000 mega-joules of electrical
and thermal energy and emits about 800
kilograms of carbon dioxide. Granulated slag can
substitute for up to 70 per cent of Portland
cement, leading to significant energy and GHG
reductions.
The conventional wet granulation method
involves significant capital costs, consumes large
amounts of water, generates acid mists and does
not recover any of the valuable heat. With lower
capital cost and benefits in heat recovery and
reduced pollution, dry granulation is an attractive
alternative to conventional wet granulation. A
recent economic assessment of CSIROs new
integrated process identified potential annual
savings in fuel costs alone of two to three dollars
per tonne of steel, which translates to about $20
million annually for the Australian industry and
over $3 billion for the global steel industry.
Successful development and commercialisation of
the technology in Australia will result in
reductions of GHG emissions by millions of
tonnes, reduction of water consumption by
thousands of millions of litres and conversion of
millions of tonnes of by-product slag into cement.
CSIROs pilot-plant work has provided insights
into process design and control, and how slag
atomisation can be optimised to produce fine
granulates. The results have demonstrated how
enhanced fast cooling can improve granulate
handling and have assisted in the design of a
compact unit to reduce cost and take advantage of
heat recovery. Work is now progressing on
optimising the scale-up of the integrated process
using a combination of computational fluid
dynamics modelling and pilot-plant measurement,
product evaluation and plant measurements (e.g.
current process slag temperature off-takes) at
OneSteel and BlueScope Steel sites.
Value of the Projects Industry
Perspective
Industry engagement is a critical success factor in
development and implementation of the emerging
technologies.
BlueScope Steel and OneSteel are the leading
firms in the Australian iron and steel industry,
employing over 20,000 people across several
hundred sites, contributing over $1.6 billion per
annum in exports, and servicing customers in the
manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture and
building & construction sectors. Steel
manufacture accounts for approximately 3% of
Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions. The
iron and steel manufacturing industry, which is
emissions-intensive and trade-exposed, is one of
the industry sectors that will be most affected by
the proposed Australian Carbon Pollution
Reduction Scheme (CPRS).
BlueScope Steel and OneSteel believe reducing
GHG emissions is a global problem that requires a
global response. Our companies recognise the role
of the Australian iron and steel industry, along
with other sectors of the Australian economy, and
the global industry, in transitioning to a low
emissions economy in a sustainable and
economically responsible way.
Whilst viable incremental energy and greenhouse
efficiency improvements will continue to be
sought, realistically any breakthrough iron and
steelmaking technology to radically reduce the
emission of CO
2
in the iron reduction process is
likely to be medium-term (5-10 years) to long-
term (greater than 10 years) in terms of
timeframes required in new technology
development, commercial proving, and take-up in
capital lead times within companies in an industry
where assets are long-lived between major
upgrades.
Both BlueScope Steel and OneSteel are actively
supporting the dry slag granulation and heat
recovery and biomass R&D projects given their
theoretical potential to deliver some significant
GHG savings in the medium term, with some
potential within the short-term. In supporting the
technical work of CSIRO Minerals, we as a team
contribute on strategic direction, technical
application advice, industry R&D and in-kind site
trial and sample support, apart from cash funding
contributions.
In regard to the biomass project, if 10% of the
carbon consumption of the world iron and steel
industry was able to be replaced with biomass
(charcoal), this would be approximately
equivalent to abating the GHG of Australia's
national GHG inventory per annum. The
CSIRO/BlueScope/ OneSteel biomass project
reported on at this conference is a valuable set of
work where the product chain from biomass
material sourcing, transport and logistics,
pyrolysis techniques, and application is being
researched. Just as 'oils ain't oil's, charcoals are
not all the same. Charcoals must be designed in
properties against particular applications with the
steel industry from steel recarburisation, to coke-
making additions, to sintering, to blast furnace
injection. This then required differing pyrolysis
condition, and hence a pyrolysis unit that can dial
up different charcoal properties (% moisture, %
volatiles etc). To make use of forestry and other
biomass source waste residues, this pyrolysis
unit then must consider feed variation
requirements. There are linkages, opportunities
and barriers that must be investigated between
these process chain steps in consort.
The work also seeks to bridge the 'chicken and
egg' syndrome of steelmakers waiting for biomass
availability, and potential biomass producers
waiting for steelmakers to generate a stable
market. The project seeks to fast-track R&D in
biomass uses that have potential for early
application, even if not involving large GHG
abatement, such as use as an alternative for steel
recarburiser. In this way both the steel industry
and external parties down the supply chain will be
shown practical demonstration of biomass use to
stimulate interest and support in other larger areas
of potential biomass application. It also provides
information key to other areas of work.
The first plant trial on use of bio-char in steel
making for recarburiser at OneSteels Sydney
Steel Mill is currently in preparation to be
undertaken with the next few months. Parallel
activities on sustainable supply of biomass and
techno-economics of the technologies and supply
chain have been commissioned through
collaborative projects involving a number of
stakeholders representing mineral and agri-
industries, local councils, state and local
governments, investors, other technology
providers and steelmaking companies.
The project on dry slag granulation and heat
recovery has also attracted interest from the
Australian steel industry, cement producers and
engineering firms. The project team at CSIRO is
currently evaluating the conceptual integrated
process through a pilot plant campaign at CSIRO
before plant trials at one of the iron making plants
in Australia. There is already very strong interest
expressed to CSIRO from parties around the
world in the CSIRO prototype work, and it
appears to have significant commercial value
if the research and development work reaches it
goals and becomes commercially viable and
proven. This project has several environmental
attributes as discussed in the conference report,
and in particular for OneSteel where traditional
wet slag granulation has not been viable in
utilising its generated blast furnace slag for
cement application, a breakthrough in this
technology is of interest. Particularly that it is dry
granulation rather than wet, is a very dry region of
Australia relying on the Murray River.
The International Iron & Steel Institutes CO
2
Breakthrough Program has recently acknowledged
the transformational nature of the biomass and dry
granulation projects and enrolled these R&D
projects as part of its worldwide portfolio of
projects. This allows engagement of a broader
range of collaborators and sponsors, and possibly
quicker technology uptake by overseas iron and
steel producers in the future.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out under the auspices and
with the financial support of the Centre for
Sustainable Resource Processing, which is
established and supported under the Australian
Governments Cooperative Research Centres
Program. Financial support from CSIRO, through
the Minerals Down Under National Research
Flagship, OneSteel and BlueScope Steel is also
acknowledged.
References
1. T. Norgate, S. Jahanshahi and W.J. Rankin, Assessing
the environmental impact of metal production processes,
Journal of Cleaner Production, 15, pp.838-848, 2007
2. T. Norgate and S. Jahanshahi , Opportunities for
reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas
emissions in mineral processing and metal production;
In Proceedings of the Chemeca 2007 conference,
Melbourne, 2007.
3. J. G. Mathieson, The Value-in-Use of Some Biomass-
Derived Blast Furnace Injectants, BlueScope Steel
unrestricted report, BSR/N/2007/071, December 2007.
Survey of Sustainable Biomass Resources for the Iron and Steel Industry
N. Haque
1
, M. Somerville
1
, S. Jahanshahi
1
, J.G. Mathieson
2
and P. Ridgeway
3
1
CSIRO Minerals, VIC
2
BlueScope Steel Research, NSW
3
OneSteel, NSW
Introduction, Background and Objectives
A collaborative project between BlueScope Steel,
OneSteel and CSIRO through CSRP commenced
in late 2006 to identify, evaluate and demonstrate
specific opportunities where biomass or
sustainable and renewable carbon can be used in
iron making and steelmaking processes. As one
of the activities of this project, a survey of
currently available biomass resources from
several regions of Australia was carried out and is
reported here. Residues have been targeted
because of their current low value, waste disposal
issues and being readily available in some parts of
Australia. Potential waste biomass categories are:
woody biomass from forestry and wood
processing, residues from agriculture and
horticulture and biomass from woody weeds.
Figure 1: Map showing the regions for the survey of
biomass.
Methodology
The data collection was based on interviews and
meetings with personnel from the state forest
agencies and wood processing industries. Other
data were collected from the open literature,
including forest management plans and plantation
inventory data. The amount of non-forestry
resources was estimated from the production of
the agricultural and horticultural industries.
The green wood volume has been converted to an
oven-dry biomass equivalent, based on reasonable
conversion factors for harvest recovery in the
forest, greenmill recovery, drymill recovery in the
sawmill (Ximenes et al., 2005; Ximenes and
Gardner, 2006), wood density (Bootle, 2005;
Kininmonth and Whitehouse, 1991) and moisture
content (MC). Finally, the estimated amount of
residues has been reported as equivalent oven-dry
tonnes unless otherwise stated. Dry weight has
been taken as the basis because biomass achieves
this stable reference condition after drying at
1052C for 24 hours. Prices are currently paid
for the bone-dry weight of wood chips by the fibre
based mills and the well-established export
market.
Key Results / Findings
Total dry residues from all regions were estimated
to be around 7.5 Mt per year. Forest residues (e.g.
wood chips, reject logs, out-of-specification logs,
bark, stump, branches, foliage (leaves and twigs)
and other biomass in the tree crown) are 45% of
total residues. Wood processing residues (e.g.
chips, sawdust, shavings, off-cuts) are 30% of
total residues. Non-forestry residues (e.g.
biomass from grain crops such as wheat and
maize, olive pomace, grape skin, almond waste,
cut flower waste and sugarcane based residues
(e.g. bagasse, infield cane crop residues), woody
weeds such as Camphor Laurel and waste from
macadamia nut processing) account for 25% of
the total biomass resources. Sample residues are
shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Photos of sample residues in the forest and during
processing.
The estimated weights of biomass residues are
shown in Table 1. Residues generated in the
forest during harvesting are largely uncommitted
Northern NSW
Central NSW
South East NSW
Southern NSW SE SA, SW Vic
Southern Vic
by the plantation owners. In NSW, the majority
of the plantations are owned by state forests,
whereas in Victoria and the GT region, plantations
are owned by both state forests and also private
companies. The electrical power generation
companies are the sector most interested in these
residues. Recently, there is some interest from the
bio-fuel companies for making bio-crude or
transport fuel.
Table 1: Consolidated annual production of biomass
residues from all regions studied.
Resource category Thousand dry tonnes
per annum
Forestry harvesting residues 3,385
Wood processing residues 2,255
Non-forestry residues 1,905
Total 7,546
Figure 3 shows the estimated requirements for
charcoal by the steel industry in Australia for
various categories of potential applications
(Langberg et al., 2007; Mathieson, 2008). In the
medium term (5-10 years), the theoretical
requirement will consume about 24% of the
charcoal making potential (2.3 Mt/yr) from the
sustainable biomass available from the regions
investigated. However, based on 50% availability
of total biomass (i.e. from 7.6 Mt/yr to 3.7 Mt/yr)
for making charcoal, 48% of the total estimated
charcoal can supply all the iron and steel
industrys requirements.
Figure 3: Estimated charcoal requirement for the Australian
steel industry (*assumes R&D success, and commercial
viability).
This assumes that the Australian iron and steel
industry requirements are represented by the two
main steel companies, BlueScope Steel and
OneSteel. This will also depend on the success of
R&D into the supply chain, pyrolysis, and
biomass application in terms of technical,
environmental and economic parameters.
Highlights / Benefits
Potential utilisation of, and value-adding by,
undervalued residues from the forestry,
agricultural and horticultural industries.
Likely large net reduction of CO
2
emission
from the iron and steel industry.
Conclusions and Future Direction
There appears to be sufficient biomass residues to
supply the estimated theoretical charcoal
requirements that may potentially be utilised in
the Australian iron and steel industry for
metallurgical processing in the short to medium
term.
It is envisaged that this study will be expanded
into a more detailed and focussed evaluation of
biomass sources concurrent with the other
research and development works on biomass
processing, transport, pyrolysis and steel industry
application.
The necessity for high quality biomass for
charcoal making (low contamination as evidenced
by ash content and low variability of products)
also requires future study on the issues related to
supply of high quality biomass from existing
sources.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out by CSIRO under the
auspice of the Centre for Sustainable Resource
Processing, which is established and supported
under the Australian Governments Cooperative
Research Centres Program, with financial support
from BlueScope Steel, CSIRO, OneSteel and
CSRP.
References
1. K.R. Bootle Wood in Australia: Types, Properties and
Uses. 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company,
Sydney. 2005.
2. J.A. Kininmonth and L.J. Whitehouse Properties and
Uses of New Zealand Radiata Pine. Volume 1: Wood
Properties, Forest Research Institute, Rotorua, New
Zealand. 1991.
3. D.E. Langberg, M.A. Somerville and T. Norgate The
use of charcoal in the iron and steel industry. DMR
3278, CSIRO Minerals. 2007.
4. J.G. Mathieson Private Communication, Clayton, Oct
2008.
5. F.A. Ximenes, W.D. Gardner and J.F. Marchant
Carbon flow following the harvest of blackbutt trees
and their conversion into sawn productions. Research
Report No 41, DPI NSW. 2005.
6. F.A. Ximenes and W.D. Gardner Biomass allocation
following radiata pine thinning operations in southern
NSW forests. CRC for Greenhouse Accounting Draft
Report by DPI NSW. 2006.
Production of Charcoal for Recarburisation Plant Trials
M. Somerville
1
, J. Mathieson
2
, P. Ridgeway
3
, and M. Davies
3
1
CSIRO Minerals, VIC
2
BlueScope Steel, NSW
3
OneSteel, NSW
Introduction, Background and Objectives
The recarburisation of molten steel has been
identified as a suitable first step in the utilisation
of renewable and sustainable carbon in the iron
and steel industry
1
. Recarburisation is the
addition of extra carbon to molten refined steel to
produce particular steel grades. In general
recarburisers need to have a high carbon content
(>95 %), with low ash, volatiles and moisture.
Traditional recarburisers include materials such as
calcined anthracite or other high grade carbon
sources but could also include charcoal. Previous
kilogram-scale work conducted at CSIRO
2
showed that:
Charcoal readily dissolved into molten steel at
high rates of recovery
Carbon recovery to steel was directly related
to the volatile content of the recarburiser
Alkali components in the recarburiser ash can
be reduced and report to the gas stream.
In light of the success of this preliminary work,
the decision was made to proceed to plant-scale
recarburisation test work using charcoal at
OneSteels Sydney EAF Steel Mill (SSM) at
Rooty Hill during 2008-09.
The major part of the planning for these trials was
the preparation of a large amount of charcoal (3-4
tonnes). The key specification of the charcoal
was a volatile and moisture content of less than 1
wt %. Previous experience indicated that a
pyrolysis temperature of 1000 C would be
required to produce charcoal of this quality.
The Illawarra Coke Company (ICC) agreed to
support the project by allowing one of their coke
ovens at their Corrimal plant to be used in a
preliminary test and a further five ovens to be
used to produce the main batch of charcoal. In
normal operations 20-30 tonnes of fine locally
sourced coal is loaded into the ovens through a
port in the oven roof. Heat is generated through
the combustion of volatile components above the
coal bed. At the end of a production cycle (2-3
days), the coke is pushed from the ovens using a
ram. The coke is then quenched, crushed and
sized The coke ovens at Corrimal were suitable
for this charcoal making exercise because they
can provide a stable high temperature of about
1000 C and the ovens were available with
convenient access. Heat was available in the
empty coke ovens from hot walls and from
operating adjacent ovens.
This presentation will cover some experimental
results generated during the preliminary and main
charcoal making process at Corrimal.
Preliminary Trial
Methodology / Experimental Technique
The aim of the preliminary trial was to determine
the time required to produce low volatile charcoal
from supplied E. Rossie wood (or scribbly gum)
using the Corrimal coke ovens operating at about
1000 C.
Seasoned wood was cut into lengths of about 1
metre and had a diameter of between 3 and 10 cm.
The wood logs were loaded into a standard 200
litre fuel drum. Thermocouples fitted to the
drums measured the wood and furnace
temperatures during the trial.
Three drums of wood were added to a recently
emptied oven. One drum was removed after 2, 4
and 6 hours. Once removed, each drum was
quenched with water to prevent burning of the
charcoal. Representative samples of the charcoal
were collected and analysed at HRL
Technologies. Figure 1 shows a photograph of
the drums of wood inside the Corrimal coke
ovens.
Figure 1: Photograph of drums of wood inside the Corrimal
coke ovens.
Key Results / Findings
Figure 2 shows the temperature within each drum
and the temperature of the coke oven during the
pyrolysis trial. These plots show the oven
temperature reached a maximum of about 1130
C, probably due to combustion of the evolved
volatiles, after about 1 hour, before decreasing to
about 960 C after 6 hours. The wood reached the
oven temperature, about 1000 C, after 2 hours,
before decreasing slightly over the next 4 hours to
about 980 C.
Table 1 shows the proximate analysis of the initial
wood, the three samples of charcoal (2, 4 and 6
hours) and a typical Recarburiser used at SSM.
The high moisture content of the charcoal
samples at about 70 % is due to the water
quenching of the hot charcoal. The 4 and 6 hour
charcoal samples showed increasing ash contents
and a corresponding decrease in fixed carbon
content. This is most likely due to extra burning
of the charcoal during the extended stay in the
oven.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00
Time
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
(
C
)
drum 2
drum 1
drum 3
oven
Figure 2: Wood and oven temperatures during pyrolysis
trial.
The composition of the 2 hour charcoal sample
compares very favourable with the recarburiser:
The ash content is lower, the volatile content is
about the same, while the fixed carbon content is
slightly higher. These results indicate that 2 hours
residence time of wood in a coke oven at about
1000 C should be adequate to achieve a low
volatile content of the charcoal while minimising
burning and hence the ash content.
Table 1: Proximate analysis of the original wood, charcoal
samples and SMM recarburiser.
Sample Moistur
e (%)
Ash
(db%)
Volatile
(db%)
FC
(db%)
Wood 15.7 0.2 78.8 21.0
Char 2 hr 67.6 1.5 0.7 97.8
Char 4 hr 69.7 3.1 0.2 96.7
Char 6 hr 69.3 6.9 0.4 92.7
SSM
recarb.
0.6 5.3 0.7 94.0
Charcoal Making for Plant Trials
Methodology / Experimental Technique
Approximately 20 tonnes of wood (E. Rossie) was
supplied from a property near Colinton NSW.
The wood was delivered as debarked logs 1.8
metres in length and from about 60 mm to about
200 mm in diameter. Approximately 40 logs were
strapped together to form bundles using
conventional steel strapping. Each bundle
weighed about 1 tonne. Figure 3 shows a
photograph of the wood bundles.
During the charcoal making four bundles were fed
into each oven using a site fork lift. The charcoal
was removed from the oven using the coke
discharge ram which pushed the charcoal into the
waiting buckle of a larger front end loader (shown
in Figure 4). The charcoal was dumped into a
large steel bin where it was quenched with water
to minimise burning due to exposure of the hot
charcoal to air
Figure 3: Photograph of wood bundles used to produce
charcoal for recarburisation trials.
The aim was to allow the wood to reach 1000 C
before pushing and subsequent quenching of the
charcoal. The results of the previous drum test
work indicated that this should occur by about 2
hours.
The temperature of the fourth (last charged)
bundle of wood from each oven was monitored
during the charcoal making run. Grab samples of
the quenched charcoal from each oven were
collected and analysed by HRL Technologies.
Figure 4: Photograph of hot charcoal being removed from
the Corrimal coke ovens.
Key Results / Findings
Figure 5 shows the temperatures recorded for each
oven during the charcoal making. The x-axis
shows the time from the final bundle addition for
each oven. The typical behaviour evident from
Figure 5 is a rapid increase in temperature to
about 400 C, followed by a plateau of about 3
hours and finally an increase in temperature to
approach the oven temperature of about 1000 C.
The temperature of one oven (33) remained
stubbornly low, but still displayed the temperature
plateau albeit at a lower temperature than the
other ovens. The reason for this lower
temperature is not known but may be due to the
position of the thermocouple in the wood bundle.
The temperature of wood/charcoal increased
much faster in the preliminary trial than in the
main charcoal making exercise. This is likely to
be due to a more open wood pile in the trial which
increased gas flows and hence convective heat
transfer during pyrolysis. The collapse of the
wood bundles into a bed of smouldering charcoal
would have resulted in relatively slow heat
transfer and hence a slower rate of pyrolysis.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00
Time from final charging (hr:min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
C
oven 39
oven 37
oven 35
oven 33
oven 31
Figure 5: Temperature of the wood in each oven during
charcoal making.
Proximate analysis results are shown in Table 2.
These results show that the target volatile content
of the charcoal (less than the 1 %) was reached.
The ash content was generally less than 1 % but
the charcoal from oven 37 contained 1.6 % ash.
The average ash content was 0.85 %. Table 1
shows that the ash content of the initial wood was
about 0.2 %. This indicated that the recovery of
material to charcoal is about 23 % and suggests
that the charcoal yield from the original 20 tonnes
of wood may be around 4.6 tonnes. However
some of the ash on the charcoal is likely to have
been washed away during water quenching.
Hence, the charcoal yield was probably less.
Table 2: Proximate analysis of charcoal samples collected
from each coke oven.
Sample Moisture
(%)
Volatiles
(db%)
Ash
(db%)
FC
(db%)
Oven 31 58.3 0.83 0.83 98.3
Oven 33 63.5 0.80 0.73 98.5
Oven 35 50.4 0.29 0.63 99.1
Oven 37 59.1 <0.01 1.59 98.4
Oven 39 51.6 <0.01 0.48 99.5
Conclusions and Future Direction
This project work was successful in producing a
significant quantity of charcoal of the required
volatile content for recarburising plant trials. The
next stage in processing the charcoal is drying
followed by crushing and sizing to a suitable
product for SSM plant operations. Issues with the
preparation of a final charcoal product of less than
1 % water need to be finalised before the
recarburising trials can be completed.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out under the auspice of the
Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing,
which is established and supported under the
Australian Governments Cooperative Research
Centres Program. Financial support for this work
from CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship,
BlueScope Steel and One Steel are also
acknowledged. The cooperation of the
management and staff of ICC prior and during the
trials at Corrimal is gratefully recognised.
References
1. D.E. Langberg, M.A. Somerville and T. Norgate, The
Use of Charcoal in the Iron and Steel Industry, CSRP
Report DMR-3278, October 2007.
2. D. Langberg, M. Somerville and B. Washington,
Recarburisation of Molten Steel Using Charcoal.
CSRP Report DMR-3277, September 2007
Piloting the Integrated Dry Granulation and Heat Recovery Process at CSIRO
D. Xie, J. Donnelley, R. Flann, Y. Pan, S. Sanetsis and B. Washington
CSIRO Minerals, VIC
Introduction
The Australian steel industry produces more than
2 million tonnes of molten slags at around 1500C
each year, which contain a large amount of
sensible heat. Currently, these slags are either air
cooled (Fig.1) or water granulated with some
adverse environmental impact such as air
pollution and excessive water usage. The large
amount of waste heat is not recovered.
Figure 1: Slags were poured and air cooled in a slag pit at
OneSteel Whyalla Steelworks.
Dry slag granulation1 is emerging as an attractive
alternative to water granulation to provide an
environmental friendly solution. Some major
design difficulties however have been experienced
in previous studies. Recent work at CSIRO since
2002 has resulted in major progresses in the
process design to overcome some of these
difficulties.
To build on the success of CSIROs work, a four
year CSRP project has commenced in August
2006 to extend the dry granulation work to
incorporating heat recovery.2 The project is also
jointed sponsored by Australian steel industry
(BlueScope Steel and OneSteel). The key
objectives were:
To dry granulate molten blast furnace slags
and produce glassy slag products for cement
manufacture. Thus, reducing GHG emission
from cement industry.
To recover high grade waste heat from molten
slags, and utilise the heat in steel plants to
reduce energy cost and hence GHG emission.
To reduce water consumption and emission of
sulphur to atmosphere.
Methodology / Experimental Technique
Dry slag granulation could involve pouring
molten slag onto a spinning disc or cup to produce
fine slag droplets using centrifugal forces as
shown in Figure 2. In comparison with alternative
approaches such as air blast and rotary drums, the
spinning disc dry granulation is more efficient in
producing fine slag droplets for fast quenching
and efficient heat recovery.
Figure 2: Dry granulation of molten slags at a spinning disc.
The dynamic process involves fast droplet
breakup, rapid cooling and solidification. There
are several major technical challenges: including
(1) optimal disc design and process control to
provide smooth and well-controlled granulation;
(2) fast quenching and solidification of droplets to
produce glassy granulates for cement
manufacture; (3) compact reactor design for
recovering high grade heat and reducing the
capital and operation cost. A conceptual process
based on a two-step dry granulation/heat recovery
operation has been developed. This is shown
schematically in Figure 3.
Hot air >6 00C
Granules <5 0C
Hot air >6 00C
Air 25C
Air 25C
Dry granulation
(Spinning disc)
Heat exchanger
(Packed bed)
Slag
1500C
Slag
1500C
Drying
Preheating
Steam
Power
Desalination
Cement
Solid ~ 900C
Figure 3: Conceptual flowsheet for the new integrated dry
granulation and heat recovery process.
In this process, the molten slag is first atomised in
a dry granulator and slag droplets generated are
fast quenched and solidified to produce glassy
granules. The hot granules are then removed to a
packed-bed heat exchanger to extract the
remaining heat contained in the slag. The waste
heat is recovered in the form of hot air, which
could be used on-site for drying, preheating and
other purposes.
A new pilot plant was constructed (Figure 4) at
CSIRO to prove the conceptual design. A series of
tests using industrial blast furnace slags were
carried out to establish key operating parameters
and further optimise the process design.
Figure 4: New pilot plant at CSIRO.
Some technical and operational challenges were
experienced, including efficient air delivery and
smooth handling of hot granulate collected. These
challenges have been resolved through design
modification and process optimisation. The pilot
plant could now be run smoothly to produce fine
granulates as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Slag products from dry slag granulation.
The slag products collected were subjected to size
analysis. The results indicated that more than 90%
of the products were less than 1.5 mm in diameter
as shown in Figure 6. These slag samples are
being further assessed for their suitability for
cement applications.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Aperture (_m)
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e
%
p
a
s
s
i
n
g
T15_R7
T15_R8
T16_R3
T16_R4
T17_R1
T18_R1
Figure 6: Accumulative size distribution of dry granulated
slags.
Key Results / Findings
A new integrated dry slag granulation pilot plant
has been designed, constructed and commissioned
at CSIRO. The pilot plant is being used to prove
the concept of integrated dry slag granulation and
heat recovery. Test results with industrial blast
furnace slags have confirmed the feasibility of the
integrated process.
Highlights / Benefits
The new integrated slag treatment process will
allow for full value recovery (slag products and
heat recovery) from molten slags with a potential
reduction of 1.8 million tonnes GHG emission
each year for Australia.
Conclusions and Future Direction
Pilot scale tests have shown that the integrated
dry granulation and heat recovery is feasible.
Slag products are being assessed for
suitability for cement application.
CFD modelling and plant measurements are
being carried out for anticipated scale up and
plant trials in 2009.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out under the auspice of the
Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing,
which is established and supported under the
Australian Governments Cooperative Research
Centres Program. The work is also jointly
sponsored by CSIRO, OneSteel and BlueScope
Steel.
References
1. Featherstone, W B: "Slag Treatment Improvement by
Dry Granulation," Iron and Steel Engineer, 1998, July,
42.
2. D Xie, Y Pan, R Flann, B Washington, S Sanetsis, J
Donnelley, T. Norgate, S Jahanshahi, Heat Recovery
from Slag through Dry Granulation, The 1st CSRP
Annual Conference, 21-22 November 2007, Melbourne,
Australia.
Minerals, Metals and Sustainability A book for the future
W.J. Rankin
CSIRO Minerals, VIC
Introduction, Background and Objectives
A project has recently been established within the
Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing
(CSRP) with the objective of writing and
publishing a book which describes, within a
sustainability framework, the nature of mineral
resources, the role that minerals and their products
play in society, and the science and technology of
the minerals industry.
While there are many books on ores and
mineralogy, mining, and processing of metals
from elementary, descriptive books through to
advanced technical books these are usually
written from a relatively narrow discipline
perspective. The proposed book will have a
multi-disciplinary approach which integrates the
physical and earth sciences with the social
sciences, ecology and economics.
The intended readership of the book will be wide
and the book will be written in a manner to be
easily understood by readers with diverse
academic levels, backgrounds and interests.
However, it will be aimed particularly at:
students of engineering and applied science
(mining, metallurgical, civil, chemical,
mechanical, environmental) and geology, as
an integrated overview of the minerals
industry and/or as an introduction to specific
aspects of the industry;
practising engineers, geologists and scientists
who want a modern, and broader perspective
of the minerals industry;
students of economics, social sciences and
related disciplines who need an overview of
the minerals industry;
professionals in government service in areas
such as resources, environment and
sustainability; and
non-technical professionals working in the
minerals industry or in sectors servicing the
minerals industry.
The planned book will bring together recent
knowledge and understandings of the role of
minerals in modern society and the implications
of sustainable development on the use of minerals
and mineral products and of the minerals industry.
It will draw on a wide body of knowledge
including the work of CSRP.
It is hoped the book, when published, will have an
impact on the approach and content of relevant
undergraduate and graduate courses and that it
will result in an increase in the knowledge and
understanding by graduates and professionals in
industry and government service.
Methodology
The working title for the book is: Minerals,
Metals and Sustainability. The text will be
written around thirteen chapters arranged in a
logical sequence. Chapters 1 to 4 will introduce
readers to the concept of the earth as the source of
all materials, how materials are utilised in society
(with particular focus on inorganic materials), and
the issue of sustainability in relation to finite
resources. Chapters 5 to 8 will examine two
important classes of materials, metals and cement,
in detail. Chapters 9 to 13 will address the
sustainability challenges.
The proposed chapter titles are:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Mineral resources
Chapter 3 Minerals and their role in society
Chapter 4 The Sustainability challenge and
opportunity
Chapter 5 Why are metals special?
Chapter 6 How metals are produced
Chapter 7 Cement Glue of industrial society
Chapter 8 Alternatives to metals and cement
Chapter 9 Minerals and the environment
Chapter 10 Natural limits What are they?
Chapter 11 Towards zero waste
Chapter 12 What does the future hold?
Chapter 13 A sustainability strategy for minerals
and metals
In general, no prior specialist knowledge will be
assumed other than an elementary knowledge of
chemistry and physics.
To make the book accessible, Chapters 1 to 4, 5 to
8 and 9 to 13 will be able to be read as
independent, free-standing blocks if desired and,
where necessary, cross-references will be
provided. For the same reason, more specialist
material, which could be omitted without loss of
continuity, will be placed in the later sections of
chapters. In this manner, the entire book, or
sections of it, will be capable of being studied at
various depths depending on the readers needs
and background.
The author, John Rankin, will draw on expertise
from a wide range of researchers and industry
personnel as needed through group and one-on-
one discussions, and will seek peer review of
chapter drafts as they are prepared by key
researchers and an Editorial Panel. Much of the
knowledge and understanding required for the
project is available within CSRP and its
Participants.
Progress
The project was formally established as a CSRP
project in mid-August 2008. In the 12-month
period leading up to this, the scope of the book
was developed and the proposal was discussed
with stakeholders. There was generally
widespread support for the project and this led to
commitment to support a two-year project within
CSRP. The project is fully resourced, with
funding being provided by CSRP, CSIRO
(through the Minerals Down Under Flagship) and
seven industry sponsors (BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto,
Alcoa, Xstrata, Hatch, BlueScope Steel,
OneSteel). CSIRO Publishing and the AusIMM
have indicated a strong interest in publishing the
book. Formal writing of the text commenced in
mid-August.
Demand-Supply Interaction on Future Mining Resource Production: The coal model
S. Mohr and G. Evans
University of Newcastle, Chemical Engineering, NSW
Introduction
Future supply of mineral and energy resources is
commonly predicted by applying Hubberts bell
curve analysis to historical production [1,2,3]. The
approach has a number of limitations. Firstly, it is
not theoretically immediate why production
should follow a bell curve distribution, and indeed
there are a number of cases where production is
asymmetric. Secondly, there is no mechanism for
accounting for changes in production rates by
external influences such as wars, economic
recessions, international crises etc. In this study an
alternative model is described, which includes
demand-supply interaction and production
schedule inputs for production output. The
Oceania coal industry will be used to demonstrate
this model.
Modelling Approach
The model is based on a market approach,
whereby the supply of a resource, such as oil or
coal, is influenced by: demand for it, production
capacity, and the amount of reserves available to
supply that market. The market is defined
depending on the nature of the resource. For
example, oil is shipped globally so it would be
appropriate to consider the global market.
Conversely, the global transport of natural gas is
relatively minor, so it would be more appropriate
to consider a regional or continental market.
The modelling approach for mineral production
from mining operations is described below:
1. Identify what the market is, regional, global,
etc, and define the intrinsic demand for the
resource. Here, intrinsic means the demand
that the supply is aiming for. Market
expectation (or demand) is a function of
supply availability; e.g. if supply cannot
satisfy demand then the market must adjust to
reduce demand.
2. Define the Ultimately Recoverable Resources
(URR) available to the market, and these are
obtained from literature values.
3. The URR are used to calculate the number of
mines with a given production capacity.
Demand-Supply interactions regulate the
scheduling of individual mine outputs,
including start-up and shut-down durations,
and steady-state production rates based on
historical data.
4. An iterative procedure is applied, whereby
intrinsic demand and supply try to equalise.
When sufficient capacity is available the
production is equal to the intrinsic demand,
brought about by a combination of production
from existing operating mines and by bringing
new mines on-stream. Increased production
from existing mines can also be implemented
in an effort to achieve the intrinsic demand. A
point is reached, however, where production
is not sufficient to meet existing intrinsic
demand, so the intrinsic demand must be
reduced.
Figure 1: Schematic of Mineral Model.
The model is illustrated in Figure 1. The approach
is implemented iteratively, so at a given point in
time, t, we know the following: the intrinsic
demand of the market M
D
[t], the total supply to
the market M
S
[t], the number of mines online M[t]
and the production, P
j
[t], and scheduling for each
mine.
From time, t, information, intrinsic demand and
supply for time t+1, are obtained as follows:
The intrinsic demand M
D
[t+1] is given by:
] [
] [ ] 1 [
t k
D D
D
e t M t M = + ,
(1)
where k
D
[t] is the rate variable, which is a function
of the equilibrium value, k
D0
, and the difference
between demand and supply at time, t, such that:
j
j
J
|
|
\
[
=
] [
] [ ] [
] [
1 0
t M
t M t M
k k t k
S
D S
D D
,
(2)
where k
1
is a proportionality constant.
The supply, M
S
[t+1], in year, t+1, is the sum of
the production from each mine, P
j
[t+1], i.e.:
[ 1]
1
[ 1] [ 1]
M t
j
S
j
M t P t
+
=
+ = +
.
(3)
In eq. (3), M[t+1] is the number of mines online at
time t+1, which is given by:
( )
[ ]
[ ]
[ 1] [ ]
S
S
M t
k t
URR
T T
M t M M M t e
+ =
,
(4)
where M
T
is the total number of mines, based on
the URR and the production scheduling applied to
all mines, and k
S
[t] is the supply rate variable and
is given by:
j
j
J
|
|
\
[
+ =
] [
] [ ] [
] [
2 0
t M
t M t M
k k t k
S
D S
S S
,
(5)
where k
S0
is the equilibrium supply rate variable
and k
2
is a constant.
Production for a given mine is assumed to take 4
years to linearly ramp up to the maximum
production, M
P
, and similarly 4 years to ramp
down to zero production at the end of its useful
life. There is scope for an individual mine to
upgrade production in response to demand to a
level of 2M
P
. The number of mines that upgrade
in the t
th
year, M
U
[t+1], is equal to:
|
|
|
|
j
j
|
|
= + ] [
] [
] [ ] [
] 1 [
3
t M k
t M
t M t M
k t M
U
S
D S
U
,
(6)
where k
3
is a proportionality constant, and k
U
is
the minimum gap needed between intrinsic
demand and supply before mines start upgrading.
Wars, financial slowdowns, etc, can reduce
intrinsic demand, which can be manually inputted
into the model, causing mines to be taken offline.
As described above, the model incorporates an
iterative approach, whereby production from
individual sources is optimised so that the demand
is met. When this can no longer be achieved by
the resources available, then the demand is revised
downward. The result is a demand-supply
interaction reflecting the reality of finite resources
and the market responding accordingly.
Example: Oceania Coal Demand-Supply
The model output is illustrated for the demand-
supply of coal in the Oceania market. Sources of
coal are Australian bituminous, sub-bituminous,
lignite, and other sources (e.g. New Zealand). The
corresponding URR values are given in Table 1.
The other inputs to the model are the constants
described in eqs. (1)-(6). These constants affect
the intrinsic demand and supply, and were
approximated by fitting the model to the European
coal market which has already peaked.
Table 1: Oceania Coal URR and peak year.
Type URR (Gt) Peak year
Aust. Bituminous 51 2058
Aust. Sub-bituminous 3 2033
Aust. Lignite 40 2088
Other 1 2056
Total 95 2066
The predicted supply and demand for coal types in
Oceania are shown in Figure 2. Also shown
(dotted line) is demand based on the current
growth rate.
Figure 2: Demand-Supply Model for Oceania.
It can be seen that future supply curves for each of
the different coal types is not a symmetric bell
curve, as assumed by Hubbert. This is due to the
intrinsic demand-supply interaction being based
on the historical data for the European market,
which itself is not symmetric. While a different
demand-supply interaction would change the
shapes of the curves, the peak years do not vary
greatly (less than 10 year) to those given in Table
2. Current projections show supply cannot meet
intrinsic demand after 2030, which is well below
the current business-as-usual scenario. The model
predicts a peak in total supply of coal occurring at
around 2066, and beyond that is a rapid decline in
production as the URR is quickly exhausted.
Acknowledgements
The Authors acknowledge the CSRP for their
financial support.
References
1. Zittel W., Schindler J., Energy Watch Group,
http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/
EWG_Report_Coal_10-07-2007ms.pdf.
2. Laherrere J., Groningen Annual Energy Conv. 2006,
http://www.oilcrisis.com/Laherrere/groningen.pdf
3. Hubbert M. K., World Wildlife Funds Conference, The
Fragile Earth: Towards Strategies for Survival, San
Francisco, 1976.
Applying DEM Outputs to the Unified Comminution Model
M.S. Powell
1
, N. Weerasekara
1
, I. Govender
2
and M. Khanal
1
1
University of Queensland, JKMRC, QLD
2
University of Cape Town, Centre for Minerals Processing, South Africa
Introduction
The concept of a unified comminution model
(UCM) was formulated with the vision of
bringing all comminution models onto a common
base. The structure of the model relies on
knowledge of the mechanical environment in the
comminution devices - the Discrete Element
Method (DEM) has been used as the tool to
simulate this.
The model structure tackles the fundamental
causes of rock breakage, considering them to be
independent of the comminution equipment. The
equipment is considered to be the mechanism that
applies a given comminution environment to the
ore particles. Thus, once an understanding of the
processes of ore breakage is gained, the
mechanical environment from any type of
equipment can be overlaid to provide a model that
predicts the production of broken material.
Model Definition
The Unified Comminution Model (UCM) traces
the mechanical collision environment experienced
by particles in a comminution device and
calculates the resultant damage to the particles in
order to predict the progeny of the device.
The structure and key inputs to the model are
illustrated in Figure . The central block outlines
the model principle, and the peripheral blocks
outline the inputs that are required for the model.
A full description of the model is available in
Powell et al 2008.
DEM Outputs
The energy spectrum provided by DEM
simulations is divided into the tangential and
normal specific collision energies (Figure 2) per
rock size. This figure is rich with information,
showing the difference in tangential versus normal
energies; the increase in specific energy as the
rock size decreases; The reduction in the
maximum specific energy experienced by larger
rocks; and the dramatic increase in total number
of impacts for the smaller rocks (there are many
more of them compared to large rocks). These
individual energy spectra per size are used as the
input to the UCM breakage model.
Figure 1: UCM model structure.
The following observations can be drawn from the
plot of the energy spectra:
A tiny fraction of impacts have sufficient
energy to break rocks in one impact (Ecrit
0.28 kWh/t)
a few percent of collisions can break rocks
through multiple impacts (Eo 3.7 E-3 kWh/t).
the vast majority of the impact energy is
insufficient to cause bulk body breakage
the smaller particles receive considerably
more impacts
the smaller particles are subjected to
considerably higher specific energies of
impact.
This simulation output emphasises the importance
of the low energy surface impact abrasion
damage, and of the ball mill mode of breakage.
Therefore rounding and abrasion are likely to be
the dominant comminution mechanisms for
particles larger than 63 mm, and incremental
breakage important for particles in the size range
of 5.6 to 63 mm.
Applying these rates to the contents of a mill
allows the rate of breakage of each particle size to
be calculated. Adding the breakage size
distributions, that are a function of the impact
energy, to this information yields the overall size
distribution of the progeny. This is being applied
to the modelling of a pilot SAG mill in the first
instance.
Model principle
Breakage process
+
Mechanical environment
Breakage product
+
transport function
+
Time stepping
Product
DEM input
Mechanical environment
Contact detection
energy, angle, force
Mode of contact
Probability distribution
mode & partner
Distribution of mode
PB
Framework
Particles
+
Breakage
then
Convert to
mass
PB by mass
Tomography, MLA
Breakage testing
Mode of contact