NEWCASTLE IRON RECOVERY PLANT – PROJECT UPDATE• Commissioning of...

NEWCASTLE IRON RECOVERY PLANT – PROJECT UPDATE
• Commissioning of mill scale preparation section commences
• First shipment of mill scale delivered to the Plant
The Newcastle Iron Recovery Plant will showcase Austpac’s proprietary waste recycling process to the steel industry. Construction at Newcastle has continued to progress, and commissioning of the mill scale preparation section has commenced. The first shipment of mill scale has been delivered to the Plant and will be processed during the commissioning stage. Developments are shown in the following photographs.
• Mill scale will be delivered in bulk to a covered and bunded concrete bunker and a front end loader will be used to transport the mill scale to a receival hopper in the mill scale preparation area, along the western wall of the Plant. The raw mill scale is conveyed to a trommel to remove oversize material, and then to a ball mill to homogenise the scale before it is fed into the Plant via a series of vertical Olds elevators. All equipment was individually tested before integrated commissioning commenced using mill scale. Initial operations indicate this section is capable of handling 10 tonnes per hour, which is well in excess of the design capacity of the Plant. Operations of this section will continue to ensure the reliability of the materials handling system prior to commencing full operations in the Plant.
• The first shipment of mill scale, comprising 20 tonnes of bagged material, was delivered to the plant this week, and it is being used for initial commissioning. Bulk shipments of mill scale will commence in October 2013.
• Construction and commissioning will continue into the fourth quarter of 2013 and be followed by initial production.
A number of steel mills have expressed an interest in licencing the technology to treat waste at their sites, and negotiations are well advanced with a major corporation for the commercial use of Austpac’s iron recycling technology.