Production & efficiency improvements

South Africa, Chile, Canada

Tough economic times have not only resulted in the tightening of expenditure but have also forced managers to start investigating initiatives that will result in more efficient production. While the Cast Products division in South Africa is busy rolling out a strategic plan that has a strong focus on people, plant and equipment efficiency, the Scrap Processing division is reaping the rewards of 18 months of hard work focused on plant efficiency. Changes to the mill hammer configuration and the bottom discharge grid positioning of the shredder mill have resulted in a 7% reduction in the kW hours per tonne, an increase of 25% in tonnes/hour and plant utilisation being above 90%.

Proaction

Proacer, Scaw’s 50%-owned grinding media business in Chile, successfully commissioned its new, mammoth dust extractor in August 2009, following eight months of construction.

“This US$310.000 investment will improve environmental performance of the accumulator conveyor and ball cooling system”, said Pedro Teixido, project manager. He adds, “This new filter complies with local regulations in terms of reducing emissions and will prevent plant stoppages during air quality emergency incidents in Santiago.”

Altered steel

Majid Zamani, Scaw AltaSteel’s supervisor, Furnaces and Refractory (above), has achieved spectacular results from a five year project that has improved the refractory life of the operation’s electric arc furnace. Refractory life has increased over 400%; from less than 400 heats in 2004 to a record 1 644 heats in 2009. This has brought about fewer refractory changes, which is having a positive impact on every aspect of the operation – improved productivity, safety and health, reduced waste and lower costs.

Looking to the future, Majid says that based on furnace condition after 1 644 heats, his Steelmaking team intends to prove that it can increase refractory life far beyond the new record.