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RED MUD DISPOSAL PROJECT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED IN FINLAND

Serious disposal problem of such metallurgical sludge as red mud, pyrite cinders, nickel- and copper-containing slags, iron cinders, chromite and electronic waste, waste of gas treatment stations of steelmaking and metallurgical furnaces with further refinement of precious metals is solved industrially.

Based on expert estimates, metallurgical waste ends up predominantly in landfills and uncontrolled wild dumps. In spite of that, even environmentally responsible enterprises spend up to 20-30% of their turnover for utilization.

Unique technological solution of ADGEX implies application of short-arc direct current furnaces (SADCF) combined with signature technology of metal extraction by the way of direct refinement during the disposal process. Owing to a complete self-sufficiency of furnaces, technogenic waste can be melted right on the site of their utilization, producing ready-made market product in the form of steel and cast-iron ingots, slabs, copper billets, ferroaluminum, ferronickel, alloy steel, and different types of cast iron. It must be noted individually that waste disposal technology is non-environment-damaging, moreover, concentrations of hazardous substances are a way lower than permissible values. Also worth highlighting is the fact that short-arc direct current furnaces are capable of disposing finely-dispersed waste, which can’t be treated in traditional furnaces nowadays.   

Short-arc Direct Current Furnace SADCF-12.0/10000

In the end of 2018 in Finland ADGEX in liaison with partners launched its first commercial project for utilization and treatment of red mud, chromite waste, and vanadium-contained waste filters, which are widely used in production of mineral fertilizers. The project sparked a profound interest of professional metallurgists of Finland and other countries with a well-developed metallurgy industry, whose day-to-day activities require handling of waste disposal issues.

A short-arc direct current furnace SADCF-0,5А1/400 with capacity of up to 100 tones per month was installed and commissioned in the city of Merikarvia, Finland. The furnace is self-sufficient and powered by 600 kW diesel generator, which vividly demonstrates that disposal of metallurgical technogenic waste has become now possible in the field environment.  This precedent is truly unique and unparalleled for the industry.

The project’s CTO Mr. Talgat Mulyukov laid special stress on the following features of the furnaces:

“Short-arc direct current furnaces may operate on 100% cast-iron or steel chips as a feedstock, at that melting time is reduced, the loss is scaled down to as little as 2-4%, and end market product becomes quite cheaper. Cast-iron produced in SADCF is finely-grained with tensile strength of up to 600 MPa and hardness of up to 230 HB. The parts made from this cast-iron could be hardened selectively or entirely in thermal furnaces with high-frequency current (HFC-hardening) of up to 55 HRC and strength of up to 1500MPa. Industrial-scale cast-iron production of such a high quality is only feasible using signature short-arc direct current furnaces SADCF.”

SADCF-furnaces require no gas purging to lower carbon content when casting low-carbon, structural, alloy, tool, and high-speed steels. Applied technological methods of melting with min loss of alloy elements allows casting steels with carbon content of up to 0.001% at the lowest values of gas content.

Short-arc Direct Current Furnace SADCF-6.0/8000

Short-arc direct current furnaces can be manufactured with capacity from 0.01 to 12.0 tones. The furnaces powered by diesel- or gas-generator feature lower energy-intensity and complete self-sufficiency. It can be safely said that from now on the metallurgy is becoming mobile and multifunctional. There are no other furnaces in the world with similar features and specifications. Such mini-plants could be easily deployed almost anywhere in the world where it is necessary to process and dispose metallurgical waste. These operation sites require no power supply and auxiliary infrastructure, being one of the crucial factors for far north conditions and remote hard-to-reach areas with precious metal deposits.

Short-arc Direct Current Furnace SADCF-3.0/4000

Managing Director of ADGEX Mr. Victor Uzlov noted:

“The short-range plans of the company are to introduce the technology of “Technogenic waste disposal” internationally. This technological solution is unexampled and comes with our own equipment. The key points of the metallurgical waste utilization technology are environmentally safety, cost-effectiveness and what is more important – multifunctional performance as the technology can be used for disposal of different types of waste based on particular customer needs.”

Use of our utilization method makes it possible to reach economic effectiveness of 15-25%. 

ADGEX LTD is officially inviting potential partners for global promotion of the project “Red Mud Disposal” in short-arc direct current furnaces.