Job# VEL2024067
Background
New Zealand Steel is the country’s leading producer of flat-rolled steel products, serving industries such as construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. The company operates from the Glenbrook Steel Mill, located 40 kilometres south of Auckland, and is involved in innovative processes to improve sustainability and efficiency in steel production.
The Melter feed bin de-dust system acts to remove hot dust and fumes generated when hot feed material is batch-fed into each of the 24 charging bins associated with the two Melter units (12 bins per Melter).
Vortex, along with its group companies Taurus and Taylors, has undertaken a critical project for New Zealand Steel. This project involves the fabrication of a Wet Scrubber, Multicyclone, and Fan, along with associated structural steel, as part of the Melters Extraction upgrade at the Glenbrook plant.
Challenges
The site is an operational steel mill, with several potential site hazards to be navigated, including traffic management and comprehensive health and safety considerations. The product and process involve high temperatures, requiring a two-stage design to handle the high heat of the dust product as well as the abrasive nature of the dust.
The project is also time-sensitive, as this is an enabling project to ensure the successful completion of Project Electron, a $300 million project by New Zealand Steel to improve efficiency and substantially reduce their operational carbon footprint.
Our Solution
Vortex and its partners have leveraged their expertise in industrial fabrication to design and construct the required components.Working with a team of contractors, Vortex Engineering is responsible as a turnkey provider of a comprehensive system. This includes the Preliminary FEED engineering studies, leading into the design, build, delivery, installation, and commissioning phases.
The final design utilises a large Multicyclone to handle the hot, incoming abrasive material. These units are hardwearing and tailor-made to deal with difficult dust products. The rest of the air is then passed through a wet scrubber system to remove the remaining dust load and gaseous emissions before passing safely to the atmosphere through a 132 kW fan and exhaust stack.
The scrubber and 132 kW extraction fan are manufactured using high-grade 3Cr12 to withstand the challenging environment while remaining cost-effective.
A complete trial build of the system was performed to ensure that the site installation was successful.
The system was successfully installed and handed over to the end client and plant operations. The system is performing above expectations, with an improved work environment already available.
Check out this trial fitting video.
