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NEWS RELEASE
3 Mar 06
For immediate release
More info: Tom Allen
(1) 724-266-5720
Two Pig Casting Machines
Installed in
DRI Demonstration Plant in Australia
AMBRIDGE, PA, March 3,
2006
In a demonstration plant in West Australia, Economy Industrial has
installed two 127- metric ton per hour pig casting machines to handle the
entire output of the 900,000 mt/y reduction process. Each machine is
fully independent, providing redundancy of capacity. The
plant is expected to reach full capacity operation by mid-2006. For
photos, click here.
The new pig castings machines cast 10 lb. [4.5 kG] piglets, each approximately
6”x5”x2 ½” deep, and utilize Economy's proprietary automatic
control system. The highly automated machines reduces manpower
requirements by controlling operation of the ladle tilters, mould cooling and mould
coating systems by the local PLC control, linked to the plant's
distributed control system. Numerous interlocks provide a high level of
safety and security.
As more Direct Reduction Iron plants are installed in Mini-mills to
provide a hot metal charge for the EAFs, the use of pig casting machines
will allow production of a saleable merchant iron product when hot metal is
not needed for the steel plant. By keeping the iron plant running
on a continuous basis, maintenance costs are reduced, and a desirable
commodity can be produced for profitable sale or internal use as a clean
iron source.
Economy's development program, based on its patented technology, custom
designs the mould mass ratio, cooling time cycle, and water cooling
application rate and method to minimize the steady-state peak
temperatures of the moulds. Since allowing mould temperatures to
reach high levels shortens their life, this process design results in
longer mould life, with lower operating costs. A patent is pending on a
technique to extend mould life.
In addition to its pig iron, ferroalloy, and nickel matte casting
machine installations, Economy Industrial has supplied a number of
machines to cast stainless and alloy steel for certified alloy
producers, brass and aluminum casters for primary ingot
production, and zinc slab casters.
A machine supplied
to U.S. Navy Puget Sound Shipyard was used to convert high-strength
alloy steel plate from de-commissioned Polaris submarines into ingots.
Economy has also been active in building casting machines for brass
and aluminum re-cycling, serving several clients in the Middle East,
in addition to the domestic market.
A smaller 60-metric ton per hour machine was commissioned at a mineral
sands plant in early 2003, at Ticor S-A, in Empangeni, KZN, South
Africa in 2004, and a 70-metric ton per hour nickel matte caster in
Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa in 2005.
Economy expects a
growing market from future direct reduction iron plant installations,
and additional mineral sands plants scheduled for construction in the
coming years. In the mineral sands plants, the Ilmenite ore is
converted into Titanium dioxide, with high-quality pig iron as an
important and profitable by-product.
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