Green Mill
The facility has rail unloading capabilities and
onsite storage capacity for 11,000 tons of petroleum coke, 6,000 tons of
spent anode butts, and 1,300 tons of liquid coal tar pitch. The green
mill is fully operational with all the systems needed to crush, grind,
screen, size and dose the dry aggregate and liquid pitch to the eleven
steam-heated, sigma blade batch mixers. Estimated paste production
capacity at the maximum throughput rate is 35-40 tons per hour which can
very easily produce 170,000 tons/year of green anodes and with some
upgrades potentially near 275,000 tons/year. Steam and compressed air
are provided to the facility from modern and well-maintained
installations. There are presently 3-hydraulic presses designed to
produce smaller anodes, however, there is enough room to replace the
existing presses with a single high capacity vacuum press capable of
producing the world’s largest anode sizes with no loss of throughput
capacity. The mixer and press area pitch fumes are collected and treated
in a coke fluidized bed, dry scrubber system that conforms to the
current MACT environmental standards.
Baking Furnaces
There are two newer open-top ring furnaces at the
facility that were commissioned in 1998 and 1999 respectively and were
operated for a short time until the smelter was shut down in December
2000. The larger furnace has an estimated throughput capacity of 100,000
tons/year while the smaller furnace has an estimated throughput capacity
of 55,000 tons/year. The furnaces are equipped with state-of-the-art
Baketrol® automated firing and Draftrol automated draft control systems
that provide uniform baking temperatures, well controlled combustion of
natural gas and superior energy efficiency. Both furnaces are serviced
by modern, multi-purpose cranes capable of precision loading and
extraction of anodes as well as vacuum removal, placement, and dust
extraction of packing coke. There are assembly stations in both furnaces
for rebuilding of full-sized flue walls so that the entire wall can be
replaced as a single unit.
Fume Treatment System
The exhaust gases from both furnaces are dry scrubbed
with alumina in the Solios fume treatment system. This system is
state-of-the-art for anode baking furnaces and meets the current MACT
standards for removal of total fluorides and particulate organic matter.
The system is equipped with opacity monitors to allow real-time
observation of input particulate loading.
Anode Stacker and Load Out
Automated green and baked anode stacker storage is
provided to hold short-term surges of in-process inventory. The present
configuration can accommodate approximately 2,500 tons of green anode
storage and can be expanded to hold an additional 650 tons. The baked
anode storage capacity is approximately 2,000 tons. Although the
facility is not presently set up to package and load out anodes, there
are 3.5 miles of rail on-site and several boxcar loading ramps that
could be easily adapted to accommodate palletizing of anodes and loading
of rail cars for outbound shipments.
Major Equipment List
Below is a partial listing of some of the major
equipment that is included in the facility sale. Much of the equipment
is newer or recently renovated.
-
Coke Railcar Unloading System
-
Liquid Pitch Unloading & Storage System
-
Hot Oil Heat Transfer System
-
Rotex Dry Aggregate Screening System
-
Eleven 8,000-lb. Sigma-blade Batch Mixers
-
Coke Fluid-bed Pitch Fume Dry Scrubber
-
Automated Stacker for Green & Baked Anodes
-
60-section Open Top Ring Furnace
-
(2) ECL Multi-purpose Bake Furnace Cranes
-
Baketrol® & Draftrol® Automated Firing
Systems
-
56-section Open Top Ring Furnace
-
Canadian Overhead Multipurpose Crane
-
Solios Alumina Injection Dry
Scrubber
-
Complete Carbon Testing
Lab
