Sponsor/Client: Chemours
Improved Mineral Recovery Through Temperature Management
Team Members: Ana Bleeker, John Paul Jardina, Ezra Petron, Chloe Roberts, Isabella Scott
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez
Background
Process Improvement
Modeling
Impacts
Next Steps
The Offerman mineral separation plant separates heavy mineral concentrate from a nearby mine into high value titanium intermediaries and zircon products. Electrostatic separation, using high-tension rollers (HTRs), is one of their primary separation steps and is affected by temperature. The plant experiences less efficient separation in the colder winter months.
Insulation efficacy will be evaluated by comparing outlet temperature of pipe and screw conveyor sections of interest with and without insulation. Once validated, insulation can be installed on target areas.
The team's solution is to place insulation at the identified points, screw conveyors and recycle stream pipes, to improve sand heat retention and mineral recovery.
Insulation significantly reduces heat loss. Diminishing returns are observed as insulation thickness increases over two inches. Thickness can be optimized to provide insulation with minimized material costs. Temperature increase and energy savings will compound throughout the plant as more sections of pipe are insulated. Insulation will help improve process stability, directly impacting electrostatic separation which helps increase mineral recovery.
Simplified Process Flow Diagram of Offerman Separation Plant
*Areas of interest for insulation are highlighted
Areas of Interest
*Inlet Temperature of 143.9 °C
Outlet Temperature and Heat Loss vs Insulation Thickness
Material | Thermal Conductivity (W/m⋅K) |
Fiberglass | 0.036 |
Mineral Wool | 0.038 |
The plant is experiencing ~8% decrease in throughput of the primary feed in the winter months as well as decreased yield. Increased process temperature will allow for increased daily throughput, yield, lowered energy cost, and increased revenue.
Simplified HTR