PRESSURE VESSEL, ENGINEERING & FABRICATION
Copper Refining Tower
Client
Glencore
Industry
Mining
Equipment
Copper Refining Tower
Materials
Steel
Our Service
Engineering & Fabrication
01
OVERVIEW
A tower vessel to treat highly toxic resin-sludge type compound
A global copper refining company with a facility in Montreal, QC processes and treats waste products from the refining process. Copper ingots are received from recycled products at 98% purity and through the process of electro-refining, various precious metals and chemical compounds are removed and the purity increases to 99.99%, yielding an extremely pure element.
Part of the refining process is a Tower Vessel used to treat a highly toxic resin-sludge type compound (with varying amounts of sulfuric acid, hydrogen chloride and caustic soda flowing through the vessel). The existing vertical Tower Vessel has reached the end of its useful life and must be replaced. It was originally manufactured in carbon steel with an internal rubber lining.
There is an internal horizontal perforated plate, welded all around inside the vessel. Tubular filters are inserted in the perforations but are difficult to access for maintenance; this has been a problem for many years. Since this plate is welded all around, technicians need to climb inside the tank, one on top of the plate, another from the bottom, and repair from both sides with much difficulty.
A safer and more accessible way is needed. The CLIENT’s plant engineers determined that the Tower Vessel needed to be replaced with the added feature of a removable perforated plate. They required the expertise of an ASME vessel fabricator that can provide the much-needed practical experience within the boundaries of the design parameters.
Client
Glencore
Industry
Mining
Equipment
Copper Refining Tower
Materials
Steel
Our Service
Engineering & Fabrication
02
APPROACH
Design-Build engineering & fabrication per ASME standards
DIMARTECH met with the CLIENT’s design engineers to understand the entire scope of their needs for the replacement. Four configurations of internal perforated plate assemblies were proposed and presented to the client, with each one taking into account the nature of having multiple layers of new rubber lining between the 2” thick internal plate and the shell body flanges. Due to the sticky nature of the rubber over time, intermediate gasketing was also proposed to reduce the adhesiveness between mating surfaces. Compressibility factors between the rubber linings and the gaskets were still a concern, so we manufactured a scaled-down prototype and hydrotested it with variations of mating steel and rubber faces, and documented the compression rates (with three compressible surfaces in contact!). This collaboration led to the agreement to all the parameters and approval to proceed with manufacturing and testing of the full-size unit.
03
DELIVERABLES
Complete system of ASME vessels in a modular format
GET A FIRM ESTIMATE FOR YOUR PROJECT
Pre-Fabrication Analysis Plan
Related Projects
Discover more possibilities with Dimartech's Engineering and Fabrication delivery model of custom process equipment.
