The Use of Modelling Techniques to Optimise the Design and Operation of a Briquetting Facility at BlueScope Steel Australia

摘要

A new dewatering and briquetting facility is being installed by Heckett MultiServ at BlueScope Steel's Port Kembla site in Australia. It incorporates systems designed to produce two types of briquettes from a wide range of by-product materials. The first of these, the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) briquette, will be produced from a blend of materials that include BOF filter cake (produced by a new Metso Minerals high pressure tube press facility), BF filter cake (produced by the existing belt presses) and coarse BOF particulates. These will be blended with the required binder and briquetted. The Blast Furnace (BF) briquettes will be produced from BF filter cake, several filter dust types arising from the blast furnace and lime calcining operations, and blended with the required binders prior to briquetting. The inputs and products have a wide range of material handling requirements that demand specific custom designs to accommodate these variations in properties. The major challenge to the project has been the requirement for a 'zero-drop to floor' approach, which has necessitated the use of hoppers and bins to accommodate not only the daily arisings of the incoming by-products but also for holding intermediate products generated during processing. The need for containment of the inputs and intermediate materials has posed logistical problems for the day to day operation of the facility. In order to ensure the design of the hoppers and silos was correct and that the reception, production and delivery scheduling was realistic, a study was undertaken to model the process. An existing software package (Witness) was used to develop a PC model where the design of the facility and production scheduling could be simulated. The results from the model have been used at the design stage for the facility to confirm the hopper and silo sizes and establish a realistic operating shift pattern for both operators and material reception and product dispatch.