(2)World's largest paste thickener: From test work to site installation

摘要

In Chile, the mining market is demanding more and more efficienttechnologies on even larger scales, pushing the frontiers of what is knownand conventional. This is mainly driven due to environmental andmetallurgical issues.From an environmental perspective, the constraints in water use andthe claims from social actors are driving the industry to push for less useof water and a more stable and safe disposal of tailings. Other factors,such as energy, are also very important. Less fresh water consumption willdecrease the pumping from long distances hence decreasing CAPEX andOPEX from water consumption perspective, compelling to recover water inthe plant by using thickening or filtering.If we add the metallurgical impact, where ore grades are decreasingand as a resultant concentrator plants are increasing throughput thedemands for bigger and more efficient equipments are in vogue,compelling suppliers to go beyond conventionalism.During 2012, Outotec was invited to participate in a brownfield projectto design and supply paste thickeners. The throughput and projectdemands led Outotec to design the largest paste thickeners in the world,were sizes and torques are something beyond standard.This paper describes the steps behind the design, engineering andinstallation of the largest paste thickeners in the world, which wereconsidered to operate in harsh conditions (highly seismic zone) anddescribes how to push engineering designs to the limit, to result in asmart/efficient solution.