ENGINEERING STUDY AND AUDIT FOR THE UPGRADE OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS (ESPs) IN A COPPER SMELTER (GA9)

ISSUE

A copper smelter experiences significant production time losses due to poorly performing electrostatic precipitators (ESP) handling process gas. The physical state of these electrostatic precipitators is deteriorating rapidly, leading to a reduced performance and a steady increase of fugitive fume emission inside the plant. These emissions raise concerns regarding the health and safety of workers.

STS Canada has been commissionned to study a range of solutions to upgrade the plant’s main ESPs and maintain their mechanical integrity for long term reliability. This study included:

• A mechanical audit of the ESPs of the plant.
• A sampling campaign of the process gases.
• A technical and economical evaluation of the potential solutions to maintain the integrity of the ESPs.
• A technical and economical evaluation of the technologies to optimize the performance of the plant's process gas treatment equipment.
• The proposal of an action plan for the implementation of the proposed solutions.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

The challenge of this project was to find solutions to stop the rapid physical deterioration of the electrostatic precipitators in order to maintain their operation and their performance at a lower cost. In addition, the proposed upgrade solutions had to be compatible with the continuous operation of the plant and the physical restrictions associated with modifying equipment in an existing plant.

RECOMMENDED SOLUTION

After identifying corrosion as the cause of the rapid degradation of the electrostatic precipitators performance and integrity , STS Canada was able to identify a system, already available at the client site, allowing to temporarily minimize corrosion of the ESPs. In parallel, STS Canada selected technology to permanently eliminate the phenomenon of corrosion inside those equipment.

Furthermore, following the evaluation of all separation technologies compatible with the customer process gases, STS Canada recommended various optimization solutions for the plant's gas treatment systems. Those solutions included the combination of pre-treatment equipment with downstream ESPs of smaller dimensions.

RESULTS

The results of the study allowed the client to get a full knowledge of the condition of his electrostatic precipitator fleet and to understand the origin of the rapid degradation of those equipment. Based on this information, STS Canada has been able to propose an action plan to maintain the integrity of the ESPs. The proposed action plan has been organized according to the criticality of the activities to be carried out, helping the client to easily plan over time the actions to be undertaken.

This study also provided the client with a list of solutions to optimize the performance of the plant's gas treatment systems. The information required to conduct a detailed engineering study to implement any of these solutions was also collected during the study.