An excellent artical attached about Monometer Nitriding . For further information, visit our Plasma Nitriding page, or contact us.

MONOMETER’s latest installation in the Ural Mountains of the Russian federation has been successfully completed with commissioning to be carried out over the next few months.

Monometer has undertaken the complete design and layout of the installation. The Russian company has been producing Copper granules from high grade copper scrap, which were then processed to form copper sulphate. However, the new Monometer refining rotary furnace installation now allows granule production from lower grade and lower cost Birch/ Cliff scrap, by refining the copper to in the region of 99.8 to 99.9% purity. The purity of copper product from the low grade scrap charged into the furnace and refined now exceeds the purity of product previously obtained from higher purity scraps that were melted and poured without refining. This greatly widens the client’s options for charge materials, assisting margins and scope for final product diversity.

For example, where copper carbonate can be formed using the second or third mother liquor from the copper sulphate process, the equipment used to produce copper carbonate can usually be used to produce tribasic copper sulphate or copper hydrate. Tri basic copper sulphate (CuSO4·3(Cu(OH)2·H2O) is a fungicide typically applied as a spray or dust formulation on agricultural crops. Depending on the climate it can also serve as an insecticide and miticide for citrus crops and has been used on tomatoes and peppers, among other crops. Copper carbonate, tribasic copper sulphate and copper hydrate are all value added products compared to copper sulphate where there is access to an adequately sized market. In addition, with copper purities now obtainable meeting standards for electrical applications, copper from the furnace may be cast to ingots and marketed accordingly. In this area of Russia the outside temperature may reach -40 deg C in the winter so the whole plant including the filter system has been designed to operate inside. This innovative project deploys the use of efficient Monometer Rotary technology incorporating the refinement of Oxyfuel burners and porous plug diffusion. This is an opportunity to combine Monometer expertise in close partnership with the experts in the field of copper granule production. Monometer supplied the turnkey installation including the furnace system, charger and bag house filter system – specifically targeting the elimination of copper dust from the hygiene air surrounding the furnace. The work is part of the modernisation programme of a local company. The copper converter plant is made up of a 5.5-tonne liquid copper Monometer rotary tilting furnace and refractory lining, which cycles in 4 – 6 hours. The design includes the furnace charging system, porous gas diffusion technology for the refining process, Oxyfuel burner system, exhaust filter for all particulates and fines including hooding, settler, bag filter, exhaust and all ducts, also the fluxing agents injector, and consumable spare parts. The challenges of meeting the Russian import documentation including GOST certification were handled in the offices at Monometer House.

The photograph shows overall layout of the installation just before commissioning.



Please contact Christopher Hall PhD, Monometer Holdings Ltd, Monometer House, Rectory Grove,

Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 2HN Tel +44 (0)1702 472201 Fax +44 (0)1702 715112

Email c.hall@monometer.co.uk

Monometer celebrates 100 years of designing and manufacturing furnaces world wide. 

The Article below will appear in the GIFA show issue of The Cast Metal Times and will be distributed at the exhibition. Written by Dr. Christopher Hall, Director of Monometer. 

TIN, LEAD AND COPPER SMELTING AND RECYCLING WITH MONOMETER ROTARY FURNACES

Monometer rotary furnaces for the reclamation of tin and lead have been in particularly high demand recently, following a significant rise in commodity prices over the past few years, in particular for tin dross processing, for which up to 99.5% of the metal-bearing material in a charge can be recovered as recycled tin. The smelting process is attractively simple and does not involve salt, so the environmental impact of final waste products is low and will typically pass for low cost disposal routes.

 A chrome-magnesite brick ensures long refractory life between lining changes of up to three years, while its high thermal conductivity effects good thermal efficiency by continually passing heat to the charge material as the furnace rotates. The furnace rotation effects a homogeneous heat distribution and reactivity in the charge bed, so the process consumes relatively little reductant, slag volumes are low, and the recovery cycle time is short. For example, the Monometer continuous smelting process operating in a one-tonne capacity furnace will produce up to five tonnes in an eight-hour shift, while the larger of our furnaces at 40 tonnes capacity will typically cycle 80 to 100 tonnes of material over eight to ten hours.

Monometer rotary furnaces are made in the UK to the highest standards of machining and fabrication to ensure reliable alignment of all drive train and furnace rotating components; and all welding, including the integration of spun dished ends, is checked to ASME and/or ISO certification. Following these standards furnace quality is guaranteed, and indeed proven by the many installations worldwide now having achieved in excess of 25 years continuous operation.

The Monometer smelting system extends to accommodate ores of lead, copper and tin, and has been applied in the reclamation of silver from charges of various mixed material. In each of these applications the unique bath depth and rotational programme retain metal fume within the reactive bed of the furnace chamber and effect a rapid cycle and high yield; recoveries of up to 99.5% are quoted in all offers where exhaust dusts are returned to the furnace and this performance is guaranteed subject only to a certified charge assay.

Both low NOx air-fuel and oxy-fuel burner technology are offered with Monometer deep bath smelting furnaces. This is in consideration for the varying needs of diverse processes and client circumstances. In particular, the attractions of the oxygen burner can include a lowering of emissions volumes by up to 75% with an accompanying reduction in the required size of filtration plant, cycle time reduction by up to 40% and reduced metal losses. However, these attractions are attainable for many, but not all processes. For example, a smaller and therefore less costly filtration plant requirement, (which can offset higher oxy-fuel capital costs), is typically only realised where emission volume is reduced by at least 50%, and cycle time is not always influenced significantly by flame temperature alone. This is why Monometer air-fuel systems, having been developed to maximise the heat recovery attainable from vortex recirculation (double pass) principles, remain a highly attractive option for all processes, particularly for tin and lead smelting, and are effective and economical in situations where the necessary oxygen supply is not always available locally at the site of installation.

Monometer offers a fully comprehensive service from design for special applications through to commissioning and continuous assistance after installation. A typical installation will be commissioned and proven by one of our metallurgical engineers to operate to the standards and performance quoted, and our after sales service will attend at short notice regarding any process-related requirements or other furnace needs.

For these reasons Monometer is particularly well placed with the necessary combination of experience backed up by continual development and the highest qualify of manufacture and service, to provide a reliable high performance solution for the client every time.

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