INNOVATION May-June 2017

2016 | ❖

2017 Project Highlights

Cerro Verde production unit expands in Peru

new concentrator. Other infrastructure elements include the water pumping/ pipeline system, a 40-kilometre 220-kilovolt transmission line, and the tailing handling/distribution and water recovery systems. The project took more than 65 million hours to construct and peaked with 19,000 people on site. The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget, with an excellent safety record— including a run of 20 million hours without a lost-time incident. APEGBC member: Brad Matthews, P.Eng.

A Kraft pulp and paper mill in the US has become the eighth adopter in the Americas of a short-column ion- exchange technology that provides high selectivity for chlorides and performance with high-carbonate ash. Commissioned in March 2016, the installation is capable of treating 40 tonnes of ash per day. The precipitator dust purification (PDP TM ) technology was modified by NORAM for the pulp and paper sector and improves on prior technologies, allowing selective removal of chloride from recovery boiler precipitator ash Processing 240,000 tonnes of ore per day, the Cerro Verde Production Unit Expansion is the largest one- time built copper concentrator in the world. Fluor provided engineering, procurement, construction management and commissioning services. The process incorporates energy-efficient high-pressure grinding roll comminution technology, first introduced by Fluor at a predecessor plant in 2006. The project includes a new sewage treatment plant that processes 80 percent of the City of Arequipa’s raw sewage and provides water for the

Technology recovers chemicals in pulp and paper operations

and recovering reusable pulping- liquor chemicals. Mill costs and environmental performance benefit from a reduced demand for caustic and salt-cake makeup chemicals, while reduced boiler scaling from lower chloride levels improves asset uptime and performance. The technology sets new benchmarks for chemical management and recovery boiler operations. NORAM Engineering & Constructors Ltd. (supply and design engineering); Eco-Tec Inc. (key equipment and technology)

Two-stage oxygen delignification project increases pulp-mill yields

Canfor Pulp engineers were supported by external resources, including Clean Energy Consulting Inc. for project management, Allnorth Consultants Ltd. and Andritz Automation Ltd. for engineering and G. Morrow Contracting Ltd. for construction management. Construction was executed by multiple contractors during normal mill operation, in tight working quarters with significant over/under conflicts. The project was successfully completed and is meeting operational targets.

Canfor Pulp Ltd.’s Intercontinental Pulp Mill in Prince George produces ECF 90 pulp from a mixture of softwood species indigenous to BC’s north–central interior. The opportunity to increase yield, lower bleaching costs, and lower adsorbable organic halogen (AOX) levels in pulping- process effluent prompted the addition of a second stage of oxygen delignification. The project consisted of a new building, an oxygen reactor, an oxygen mixer, a booster pump, a top scraper, and electrical, instrumentation and controls upgrades.

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