May 2018
- New record achieved for continuous run of the TSL Furnace (33 hours and 54 minutes)
- Production of 9,957t of lead slag and 5,846 t of sulfuric acid from 12,020t of concentrate with residue feed comprising 52% of the feed to the furnace
- Planned maintenance shut of TSL furnace completed (6 days)
- Planned major maintenance outage of the Blast Furnace completed (37 days)
Port Pirie Blast Furnace maintenance shut details
During April 2018 and May 2018 one of the biggest planned maintenance shuts Port Pirie has ever undertaken was completed. Shut work included in excess of 200 tasks with one of the major projects being the removal and demolition of the old Telpher Blast Furnace feed system. The Telpher feed system, which had been in operation since the 1920’s, was replaced with new rising conveyors, feeders and a shuttle feed system.
The replacement of the aged Telpher feed system will provide a more reliable and flexible feed system to the Blast Furnace. The new conveyer system will also deliver improved safety and environmental outcomes.
Other major projects completed during the maintenance shut include:
- Upgrade of the Blast Furnace to allow treatment of TSL furnace slag blocks and higher rates of copper
- Complete rebuild of the Copper Drossing Furnace with the upgrade allowing higher rates of copper to be treated
- General Office Substation high voltage switchboard replacement - an aged 6,600 volt switchboard which was built in 1954 was decommissioned and successfully replaced with a new switchboard
- Fume fans motor, drive and transformer replacement - the fume fans are critical to the fume control section and ensure that the draught from the bag houses is forced up the tall stack