Sulphuric Acid - NEWS
Updated November 27, 2012

2012

Doe Run scraps plans for new plant in Mo. Town
Tanker run aground in the Rhine
CCS seeks to double blister copper output
Norilsk Nickel informs about the results of international tender on sulphur utilization

Fertiliser production from Xstrata emissions resumes 

Jacobs Wins New Acid Plant Contract for Teck's Trail Smelter
Court Authorizes the Largest Environmental Class Action in Canada's History
Jacobs to Design and Supply New Sulfuric Acid Plant for Vale

QR National steps up Incitec Pivot contract

Hindustan Zinc suspends production at Vizag

Mopani Secures Equipment To Capture Mufulira Sulphuric Acid

Plant shutdown increases emissions 

N$560m upgrade to reduce enviro impact of Namibia’s Tsumeb smelter

Outage at Mount Isa Sulphuric Acid Plant

Maaden Obtains Saudi Government Approval for Phosphate Project

EPA: Mississippi Phosphates to fix problems

Councillor concerned about sulphur on rail tracks

Vale to spend $2 billion on massive sulphur dioxide reduction project

EPA orders Mississippi phosphates corporation of Pascagoula, MS to correct problems at their facility

Hydrogen Peroxide Factory to be Built in Ethiopia

Sulphur dioxide leak at Orica plant

FACT to invite pvt cos for proposed Rs 6,000 cr expansion
Antofagasta Minerals submits EIA for US$200mn sulfuric acid plant at Antucoya - Chile

Jacobs Secures new Contract

DuPont acquires KVT wet gas sulfuric acid process

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DuPont acquires KVT wet gas sulfuric acid process

Jacobs to supply gas heat exchangers for INEOS UK sulfuric acid plant  

July 17, 2012 - INEOS selected Jacobs' proprietary Chemetics radial flow gas-gas heat exchanger design over other available designs, citing the “most appropriate design and technical solution” for its plant. The equipment is expected to be fabricated at Jacobs' facility in Pickering, Ontario.  Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a design and fabrication contract by INEOS for two gas-gas heat exchangers to be installed in a sulfuric acid plant at its Runcorn, Cheshire site in the UK.  Officials did not disclose the contract value.  INEOS selected Jacobs' proprietary Chemetics radial flow gas-gas heat exchanger design over other available designs, citing the “most appropriate design and technical solution” for its plant.  The equipment is expected to be fabricated at Jacobs' facility in Pickering, Ontario.  “The award of this project confirms the technical strength of our proprietary equipment design, supported by our exceptional experience, and we look forward to working with INEOS Enterprises to add value to the performance and reliability of its plant,” said Jacobs vice president Andy Kremer.

Tanker run aground in the Rhine

 

July 5, 2012 - A tanker carrying 1,300 tons of sulphuric acid which ran aground in the Rhine early on Thursday morning, has been freed without incident.  "The ship is free again," a spokesman for the Bingen Shipping and Water Authority said.  The operation to free the ship was easier and ran more smoothly than expected, he said.  No spillage of the toxic cargo was reported as the cargo tanks remained intact.  The Dutch tanker Synethese III was carrying its load of sulphuric acid from Ludwigshafen to Antwerp in Belgium when it went off course and ran aground outside the shipping channel near Oberwesel in Rhineland-Palatinate.  The river authority said the ship was double-hulled, meaning there was little danger of it sinking or spilling its toxic cargo into the river.  Shipping between Oberwesel and St. Goar was been suspended following the accident. About 240 tonnes of the cargo was transferred to another vessel before the ship could be freed.  Both ships will now travel to Duisburg for safety checks.

 

 

Doe Run scraps plans for new plant in Mo. Town

 

June 29, 2012 - The nation's biggest lead producer said Friday it was abandoning plans to build a new $100 million plant in an eastern Missouri town but would go ahead with mothballing its existing smelter there by the end of next year.  St. Louis-based Doe Run Co. had insisted the new plant would include processing technology that would be more environmentally friendly than its existing smelter in Herculaneum that has been scorned for decades by environmentalists and regulators.

But Doe Run has "concluded that building a plant (in Herculaneum) would generate an unacceptable financial risk to the company," Jerry Pyatt, the company's vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "We recognize this may be disappointing news for many. However, we see a bright future for Doe Run. We continue to be a strong business, and we are actively expanding our exploration in North America."  Pyatt said the company would continue to explore using the technology with other mineral resources, and "we will work with our employees to help them plan for their transition" as the smelter in Herculaneum — a 3,600-resident Mississippi River town about 30 miles south of St. Louis — closes by 2014.

Pyatt said Doe Run would continue supporting the repurposing of the Herculaneum site for future business and employment ventures.  Doe Run's announcement last year that it planned to build the new plant in Herculaneum was welcome news for many there. In addition to 270 jobs, the smelter has generated tax revenue considered vital for local government, including more than 10 percent of the local property tax for the Dunklin School District.  It is the nation's only primary lead smelter, extracting from raw ore the lead used in things such as car batteries, computer screens and X-ray shields. Doe Run has previously warned that if the old smelter were closed and not replaced, the U.S. risked becoming dependent on China and other countries for its primary lead metal.  Still, the Herculaneum smelter has always presented a quandary for Herculaneum. Residents have sued Doe Run over pollution from the plant, and the company has grappled with state regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency over its ability to contain the lead. Lead poisoning can hurt learning, IQ and memory in children, and cause cardiovascular, blood pressure and kidney problems in adults.

Over the past three decades, the EPA has cited Doe Run and fined the company many times for air pollution, lead dust in homes, and elevated levels of the metal in yards and children's blood.

Doe Run has responded by buying out 130 residential properties near the smelter and replacing the soil at more than 500 homes. Much of that property has been transformed into the off-limits green space.  Herculaneum Mayor Bill Haggard viewed Friday's news with sadness.  "Obviously, we are disappointed they are not going to be building anywhere," he said, looking ahead to next year's closure. "All along we thought it was going to be built. We always thought (the smelter) would be there. It has been there for more than a century, and it will be a little strange to think we're not going to see it anymore."

  

CCS seeks to double blister copper output

April 23, 2012 - CHAMBISHI Copper Smelter (CCS) says it has embarked on an expansion programme in a bid to double its 150,000 tonnes annual production of blister copper.  Speaking when mines deputy minister Richard Musukwa visited the smelter last Wednesday, CCS deputy managing director Du Xing Rong said the increase in its annual production capacity to about 300,000 tonnes of blisters and 340,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid was expected to satisfy rising demand.  Rong said the company was committed to ensuring that the US$300 million dollar worth of investment at the smelter contributes significantly to national development through job creation, remitting statutory revenues and corporate social responsibility.  He said the investors in CCS were also pleased that the smelter was able to produce high quality sulphuric acid as another main product.  "Regarding blister copper, we sell our products to different countries like China, India, South Korea and European countries. These are main consumer centres of copper products in the world while sulphuric acid is sold to various companies within Zambia and the DR Congo," said Rong.  He said CCS had managed to create about 1,000 jobs for Zambians and another 300 indirect jobs through companies contracted to work at the mine.  Rong said the company greatly improved on the copper recovery rate to 98 per cent and the sulphur dioxide recovery rate.  He said due to the good relationship and support CCS enjoyed with other local companies such as Lumwana Mine which was the biggest copper concentrate supplier, Chibuluma and Luanshya (CNMC) mines, management was confident that the company would continue to register significant growth.  And Musukwa said the PF government had highly valued Chinese investment in the country's mining sector.  "We hold this investment in very high esteem because it is coming from nothing. You put up this massive infrastructure and you are processing copper blister from large mining operations. We will support such investments because we want this to add value to our economy and create more jobs," he said.  Musukwa said CCS management should begin to look at other investments that would enable the company to have its own feed for the smelter as a way of creating opportunities for growth.

Norilsk Nickel informs about the results of international tender on sulphur utilization

April 10, 2012 -  OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (hereinafter - MMC Norilsk Nickel or the Company) communicates the results of the international tender posted by the Company with the objective to decrease SO2 emissions, as part of the program aimed at gradual decrease of air emissions of Company's metallurgical production facilities located in Norilsk (Polar Division of the Company).The tender was posted in February 2011, and 27 companies applied for participation in the tender, of which only three companies managed to make part of the final group:

- OJSC Giprogazootchistka (Russia),

- Techint S.p.A.  (Italy),

- Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. (Republic of Korea).

 

The main criteria of projects appraisal were the reliability of the suggested technological solutions as to achieve the required technical characteristics and personnel safety, turn-key dead-lines, warranties, prices, additional costs of MMC Norilsk Nickel on parallel projects to guarantee power supplies for the newly built production.Techint S.p.A  is an almost absolute winner. During the recent ten years, the company has brought to life more than 140 projects in 15 countries of the world. To implement Norilsk projects, Techint S.p.A has invited as  licensers of basic technological solutions «Poеrner» (Austria), «Le Gaz Integral» (France), MECS (Belgium, participant to «Du Pont» concern (USA), «Enersul» (Canada), as well as Russian designer and equipment producing companies.At present, the tender winner participates in a pre-contract debate.  Once signed the Contract, the Contractor will bring to life the following latest world technologies on SO2   utilization at Copper Plant (CP) and Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMP):

- Construction and installation of waste gases deep dust separation systems at flash furnace of NMP and Vanukov furnace of CP.

- Construction of waste gases SO2 concentration units at flash furnace of NMP and Vanukov furnace of CP.

- Overhaul of sulphur utilization units at NMP and CP so that all of the concentrated SO2 can be processed and elementary sulphur be produced;

- Construction of converter waste gases cooling, dust separation and SO2 concentration systems with further transformation into elementary sulphur at sulphur utilization units of the Copper Plant with the objective to produce elementary sulphur.

Once implemented, new technologies shall provide for recovery of at least 95% of SO2 from CP and NMP waste gases. This shall result in dramatic decrease of SO2 emissions to the atmosphere.

 

Fertiliser production from Xstrata emissions resumes 

March 28, 2012 - Sulphur dioxide fumes from Xstrata Copper's smelter in Mount Isa in north-west Queensland will be captured and made into fertiliser again, after repairs to equipment at a facility. Incitec Pivot's sulfuric acid plant in the city was shut down last month while repairs were carried out.The company uses emissions from the Xstrata smelter to produce sulfuric acid, which is then used to make fertiliser at Phosphate Hill.  Incitec Pivot operations manager Brian Corrie says sulphur dioxide levels over Mount Isa were within safe levels during the shutdown period.  "In Mount Isa, Xstrata have a very high, very sophisticated SO2 monitoring system and there are certain levels ... Xstrata's not allowed to exceed certain ground level concentrations and during the shutdown, there were no exceedences [sic]," he said.  Mr Corrie says the company has warned shareholders the shutdown will affect profits.  He says Incitec is now redoubling its efforts to make up for the lost weeks of production.  "Quite a drop in our output - but we'll try and catch up the rest of the year," he said.  "What we'll do now is we will just make sure that we keep the plant running reliably and we will maximise what we produce."

Jacobs Wins New Acid Plant Contract for Teck's Trail Smelter

March 20, 2012 - Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced today it received a contract from Teck Metals Ltd. to design and supply a new sulfuric acid plant for its Trail operation located in British Columbia, Canada.  Officials estimate the contract value to be approximately $50 million.  The new acid plant is replacing two aging plants at the site and is expected to improve operating reliability and flexibility, reduce downtime and maintenance costs, and improve environmental performance. The contract includes the design of the complete sulfuric acid plant contact section, including catalytic DeNO(x) system, as well as supply of all equipment and the majority of materials. The plant includes Jacobs' proprietary Chemetics® equipment throughout, including stainless steel converter (with dual internal exchangers), radial flow gas-gas exchangers, acid coolers and SARAMET® distributors and piping. The bulk of the proprietary equipment is being fabricated at Jacobs' facility in Pickering, Ontario.  Jacobs Group Vice President Andy Kremer stated, "We have been working together with Teck Trail Operations for many years on a variety of projects, and we are delighted that Teck has selected our technology for its new acid plant. We look forward to expanding our relationship with Trail Operations as the project is executed."  Trail Operations include one of the world's largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes, a two-thirds interest in the Waneta hydroelectric dam and ownership of the dam's transmission system. The metallurgical operations produce refined zinc and lead, as well as a variety of precious and specialty metals, chemicals and fertilizer products.

 

Court Authorizes the Largest Environmental Class Action in Canada's History

 

March 20, 2012 - The Superior Court of the district of Montréal has authorized the bringing of the largest environmental class action in Canada's history. The court attributed the status of representative to François Deraspe to act on behalf of all the persons who on the evening of August 9, 2004 had burning eyes, throat ailments, airways ailments, respiratory ailments, skin rashes, cough, or who suffered an asthma attack simultaneously with their exposure to the toxic cloud released by the plant that Canadian Electrolytic Zinc operates in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec.

The toxic cloud released by the plant was made up of sulphur trioxide which is a hazardous substance that transforms itself into sulfuric acid vapor when it comes into contact with air and remains airborne for hours and can be carried by the wind over dozens of kilometers while maintaining its toxicity.

In 2006, Canadian Electrolytic Zinc was acquired by Xstrata which is the fourth largest diversified mining company in the world with operating profit of nearly 7.7 billion dollars in 2011.

Mr. Deraspe will ask the court to condemn the company to pay between $5,000 and $10,000 to each member of the group depending on the prejudice suffered as well as exemplary damages of $5,000. No medical proof is required to make a claim.

Although the authorization to bring a class action amounts to no more than a procedure that allows a representative to file a lawsuit on behalf of a group of persons and does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the trial to come, the attorney for the company told the court, of his own volition, that his client would have no defense to offer at trial should the authorization be granted and that it had been estimated that the lawsuit could cost his client up to 900 million dollars.

On the evening of the release the wind blew from West to North East at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour resulting in the exposure of all or part of the municipalities and boroughs of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, St-Thimothée, Melocheville, Ïle Perrot, Beaconsfield, Dorval, Lachine, Pierrefonds, and Kirkland to the toxic cloud. Mr. Deraspe will apply to the court in the coming days to add to that list the municipalities and boroughs of St-Laurent, Côte-St-Luc, Ahunstic-Cartierville, Mont-Royal, Hampstead, Côte-des-Neiges, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce; Outremont, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie; Villeray-St-Michel-Parc-Extension; Montréal-Nord, Laval-des-Rapides and Chomedey.

In June of 2006, following a report by Environment Canada that absolved the company of any misdeeds after an investigation that took all of twenty minutes, Mr. Deraspe served a formal notice to the Canadian Environment Minister to have an investigation ordered pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The report of investigation, which rests partly on the taped testimonies of fifteen employees of the company, was made public in July of 2009. In a letter to Environment Canada, the company fully agreed with the factual conclusions of the report which unequivocally states that the release was toxic and that the company failed to call the emergency services.

One can learn from the report that the release was not accidental, contrary to what the company had claimed in a written report handed over to Environment Canada in August of 2004.

The report affirms that the company delayed for several days the replacement of a pump that showed extensive wear. The company kept the pump running even as a perforation was detected on it 12 hours before the release happened in spite of the unacceptable risk that it represented for the population and the environment, in the words of Environment Canada's expert.

The pump broke down 12 hours later on the evening of August 9, 2004, at which time the sulphur trioxide started to be released in the atmosphere through an 80 meters high smokestack instead of being pumped into the sulphuric acid tanks. The plant should then have been shut down at once to keep the release to a maximum of 280 kilos as reported by the company's employees to Environment Canada.

As stated in the report, instead of stopping the plant immediately, the employees of the company tinkered with the pump for a good 20 minutes during which the toxic gas was being released in the environment. Realizing that their efforts were pointless, they finally decided to stop the plant, not without having released approximately 10 tons of toxic gas in the environment as the foreman and the chief environment of the company told the firefighters and Environment Canada.

The company not only failed to call the emergency services at the time of the release, odd as it may seem, it is 911 which, overwhelmed with calls from citizens complaining about the toxic cloud, called the company to find out if they had anything to do with the release. They were told that a "small problem" had occurred, as stated in the Fire Department report.

The firefighters, alerted by citizens, had to go the plant of the company, more than 90 minutes after the beginning of the release, to see for themselves how "small" the problem was. Once on the premises, they learnt that a toxic cloud of 10 tons of sulphur trioxide had been released in the environment from an 80 meters high smokestack while the wind was blowing at 17 km/h towards densely populated areas. The firefighters ordered the triggering of the company's emergency plan.

On that warm summer evening, the company's recklessness not only exposed hundreds of thousands of citizens to the harmful effects of a toxic cloud in the quiet of their homes, but its pretense worsened their predicament by preventing them from taking simple protective measures like remaining inside, closing the doors, windows and vents, and shutting down any system that draws air from the outside.

Mrs. Chantal Desjardins, the attorney for Mr. Deraspe, said that she was very pleased with the authorization since the class action is the only means that the citizens have to protect their environment and assert their rights. She said that she hoped that the company will assume responsibility since it has no defense whatsoever to oppose to the class action. Indeed, in May of 2010, in a last-ditch attempt to derail the class action, the company filed a motion to have it dismissed on the grounds that the courts had already ruled on that matter. The Superior Court of Québec denied the motion in December of 2010 and its ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal in February of 2011. The application filed by the company for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada in September of 2011.

Jacobs to Design and Supply New Sulfuric Acid Plant for Vale

 

March 15, 2012 - Jacobs Engineering Group has secured an order from Vale Canada. According to the contract, Jacobs will design and provide a new sulfuric acid plant for Vale’s Sudbury smelter located in Canada.  The estimated value for this acid plant contract is $55 million. This contract includes the contact section design of the entire sulfuric acid plant and the supply of certain materials and all equipment. The Chemetics equipment from Jacob along with radial flow gas-gas exchangers, stainless steel converter, SARAMET piping and distributors, and acid coolers are featured in this acid plant. It is expected that the major part of the proprietary equipment may be fabricated at Jacobs' plant in Ontario.  The clean atmospheric emissions reduction (AER) project of Vale includes this new sulfuric acid plant. The overall AER project is specifically designed to avoid emission of sulfur dioxide at the Sudbury location, by over 70% from the present level of emission. Vale believes that the clean AER project is the most important environmental investment in the Sudbury basin.  Andy Kremer, VP of Jacobs Group commented that the company is delighted about the selection of its technology by Vale for this significant project and is expecting to continue its partnership with Vale.  This acid plant is Jacobs’ second main project at the site. The company received a contract for renovating the previous acid plant during 2002 and has several equipment orders, as the original acid plant was constructed in the 90s.

 

QR National steps up Incitec Pivot contract

 

March 15, 2012 - QR National has secured larger sulphuric acid tonnages a brand new sulphur contract with Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) in north Queensland.  The rail haulage provider’s new deal with IPL subsidiary Southern Cross Fertilisers will involve the transport of sulphur from the Port of Townsville to Mount Isa.  Meanwhile an existing contract will see greater tonnages of sulphuric acid hauled from Sun Metals and IPL’s Mount Isa plant to Phosphate Hill.  IPL Vice President Northern Australia Manufacturing Gerrish Burstow says the long term arrangement with QR National will increase flexibility through additional services and longer trains.  "This will deliver significant operational efficiency gains - an important factor in meeting customers’ ongoing requirements," he says.  QR National Vice President Marketing of Bulk Darrin Rawson-Harris adds his company has been working closely with Southern Cross Fertilisers to understand and meet long term haulage requirements for its northern Australian operations.  “The contracts we have signed are flexible which gives the customer various options for which products it wants to move,” he says.

 

Hindustan Zinc suspends production at Vizag

 

March 13, 2012 - Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) here has suspended production at the Visakhapatnam zinc smelter.  Sources said production was stopped as the management found bringing raw material from Rajasthan and using it at the local smelter unviable due to increasing input and freight costs. The local unit has a production capacity of 56,000 tonne a year.  HZL was incorporated from erstwhile Metal Corporation of India in 1966 as a public sector. During NDA rule, as part of disinvestment, its equity was sold to Sterlite Industries Ltd. The disinvestment was made in favour of Sterlite up to 65 per cent in three instalments, leaving the balance to the Government of India, financial institutions and the public.  It is an integrated zinc company with mines to finished metal. The zinc concentrate for the local smelter cotes from Rajasthan.  HZL produces zinc and related products – primary zinc, cadmium metals and sulphuric acid in bulk. Besides Vizag, HZL has smelters at Chanderiya, Debari and Dariba in Rajasthan.  Mr Ch. Prabhakara Rao, Vizag Zinc Smelter General Manager, said on Monday that the company would inform the date once they get the required raw material to resume production.  Due to the stoppage of production, nearly 300 contract workers have been affected.  Sources said that due to increase in supply of raw material by China, Australia, Canada, Bolivia and Kazaksthan, the management might have thought that importing was less expensive than incurring heavy freight cost on sourcing raw material from captive mines in Rajasthan.

 

Mopani Secures Equipment To Capture Mufulira Sulphuric Acid

 

March 12, 2012 - U.K.-listed Glencore International AG has secured equipment to convert sulphur dioxide emissions produced at its Mufulira copper division and aid its plans to make acid for use at its operations, a senior official at the Zambian operation said Monday.  The acquisition of the converter is part of the miner's ongoing $114 million investment into the unit to allow it to manufacture acid, Mopani chief executive Danny Callow said in a statement seen by Dow Jones Newswires.  Copper miners using the solvent extraction electro-winning process require between three and 3.5 tons of sulphuric acid to turn ore into one ton of copper metal.  Mopani is also seeking to capture at least 97% of the emissions from the smelter before they are released into the atmosphere. Mopani presently captures more than 55% of the emissions.  According to Callow's statement, Mopani anticipates completing the smelter improvements by 2013, ahead of the previously anticipated 2015.  It is planned that the smelter improvements will enable Mopani to capture gases from the converters and anode furnaces, once the furnace has been upgraded.  Additionally, Mopani anticipates that the sulphuric acid produced at the mine will supply Mopani's Mufulira West mine leaching project, expected to consume about 400 tons to 550 tons of acid a day, according to company data.  Mopani copper mine is an integrated copper and cobalt producer. Its operations consist of four underground mines, a concentrator and a cobalt plant in the town of Kitwe and an underground mine, concentrator, smelter and refinery in the town of Mufulira.  The capacity of the Mufulira copper smelter is being expanded in a phased approach to 870,000 tons of concentrate by the end of 2010. The current capacity with the new Isa smelt furnace is 650,000 tons of concentrate.

 

Plant shutdown increases emissions 

March 6, 2012 - The extended shut down of the Incitec Pivot acid plant has resulted in increased sulphur dioxide emissions from Xstrata's copper smelter.  Since 2000, the acid plant has taken the bulk of the copper smelter's emissions to create sulphuric acid used to make fertiliser, about 80 per cent.  An Xstrata Mount Isa Mines spokeswoman said all emissions were currently being released through the stack.  "During the shut down maintenance period of Incitec Pivot Limited, 100 per cent of our sulphur dioxide is sent through to our copper stack," she said.  She said the increased emissions would not reach harmful levels.  "During the shutdown of the acid plant, Xstrata Mount Isa Mines will continue to operate its smelters in accordance with procedures undertaken by its air quality control system, which is the most intensive air quality monitoring system of any city in Australia," she said.  "The air quality control system in Mount Isa directs the smelters to shut down if unfavourable wind conditions blow smelter emissions eastwards towards town and they impact the local community."  Incitec Pivot had to extend the routine maintanence shut down of its acid plant when workers discovered extra work needed to be done.  The acid plant is expected to be back online by mid to late March.  Incitec Pivot has estimated the shutdown will reduce its annual profit by $21 million.

N$560m upgrade to reduce enviro impact of Namibia’s Tsumeb smelter

 

March 2, 2012 - Over the next 18 months, the Tsumeb smelter, in Namibia, will undergo a N$560-million upgrade that is aimed at reducing its environmental impact through the reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions, as well as the upgrade of the plant’s arsenic processing facility.  Since the smelter’s acquisition by Canadian miner Dundee Precious Metals, in March 2010, more than N$200-million has been spent on its upgrade, with a further N$800-million to N$900-million earmarked for the construction of a sulphuric acid plant that will ultimately eliminate harmful sulphur dioxide emissions.  “The smelter faces a number of inherited challenges surrounding the sulphur dioxide emissions and the processing of copper concentrates with arsenic content,” says Dundee subsidiary Namibia Custom Smelters (NCS) public relations superintendent Jim Kastelic.  In January, the NCS took delivery of the country’s largest oxygen-producing plant at the Port of Walvis Bay, which has since been dismantled, transported to site, and is in the process of being installed.  The N$130-million plant is set to enhance production efficiency and improve environmental conditions at the Tsumeb smelter by producing 400 t/d of gaseous oxygen for the smelter’s primary furnace, known as the Ausmelt.  This will augment the 190 t of oxygen currently produced by the NCS’s existing oxygen plant which was commissioned in 2010. The incoming plant is about three times larger than the existing plant.  “By adding a second oxygen-producing facility, we will be able to smelt all concentrate received in the most environmentally responsible manner, while increasing the capability of the Ausmelt so that it can eventually become our only smelting furnace,” explains NCG GM Hans Nolte.  This will enable the company to convert the older reverberatory furnace, responsible for most roof-level emissions, into a holding furnace.  The oxygen plant was bought last year and, over the past several months, has been dis- mantled and shipped to Namibia, where it will be commissioned at Tsumeb later this year.  The new plant will be erected alongside NCS’s existing oxygen plant, with the two expected to operate independently of each other for about three years, after which they will operate as one plant.  Nolte notes that this is the second significant item to arrive at the smelter to improve existing plant infrastructure, the first being a replacement baghouse to treat fumes from the Ausmelt furnace.

Outage at Mount Isa Sulphuric Acid Plant

February 23, 2012 - Incitec Pivot Limited (ASX: IPL) today announced that there will be a one month extension to its planned maintenance turnaround at its Mount Isa Sulphuric Acid plant.  The extended turnaround will reduce production of Sulphuric Acid from the Mount Isa plant, resulting in the Ammonium Phosphate plant at Phosphate Hill operating at reduced rates during this period. The impact of this is estimated to be a 40,000 tonne reduction in the production of Ammonium Phosphates at the Phosphate Hill plant, resulting in the expected production of Ammonium Phosphates at that plant for the financial year ended 30 September 2012 to be 880,000 tonnes. The financial impact to net profit after tax is currently estimated to be $21 million.• IPL undertakes planned maintenance turnarounds on its Mount Isa Sulphuric Acid plant in North West Queensland on a bi-annual basis to ensure the continued safe and reliable operation of its plant.• In accordance with IPL's Risk and Reliability Strategy, inspections are carried out on all plant and equipment which is otherwise inaccessible during operation.• On such inspection of the Final Absorption Tower at the Mount Isa Sulphuric Acid plant, IPL located deterioration of the brick lining, which will now be repaired while the plant is offline.

 

Maaden Obtains Saudi Government Approval for Phosphate Project

 

February 20, 2012 - Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (MAADEN), the state- controlled company known as Maaden, obtained Saudi government approval to proceed with a 26 billion-riyal ($7 billion) phosphate project in the country’s north.  Maaden will build 10 plants with an annual production capacity for 16 million tons of basic and downstream substances, including sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, monocalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate, the Riyadh-based company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse today.  The Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources has allocated the fuel required for the project, the company said.

EPA: Mississippi Phosphates to fix problems

 

February 19, 2010 - Mississippi Phosphate Corp. and the Environmental Protection Agency have agreed on how to fix environmental violations remaining after a 2009 inspection, and some found last year.  Many actions were taken in 2009 to tackle problems found by the federal agency, but it took more than two years to agree on all the terms and permanent solutions, Richard Johnson, Mississippi Phosphate's vice president of operations told The Mississippi Press.  About 240 people work at the plant owned by Phosphate Holdings Inc. of Madison.  It makes sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid for fertilizer.  In 2009, the EPA said that the plant posed a danger to health and the environment because of violations including inadequate safety equipment, improper storage, leaks of sulfuric acid, and leaks of phosphoric acid to unlined ditches.  Company leaders said then that fixing the problems would cost about $2.5 million.  The EPA's final order, outlining progress and required future actions, said many of the original problems have been corrected but inspections last year found "imminent and substantial" danger from corrosive water outside a perimeter dike.  Johnson said the dike is stable, but the water was seeping from a stack closed in 2005. He said the company immediately neutralized the liquid and made a berm of agricultural lime to keep the bayou safe during heavy rains.  Johnson said he plans to permanently fix the problem by installing remediation wells.

 

Councillor concerned about sulphur on rail tracks

 

February 16, 2012 - A trail of sulphur on the CP Rail tracks in Port Moody has one councillor gravely concerned for the environmental hazard it could pose.  Coun. Zoe Royer said she was walking near Reed Point Marina last Sunday when she spotted the telltale yellow trail on the tracks about a kilometre away.  "I believe sulphur, being a by-product of oil production... has a huge impact on the environment, despite what others may say that it's inert," she said. "It's kind of in contradiction that [Pacific Coast Terminals] invests so heavily in preventative containment on their property."  Each year, about 3.5 million tonnes of sulphur comes through PCT on Port Moody's waterfront, before it's shipped to ports in Asia.  Royer cited guidelines published by the Alberta government outlining how sulphur-contaminated soil should be disposed of as hazardous waste but wondered why there aren't similar guidelines in effect here.  Sulphur left on the ground can result in "severe soil acidification," the guidelines state.  She also questioned what the environmental impact might be if a more hazardous product were shipped through this area.  "The tracks are on a steep slope leading right into the inlet," Royer added. "I think we have to take action because... it's a fragile habitat."  She wants to see the sulphur cleaned up and believes PCT should change its procedures to prevent any future spillage.  Ken Catton, PCT's vice-president and general manager, said the company is aware of the sulphur on the tracks but stopped short of calling it a spill.  Plugs at the bottom of the rail cars are supposed to allow water to drain out and, occasionally, minor amounts of sulphur drains out with it, he said.  "What you see on the tracks is an accumulation of small drips that have happened over a long period of time, so there was no spill as such," Catton said, adding that sulphur poses no environmental hazard.  Sulphur can depress the pH level in the immediate area around a spill but if it does drain down to the inlet, it's immediately buffered by the salt water in the ocean.  "There is zero impact to the marine environment," Catton said. "Even large amounts of sulphur will not cause a sulphur bloom."  PCT has notified CP Rail, which is investigating options for clean-up.

Vale to spend $2 billion on massive sulphur dioxide reduction project

 

February 16, 2012 – Vale has approved a $2-billion investment in the “Clean AER Project”, one of the largest environmental investments in Ontario’s history.  The Clean AER Project (AER stands for atmospheric emissions reduction) will see sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s smelter in Sudbury reduced by 70% from current levels. This reduction is in addition to the 90% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions realized since 1970 and complements the ongoing success story that is the re-greening of the Sudbury region.  “This project is an important undertaking and will utilize the latest technological innovations available to us to retrofit our smelter complex,” said John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer, Vale Canada Limited and Director of Base Metals for Vale’s North Atlantic operations. “We are creating a new legacy through this project – cleaner air for Sudbury, Ontario and Canada. It’s a proud day and great news for all of us who work, live, and raise families in this wonderful community.”  Vale has already invested heavily in the project, spending some $100-million on research and development over the past four years in preparation for final project approval. Project Director Dave Stefanuto says the Clean AER Project will be huge in both scope and logistical execution.  “During the overhaul, the smelter will continue to operate regularly,” said Stefanuto. “We have already put a lot of time, energy, and resources into planning to ensure safety and efficiency,and now we’re ready to begin construction.”  The Clean AER Project will require an incredible amount of resources. Vale estimates the retrofit will require about 8-million person-hours of additional labour, with 1,300 workers on-site during peak construction.  The 70% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions at Vale’s Sudbury operations will put Vale well below government regulated emissions limits by 2015 – 45 kilotonnes per year versus the regulatory limit of 66 kilotonnes per year. The project will also reduce emissions of dust and metals by 35 to 40% over current levels.  The $2-billion investment is a clear indication that Sudbury and Canada are important contributors to Vale’s future, said Pollesel.  “Once all the research was complete, this was an easy decision,” he said. “It is the right thing to do as a company and the right thing to do for our employees and the local community to ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations. Sudbury has already earned a reputation for innovation in mining and environmental reclamation. The Clean AER Project promises to add another historic milestone to that success.”  Construction will begin in April with site preparation activities. Project completion is estimated near the end of 2015.  In 2010, Vale announced a five-year investment program of $10 billion across Canada to enhance and expand its Canadian operations. Approximately $3.4 billion of this expenditure is being spent on modernizing Vale’s Sudbury Operations, including the Clean AER Project.

EPA orders Mississippi phosphates corporation of Pascagoula, MS to correct problems at their facility

 

February 16, 2012 - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an Administrative Order on Consent to Mississippi Phosphates Corporation (MPC) in Pascagoula, MS that requires expedited corrective measures be taken at the facility to ensure the protection of public health and the environment. EPA issued the order under Section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which provides statutory authority to address an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health at facilities.  EPA believes that an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment exists at the facility due to corrosive water discovered by the facility outside the West Stack perimeter dike in January 2011 and September 2011. This order further directs MPC to continue to perform corrective actions that were included in a previous September 2009 Unilateral Order. The 2009 order was issued to MPC due to the EPA’s discovery of uncontrolled leaks and spills of sulfuric acid and untreated discharges from sulfuric acid plants to the adjacent bayou; and uncontrolled spills and leaks of phosphoric acid to unlined ditches at the MPC facility in August 2009.  MPC began operation in the late 1950s and was a subsidiary of Mississippi Chemical Corporation (MCC) from the early 1990’s through 2004. On May 15, 2003, MCC filed for bankruptcy and MPC was acquired by creditors. On December 21, 2004, MPC emerged from bankruptcy and is now owned by Phosphate Holdings, Inc, a publicly traded corporation. MPC manufactures sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid at the site and produces diammonium phosphate (DAP), a phosphate-based fertilizer.  Some of the work required of MPC in the 7003 Order includes: the submission of a revised plan to repair and replace degraded containment around sulfuric acid plants (SAPs); the continued implementation of the groundwater investigative and remediation work plan for the SAPs, DAP plant and construction area southwest of SAPs; daily visual assessment of seepage from west stack perimeter dike; and the submission of a west gypsum stack system improvement plan. As MPC addresses the requirements of this order, the EPA and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will continue to work jointly to oversee MPC's compliance with environmental laws, regulations and permits.

Hydrogen Peroxide Factory to be Built in Ethiopia

 

February 14, 2012 - The Awash Melkasa Aluminum Sulfate and Sulfuric Acid Factory announced plans to establish a hydrogen peroxide factory in Ethiopia. The hydrogen peroxide factory, which will begin construction soon will cost an estimated 155 million birr according to Admasu Tabaeto, Production and Technical Support Process Owner with Awash Melkasa.  The factory is expected to have the capacity to produce 13,600 metric tons of aluminum sulfate and 17,000 metric tons of sulfuric acid he said.  Awash Melkasa has been struggling with financial loss for several years because it has been unable to access the market explained Admasu.  The factory has acquired better access to potential markets and is now geared towards selling its products to the domestic market and for export to Sudan Admasu said. It is no longer operating at a loss due to its ability to access markets he noted.  The chemicals produced by the Awash Melkasa factory are primarily used in the manufacture of textile products.

Sulphur dioxide leak at Orica plant

 

February 12, 2012 - Elevated levels of sulphur dioxide have been reported leaking from Orica's Port Kembla plant on the south coast.  The chemical giant said it recorded increased amounts of sulphur dioxide from its Spent Acid Regeneration plant on Friday night.  The sulphur dioxide spiked about 3000 parts per million and stayed above the 1000 parts per million limit for about 15 minutes, Orica said.  ''There was no harm to the community, the plant or the environment,'' it said.  The Environmental Protection Authority will examine the reading.  The NSW Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, said she was pleased Orica reported the leak so quickly.  ''Orica has done this as part of new requirements under the Protection of the Environment Act that became effective on Monday,'' she said. Operators who do not immediately report pollution incidents now risk $2 million fines.  In December, the company confirmed a ''contained leakage'' of about 3000 to 4000 litres of sulphuric acid from the same facility.  Orica's ammonia plant on Kooragang Island, near Newcastle, was temporarily shut in August due to a toxic hexavalent chromium leak.

FACT to invite pvt cos for proposed Rs 6,000 cr expansion

 

February 9, 2012 - Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) will invite private companies for its proposed Rs 6,000 crore joint venture by month-end, as none of the PSUs have shown interest in the venture, a senior official said today.  "We will come out with another EoI to invite private companies by the end of this month, as no PSU has shown interest in our proposed joint venture (JV)," FACT Chairman and Managing Director Shyam Lal Goyal told PTI.  The investment this time would be in the same range as the previous EoI, he added.  The Kerala-based PSU had last year invited expressions of interest (EoIs) seeking partnerships with other PSUs to establish five plants with an annual capacity of more than 38 lakh tonnes per annum.  The company intends to set up a new sulphuric acid plant, urea plant, NP complex fertiliser plant, SSP plant and ammonia-urea complex.  The proposed ammonia-urea complex at Cochin division will consist of an ammonia plant of capacity 2,000 tonnes per day (TPD) and a urea plant of 3,500 TPD.  Similarly, the new urea plant of a single train of 1,500 TPD as an add on unit to the existing 900 TPD ammonia plant.  FACT also plans to set up a new sulphuric acid plant with a capacity of 2,000 TPD.  The company aims to increase its annual complex fertiliser output to 10 lakh tonnes per annum by installing an additional 1,000 TPD NP plant at Cochin using outsourced ammonia, phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid.  The company also plans to set up a 500 TPD SSP (Single Super Phosphate) plant at Udyogamandal.  FACT manufactures urea and complex fertilisers and is one of the largest fertilisers and chemicals producers in Kerala.  It also produces petrochemicals and provides engineering solutions for establishing petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, refining plants.

 

Antofagasta Minerals submits EIA for US$200mn sulfuric acid plant at Antucoya - Chile

 

January 13, 2012 - Chilean miner Antofagasta Minerals has submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) to the environment ministry (MMA) for a US$200mn project to build a sulfuric acid plant at its Antucoya copper project in northern region II.  The plant, which is an addition to the original US$1.3bn Antucoya copper project, will supply sulfuric acid for the operation of the heap leaching-SX-EW circuit to produce copper cathodes.  The facility will produce up to 1.1Mt/y of sulfuric acid, of which 946,000t/y will be fed into the cathodes plant at Antucoya, while the remainder will be sold to third parties, according to the EIA.  The plant will also generate electric power which will be fed into the northern SING grid through a 23kV transmission line from the plant to the Antucoya substation.  Construction of the plant is scheduled to kick off immediately after receiving environmental approval and take 27 months to complete. The plant will have a useful life of 23 years.  Development of the Antucoya project was approved by London-based Antofagasta plc (LSE: ANTO), controller of Antofagasta Minerals, last December.  At the time, the company also announced an MOU with Japan's Marubeni under which the latter will become a 30% partner in the project.

 

Jacobs Secures new Contract

 

January 10, 2012 - Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced Tuesday that its Chemetics unit in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, has been awarded a design and fabrication contract by Ballance Agri-Nutrients for a cold-heat exchanger to be installed in its sulphuric acid plant in New Zealand. Officials estimate the construction value to be $2 million with a Chemetics contract value estimated at $745,000.  The scope of work involves the design and fabrication of a cold-heat exchanger plus redesign of ducting.