Kwinana
The HIsmelt® iron making facility at Kwinana in Western Australia is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (60 per cent interest through its subsidiary, HIsmelt® Corporation), US steelmaker Nucor Corporation (25 per cent), Mitsubishi Corporation (10 per cent), and Chinese steelmaker Shougang Corporation (five per cent).
HIsmelt operates a Smelt Reduction Vessel (SRV) which replaces the use of the traditional blast furnace method of smelting iron ore. The product of the HIsmelt process is hot metal that is free of slag which can be used as direct charge to steelmaking processes or cast as pig iron (96 per cent iron content).
HIsmelt technology produces molten iron from iron ore fines and non-coking coal, resulting in a more efficient alternative to conventional iron making technology, with lower environmental impact. Hence, it is highly flexible in terms of the raw materials it can use, including ores with higher levels of phosphorus and non-coking coals, while still producing a premium quality iron.
The HIsmelt process meets the highest environmental standards in ironmaking as dioxins, furans, tars and phenols are essentially eliminated, and steel plant wasted can be recycled in an efficient manner.
In 2006 the Hlsmelt plant moved into the first year of a three-year ramp up to its full production rate of 800,000 tonnes per annum
Key Data
| Employees |
150 |
|---|---|
| Location | 40 kilometres south of Perth, Western Australia. |
| Operation | Iron making facility. |
| Technology | Direct smelting using Smelt Reduction Vessel (SRV). |
| Working arrangements | Residential |
| Production | 115,000 tonnes of pig iron. |
| Products | Pig iron (cast into 4.5 kilogram pigs). |
| Facility Commissioned | 2005 |
| First shipment | 40,000 tonnes of pig iron in June 2006. |
| Ownership | Joint venture between Rio Tinto (60 per cent interest through its subsidiary, HIsmelt® Corporation), US steelmaker Nucor Corporation (25 per cent), Mitsubishi Corporation (10 per cent), and Chinese steelmaker Shougang Corporation (five per cent). |
| Power source | Off gas produced as part of production is combusts to drive a turbine generating electricity. This process (the Waste Heat Recovery Unit) supplies enough steam to the turbine to generate all of HIsmelt's site electricity. On occasions when the Waste Heat Recovery Unit produces enough steam there can be a surplus of electricity, which is sold back to the main electricity grid network. |
| Local government | Town of Kwinana (http://www.kwinana.wa.gov.au/) |
For more information about HIsmelt technology and the Kwinana operation, please visit the HIsmelt website
Media release:
The President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao, has visited Rio Tinto's HIsmelt plant in Kwinana, south of Perth, as part of his historic state visit to Western Australia.
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