Emerging By-Product Synergies around HIsmelt Pig Iron Plant

Summary

The HIsmelt plant is the first commercial scale application of direct smelting technology which allows for simpler and more flexible iron making, avoiding coke ovens and sinter plants required for the standard blast furnace production route. The environmental benefits will be 20% reduction of CO2, 40% reduction of NOx and 90% reduction of SOx. Upon completion of commissioning (which began in November 2004) and successful commercial operation the plant will be able to source a number of inputs locally in the Kwinana area, such as lime, lime kiln dust and treated wastewater, and provide outputs with potential for reuse, such as slag and gypsum. The HIsmelt Process will utilise the Western Australian reserves of iron ore fines, which are currently not suitable for blast furnace feed due to their high phosphorous content.

Industry

Industry Sector	Specific Industry
Mining & minerals sector	Pig iron plant
Not yet known	Companies that could use HIsmelt slag
Not yet known	Companies that could use gypsum as raw material
Not yet known	Companies with suitable effluent to supply HIsmelt

Region

Kwinana Industrial Area, Kwinana, (Perth, Western Australia).

Applied Technologies

• HIsmelt direct smelting technology

Triple Bottom Line Aspects (direct at operational level)

Economic	Lower waste disposal costs Lower purchase costs for alternative raw materials (by-products)
Environment	Less industrial by-products going to landfill Increased resource efficiency and security
Social	Employment Less industrial by-products going to landfill

Additional Comments

None.

References

• HIsmelt (2002) "Commercial HIsmelt Plant, Kwinana Western Australia, Public Environmental Review", Perth, Australia, Corporate Environmental Consultancy
• van Beers, D, Bossilkov, A and van Berkel, R (2005) “Capturing Regional Synergies in the Kwinana Industrial Area – 2005 Status Report”, CSRP Report (for Project 3B1), August 2005

Last Update

18 January 2007