Vulcan Technologies Pty Ltd

Some non-confidential projects of late:
1. Metallurgical testwork design and management - Direct Reduction grade magnetite concentrate and pellets.
2. Scoping study - direct reduction project.
3. Direct reduction process advisory work.
4. Blast furnace and direct reduction VIU modelling.
5. Modelling of carbon dioxide compression, transport and permanent underground storage.

Some non-confidential projects of late:
1. Vitrifying residue salt streams at ~1000degC, some salts which do not exist in thermodynamic databases. But it is possible to predict thermodynamic behaviour. Nifty project.

2. Direct reduction plant PFS - technical assistance.

3. Straight grate pellet plant - scoping study management.

4. Straight grate pellet plant - PFS management.

5. Hydrogen versus natural gas breakeven prices in a steel works.

No time to post on social media! Well, almost no time.

Modelling steelmaking carbon emissions in a holistic fashion provides some interesting results. When comparing mining, ocean transport and steel making emissions combined, sometimes the good old 62% Fe ores runs rings around the high grade ores.

It is dependent on the geographical market and other reasons, of course, but illustrates that good science is not necessarily the same as the information we constantly receive in the public domain.

And for the same reason the "other reasons" remain off this public platform as these insight provide competitive advantages to some.

Spend the CAPEX to change technological route, and produce green hydrogen cheaper than natural gas, and the picture changes dramatically. We have a long road ahead. But there are solutions. We need to fund them, commercialise them, and these solutions may potentially be economically disruptive to carbon future markets among others.

Let's shape the future responsibly and cost-effectively.

I had to pull out some old steel making textbooks for a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) model being developed for a client. After a few weeks mostly looking at computer screens, reading books was a welcome interlude.

I first used Biswas, Peacey and Davenport in 1991 to model the injection of Corex offgas into a blast furnace shaft. They are still valid reference handbooks.

It's been a few months since the last iron ore value in use assignment. As the next one starts it is time for the database update phase. With all the automation built into modelling over the years, some things still require a manual human touch.

Pump calculations, non-Newtonian fluids, pressure drops, pump affinity laws, no overload motor calculations, thoroughly enjoyed the training the last two weeks.

A particularly quiet week means it was time to catch up on database admin and brush up on all things tailings thickening.

Pic courtesy McLanahan.com.

It has been a while since I dealt with flotation. I was asked to model a flotation circuit and predict product quality based on a variable mine plan. The flotation kinetic equations were challenging but eventually easy, and the model works very well, allowing a relaxed mine plan with a substantial NPV uplift over life of mine.

It took two months to get access to all the required data to model this part of a limestone and dolomite circuit properly. But now it works and can be used to predict the plant performance accurately. The model outcomes also saved the client a few million dollars, so in the end it was worth the wait.

Indian fines of 56% Fe are selling at ~USD55/DMT today, with sea sand of the same Fe content at USD38/DMT. The sea sand (titanomagnetite) suppliers really have no negotiating power, it seems.

In better news, the issuing of 148 new scrap processing permits in China on Friday is sure to improve scrap recovery in 2020 and reduce scrap prices. As reference, Turkish scrap prices have been reported recently at USD301, with Shanghai heavy scrap at USD389/t.

Fascinating website containing a lot of good data. Malthusian Economy is a term I have not heard in a few years. Worth the read.

Economic Growth Economic growth is a relatively recent development in human history. How have incomes changed over time? How large are the differences in GDP between countries? See global and country-level data on long-term economic growth and incomes across the world today.

An interesting technology to turn process offgas into fuel, reducing steel making carbon footprint in the process. Microbes feeding on carbon monoxide and secreting bio-ethanol.

Why Arcelor Mittal is Bullish on this Technology? Leapfrog project In a groundbreaking initiative to ensure optimal energy efficiency in steel production, reduce carbon emissions, and provide a fillip to the global circular economy, steel behemoth Arcelor Mittal is halfway through the construction of new premises at its site in