Recent Ferronickel Smelting Operation at HYUGA SMELTING CO., LTD.

Abstract

HYUGA SMELTING CO., LTD. (HYUGA) was established in 1956 by SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD. ELKEM process which consists of rotary kiln and electric furnace was introduced to smelt nickel ores from Indonesia and French New Caledonia and to produce ferronickel mainly used for stainless steel.
For the last decade, as for the improvement of rotary kilns, HYUGA has upgraded the off-gas fans and introduced the scoop feeders for coal charge addition. As the result, the high temperature zones of kilns have been expanded toward kilns’ charge end side and the feed rates of kilns have drastically increased.
As for the improvement of electric furnaces, HYUGA renewed one of two electric furnaces in 1995 and the other in 2006. At these renewals, each transformer was upgraded and copper-cooling system was introduced into one electric furnace in 2006. Since then, HYUGA has implemented low current, high voltage electric furnace operation. This system improves the response to a wide range of ore chemistry, and it enables safe, high-load stable operation with high productivity matched to the energy situation.