Krupp Polysius has been contracted to supply the iron-ore division of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) with six of its Polycom high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), two roller mills and a ball mill. The contract involves the supply of a 1,200 t/h Polyeom HPGR to CVRD's Vitoria pelletising complex, two 1,000 t/h Polycon HPGR's to the Samarco facilities and three 650 t/h units to CVRD's Sao Luis pelletising project. According to Krupp Polysius, the move to Polycom technology had the greatest impact on the Sao Luis project, where it dramatically simplified the layout of the plant and allowed savings of around 40% in concrete and structural steel compared with that required for a conventional grinding plant. The rollers and mills are in the process of being erected and commissioned. Krupp Polysius expects the process to be completed around the end of this year.

In addition, Krupp Polysius also claims that Polycom offers significant operational savings. According to the company, for a comparable increase in iron-ore particle surface area, a conventional ball-mill grinding circuit, including thickening and filtration, requires approximately 34 kWh/t, whereas the HPGR plant requires only 6 kWH/t.

In addition to the three Polycom HPGRs, Polysius supplied a vertical roller mill and a ball mill to the Sao Luis project where they will be used to prepare the various additives (anthracite, dolomite, bentonite and sand) that are combined with the iron ore to produce green pellets. According to Polyius, the Sao Luis operation will produce five different blends of additives.

Contact:
Mr J. Knecht
Krupp Polysius
D 59267 Beckum
Germany
Tel: +49 2525 990
Fax: 2525 99 2100