ANALYSIS OF THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE FEED CHUTE OF THE CALCITORS OF A FERRONIQUEL PLANT

Abstract

THIS STUDY AIMS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROJECT TO CHANGE THE FEED CHUTES OF THE CALCINERS OF A MINING COMPANY, FOCUSING ON "PRODUCTION STOPPAGES" DUE TO CLOGGING. THUS, IT WAS INTENDED TO EVALUATE THE DATA COLLECTED OVER AN INTERVAL OF THIRTY-SIX MONTHS TO VERIFY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW MODELS OF FEEDING CHUTES AND TO COMPARE IF THERE WAS A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF HOURS OF UNSCHEDULED STOPS. THEREFORE, A CASE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT AND, BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE MINING COMPANY'S PRODUCTION REPORT, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO PERCEIVE THE IMPORTANCE OF A CAREFUL EVALUATION IN THE SIZING OF THE FEED CHUTES, WITH A DECREASE OF 75.6% IN THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF UNSCHEDULED DOWNTIME WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHUTE REPLACEMENT PROJECT. FINALLY, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO CONCLUDE THAT THE NEW MODELS OF FEEDING CHUTES WERE EFFECTIVE IN DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF CLOGGING. THEREFORE, THE STUDY CONTRIBUTED TO THE VALIDATION OF THE POSITIVE RESULTS THAT THE PROJECT BROUGHT TO THE COMPANY.