PROJECTS
Flash Splash Slurry Heater
This unit is designed to preheat 600 tons/hour of pre-leach slurry. The technique used is to flash cool the post-leach slurry and to condense the flash vapours in the pre-leach slurry. This unit has been spectacurlarly successful from a process point of view allowing the solids density to be raised thereby increasing the mass flow through the plant while reducing the amount of make-up steam required.
Rare Earths
Mineral processing and solvent extraction
I went through the process of providing preliminary engineering for a Pre-Economic Assesment (PEA) of a rare earths mining and separation project. Some five years later I am signing off the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) as the Qualified Person both on the mineral processing and RE separation plant.
On another smaller project I completed the detail design and installation of a small scale mixed RE concentrate plant including filtration of the RE source, defluorination, leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation, drying and calcining.
Tantalum and Niobium Refinery
This work involved assisting with the process engineering of a tantalum refinery to produce K-salt. The basic process began with milling following by strong acid digestion. The filtrate was passed through a solvent extraction plant before salt precipitation and drying. Modifications to the design upgraded the quality of final strip liquor which was transferred to a new K-salt plant. After reaction, the K-salt was precipitated, washed, centrifuged and dried before packing.
Particular challenges involved the immobilisation and disposal of the effluent generated in the process.
Renewable Energy
Biomass Gasification
This unit was built and delivered to an NGO in Sofala Province, northern Mozambique in 2013. It gasifies wood chunks to produce synthesis gas (CO, H2, CO2, N2, H2O). After cooling and scrubbing, this gas is fed into a modified petrol engine (6 cylinder Chev 4.2 litre). The engine drives a 15kW generator which in turn drives a maize mill. The objective of the unit is to provide a service to the local community to mill the maize for a small fee.