Stainless Steel Elution Column for Nigel Gold recovery plant

30 Years Ago

elution-columnGrade 316L Stainless Steel was specified for the Elution Column depicted in the photograph.  The column is part of the new carbon-in-pulp plant which has been constructed for the Nigel Municipality to recover gold on a profitable basis from the sediment in the Nigel Dam.  This sediment has collected in the Dam over the years, in fact since virtually the beginning of the gold mining industry on the Witwatersrand.  The sediment has been washed in to the Dam by rainwater from the various mine dumps in the area.

The carbon-in-pulp system used in the final stages of recovery of the gold is known to be considerably more efficient than previous extraction methods, and Nigel Municipality have taken advantage of this technology in their plant.

Stainless steel is used in C.I.P. plants to withstand the temperatures, pressures and acids used, and in the case of the Nigel plant 316L was specified for the Elution Column, which is the key item in the installation.

N.D.E. (Pty) Ltd. won the contract for the stainless steel portion of the plant, including the Elution Column, Holding tanks, Plate Heat Exchanger, Piping and Pumps.  Falcon Engineering, the manufacturing division of N.D.E., produced the drawings in 3 weeks and manufactured the vessels in a further 6 weeks.

The Elution column, which is the central item in the C.I.P. installation, is a pressure vessel with the following principal features:

TEST PRESSURE 1 350 KPa

WORKING TEMPERATURE 120°C

STAINLESS STEEL GRADE 316L

INTERNAL DIAMETER 1,06 m

HEIGHT 5,00 m

As can be seen in the photograph there are 18 nozzles on the vessel, and it is insulated with 50 mm mineral wool, and has exterior stainless steel cladding.

The design code used was B55500 – 1982, and the Inspection Authority was AVCO.

Falcon Engineering has built up a good reputation for manufacturing and marketing of a wide range of Stainless Steel Products for the Food, Pharmaceutical, Brewing and Dairy Industries.  The new management at Falcon which to build on this base and are extending operations to supply the Mining Industry and other fields, with Stainless Steel Products [all sic].

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