VWS Envig has announced the award of a tender to supply ArcelorMittal South Africa Newcastle Works with a tar removal filtration plant. The plant will be the first of its kind in South Africa.
The filters are designed to reduce the concentration of tar from as high as 1000 mg/ℓ down to 50 mg/ ℓ in the coal water stream. In doing so there is an overall reduction in contamination being fed to the hydrogen sulphide scrubbers and downstream heat exchangers, which will lead to increased efficiency of these systems. The reduction in contaminants will also significantly reduce the number of maintenance intervals currently required on the distillation columns, thus reducing the water consumption and downtime required for cleaning the distillation columns.
VWS Envig will be designing, manufacturing, constructing and commissioning the plant. The project is currently in the procurement phase, with commissioning expected in the third quarter of 2010.