UHT commissions CLU for FeMn refining at Transalloys South Africa.

A new source of refined FeMn commissioned

Transalloys has by the end of 2020 taken a new 27 tonnes CLU^® converter refining plant into operation for refining of high carbon ferromanganese (HCFeMn) to medium carbon ferromanganese (MCFeMn) products at their plant in eMalahleni, located 100 km east of Pretoria, South Africa. The first heat was processed on September 15, 2020, and the complete ramp-up of production was reached by mid-October, 2020.

The CLU^® converter refining equipment with level 1 and level 2 process control was supplied by UHT. The converter is equipped with both a top lance and submerged tuyeres to allow for a combined blowing practice which has proven advantageous for ferromanganese refining.

General manager Mr Theo Morkel summarizes the project; “The CLU plant now makes Transalloys a one-stop-shop for manganese alloys on the international market. We look forward to compete with our low-cost production and state of the art technology”.

The pandemic forced a digital commissioning

Due to travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the commissioning and operator training had to be done remotely from the UHT office in Sweden. Remote desktop access sessions were used for machine operation, surveillance, and testing of automation on-site, and ultimately the entire finalization stage of the project was achieved through this remote access approach. “UHT’s expertise helped us get this going safely and efficiently. We can now continue our development of this plant and process with their support.” Project manager Mr Louis Zandberg states.

Mr Joakim Lundström, UHT Project Manager concludes; “Although there initially was some concern about taking a whole plant into operation remotely, the whole commissioning was very smooth. Much thanks to two very dedicated teams working together from each end”.

Transalloys – Operations