Rio Tinto Plasma Torch Follow-Up While my previous post showed that Rio Tinto was, according to their actual documents, “trialling” a plasma torch at their Montreal-based Rio Tinto Processing Centre of Excellence, I suspect the Montreal location is primarily a project management and research environment. To real-world trial a plasma torch -- one that produces heat the temperature of the sun -- you’d need a real industrial facility.
Real-world test probably at IOC Labrador pellet plant.
So, it’s most likely the actual trial usage will be conducted at Rio / Iron Ore of Canada’s actual pelletization plant in Labrador City, at the Carol Lake mine operations.
https://www.ironore.ca/en/who-we-are/about-ioc
and
https://labradorironore.com/operations/overview/
The Labrador pellet plant is among the top five producers of seaborne iron ore pellets in the world. It’s a legit place.
If this is pans out as a client, how many torches? Some math...
How many production lines? Six maximum.
The plant, has six lines for use in operation, as different types of pellets are made, including: standard acid pellets; low silica acid pellets; low silica fluxed pellets; and direct reduction pellets.
Usage at this plant varies as demand fluxes. COVID impacted demand (as steel-making demand decreased worldwide as construction slowed). Between four and five out of six lines in the pellet plant operated throughout most of 2020, and plans were to bring back the sixth line before the end of 2020. That information is buried in here if you want to check what I wrote:
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/labrador-iron-ore-royalty-corporation-results-for-the-third-quarter-ended-september-30-2020-839194488.html
So how many furnaces? 3 to 6. Looks like 6.
With six lines, I assume six induration furnaces. However, that’s based on an assumption of a separate furnace for every line. If lines share a furnace, there could be 3 furnaces.
However, pictures from within the plant show at least 5 furnaces in one picture, and 3 on the other, though neither pic shows the full factory length, and the second pic is a very different angle that is a closer focus:
Angle that show 5 furnaces:
https://cdn-ceo-ca.s3.amazonaws.com/1g3miet-E75E8865-5B6E-4C8A-805B-061A10C1BEEB.jpeg
Angle that shows 3 furnaces:
https://cdn-ceo-ca.s3.amazonaws.com/1g3mig1-E8BF9C2E-9629-4760-8DDB-72A00CFA2CA8.jpeg
FYI, here’s where I got the photos:
https://www.ironore.ca/en/publications/photos
How many torches? I guess getween 30 and 120.
There are apparently 20 burners on a standard induration furnace. Reference for that is on the following document, page 2, right side, here:
https://www.metal7.com/public_upload/files/Burner%20500L%20-%20Anglais.pdf
I used that reference as PYR themselves has used the company, Metal7, as a benchmark reference in their own patents for plasma torch pelletization:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9752206B2/en
I am unsure if diesel burners and plasma burners are a 1:1 swap. If so, and if this plant were to go full plasma torch, then:
For 6 furnaces at 20 torches per = 120 torches
For 3 furnaces at 20 torches per = 60 torches
If a 2:1 swap, then:
For 6 furnaces at 10 torches per = 60 torches
For 3 furnaces at 20 torches per = 30 torches
That’s a lot of electricity to power plasma torches. How will they be able to do that?
Hydroelectric power, baby. Carbon-free, perfect for carbon reduction initiatives.
Labrador has always had access to the extensive hydroelectric capacity from the Churchill Falls hydro-electric generation station. However, it’s not been an easy ride.
If I understand my history correctly, hydro Quebec actually owns and manages the Churchill Falls operation, and they gave Newfoundland and Labrador a bad deal on the cost of that electricity — partly because even though the Churchill Falls station is in Labrador, to get the power to Newfoundland the lines had to pass over the part of the Quebec border that juts north into Labrador at an odd angle. It’s more complicated than that, and political issues aside (which are extensive, as were the cost-overruns), that’s the topline.
As a result, a few years back, Labrador engaged in a massive project to create another hydro-electric station at Muskrat Falls. This was in an area that allowed for the lines to pass directly from Labrador to Newfoundland without crossing Quebec territory.
You can see that here:
https://cdn-ceo-ca.s3.amazonaws.com/1g3mjuq-5CEB4FBE-6CC9-44C3-9874-3F4F86CED93E.png
It’s important to note that a big justification for this project, aside from the issues with Quebec Power, were to specifically meet the rising electrical needs of the mining industry.
You can read about that here:
https://muskratfalls.nalcorenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Report-Labrador-Mining-and-Power.pdf
Power has now started to flow. The first unit at Muskrat Falls was synced to the electricity grid in Labrador on Sept. 22, 2020. Power from the second unit was expected in late 2020, with the third and fourth units coming online in 2021:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/first-power-flows-muskrat-falls-1.5735500
Summary
RioTinto trialling PYR plasma torches — and eventually using them extensively at the Labrador IOC pellet plant — makes even more sense, when you combine their stated goal to reduce carbon emissions with the availability of “clean” hydro-electricity.
If RioTinto pans out as a full-fledged client, a good guess would indicate 50-60 torches, at USD$2-3MM per torch, to refit just this one pellet plant.
Bonus info:
An additional project, recently announced by Rio “to explore the viability of transforming iron ore pellets into low-carbon hot briquetted iron (HBI), a low-carbon steel feedstock, using green hydrogen generated from hydro-electricity in Canada”, is also slated for the Labrador area, for 2022.
While it is not clear what this would mean for an expansion of the existing pellet operations, or the development of another pellet plant specific to this project, a feasibility study into the potential development of industrial scale low-carbon iron production in Canada, across the entire steel value chain, is scheduled for completion in late 2021, with an investment decision on a hydrogen based direct reduction plant at industrial scale expected to follow thereafter.
https://www.riotinto.com/news/releases/2021/Rio-Tinto-teams-up-with-Paul-Wurth-and-SHS-Stahl-Holding-Saar-on-low-carbon-iron-in-Canada