The key equipment of the project, which has no analogues in the world in terms of scale, is being tested at the sites of the Sulfur Program at the Nadezhdinsky Metallurgical Plant, the press service of Norilsk Nickel reported.
The first stage of the environmental program implementation based on the results of reaching full capacity over the next year, it will allow for a significant reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions from melting furnaces.
At the Mokulaevsky mine, which is under construction, is already being prepared for delivery the first batch of limestone – the main raw material needed to neutralize sulfuric acid, which will be produced during the utilization of sulfur dioxide.
When the enterprise reaches its design capacity, the volume of limestone production will be 6.5 million tons per year. Several tens of thousands of tons of limestone have already been mined at Mokulaevsky, and more than 300.000 tons are planned to be mined by the end of the year.
The H₂so₄ neutralization process will take place in the adjacent sulfuric acid neutralization department, where the finished limestone milk will be sent through a pipeline system and pumped into reactors. In them milk is mixed with sulfuric acid and after a short time turns into gypsum pulp, which is then sent through a pipeline system to a gypsum storage facility located six kilometers from the main site of the plant, Alexey Kunaev, senior manager of NN Development LLC, told about the technological chain of the project.
The Sulfur Program of Norilsk Nickel is an example of high–tech and automated production, where the process of operation of a large number of giant units will be controlled by a minimum of specialists in the workshops and remotely from the main control panel. 200 people have already been specially trained to work in the sulfuric acid production and neutralization shop.
The technology of sulfur dioxide utilization at the Nadezhdinsky Metallurgical Plant will be launched in stages, with comprehensive testing and reaching full capacity over the next year.
In the future, when the second stage of the Sulfur Program is implemented, already at the Copper Plant emissions will reach regulatory levels. In fact, this is the start of a new era of domestic metallurgy: a technology is being launched that can become a model for many other companies facing environmental issues today.
By the end of the year, Norilsk Nickel plans to complete the development of a technological solution for the implementation of the "Sulfur Program" at the Copper Plant.
PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel is a diversified mining and metallurgical company, the world's largest producer of palladium and high-grade nickel, and the world's leading producer of platinum, cobalt, copper and rhodium. The company also produces silver, gold, iridium, ruthenium, selenium, tellurium, sulfur among other products.
The production divisions of the Norilsk Nickel group of companies are located in Russia in the Norilsk industrial region, on the Kola Peninsula and in the Trans-Baikal Territory, as well as in Finland.
In Russia, the company's shares are admitted to trading on the Moscow and St. Petersburg stock exchanges, and its American depository receipts are admitted to trading on the St. Petersburg stock exchange.
The group's products are supplied to 37 countries in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Americas. It is acquired by more than 400 partner companies. Its sales offices operate in Switzerland, China and the USA.
Norilsk Nickel fully supports the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For the company, adherence to the principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility is an integral part of efficient operations and business development. Norilsk Nickel is constantly improving its environmental protection activities, human rights protection policy, occupational safety and health, environmental impact assessment, and biodiversity conservation. The company spent 333 billion rubles on projects related to sustainable development in 2022.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
