Metals and minerals, extraction

Coping with tough conditions

Alfa Laval’s heat transfer and separation technologies are used for numerous applications in mining and mineral processing such as the production of copper, pigments and zinc.

These applications require experience in tough operating conditions and highly corrosive fluids. A common duty is the heating/cooling of mineral slurries, which are often extremely fouling and aggressive.

Alfa Laval has extensive experience in fouling and corrosive fluids. Our thermal know-how has been utilized for the development of the toughest and most efficient heaters, coolers, interchangers, reboilers and condensers on the market. Our separation expertise has resulted in the most accurate high-speed separators and decanters for carrying out the most complex separation duties.

For instance, in copper and zinc processing, our heat exchangers are given critical duty of maintaining the heat balance throughout the process in order to optimize the reaction velocity of the process. In copper production, our decanters are a favoured option in the solvent extraction and electro-winning process. And in the production of pigments, our equipment is used in complex processing steps such as grinding, classification and dewatering.