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 with 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 with 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 in 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 perform the critical duty of maintaining the heat balance throughout the process in order to optimize the reaction velocity. In copper production, our decanters are a favored option in the solvent extraction and electro-winning process. Our equipment is used to produce pigments, and can withstand complex processing steps such as grinding, classification, and dewatering.