The introduction of new technology or the application of an existing technology to different process chemistry is perceived to be fraught with risk and uncertainty, especially if an existing technology is well established. Scaling up from small scale tests is typically a significant perceived risk when applying new technology as limited references or industry standards are available. Commissioning of a full-scale plant is often delayed due to lack of fundamental understanding of the process and the lack of operating experience and in the current economic climate, new pyro metallurgical projects cannot afford commissioning delays or the perception of high risk. Many of these risks can be addressed via a suitable development program which includes demonstration-scale pilot plant testing.

Demonstration-scale smelting, prior to implementation offers an opportunity to address the risks associated with pyro metallurgical operations (process, operational etc). Any smelting operation has inherent risks associated with the process and equipment due to the nature of pyro metallurgy. There are therefore many obvious benefits to complete small-scale pilot testing as part of the development path for a new project as this provides the opportunity to evaluate some of the critical design aspects, evaluate operational issues and address issues that could cause costly delays during commissioning early on. It thus provides an opportunity to evaluate the applied technology and thus develop suitable engineering solutions for the application.

RaySA Engineering can offer the client lab scale furnace operating facilities. The small scale plant allows the client to process campaigns of 20kg of feed stock, thus reducing the significant costs of upgrading large volumes of concentrate.

The unit is compact and self-contained to allow the customer the flexibility to install the test plant on different sites. The fully automated control allows the customer to develop and prove up processes in house over a period of time

The plant shown in the pictures is a recent developed plant at 50kVA.  This plant is fully operational and is the first DC arc furnace solely operational on a solar plant installation.