发布日期：2021年 12月 24日 访问次数：5981次
Lygend Resources & Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company" or "Lygend") conducted site selection on the spot for the first time at the end of June 2018; started project design in August 2018; and drove the pile into the ground on the site of construction in December 2018.
The Project was commissioned in March 2021; it was put into production in May 2021; it reached production goals and met the standards in July 2021; and it achieved an output of more than 10,000 tons by November 27, 2023.
In less than three years, the Indonesian laterite nickel ore high-pressure acid leaching project (hereinafter referred to as the "OBI Project") invested by Lygend, for which the technical services and core equipment were provided by China ENFI, created a Chinese model that amazed the global nickel-cobalt industry, made large-scale exploitation of low-grade laterite nickel ore possible, made advanced technology a powerful tool for Chinese enterprises to obtain resources development opportunities, and provided strong materials supply guarantees for the development of new energy industry.
The completion and commissioning of the OBI Project means that Lygend has set a new paradigm on the "Belt and Road" journey, beginning the development of Indonesia's new energy industry chain. This marks that the laterite nickel ore high-pressure acid leaching process technology and core equipment, the patents of which are owned by China ENFI, have once again been successfully used, making China's laterite ore high-pressure acid leaching metallurgical process, equipment, and engineering technology occupy a leading position in the world; and making the "ENFI Approach" using Chinese technology, Chinese equipment, and Chinese standards the best solution for the exploitation of low-grade laterite nickel ore resources.
Chinese technology creates representative projects
In 2018, Lygend cooperated with Indonesia HARITA Company. Based on their strategic pre-judgment on the development of the new energy industry, they planned to build a high-pressure acid leaching plant on the OBI Island, targeting at the low-grade laterite nickel ore resources with large reserves but difficulty to be exploited in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia. Subsequently, after having conducted investigation on several well-known international design and technical support providers, Lygend finally decided to select the technology provided by China ENFI, which had mastered core technology and had mature industrial application capabilities, and to select China ENFI to undertake design and related work.
The Phase I Works of the OBI Project included ore dressing, leaching, tailing pond, acid plant, power plant, and limestone. The leaching part used the "High-Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) -- Hydroxide Precipitation" process to produce mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide products. The Project Phase I processed about 3.3 million tons of laterite nickel ore (dry base), with a nickel metal output of about 37,000 tons, and a cobalt output of about 4,500 tons. These products were mainly used to prepare ternary material precursors for power lithium-ion batteries. China ENFI was responsible for experiments and research and development, project design, core equipment supply, plant-wide control systems, construction technical services, and completion and commissioning technical services, etc. According to the relevant policies and requirements of Indonesia and the region where the Project is located, the Project has set the overall goal of "building a demonstration project with advanced green and environmentally friendly technology, low processing costs, good economic benefits, and strong product market competitiveness".
In terms of process scheme selection, in addition to upholding the principles of "maturity, reliability, safety, practicality, and economy," China ENFI has also fully considered the efficient connection with downstream production of basic materials for new energy, opening up a process route from resources to battery materials production. Practice has proved that China ENFI "High-Pressure Acid Leaching -- Hydroxide Precipitation" process is currently one of the most advanced high-pressure acid leaching metallurgical processes in the world; and it has the advantages of reliable process, wide application range, low cost, and wide product application range.
In terms of high-pressure acid leaching technology, China ENFI has adopted advanced three-stage preheating + high-pressure autoclave + three-stage flash vaporization technology in the Project. The steam recycling rate is high (> 80%), and the leaching rate is high (Ni≥ 95.5%, Co≥ 95%). It has solved key materials problems in the process environments of high temperature, high pressure, high acid chemical corrosion and high solid abrasion, and developed high-performance materials such as titanium-palladium alloys and tantalum alloys to prepare the super large pre-heater, high-pressure autoclave, and flash drum. Among others, the high-pressure autoclave is 5.57 meters in diameter, 41.47 meters long, and 850 tons in net weight. At the same time, the application of advanced control systems has made the high-pressure acid leaching plant achieve automatic control and safe, stable and continuous production.
In terms of production technology for nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitation products, China ENFI has adopted the independently developed patented technology of nickel-cobalt sodium hydroxide precipitation, thus avoiding the problems such as high toxicity and difficult control in the nickel-cobalt hydrogen sulfide precipitation technology used in Canada, Australia, and Japan; solved the problems of high requirements for raw materials, high cost, and high magnesium content of the nickel-cobalt active magnesium oxide precipitation, and successfully developed crystal transformation precipitation technology, reducing the moisture content of the product from 73%-75% to 50%-55%. Production consumption is low, operation is simple, and production process stability is greatly improved. At the same time, the products are efficiently connected with downstream material preparation.
Independent research and development fills the gaps in China
As the pacesetter of non-ferrous metal smelting in China, China ENFI was the first engineering company in China to conduct project design and process research and development for the extraction of nickel and cobalt from raw ores. In response to the different composition and grade characteristics of nickel ores, China ENFI has studied and developed a variety of processing technology routes for nickel ores. It has strong technical strength and talent reserves. In addition, it has fully mastered the technology for atmospheric leaching, pressurized leaching, RKEF, side blowing, and extraction and purification of nickel and cobalt resources, as well as product deep processing, and it can provide technical services for the entire process of mining, dressing, smelting, and refining of sulfide nickel-cobalt ores and oxide nickel-cobalt ores.
With a comprehensive understanding of the nickel-cobalt industry chain, China ENFI has developed multiple core technologies for high-pressure acid leaching of laterite nickel ores in the treatment of low-grade laterite nickel ores. Relying on the Ramu Nickel-cobalt Project in Papua New Guinea (hereinafter referred to as the "Ramu Project"), it has effectively solved the engineering technology interface and matching difficulties of the full process flow of "mining - ore cleaning - pulp conveying – smelting", filling several gaps in China.
At the end of the 20th century, all countries were fully aware of the obvious advantages of high-pressure acid leaching technology. However, at the technical level at the time, due to poor working conditions, there were still a series of problems in coordinating materials, equipment, and systems, and maintaining stable production. Although technology research and development and engineering exploration had never stopped in the industry, most projects still had to face the predicament of "repeated delays in construction progress, repeated increases in investment, and repeated delays in reaching production goals" due to ongoing problems with the coordination of processes, equipment, and systems, and basically ended in failure.
In China, laterite nickel ore processing technologies were even more lacking at the time, especially high-pressure acid leaching process technology and engineering technology. In China, the high-temperature metallurgical technology for acidic systems with temperatures greater than 180 ℃ was not applied in the industry, and there was a lack of research on process technology, key materials, equipment, and control systems. Based on its strategic pre-judgment on resources development and technology application, China ENFI established the laterite ore Technology Group in 2000 to carry out technical research and experimental study. In 2003, China Metallurgical Group Corporation initiated the construction of the Ramu Project, and commissioned China ENFI to undertake technology development and design work. China ENFI accelerated the independent research and development of high-pressure acid leaching process, and successfully applied it to the Ramu Project. It broke through the limitations of process technology, materials and equipment in one fell swoop, broke new ground in laterite nickel ore high-pressure acid leaching engineering and technology, and elevated China's high-temperature high-pressure acid leaching metallurgical technology to the leading international level.
China's strength highlights industry responsibility
Nowadays, with further investment cuts, the OBI Project has once again set a world record in terms of completing the construction at the fastest speed.
In terms of independent core equipment, adhering to the principle of project success, China ENFI has gradually implemented localization of core equipment or components, and developed a series of efficient, energy-efficient, and technologically reliable materials and equipment, thus effectively saving project investment. For the key equipment affecting the project investment and production, China ENFI made careful verification and bold innovation, and conducted centralized collaboration with the project team, which not only reduced the cost of equipment, but also guaranteed the performance of the equipment, and won the time to ensure the progress of on-site construction.
During the Project construction process, the leading development vision, excellent project team, leading management level and forward-looking technical understanding of the proprietor Lygend were also important guarantees for the successful implementation of the Project. Guaranteed by the full support, careful coordination and high-level project management of the proprietor, the first phase of the Project progressed smoothly. Lygend expanded production of the high-pressure acid leaching sector, and added related or supporting projects such as nickel sulfate, RKEF, and stainless steel, etc., thus achieving comprehensive utilization of OBI Island's laterite nickel ore resources.
Subsequently, China ENFI and Lygend further strengthened cooperation and signed a series of contracts for engineering technical services and core equipment procurement, such as High-Pressure Acid Leaching Phase II, Nickel Sulfate, RKEF, and High-Pressure Acid Leaching Phase III. After the OBI Laterite Nickel Ore Project is fully put into operation, it will form a large integrated intelligent manufacturing industrial park with 6 high-pressure acid leaching production lines, 20 RKEF production lines, the refineries of 500,000 tons of battery-grade nickel sulfate and 70,000 tons of cobalt sulfate, the works of 3 million tons of stainless steel and supporting 4,200-MW coal-fired power plant, the acid plant of 4.2 million tons, terminals, and livable towns; it will achieve the annual processing capacity of 15 million tons of low-grade nickel ore and 26 million tons of high-grade nickel ore, with a nickel metal output of more than 400,000 tons/year. The Project will give full play to the technological, management and cultural advantages of Chinese enterprises, leverage the advantages of Indonesia's laterite ore resources, drive the local economic development in Indonesia, handle issues associated with job placement for local residents, and at the same time provide strong support for the security of China's nickel resources.
