Swirl flow agitator

Metso is cooperating with the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) to deliver swirl flow agitation technology to operations for the bauxite and alumina industry.

Suitable for greenfield and brownfield upgrade applications offering improvements and performance of precipitation tank and seed storage tank

Used to increase yield, reduce cost and safety risk, and improve operational security

Has been implemented in number of mixing tanks globally since 1990s

Benefits

We can retrofit existing precipitation tanks and seed storage tanks with the latest swirl flow agitation technology to help you resolve issues like heavy scale growth, ineffective solids suspension during stop-starting, or sediment build-up, bogging at the tank bottom, lower agitator life – significantly improves process performance and reduces maintenance costs and time compared to existing conventional agitation equipment while increasing suspension availability and sustainability.

Enhances solids suspension, reduced sedimentation
Increased throughput
Increased natural cooling
Increases suspension time
Lower capital Investment & low maintenance cost
Reduce energy up to 10% (according to slurry concentration)
Reduced scaling-, erosion-, wear-rate, less mechanical failure
Less pump failure caused by sedimentation, air entrainment
Equipment lifetime extends up to 20 years
Easy restart after power failure
No need for personnel to enter the tank for agitator maintenance

Features

Simplified agitator engineering: short shaft, no internal structures
Lower tip speed
Less scaling, less sedimentation, erosion, wear
Robust agitator design and match for your process
Increased solids loading
Increased solids suspension time
Up to 1 million US$ saved for each 10 years, comparing with draft tube de-installing /replacement with new equipment
Proven design through over 25 years operation practice in plants
Applicable for any geometry of tank bottom: cone, flat, etc.

The swirl flow agitator unit is suitable for several applications including: precipitation tanks, seed storage tanks, and acid tanks used in the Alumina refinery process.

Innovative basic features

Compared to conventional agitation technology Swirl Flow precipitation increased operating factor and tank volume, and the low conversion cost makes it the preferred option over replacement of a damaged draft tube.

The most common process problem occurring with precipitation is scales on the agitator as well as tank inner wall, sedimentation and bogging at the tank bottom, which may cause damage of the agitator, worn out and have a severe impact on process uptime and increase maintenance times. Bogging can be prevented by using the Metso swirl flow agitator. We offer agitators as an upgrade, modifications for the existing tank and for the new agitator.