| Contract # | LH-2015-02-09 Services/General |
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| Title | Contract Filtration of Cobalt Intermediate Product | EOI Posting Date | February 23, 2015 |
| RFP Issue Date | EOI Closing Date | ** CLOSED ** | |
| Status | Open | Last Revised On | February 20, 2015 |
Contract Scope
Purpose:
When the Long Harbour Processing Plant starts up the Phase 2AB flow sheet in the beginning of 2016, the Cobalt Solvent Extraction (SX) plant will be operating. The Co will be recovered via solvent extraction. The Co will be stripped from the organic with sulphuric acid but the Co electrowinning circuit will not be operating during Phase 2AB. The Co SX strip solution will contain Co and other impurities such as Cu, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mn. This solution will be sent to Strip Liquor Neutralization (SLN) circuit to precipitate the metal values with soda ash. The resulting Co carbonate-hydroxide intermediate product will need to be recovered by filtration and loaded into bulk bags. This Co bearing material will be shipped off-site for further refining. This treatment of the Co bearing strip solution will be performed until the Co electrowinning circuit can be constructed and brought on-line.
The Phase 2AB which has a set production rate of 25,000 tonnes per year of Ni for January 2016 and it’s estimated that the Co intermediate product dry solids production rate will be 12.8 tonnes per day. This Co intermediate material has an estimated Co content of 37wt% solids and moisture content of 50 wt. %. The SLN circuit consists of a feed tank, three reactors, a thickener, a thickener underflow tank and thickener overflow tank. The slurry to be treated for filtration will be the thickener underflow. The thickener underflow is estimated at 3 to 4 m3/h at 12 to 18 wt. % solids.
Requirements of Work
Equipment Requirements
The following equipment is required to process the thickener underflow and produce the Co intermediate product; receiving tank for thickener underflow, pump to feed the filtration equipment, filtration equipment, and filtrate tank and filtrate discharge pump. The minimum size of the receiving tank for the thickener underflow is 150 m3 or 36 hours of retention time. This tank will require a mixer because the solids percent should be between 12 to 18 wt. %. The temperature of this underflow solution would be 60 to 70 C. A feed pump to the filtration equipment will also be required. The filtration equipment must be able to handle 150 m3 per 12 hours. The filtration equipment should have the ability to wash the filter cake. The target moisture content in the produced filter cake is 50% and the lower the moisture contents the better. The filtrate tank size should at a minimum of 200 m3. The filter cake will be discharged into one metric ton bulk bags. The filtration equipment supplied must have design redundancy to ensure close to 100% availability during required operating period. The suggested equipment sizing above must be validated by the Supplier and may need to be increased based on maintenance time requirements for the supplied equipment. A lift truck/forklift will be required to remove the bulk bags from the filtration equipment and move it to a suitable storage place nearby. A scale will be required to record the bags weights. The equipment will be installed in Building 223 at the north end and on the west side of the building.
Battery Limits:
1. Thickener Underflow slurry will be pumped by Vale NL to the Supplier’s feed tank. Vale NL will provide a 3" flange connection in the area of the feed tank that the Supplier will use to connect the line to their tank.
2. A 2" filtrate connection into a 3" discharge line will be supplied in the area of the filter press for the Supplier to discharge filtrate.
3. Utilities (electricity, water, and plant air) are available from Vale NL dependent on the magnitude of Supplier requirements.
4. A laydown area for filled bulk bags will be provided by Vale NL for storage of the material. It will be located adjacent to the provided area for filtration
5. An area will be separated from the rest of the process building by a temporary berm for use by the Supplier.
Contract Time Period
The contract time period will be six months. The supplier be must able to continue the service for an additional two months upon receiving written notice of this extension 30 days before end of the initial service time and any additional extensions.
Reports
Daily reports will be required. They should be submitted at 8 am to Vale NL the following day and should include the total solution treated, number of bags filled and the total weight for the day. The report should include any equipment issues and repairs completed. The solution tank level should be recorded at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Any safety issues should be noted on the daily report.
Product Packaging and Weighing
The Co intermediate product will be packaged in one metric ton bulk bags. Vale NL will supply the required bulk bags. The filled bags will be required to be identified with a number and production date. Supplier will be required to weigh each bag and record the weight on the bulk bag. Vale NL will perform periodic verification of the reported bulk bag weights. During operations, operators will provide sample (100 g.) of each bulk bag for chemical and moisture determination. These samples will be combined to made composite sample of 10 bags. The composite sample shall be identified with date and number of the bags and submitted to Vale NL.
Personnel Coverage
The filtration operation will be conducted 12 hours per day. From 7 am to 7 pm. The service will be provided every day of the determined contract time.
Service Pricing
The service pricing will be provided on a daily basis. The number of people working per day will provided and their hourly charge rate will be provided. Any differences on per day should be noted, i.e. overtime, working on the weekend and statutory holidays.
Provided by Vale NL
Vale NL will provide the following:
1) Electrical power for the equipment
2) Bulk bags for packaging the Co product
3) Process water and connection to filtering equipment
4) Instrument air
5) Sample of slurry for filtration testing ( 20 liters)
6) Delivery of process slurry to filtration receiving tank
7) Connection to remove filtrate from filtrate tank (3" line)
Equipment Installation
The Supplier will have access to the site on October 1, 2015 and is expected to have the equipment ready for commissioning on Dec 1, 2015. Supplier shall complete a performance test of the filtration equipment to demonstrate production capacity and quality of said products is satisfactory. The amount of space available is 100 m2 (10m by 10m) in the north end and west side of Building 223. Appendix A has a drawing of the area available on the building plan.
Clean up, Safety, Work Rules and Regulations
Supplier shall perform the Work in a safe manner and keep the Site in a clean condition.
Supplier must comply with Site Rules and shall comply with all OH&S rules.
Supplier must comply with Project Safety and Medical Rules and Regulations. Supplier shall submit a Safety Plan.
All contractors working on site must complete Vale NL on-site orientation and keep their site credentials valid.
Supplier and its subcontractors shall be required to comply with Vale NL’s Representative, Vale NL or Supplier's own substance abuse policy, whichever is more stringent. This as a minimum includes a urinalysis test and medical examination of each employee prior to their admission into the workplace. A current certification of the individual and their test results must also be presented by each employee prior to the start of the Work.
Supplier will develop a communication plan with Vale NL that will address communication protocols and responsibilities for various scenarios.
HAZOP Review
During the design phase of the filtration and support equipment, Vale NL with the Supplier will be required to complete a HAZOP review of the safety systems. Vale NL would expect a pre-operational HAZOP review to be completed with Vale NL participation in the HAZOP review. Supplier will provide all necessary documentation.
Note: When replying to this EOI, please reply to LHPPOperations@vale.com. Please state the name of your company, company address and contact details (Name, Phone#, Fax#, e-mail address). Please make reference to this specific EOI Package# and Package Description. This EOI does not constitute an official solicitation. Vale NL reserves the right to cancel this requirement at any time during the EOI and/or solicitation process. Once objective evaluations are completed, only prospective vendors deemed qualified will be contacted.
Notes:
(1) This EOI does not constitute an official solicitation. Vale NL reserves the right to cancel this requirement at any time during the EOI and/or solicitation process. Once objective evaluations are completed, only prospective vendors deemed qualified will be contacted.