New cooling tower for Poltava Mining

Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, a member of Ferrexpo Group, the largest producer and exporter of iron ore concentrate pellets in the former Soviet Union, continues to upgrade its technological equipment. One of the stages of the enterprise’s modernization is the replacement of a cooling tower that has been used for more than 40 years to cool vacuum pumps in the pellet production shop. The cooling equipment currently in use at the plant could not provide water cooling below 25 degrees Celsius in summer, which in turn had a negative impact on the cost of pellets produced, as it increased the consumption of water repellents.

The process of cooling vacuum pumps is quite simple. After passing through them, the contaminated water enters the deslimers, where it is mechanically cleaned. After that, the water is sent to the sump and then to the cooling tower, where it is cooled by passing cold air through it (from the bottom to the top). After the cooling tower, the cooled water is fed to the pool and then to production.

Dalgakiran Compressor Ukraine, which has been cooperating with Poltava Mining for a long time and is a reliable supplier of equipment from the world’s best manufacturers, was selected as the general contractor for the construction of the new energy-efficient cooling tower. To implement this project, it was proposed to use a Niba cooling tower (Turkey), which has excellent energy efficiency, a modular design, and is easy to install and maintain. In addition, Niba cooling towers are lightweight due to the use of fiberglass as the material from which the main supporting structures of the cooling tower are made: the cladding, water distribution system, basin, and diffusers. For example, the Niba cooling tower installed at Poltava Mining, with a capacity of 1,100 cubic meters of water per hour, weighs only 20 tons. Fiberglass is also resistant to ultraviolet radiation and is designed for a long period of operation.

Project manager – Viktor Dudka

Photo of the installation process of the Niba cooling tower