Createch Industries (BHP – Olympic Dam, South Australia, Australia)
Createch Industries required stress analysis of a tuyere knock-in device (TKID) prototype design for the BHP Olympic Dam AF4 anode furnace (Olympic Dam, South Australia). Thermal-structural assessment of the tuyere sleeve and adjacent anode furnace shell/refractory was required to verify integrity and conformance with standards AS 1210 and AS 4100 specified design stress criteria and welded joint/bolted connection capacities, and material properties for refractory, applying combined static dead, live (molten copper), internal/hydrostatic pressure, knock-in (hydraulic press), thermal and seismic loads.
What we did:
- Performed stress analysis (thermal-structural FEA) of tuyere sleeve and adjacent anode furnace shell/refractory applying static dead, live (molten copper), internal/hydrostatic pressure, knock-in (hydraulic press), thermal and seismic load case combinations.
- Determined peak deflections/local stresses in tuyere sleeve and furnace shell/refractory components, welded joint/bolted connection capacities and compared results with standards AS 1210 and AS 4100 for steelwork, and material dependent modulus of rupture and compressive strength for refractory.
Outcome:
Avesta Consulting confirmed that the anode furnace tuyere assembly design complies with the minimum requirements of standards AS 1210 and AS 4100 considering furnace operation and knock-in (hydraulic press) loads.
