Herculaneum smelter

The surveyed lead smelters comprise a total production of more than 1.5 million tonnes of lead in 1999. Operating data from the Herculaneum smelter of the Doe Rim Company, U.S.A. were also integrated into the survey. These data were extracted from the preceding survey as well as from the publication about the smelter elsewhere in this volume. This should be taken into account when analyzing the information. The technical discussion and drawn conclusions are based primarily on the results of the 2000 questionnaire. Altogether, this survey embraces approximately 1.75 million tonnes of produced lead, representing 86% of the total lead production of the primary smelters in the Western World in 1999. 

The Herculaneum smelter is one of the largest primary lead smelters in the world. Historically, the smelter was supplied with lead concentrates from lead mines in the lead mining districts of southern Missouri. Lately the smelter has also been processing lead concentrates from around the world. 

The Herculaneum smelter has three blast furnaces, of which two are operating at any one time. The furnace crucible is built of castable refractory. The furnace sides are built of water-cooled steel jackets. Each furnace has 21 tuyeres on each side, for 42 tuyeres total. Air is supplied to a furnace by one of three blowers capable of supplying 15,000 ftVmin of air. The blast air is directed to the furnace by a series of bustle lines. The air blast is enriched with oxygen that is controlled at each furnace. 

The dressing operations at the Herculaneum smelter are conducted entirely in kettles. The dross plant uses four 250-ton capacity kettles. The lead bullion is received from the furnaces, and is allowed to cool. This cooling causes the copper, sulfur, and trace amounts of other impurities to precipitate and rise to the surface of the bullion, producing a copper-rich dross. This dross is skimmed off and put through a wet screw classifier and sold as a byproduct to copper smelters. The drossed bullion is transferred to another kettle where it is further cooled and fluxed with sulfur for final decopperizing. This dross is skimmed and recycled to the blast furnace. The decopperized lead bullion is then pumped to the refinery. Maintenance in the dross plant is minimal and is managed on an as needed basis. 

The Herculaneum smelter operates a 340-ton per day Monsanto type single contact acid plant on the site. This plant treats the sulfiir-rich gases produced in the sintering process. The 93% black sulfuric acid produced is stored in tanks on site. Sulfuric acid is shipped to customers from the smelter by truck, rail or river barge. The acid plant operates and performs maintenance on a schedule similar to the sinter plant. 

The production laboratory at the Herculaneum smelter performs quality analytical work for all the processes. The laboratory equipment includes a spark emission spectrophotometer, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, sulfur analysis equipment, and wet chemistry equipment. The laboratory conducts the analysis for all process materials, including sinter, blast furnace slag, lead bullion, all finished lead products, and environmental samples. 

The Herculaneum smelter has a maintenance department that handles electrical and mechanical support activities. However, contractors are called upon for specialized electrical, mechanical and heavy equipment maintenance. An engineering department manages all the equipment design requirements of the smelter. The service department manages all materials handling outside of the process areas. Materials are moved through the plant by rail and truck. 

The Doe Run Company strives to be one of the safest employers in the world. As such, comprehensive programs focusing on safety and hygiene are in place for the benefit of the employees. The Doe Run safety philosophy is continuously taught and practiced at the Herculaneum smelter. As a result, the frequency and severity of the accidents in the plant have continually decreased in recent years. 

N.D. Schupp, Operations at the Doe Run Company s Herculaneum Primary Lead Smelter, Lead-Zinc 2000. J.E. Dutrizac, J.A. Gonzalez, D.M. Henke, S.E. James and A. Siegmund, Eds., The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Warrendale, PA, U.S.A., 2000. 

Company Name Cominco Ltd. Trail Operations / Canada Doe Run Company (1,2) Herculaneum / USA Met-Mex Penoies, S.A. Torreon / Mexico Noranda Inc. Brunswick Smelter Berzelius Stolberg GmbH... 

OPERATIONS AT THE DOE RUN COMPANY S HERCULANEUM PRIMARY LEAD SMELTER... 

Stationary point source and nonpoint source inputs to environmental compartments in the coming years will also decline as part of regulatory requirements or simply the size of the remaining lead emission generators in coming years versus their historical impact. For example, only one major primary lead smelter remains in the United States, the facility in Herculaneum, MO. In 1985, there were five major primary lead smelters and refineries (ILZRO, 1982) East Helena, MT Omaha, NE and three in the Missouri Lead Belt. 

As part of the process, the specific sites were a primary smelter community (Herculaneum, MO), a secondary smelter community (Troy, AL), and a generic U.S. urban area. Three lead modeling and measurement exercises were carried out to determine levels in ambient air, soil, and indoor dusts. Using these estimates as inputs to Pb exposure modeling, PbB values were calculated as median or 95th percentile levels. 

Primary smelter case study Herculaneum, MO, smelter operation. Secondary smelter case study Troy, AL, smelter operation. 

Primary smelter case study Herculaneum, MO, smelter Secondary smelter case study Troy, AL, smelter. General urban case study no specific geographic location. Adapted from Table 3.3, U.S. EPA (2007). ... 

The main object of the rationalisation was to bring the US refined lead market back into balance, and to tailor mine output to the company s primary smelter requirements. Thus, after the restructuring, the Buick plant (which had been shut when Amax sold its 50 per cent stake to Homestake in May 1986) operated only on an intermittent basis (until its conversion to secondary production and reopening at reduced capacity in 1991), and Doe Run mine output was adjusted to match Herculaneum s requirements alone. Fluor Corporation, Doe Run s parent company, has now offered the firm for sale. 

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