Applications with the Airgrinder-technique and carried out tests

1. Mineral

Within the metal industry the Airgrinder technology can be used in a number of different ways.

Sludge from blast furnaces is transformed to a fine, dry powder.

Within the steel industry there are several applications where hard to treat residues can be transformed into new raw material or where storage problems can be solved.

Airgrinder has, in close cooperation with leading scientists at Mefos in Luleå, Sweden, conducted tests on a number of materials from steel- and other process industries. These include sludge from blast furnaces, steel and copper production. After drying in the Airgrinder process the material is free-flowing and thus very suitable for effective injection, e. g. into a converter.

Besides drying of different sludges the Airgrinder technology can be used for e. g. grinding of processed casting sand.

2. Biofuel

Different kinds of biofuel can be dried and grinded.

The picture shows deink sludge, original product, two fractions and pellets.

Every year the total amount of sludge produced by the world’s pulp and paper industry amounts to 40 million tonnes. The sludge is hard to recycle due to problems regarding combustions, deposit, handling and transport because of the sludge’s high water content.

The Airgrinder process has proven to be especially suited for drying with low energy consumption for sludges that are hard the treat within the paper and pulp manufacturing processes. Low temperature surplus heat can gain a high process value when it is used in the Airgrinder process.

Lignine, fibre sludge and deink sludge is possible to dry and process further into incineration products.

Waste from beer manufactoring is produced in large scale. If the material is dried in the Airgrinder reactor the waste’s high energy content can be utilized.

3. Waste

Different kinds of waste can be treated with very good results.

Glass can be grinded into a fine powder and the labels are separated.

This applies to waste that is plentiful, e. g. eggshell from the food industry, waste from beer breweries or sludge from sewage treatment works. Airgrinder has also conducted tests on e.g. horse manure with good results.

When the material has been dried and grinded using the Airgrinder technology it is much easier to handle and store. The technology can also be applied to e. g. combustion, because of the reduced moisture content.

Through treatment in the Airgrinder reactor complex materials can be separated into different parts, e. g. eggshells where the thin skin on the shell’s inside is separated from the rest of the shell, resulting in two useful products.

4. Food and food waste

Shells from shrimp is a difficult waste to treat.

Airginders tests have resulted in very good results with large moisture reduction and possibilities to separate different kinds of waste into interesting products.

This often applies to shell waste that contains a large amount of water and hence are difficult to store or deposit conveniently. Examples are shrimp shells, mussel shells, eggshells, shells from citrus fruit and other kinds of food. Using the Airgrinder technique these can be dried, separated and grinded. Avoiding costly deposit you can instead achieve sellable products that can be used for manufacturing of food products, pet food and fertilizers in a natural life cycle.

For some types of food the technique permits drying and grinding to a fine powder, weighing a fraction of the original product, that can be used for other, valuable products.