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VKG launched EUR 1.5 mln pipe conveyor in Estonia

BC, Tallinn, 19.06.2018.Print version
The northeast Estonian shale oil producing company Viru Keemia Grupp (VKG) in spring launched a 1.5 million euro Kiviter pipe conveyor, while previously, waste was transported from factories to the disposal area by cars, informs LETA/BNS.

"In 2015, we along with the third Petroter shale oil factory also opened an ash removal conveyor complex with an after wetting hub, the investment of which exceeded 10 million euros. The effective and reliable work of the pipe conveyor carrying oil shale ash from three Petroter refineries to the landfill proved that it is a very good solution that must also be introduced for Kiviter factories, from where semi-coke has to be moved to the disposal area," Nikolai Petrovits, member of the management board of VKG Oil, said in a press release.


The 1.5 million euro investment into the Kiviter semi-coke pipe conveyor enables to leave unused trucks, that loaded the semi-coke on from the factory and drove to dispose of it on a mountain. On an approximately 900 meter stretch, trucks had to go through at least 50 meters of incline, which meant great fuel consumption. With the new technology, VKG saves up to 563 liters of fuel per one day.


The pipe conveyor is narrower than an open conveyor belt, takes up less space and it is possible to make relatively sharp corners and greater inclines. The pipe conveyor is similar to the open conveyor belt at the loading area, but the transport belt with the help of rollers takes on a more pipe-like form after the semi-coke is loaded on.


With the launch of the ash conveyor, a reception and loading area was built on top of the mountain and a site on top of the mountain was rearranged to ensure safety and to shorten the time spent on the maneuvering of the trucks.


According to Petrovits, there are altogether 22 kilometers of aboveground conveyors on VKG's territory that carry oil shale from the Ojamaa mine located in the rural municipality of Maetaguse to the Kohtla-Jarve production territory, further from the distribution area to the Petroter and Kiviter refineries and the production waste to the disposal area.


The length of the semi-coke conveyor system is 1.36 kilometers and the throughput of the main pipe is 240 tons per hour. Last year, altogether 1.74 million tons of ash and 635,500 tons of semi-coke was formed in the group during the reprocessing of oil shale. According to the forecast, this year altogether 2 million tons of ash and 811,000 tons of semi-coke is to be disposed of.


VKG invested altogether 26 million euros in 2017. Over 11 million euros was directed to environmental projects and foremost to improving the quality of ambient air and waste management.






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