About
NPVP TOREX, LLC, a research-and-development company (Ekaterinburg, Russia), was founded as a separate unit in August 1989. However, the company traces its roots back to the department of Heat engineering of metallurgical raw materials treatment of the ‘All-Union Research and Development Metallurgical Heat-Engineering Institute’ (under the auspices of Iron and Steel Ministry of the USSR). Leading experts of the Institute, who have been working there by now, started the business. Their experience in iron ore agglomeration (i.e. sintering and pelletizing) and its direct reduction, in non- metallic materials treatment (drying, grinding, classifying) makes up 40-50 years. They have developed the heat-engineering schemes and technical specifications for all the USSR straight-grate indurating furnaces produced by ‘Uralmash’. The principal specialists of the said institute were the developers of the thermal & gas flow circuits and technical specifications for the manufacture of travelling-grate indurating machines produced in the Soviet Union by production enterprise Uralmash during 1964-90, the participants and the actual performers of the start-up and commissioning of new kilns, mastering the iron ore pellet production process and subsequent retrofitting of technologies and thermal & gas flow circuits for kilns (indurating machines) at all pelletizing plants of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan
Main fields of activities are Process Engineering and Implementation of Revamping of mining, beneficiation, metallurgical plants, including sintering and pelletizing plants, blast furnaces, direct reduction units, metallurgical furnaces, etc. Company renders engineering services in the processes elaboration, in audit, retrofit and adjustment of different thermal metallurgical equipment, grinding and classifying equipment for the mining, metallurgical, machine building and construction materials industries. It also designs new processes, non-standard equipment and assists designing of modern automation systems. NPVP TOREX also accomplishes consulting, Supervision, Training.
The newly established company was conceived as a research-and-development one focusing on the development and implementing of turnkey new energy-saving technologies and kilns for the production of agglomerated iron ore (sinter and BF-grade pellets) and directly reduced product (DR-grade pellets or briquettes), as well as the retrofitting of existing plants.
The nature of the TOREX activities predetermines the specialization of the personnel and the ability to multitask, the specific work dynamics as opposed to continuous production
In 2002 NPVP TOREX was awarded with the Russian Federation Government Prize in the field of science and engineering for the project entitled ‘Development of Energy-Saving Environmentally-Safe Processes of Multipurpose Pelletizing Based on Indurating Straight Grates Upgrading’.
TOREX nowadays
Currently, TOREX is the only company in the CIS, which retrofits existing indurating machines, designs state-of-art thermal circuits, starts up these plants and improves the performance indices of new pellet plants.
TOREX supports and develops extensive cooperation with design, academic and educational institutions. For more than 50 years we maintain relationships with such institutions as UrFU (Ural Federal University), RAN (Russian Academy of Sciences), UMBR (Uralmekhanobr), MI (Metallurgical Research Institute), VUKHIN (Eastern Coal Chemistry Research Institute), as well as the successors of NIIkhimmash (Research Institute for Chemical Machine Building Industry) and others.
Moreover, TOREX is developing ties with global vendors of process equipment - process fans, burners, ESPs, slurry filters, which have special engineering laboratories involved in the development of technologies for new factories.
As yet the core area of expertise for TOREX is “thermal engineering in the pellet and sinter production” and remains the primary business field of activity at the same time. However, during the company lifetime the scope of activities has expanded significantly.
In addition to the thermal engineering for the pellet and sinter production, new divisions within the company have been created: raw pellet blend preparation technologies (grinding, classifying, thickening, filtration), process automation as well as direct reduction and the division of prospective ore material processing technologies.
TOREX is also a part of the Group of companies, comprising METALLOINVEST and serves as an expert company with technological expertise for companies in the holding. TOREX is one of the priority partners of UK METALLOINVEST in terms of research and development activities, rendering the scientific and technical services at the operating plants and implementing the innovative projects.
Essentially, TOREX company products are engineering services:
- Engineering study of thermal treatment units/furnaces (indurating machines, rotary and shaft kilns)
- Engineering study of the entire production line: (preparation of raw materials - the main process unit waste management - product handling)
- Technological support of the design and engineering works guarantees of the achievement of the design values
- New technologies for the preparation of metallurgical raw materials (pelletizing, production waste recycling, metallization)
- Engineering solutions on the reduction of costs, improvement of quality and increase of production rate
- Comprehensive technological assistance of the existing production
For details please see TOREX Company Profile
