Luanchuan Qiyuan Mining Energy-Saving Retrofit Project

Deep in the rolling mountains of Luanchuan, Henan Province — China's “Molybdenum Capital” — the ore dressing plant of Luanchuan Qiyuan Mining Co., Ltd. operates day and night. As a key enterprise in the region, Qiyuan Mining has always prioritized improving production efficiency, reducing operating costs, and practicing green mining concepts at the core of its strategy. For the critical processes of aeration and material conveying in ore dressing, the company launched a key power system upgrade project, ultimately introducing four Krupp advanced air suspension centrifugal blowers to replace the traditional Roots blowers. This “air” revolution has not only resolved long-standing pain points in production but also sounded the call for the company's transformation toward intelligent, efficient, and low-carbon operations.

Energy consumption remains persistently high, causing enormous cost pressure.

Before project implementation, Qiyuan Mining mainly relied on multiple traditional Roots blowers to supply air for flotation aeration tanks and some conveying systems. As production scale expanded and requirements for refined control increased, the original system gradually revealed serious challenges.

Roots blowers are positive displacement blowers. Their operating characteristics cause efficiency to drop sharply under partial load conditions, resulting in severe electrical energy waste. The blower room is the “electricity tiger” of the concentrator, accounting for an astonishing proportion of total energy consumption, continuously eroding corporate profits.

Traditional blowers rely on gearboxes, lubrication oil systems, and mechanical bearings, with complex structures. Daily maintenance requires regular replacement of lubricating oil, filter elements, and inspection of bearings and gears, resulting in heavy maintenance workload and high costs. Sudden failures may cause unplanned shutdown of the entire production line, leading to significant economic losses.

At the same time, the extensive flow regulation method relying on valve throttling has slow response and low precision. It cannot achieve intelligent linkage with the refined and dynamic dissolved oxygen requirements of the flotation process, restricting further optimization of mineral processing indicators.

Targeted solutions to overcome pain points and difficulties, helping enterprises save energy and reduce consumption

Krupp air suspension blowers integrate cutting-edge technologies including high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motors, air foil bearings, three-flow impellers, and intelligent variable frequency control. The motor spindle is suspended by air bearings, achieving high speeds of tens of thousands of revolutions per minute, enabling zero-friction, oil-free operation. The precision three-flow impeller design ensures high efficiency in gas delivery.

No gears, no lubricating oil, no mechanical contact wear parts. Daily maintenance only requires periodic replacement of air filter elements, eliminating complex lubrication system maintenance and spare parts inventory. Equipment reliability is extremely high, with mean time between failures (MTBF) significantly extended.

Integrated advanced PLC/DCS control system supports multiple control modes such as constant pressure and constant flow, enabling seamless communication with upper-level process systems. Based on online monitoring data of dissolved oxygen in flotation cells, the system automatically adjusts air volume, stabilizes process conditions, and improves mineral recovery and concentrate grade.