Electrolytic Zinc Production at Iijima Zinc Refinery

• Published in: Shigen to sozai Vol. 109; no. 12; pp. 988 - 994
• Main Authors: ONOZAKI, Atsuo, NAGATA, Hideki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan 1993
• ISSN: 0916-1740; 1880-6244; 1880-6244
• DOI: 10.2473/shigentosozai.109.988

Iijima Zinc Refinery was constructed in 1971 by Akita Zinc Co., Ltd. established as a joint venture of Dowa Mining Co. and five other zinc producing companies in Japan. Started production in 1972 and doubled the production capacity of SHG zinc in 1974 from 6, 500 t/M to 13, 000 t/M. Since started operation, many difficulties including not only the oil-crises of 1973 and 1978 but also the trend of drastic strong yen rate since 1985 were suffered from. In order to overcome a rise in energy cost, Iijima Zinc Refinery has carried out various improvements for plant modernization and energy saving. Extensive application of the computer control system to the plant operation is a typical example. In 1984, the “Akita zinc company Total Information Control System” abbreviated to “ATICS” was developed for the pursuit of more effective operation in the plant and administration in the office. From 1985 to 1987, digital control stations were installed to replace the analog instruments in the field control rooms. The combination of the field side digital control stations and the host computer has brought not only the effective reduction in labor cost and energy cost, but also the significant improvements for stable plant operation. Quality Control Circle Activity (QC Circle) has been introduced since 1980 and 55 Activity introduced in 1990, both of them have brought much fruit for every employee's motivation and morality.