Mining solutions provider, Feeco International, uses its website to not only promote the company but also further the overall knowledge of the kiln and dryer industries, Feeco International director of business development Brian Madigan states.

Feeco’s website contains objective articles on rotary kilns and dryers, in addition to information on company products, he adds.

These articles address important industry issues, which can assist stakeholders in understanding problems and making more informed decisions. For example, in an article titled Indirect Drying vs Direct Drying, the methods as well as the advantages and disadvantages of either approach are discussed.

Brochures under each section provide graphical representations of dryer and kiln designs, accompanied by explanations.

Madigan tells Mining Weekly that Feeco’s blog is highly active, with multiple columns updated weekly.

A recent addition to the blog is the Question of the Week, where industry-relevant questions are answered on a weekly basis, he adds. One of the questions answered explains the role of drying in agglomeration, where maintaining a certain level of moisture is crucial for agglomeration to occur. The response concluded that preagglomeration drying and postagglomeration drying might be necessary.

Another feature, Feeco in the News, provides information about all the latest news updates regarding Feeco.

Further, free ebooks on designs for rotary dryers and kilns are available for download. Madigan indicates another relevant series of ebooks that deal with material processing: “Materials-specific ebooks on the processing of limestone, potash and gypsum have been released, with more ebooks on other materials, including phosphates, to be released soon.”

Project Information
Madigan states: “Mining is one of the largest industries we serve . . . we have been very busy with supplying equipment to the potash and phosphate industries.”

He says information that maps out details on some of Feeco’s projects are also online, such as the Xstrata Nickel project, in Ontario, Canada, where Feeco provided a rotary kiln, an afterburner and a quench tower to facilitate the process of nickel recovery from spent batteries, catalysts and other waste materials.

Madigan concludes that high capital expenditure projects, such as rotary dryers, kilns, and calciners, require extensive planning, and that a large component of Feeco’s success over the past 65 years can be attributed to its willingness to share knowledge and experience.