December 25, 2020
PAO Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and
mining companies, has put blast furnace No. 3 (BF-3) at the Cherepovets Steel
Mill (part of Severstal’s Russian steel division) onto hot test mode. The new
furnace has been named “Cherepovchanka,” its name having been chosen by local
residents.
BF-3 has the capacity to produce more than three million tons of pig iron
per year. The unit is the second-largest at the Cherepovets steel mill in terms
of production volumes of cast iron, after Severyanka, the largest blast furnace
in Europe.
Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, commented:
“Building a new blast furnace at the Cherepovets steel mill has been our
greatest investment project of the decade, with a total investment of over 24
billion rubles. Blast furnace No. 3 will increase our cast iron and steel
output and guarantee stable operations of the Cherepovets Steel Mill during the
first stage of further modernization works. In today’s volatile market, we are
reliant on our own raw materials base. The combination of advanced engineering
solutions used at blast furnace No. 3 will allow for a varied composition of
raw materials loaded into the furnace, providing additional flexibility.
Ultimately, this will help strengthen our cost leadership for liquid steel and
increase our overall competitiveness, making Severstal an even more reliable
partner for our clients. We maintain our focus on mitigating our environmental
impact, and the use of the latest technologies at blast furnace No. 3, operated
in line with best international practice, will contribute towards improved
environmental production parameters.”
Blast furnace No. 3 is unique to Russia’s steel industry, with its profile
allowing for 80% of the metal charge to be made up of iron ore pellets.
Advanced backfill and temperature control systems at the top of the furnace
guarantee flexibility in adjusting the furnace’s processing modes, enabling
reduced coke consumption in cast iron smelting.
The furnace’s particularly strong metal casing, combined with refractory
materials and new generation cooling systems, has increased the facility’s
working life before the need for capital repairs from 10-20 to 25 years. The
design features shaftless air heaters, which allow for lower coke consumption,
increasing the blast temperature. A modern coneless charging device, equipped
with monitoring and control systems, will increase productivity while reducing
fuel consumption and lowering emissions.
Most of the technological operations at BF-3 are automated, with a
significant number of the IT developments owned by Severstal employees.
The key environmental advantage of blast furnace No. 3 is its aspiration
system, which removes dust from the air and workplaces. The residual dust
content of the air after filtering is below 8 mg / m3, which corresponds to the
level of the cleanest metallurgical enterprises in the world. The efficiency of
blast furnace gas purification is 99.99%. BF-3’s air heaters also guarantee
lower CO content.
Air has been sampled for dust content throughout the production chain – from
the transportation site, to the transfer of charge and fuel prior to feeding to
the blast furnace, to the casthouse with closed holes for releasing cast iron
and overflow sites. The specific emissions from blast furnace No. 3 is 53%
lower than the total specific emission of blast furnaces No. 1 and 2
combined.
Further information
Construction of blast furnace No. 3 commenced in October 2018. The general
contractor for the construction of the Central unit of the unit was the
Domnaremont Center (part of Severstal).
Construction of the bunker overpass, stock house and casthouses was carried
out by LLC Uraldomnaremont (Ekaterinburg). The energy and electricity supply
facilities will be built by SK yusp LLC (Moscow). The construction of the
central exhaust and central supply stations, as well as their infrastructure,
was completed by JSC “SMK “Chermetekologiya” (Cherepovets).
The general designer was OOO Severstal Project.
