On May 12, ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih hosted the international scientific-production conference of blast furnace operators “PCI in Blast Furnace Process: commissioning experience and solving issues”. The representatives of major steel companies, unions and holdings of Ukraine as well as representatives of Ukrainian and international companies and scientific-project organizations took part in it.
The participants of the conference were welcomed by Paramjit Kahlon, the CEO of AMKR, and Aleksandr Zrazhevskiy, the CEO of Metallurgprom. Among the first speakers was Vladislav Listopadov, the chief of sinter and blast furnace department of ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih. His report was dedicated to the experience and problems of mastering pulverized coal injection to the blast furnace #9. The construction of the complex on preparation and injection of pulverized coal fuel to the BF-9 was conducted in extremely short terms – only in a year. As of now, the initial run with test output trials of the unit are ongoing. The main tasks of PCI commissioning is the saving of fuel and reducing energy consumption during the process in the blast furnace production.
Paramjit Kahlon, the CEO of AMKR: “The topic of this conference was blast furnace operators’ interest, since refusal of such expensive fuel as natural gas has very positive effect on production cost. We have finished construction and installation works at PCI unit in BF-9, the initial run is ongoing as of now, in future PCI units will be commissioned also at BF-6 and BF-8. Owing to the efforts of blast furnace operators, we managed to commission the technology of PCI for 11 months. I should admit, that this technology can’t be called an easy one, it is impossible to introduce it in several days. It is required to have thorough preparation work, alignment, accuracy in order to not destabilize the work of the furnace. But ArcelorMittal is an expert in blast furnace production. 55-60 blast furnaces are operating in the company on a daily basis. CIS holds 6 blast furnaces for now and one of them is at its construction stage. With such quantity of blast furnaces and with commissioned PCI we have a large experience and specialists-professionals. But, I should say, that the experience and knowledge of Ukrainian specialists are unique. Our specialists often go to the sites in Africa or Western Europe to help solve the problems of our foreign colleagues”. (ArcelorMittalKriviy Rih/Ukrainian metal)