Two of the largest blast furnaces at Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works set new records for monthly volumes of pig iron in April.
Blast furnace No. 9 produced 157.49 thousand tons of pig iron, beating its previous monthly record of 153.52 thousand tons, set in July 2013. Blast furnace No. 10 also set its own record last month, with pig iron output of 156.54 thousand tons, up from the previous maximum of 154.42 thousand tons in October 2015.
Blast furnace No. 9, which has a working volume of 2.01 thousand cubic meters, was the largest blast furnace in Europe when it was built at MMK in 1964.
In more than 50 years of operations blast furnace No. 9 has produced approximately 80 million tons of pig iron. In 2008, it underwent upgrade work including installation of a Paul Wurth Bell Less Top. In February 2016, a technical overhaul was completed, including a technical overhaul of the cast houses.
Blast furnace No. 10 also has a working volume of 2.01 thousand cubic meters and was commissioned in 1966. In 2008 it was equipped with a bell less top charging system. Recently a major environmental project was completed to install a dust-collecting system that minimizes pollutant emissions and improves working conditions for the blast furnace workers. (MMK/Ukrainian metal)
