NLMK Lipetsk, NLMK Group’s flagship production site, has completed guarantee testing of pulverized coal injection (PCI) technology at blast furnace No. 6 (with a capacity of 3.1 million tons per year), and at blast furnace No. 7 (with a capacity of 4.3 million tons per year). Tests confirmed that the equipment had reached design capacity.
This technology involves co-injecting natural gas and fine coal particles into the blast furnace, resulting in reduced coke consumption. Replacing expensive raw materials with cheaper alternatives, such as switching from coking coal to steam coal, reduces the cost of pig iron production by approximately 5%. PCI enables an up to 30% decrease in the consumption of expensive coke; and a 50-80% reduction in the consumption of natural gas.
The PCI project was executed at blast furnace shop No. 2 in two stages. Starting from May the technology was tested at blast furnace No. 6, and then at blast furnace No. 7 starting from June. Guarantee tests confirmed that both blast furnaces have reached a PCI level of 160 kg/ton of pig iron.
Previously, this resource-saving technology was introduced at blast furnace No. 5 (2.7 million tons per year) and blast furnace No. 4 (1.8 million tons per year).
The PCI project was designed by NLMK Engineering, one of the leading design institutes in the Russian steel sector, with a focus on integrated design of energy, machine-building, transport and other facilities.
Investment into PCI systems for both furnaces totaled about RUB 6.9 billion. (NLMK/Ukrainian metal)