Kametstal completes overhaul of blast furnace No. 9

Kametstal Iron and Steel Works has put blast furnace No. 9 back into operation after a major overhaul. This is stated in the company’s statement.

The repair contractors completed the primary task of restoring the refractory lining of the furnace and the upper roof of the furnace with the replacement of four cooling plates.

In addition, the shutdown of the unit was productively used to repair equipment in key areas of the blast furnace. In particular, Zaporizhvognetryv’s specialists repaired the refractory lining of the hot blast duct, while the specialists of the Central Repair and Maintenance Department and Metinvest Promservice replaced the fans of the air heaters and the equipment for opening and closing the cast iron tundish in the casting yard.

Another important set of works was the upgrade of the BF loading equipment. Some steel structures and top loading equipment were replaced and the inclined bridge was repaired.

‘Thanks to the joint team efforts of the contractors and the blast furnace repair service, we completed the overhaul of BF No. 9 in a timely manner, thereby ensuring its continued stable operation to meet the planned pig iron production targets for the entire technological interval until the next scheduled overhaul,’ said Evgeny Podgorny, Deputy Head of Blast Furnace Shop for Engineering at Kametstal.

In September 2024, Kametstal carried out an accelerated overhaul of blast furnace No. 1M. The main task was to restore the refractory lining of the unit’s air heater block and replace the water-cooling elements of metal structures and hot blast valves.