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Mechel Commissions Coke Oven Battery at Mechel-Coke OOO Subsidiary
06/11/2009 - Mechel OAO celebrates the restart of Coke Oven Battery No. 4 at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s Mechel-Coke OOO subsidiary.
Mechel OAO celebrated this week the restart of Coke Oven Battery No. 4 at its Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s Mechel-Coke OOO subsidiary.
The company reconstructed Coke Oven Battery No. 4 to enhance the battery’s production and quality performance for supporting the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s recently commissioned Blast Furnace No. 4. Today, the plant operates at more than 100% of its average monthly capacity as compared to the pre-crisis production levels. The reconstructed Coke Oven Battery No. 4 will supply additional coke to plant’s blast furnace shop and produce 200 million cubic meters of gas for operation of the plant’s power facilities.
“The commissioning of coke oven battery No. 4 has strategic importance for implementation of the planned production programs of Mechel-Coke OOO and CMP OAO,” commented Mechel OAO Senior Vice President Vladimir Polin. “It is also a clear evidence of existence and results of synergies between Mechel’s subsidiaries. At present, the market needs and growing demand for Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant’s metal products and, correspondingly, increase of its pig iron production have brought about resumption of the plant’s needs in coke and resumption of Coke Oven No. 4 operations. That will have a positive impact on our subsidiaries’ economic performance and staff load,” concluded Polin.
The renovated unit comprises 61 oven chambers, each with a 20.0-cubic-meter capacity. The battery will now produce approximately 440,000 tonnes of coke annually, representing a 90,000-tonne/year increase. As part of the capital repair, oven walls were partially re-laid, battery reinforcement has been replaced, and gas exhaust and intake equipment was repaired and partially replaced. The upgrade also included capital repair of the coking machines and the installation of a new power supply circuit, instrumentation, and automated control systems with modern hardware components.
A number of technical innovations were implemented as part of the reconstruction, including adjustment of the endmost vertical refractory to eliminate the risk of coke falls during coke release. The project also provided for environmental upgrades, including the installation of gas exhaust columns with a cap pneumatic compression system to reduce gas emissions.
The capital repair of the coke oven battery was carried out from January to October 2008 as part of Mechel-Coke OOO’s long-term development plan. The battery was later put in hot standby mode due to the change in the plant’s production programs.
The official ceremony was attended by the Chelyabinsk Region Governor Pyotr Sumin, Chelyabinsk Region Chief Federal Inspector Andrey Andrianov, Chelyabinsk Region Deputy Governor Yury Klepov, Chelyabinsk Region Minister of Industry and Natural Resources Evgeny Teftelev, Chelyabinsk City Duma Chairman Boris Vidgof, Deputy Chelyabinsk City Mayor Sergey Komyakov, and other honorable guests.
Mechel OAO was represented at the meeting by its CEO Igor Zyuzin, Mechel Management OOO Chief Executive Officer Andrey Deineko, Mechel OAO Senior Vice President Victor Trigubko. Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant OAO Managing Director Sergey Malyshev and Mechel-Coke OOO General Director Pavel Shtark also attended the ceremony.
Mechel, one of Russia’s leading companies, unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, nickel, hardware, heat, and electric power. Its business includes four segments—mining, steel, ferroalloys and power—and its products are marketed domestically and internationally.
