SteelNews.com Article
ArcelorMittal Monlevade Contracts Paul Wurth Group for Blast Furnace Construction
Aug. 30, 2010 ArcelorMittal awarded to the Paul Wurth Group a design and supply contract for the new “B” furnace and all auxiliary plants that will form the base of capacity expansion at ArcelorMittal’s Monlevade plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Sized at 8-m hearth diameter, with 22 hot blast tuyeres, the furnace will deliver 1.12 million tonnes of hot metal per year to the steelmaking facilities. Monlevade’s “B” blast furnace is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2012.
The contract provides for a central feed bell less top® charging system, TMT (a joint company of Dango & Dienenthal and Paul Wurth) stockline detectors and probes, and a cooling system with copper and cast iron staves. The cold blast will be generated by an electrically driven blower, the hot blast by a 3-stoves group with ceramic burners; all stoves and blast valves will be Paul Wurth designs.
The furnace will have one taphole fitted with fully hydraulic TMT castfloor machines. The blast furnace top gas will be cleaned by a modern gas cleaning system with axial cyclone and annular gap scrubber. Casthouse and stockhouse areas will be provided with effective de-dusting systems. An INBA® slag granulation and dewatering system and a grinding, drying, and injection plant for pulverized coal are other important sub-plants.
The project also foresees capacity extension of the hot metal de-sulfurization facilities and the installation of a new 2-strand pig caster.
Electric equipment, instrumentation, and automation for all of these systems are part of the order to the Paul Wurth Group. Numerous measuring and sampling devices, as well as the automation system with its supervision and control features, will ensure reliable operation of the new furnace.