In the coke plant at ArcelorMittal Poland Unit in Krakow, installation of additional system of industrial vacuum cleaners takes places, aimed at reducing secondary emission and dust settling on the machines and devices.
Such industrial vacuum cleaners are already in operation at the following facilities in the coke plant: the coal mix dosing station, where process of coal grinding is carried on and at the wagon tippler, where coal is unloaded. The additional industrial vacuum cleaners will now appear at the coal tower and the coke sorting plant.
An industrial vacuum cleaner is 1.5m-high and 1.25m-wide. The machine is equipped with a 35m-long flexible tube, which, for example, is two and a half times more than the height of the Wanda mound in Nowa Huta district!
The implementation of new devices will replace manual methods of dust removal, which are based on recirculating dust from installations, devices and surfaces back to the production process. The existing methods were causing secondary emission – some dust remained suspended in the air. Thanks to the newly installed industrial vacuum cleaners the dust collecting process will become employee-friendly and more efficient. Additionally, to fully eliminate secondary emission, dust collected in the vacuum cleaner containers will be damped.
- The new installation will allow us to eradicate secondary emission of coal dust and coke dust and to clean precisely technological facilities within the plant. The device is designed to suck coal particles of different fractions, also from hardly accessible places in the plant – says Ryszard Opyrchał, coke plant director. – We are improving safety and working conditions of our employees, simply by keeping the premises clean – he adds.
Covering the whole area of the coke plant with the industrial vacuum cleaning technology will have a significant positive impact on the environment. Coal dust will be fully captured and will not be spread with the air currents outside of the coke plant.
- Preventing from secondary emission is helping us to improve working condition within the plant, but also mitigates the risk of spreading micro fractions of dust over larger areas – underlines Jolanta Zawitkowska, eco-officer at ArcelorMittal Poland Unit in Krakow. - All preventive measures that we take against fugitive emissions contribute to improving air quality in the city. It is particularly important during the heating season, when air quality standards are exceeded frequently – she adds.
The manual industrial cleaning in the coke plant takes place every day. Employees use different types of tubes and exhaust fans to capture dust to the containers. Once the collection is completed, dust is added to a coal mix and reused in the process of coke production, which means no waste is created.
- We are expecting to launch the new industrial vacuum cleaning installation at the coal tower and at the coke sorting plant before March 2018, therefore each facility in our plant can benefit from this technology – informs Ryszard Opyrchał.
The estimated value of all of the industrial vacuum cleaning installation in the coke plant in Krakow amounts to nearly PLN 2 m.
