ArcelorMittal Poland will invest over PLN 40 million in the modernization of three Maerz furnaces in the Dąbrowa lime plant, i.e. a plant that produces lime necessary in further steel production processes. In addition to the new furnaces, the entire flue gas cleaning installation will also be reconstructed. The new filters will meet the stringent Best Available Techniques (BAT) requirements of the European Industrial Emissions Directive and will reduce dust emissions by up to five times.
Maerz furnaces are installations in which lime is burned. The finished product is then sent to the steel plant, where it is mainly used in the degassing process, i.e. cleaning the steel. All three furnaces are able to produce more than 1,000 tons of lime per day, which, when added to steel, removes unwanted components from it.
The current installations require replacement which is why ArcelorMittal Poland started modernizing the first of the three furnaces in spring. The scale of this renovation is the largest one since years. The bricklaying of one Maerz furnace alone will take about 40 days and will include, among others: assembly of ceramics and new armours. The entire renovation will take 90 days and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. The construction site covers approximately 4,500 m2, and for the assembly of 4-meter segments, e.g. huge cranes or tower cranes will be used.
- The entire investment will extend the furnaces life-cycle by as much as 10 years, which is important, because previous repairs were needed to be carried out after about seven years - emphasizes Grzegorz Maracha, COO of Primary at ArcelorMittal Poland. - The new installations will also allow to improve the quality of the lime produced, and thus - ultimately also the purity of the steel - he adds.
One of the most important elements of this investment will be the modernization of exhaust gas treatment systems. These are three fabric filters responsible for dedusting all three furnaces in the lime plant. After the renovation the filters will meet the strict requirements of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) of the European Industrial Emissions Directive - the emission will not exceed 10 mg/m3. In addition, flue gas passes and exhaust fans will be replaced.
- The modernization of Maerz furnaces is another large environmental project implemented in our company this year. Thanks to the renovation of the dedusting system, we will significantly reduce dust emissions from the lime plant area - says Wojciech Koszuta, CEO of ArcelorMittal Poland. – This investment, combined with the waste heat recovery project and the modernization of blast furnace no. 2will give us measurable results and will allow us to further minimize the environmental footprint of our steel plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza - he adds.
The renovation of the first of the three Maerz furnaces will be completed in the third quarter of this year. Another two are to be modernized next year. The entire investment will cost over PLN 40 million.
Modernization in numbers:
• PLN 40 million – this is the value of the entire investment
• 40 days – this is how long it will take to build one new Maerz furnace
• 10 years – this is how long new installations will be able to operate
• 1,882 m2 – this is the filtration area of each of the three filters dedusting the lime production process
• 576 – the number of filter bags will be installed in each of the three filters
