The main aim of the ongoing modernization in the power plant of TAMEH POLSKA in ArcelorMittal Poland’s Unit in Krakow is to use steel process gases to produce energy. The installation of two new gas boilers will significantly reduce air emissions and will allow to increase the efficiency of the plant. Cracovians have already nicknamed the new gas boilers as Odin and Thor.
The two new gas boilers, designed in Denmark, are red, nearly 20 meters high and fully adjusted to combust only gas fuels: blast furnace gas, coke oven gas and natural gas. Employees of the power plant of TAMEH POLSKA called them fondly “dwarfs”, however decided to organize a name contest for the citizens of Krakow to select the new nicknames. Danish ancestry of the new boilers tipped the scale in favour of truly Norse-origin names – Odin and Thor, the gods in the Scandinavian mythology. The other proposals referred to famous Polish cartoon characters: Żwirek and Muchomorek, Bolek and Lolek.
Change for the 21st century
The two modern gas boilers to combust steel gases are part of a large-scale ecological project carried out at the power plant of TAMEH POLSKA in Krakow’s plant (a joint project between ArcelorMittal group and TAURON Polska Energia S.A.). The value of the project, which started in 2015, significantly exceeds PLN 300 m. In the power plant, except for the new gas boilers, which will be put into operation in the second half of the year, a third existing coal boiler no 8 is adjusted to combust gas fuels. It underwent a successful system change from coal to gas firing and was launched in February. Also, in the power plant a new turbogenerator will be built with the capacity of 55 MWe (megawatts electric) as well as a steam collector to connect gas boilers with turbines. The modernization of the cooling water system is scheduled for the end of the second quarter of 2019.
Lower dust and noise emissions, less waste
To produce heat, electricity and blast for blast furnaces, the new boilers are designed to use mainly blast furnace gas and coke oven gas, which are waste products of metallurgical processes. – These products in other industries are considered to be useless, nevertheless in TAMEH POLSKA we are not going to waste them, but rather turn them into energy – says, Dariusz Siudy, director of the power plant in Krakow.
The decision to replace coal with more environmentally friendly technologies is not only to comply with new environmental requirements resulting from EU directive on industrial emissions (IED), which are coming into force this year. Implementing such expensive and labour-intensive solutions guarantees reliable power supplies and increases efficiency of equipment and safety of employees.
This new investment in the power plant will be beneficial for citizens of Krakow as phasing out of coal enables significant reduction of emissions into the air:
- dust – reduction of emission by 90 per cent
- NOx – nitrogen oxides – reduction by 83 per cent.
- SO2 – sulphur dioxide – reduction by 80 per cent.
- CO – carbon oxide – reduction by 40 per cent.
- CO2 – carbon dioxide – reduction by 20 per cent.
Modern devices will contribute to lower levels of noise, and improved efficiency of gas boilers will reduce fuel consumption. The phasing out of coal eliminates the necessity to storage ash on a heap in Pleszów (36,000 tonnes of waste stored annually). The investment will also reduce the water consumption, which is needed to transport ash on a heap.
