Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Brazil: ArcelorMittal has ordered a slag retention system from UK-based Primematals Technologies. This is part of a larger order for two 135t LD converters for basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) at its steel plant in Jõao Monlevade. The Vaicon Stopper slag retention system is intended to minimise the amount of slag that enters the ladle during tapping. This system ensures shorter production cycles and higher steel quality compared with conventional slag retention systems. The overall plant project also includes an upgrade of the primary dedusting systems and complete electrics and automation packages. The start-up of the new equipment is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

The Monlevade plant produces wire rod for industrial applications such as steel wool and steel cord. The site is part of ArcelorMittal Brazil’s Long Steel division and has an annual capacity of 1.2Mt/yr.

Australia: BlueScope has approved a US$735m reline and upgrade project at its No 6 Blast Furnace (6BF) at the Port Kembla Steelworks. The project will include the installation of a new slag granulation system. The overall scope of work includes a traditional reline plus a significant upgrade of parts of the facility and supporting infrastructure, including investment in environmental improvements. It is intended to support future adoptions of low emissions steel production technology. The transition to the relined 6BF is expected to take place in mid-to-late-2026.

US: Heidelberg Materials North America and Levy Group of Companies signed a granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) supply contract on 9 August 2023. Under the contract, Levy Group of Companies will supply Heidelberg Materials North America with 400,000t/yr of GBFS for use in its slag cement production. Deliveries will begin in early 2024. Heidelberg Materials North America says that it has upgraded its Speed cement plant in Indiana to increase the efficiency with which it grinds GBFS. Following the inauguration of its nearby 2.4Mt/yr Mitchell cement plant in June 2023, Heidelberg Materials North America plans to transition the 1Mt/yr to 100% speciality and slag cement production. Levy Group of Companies will supply the GBFS from steel industry sites in the Midwest Region.

Heidelberg Materials Midwest US president Axel Conrads said “Our agreement with the Levy Group of Companies to secure a consistent supply of slag granules will help us accelerate the transition of the Speed plant to slag cement production and better meet the increasing demand for more sustainable cement products in the growing Midwest market.”

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has inaugurated the Port Canaveral slag cement plant and terminal in Florida, following an expansion. MENAFN News has reported that the producer invested US$24m in the installation of a new roller press at the facility.

Heidelberg Materials North America said "Heidelberg Materials' investment in the Port Canaveral slag cement facility is reflective of our commitment to supporting sustainable and resilient construction projects in the state of Florida and throughout the country. It is also aligned with our goal to significantly reduce our carbon footprint by 2030 and another milestone in our overall strategy to grow our portfolio of more sustainable products, technologies and customer-focused solutions on the path to Net Zero."

Australia: Adbri subsidiary Cockburn Cement has approved a US$152m upgrade to its Kwinana grinding plant in Western Australia that includes a slag feed system. It says the investment will consolidate the cement operations at its Kwinana site. At present clinker is transported by truck from the Kwinana Bulk Terminal to cement mills at both the Kwinana grinding plant and the company’s integrated plant at Munster. It will increase its production capacity to 1.5Mt/yr from 1.1Mt/yr at present. The project is expected to save the company US$15m/yr due to better energy, transport and maintenance efficiency when the plant is commissioned by mid-2023. The producer will fund the investment through existing debt facilities.

The upgrade project includes: a bulk materials conveyor linking the Kwinana Bulk Terminal (KBT) facility to a new 110,000t clinker storage shed, incorporating an automated reclaim system, to eliminate road transport and minimise clinker handling using mobile equipment; a slag feed system that will handle granulated blast furnace slag and additives such as gypsum and limestone; a ball mill circuit with the installation of two new cement mills capable of grinding slag and clinker; and a new 21,000t finished product storage, truck loading and weighbridge infrastructure for storage and despatch.

Netherlands: India-based Tata Steel has announced a planned total investment of Euro300m in environmental upgrades to its IJmuiden, Noord Holland plant. The upgrades include a Euro150m nitrous oxides control (DeNO_x) plant at its pellet plant and a Euro50m odour, particulate emissions reduction modernisation of a coke and gas plant and projects to dust from converter slag processing. The steel producer says that these measures, called Roadmap+ will help the foundry to ‘exceed environmental laws.’

European regional chief executive officer (CEO) Henrik Adam said, "Tata Steel is taking additional action to build on its Roadmap 2030 plan with the announcement today of Roadmap+, which will enhance the environment in and around the IJmuiden plant. We are absolutely committed to sustainability as a strategic priority across the company, of which these measures are the latest example.”

India: JSW Cement has revised its planned expansion to its 14Mt/yr total installed capacity to 39Mt/yr before 1 January 2023, an increase of 5Mt/yr compared to its initial target of 34Mt/yr by 2020. The figure includes JSW’s 54% subsidiary Shiva Cement’s new 1Mt/yr integrated and 1Mt/yr grinding plant, valued at a total of US$112m. Parth Jindal, JSW Cement managing director, said that the figure had been revised upward because Shiva Cement had become self-sufficient in clinker production, freeing the group’s east Indian cement production from ‘volatile import costs.’

Economic Times has reported that Shiva Cement is set to bring its limestone reserves to 100Mt with the acquisition of the Khatkurbahal mine. The company sources its granulated blast furnace slag from the Odisha steel industry. Production of JSW Cement’s flagship product, JSW Portland Slag Cement (PSC), releases CO2 at a rate of 325kg/Mt compared to between 760kg/Mt and 800kg/Mt for typical Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC).

Finland/Germany: Finnsementti’s second grinding unit at its Raahe Slag Plant will be a Pfeiffer MVR 1800 C-4. The unit consists of four rollers with a total slag grinding capacity of 0.2Mt/yr. During maintenance, it is able to keep working at 60% capacity. Gebr. Pfeiffer has stated that the plant will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2020.

Finland: Finnsementti has installed a second mill at its Raahe grinding plant, increasing its total capacity by 100% to 1.0Mt/yr. Esmerk has reported that the mill will grind only slag, which will replace other clinker ingredients in its cement to a net carbon footprint reduction of 40,000Mt/yr. The company has stated that ‘a significant part’ of its Euro12m investment in the upgrade will go towards dosing equipment and increasing storage capacity, with a special emphasis on maintaining a circular economy and reaching its environmental goals by reducing the net CO₂ emissions of its Raahe plant.

UK: Fairport Engineering has revealed details on its work on Hanson’s 1Mt/yr Purfleet ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) grinding plant. The plant includes two closed circuit ball mills and a vertical roller mill. Fairport Engineering worked on a project to improve the raw material intake facilities at the unit to replace a storage bunker with a new feed hopper and ramp. In the next phase the bunker is likely to be removed and replaced with a second feeding system.

The new system includes a reinforced concrete access ramp that will allow front-end loaders to deposit raw material into a 30t capacity Hardox lined hopper before being metered, at up to 200t/hr, by a vibrating feeder, onto an exiting conveyor belt that feeds the GGBS plant. The entire installation was completed in six weeks.