UrBC, Magnitogorsk, April 3, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) intends to start reconstructing its Blast Furnace 2 in 2020, which is part of the plant’s overhaul program. The blast furnace is expected to undergo major upgrades, which will reduce its environmental impact dramatically, the company’s press service reports.

The legendary Komsomolka (Blast Furnace 2) was launched in the summer of 1932, a few months after the plant itself opened. The furnace now makes some 3,800,000 kg of cast iron a day.

The upgrades will involve dismantling and replacing all the components of the old furnace and renovating the cooling appliances. The cooling equipment will get supplied by the Luxembourg-based company Paul Wurth; the supplier was chosen in the course of an auction where all bidders had to prove they could supply a cooling system with horizontal cooling parts.

Once the reconstruction has been completed, the blast furnace will need no lintel girders. Paul Wurth will supply a set of horizontal cooling boxes, heat-conductive graphite refractory brickwork, ramming mixture, and a full set of pumping station equipment with heat-exchange units and a closed cooling water unit running on chemically purified water. The assembly will take place during the pre-shutdown phase and during the off-blast period prior to the subsequent relaunch.