The company’s third oxygen converter was launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works’ (MMK) LD plant recently.

The machine was subjected to serious repairs at the end of October 2008, with MMK’s daughter enterprises dealing in electrical and mechanical repairs acting as the general contractors for the project. The mechanical improvements actually included replacing the converter’s carrying ring and its frame. By the end of January 2009, the overhaul had already been completed. As a matter of fact, the company’s second converter underwent similar upgrading last summer; this time, however, the difficulty lied in the simultaneous replacement of the carrying ring and the cooling apparatus. The procedure has been carried out for the first time this year.

Since the enterprise’s production output went up, MMK’s management decided to have the third oxygen converter launched early in February. The 370-ton machine’s capacity is estimated at 3 million to 3.5 million tons of steel a year; this is, in fact, the newest converter operating in the company’s LD plant: it was first launched in November 1999. Once the converter had reached its full productive capacity, MMK’s output soared to 10 million tons of steel annually.