NLMK Reheat Furnace Replacement Moves Ahead

NLMK Group, a global steel company, a Metal-Expo regular exhibitor, is progressing on installation of a new RUB4.4 billion (US$67.5 million) reheat furnace at its Lipetsk plant in Russia.

NLMK said in a statement that the foundation work for the furnace is complete and slab handling equipment has been installed. The furnace shell is now being set up, it said.

The walking beam furnace, which is replacing an older pusher-style furnace at the hot rolling mill, will add 110,000 metric tons of capacity to the hot rolling mill, reducing energy consumption and cutting furnace emissions in half. The installation of more sophisticated slab charging technology also is expected to improve product quality.

“The construction of the reheating furnace is one of the key projects of NLMK's investment program,” the company said in a statement. 

“The start-up of the unit will not only increase NLMK's rolled products output, but also enable a complete transition to a high-performance resource-saving technology intended for heating slabs before rolling.”

The furnace could enter service as soon as October. It is the fourth and last in a series of new furnaces that are replacing the facility’s obsolete pusher furnaces.

For the first time in NLMK Group, the full cycle of BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology was used for the furnace design and the organization of construction and assembly works. This technology enabled the company to create a digital twin of the future unit and, already at the design stage, mimic the construction process, eliminate possible errors in advance and optimize the volumes and schedule of construction works.

NLMK Group is the largest steelmaker in Russia and one of the most efficient in the world welcomes all steel industry professionals to visit its stand at Metal-Expo'2019, the 25th Jubilee International Exhibition, November 12-15, Hall 75, VDNHa, Moscow, Russia.