North East & Yorkshire

New pulverised coal injection plant

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

A brand new steel coal injection plant is currently under construction in Teesside.

The project is being implemented by Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) UK Limited and comprises the construction of a coal injection plant and ancillary works at the site of the SSI blast furnace in Redcar. Once work is complete on the brand new plant, the site will include coal handling facilities, as well as coal storage and grinding facilities.

Siemens Metals Technologies is the principal contractor on the project and is also the owner of the technology that is being used. In addition, the company is providing the design work on the project.

Work began on the $57 million project in November 2011. Prior to work starting on the project the site was a brownfield area of land at the Redcar site.

The multi-storey building is being constructed from a mix of steel and concrete, with exterior cladding. Once the plant is fully operational the facility will be capable of injecting up to 235 kilograms of coal into the blast furnace for every ton of hot metal that is produced.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

Prior to injection, the coal will be dried and ground up using a hot gas swept roller mill. A pneumatic dispensing system will then inject the powder, which will be divided into precise amounts, into the blast furnace.

The construction of the new coal injection plant will enable SSI to replace some of the coking coal that it uses with more cost effective, non-coking coal. Not only will this reduce costs for the company, but it will also reduce the amount of energy that is consumed at the facility. At present the SSI blast furnace is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

Discussing the coal injection process further, Siemens Metals Technologies Director of Business Development, Paul Balmer, said:

“The plant will grind the coal into a powder-like consistency which is then transported through pipe work before it is then injected into the blast furnace.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

“During operation the blast furnace consumes about 500kg of coke for every ton of iron that it produces. The coal is a cheaper fuel than coke and if you can inject approximately 200kg of coal for every ton of hot metal, the process will save up to 200kg of coke.

“The use of these materials is very significant, because in the long term this plant will make considerable cost savings.”

Paul added:

“The project has been designed to be constructed using modules. At present the modules are being built at ground level and will soon be lifted into place.

“The most interesting feature of the project is the sheer size of the coal grinding mill, which is one of the largest of its kind.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

“So far, work has progressed well on the project and apart from the usual challenges which crop up on a project such as this work continues to run smoothly.”

The construction of the new plant follows on from SSI’s successful acquisition of assets of Teesside Cast Products (TCP) in 2011.

Commenting on the importance of this new project for SSI, Siemens Metals Technologies Director of Development, Paul Balmer, said:

“Working on this project is very important for Siemens Metals Technologies as this is one of our key technologies. It is also important as to us because of the proximity of our office to the plant, our office is located very close to the site. We have been in existence as a business in the Stockton area for over a hundred years so to be involved with projects that are within a close proximity to us is strategically very important.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

“We have been supplying and building similar facilities to this around the world. We have just constructed two plants in Taiwan and a number in India.

“Work on this project further cements the excellent working relationship that we have with Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK Limited who is a very important client to us.”

The Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK Limited Coal Injection Plant project is currently on programme and is scheduled to reach completion in early 2013.

SSI Pulverised Coal Injection- Teesside

Siemens Metals Technologies

Siemens Industry Sector is the world’s leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products for industrial clients. The company has a global staff of more than 100,000 employees and is comprised of four divisions: Drive Technology, Industry Automation, Customer Services and Metals Technologies.

Siemens Metals Technologies supplies the entire range of products, systems and processes needed to ensure efficient and reliable steel production. The company can supply everything, from individual parts right through to a completely new plant.

The main area of focus for the business is to optimise the steel making process and to date the company is the only global full-line provider of steel making products.

For more information about Siemens please visit: www.siemens.com.

Chalmit

With over 100 years of maritime heritage, Chalmit is regarded as a key supplier of lighting to onshore processing plants, offshore platforms and FPSO’s worldwide. In 2011, Chalmit was approached by the contractor Siemens Vai Metal Technologies to offer their expertise in providing a lighting design scheme to the SSI UK Pulverised Coal Injection Plant project, using their in-house software package Chalmlite® – available to download free of charge from www.chalmit.com.

Utilising Chalmlite®, the Chalmit lighting design technicians were able to provide Siemens with a detailed layout of how Chalmit luminaires could be used in the rejuvenation of the plant.

Chalmit was awarded the lighting contract due to the high quality of the products and their high ingress protection levels (IP66/IP67). The Protecta III fluorescent, Maxinex floodlight and low energy NexLED bulkhead were chosen and these were supplied to site in July 2012.

The Protecta III has a rugged, corrosion-resistant construction, with a high ingress protection which provides good mechanical support. The luminaires have been installed around the plant for interior and exterior lighting and can supply normal and emergency illumination.

The Maxinex is a lightweight floodlight which offers excellent lighting control and is ideal for directional control lighting at low mounting heights. Meanwhile, the NexLED Emergency is a low energy bulkhead that is easy to install and maintain, and can provide up to 60,000 hours of operation (60,000 hours expected at 40°C ambient L70/B10).

Sarah Davidson, Chalmit, said:

“Chalmit has enjoyed supporting Siemens Vai Metals Technologies in the upgrade of the SSI Pulverised Coal Injection Plant in Redcar, Teesside and we welcome future collaborations.”

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