Taiwanese steelmaker China Steel Corporation (CSC) held a blow-in ceremony to mark the start of the fourth operational period of its No. 1 blast furnace at 10 a.m. on June 9, 2010. Chairman Chia-Juch Chang presided at the ceremony along with 200 participants from business circles, customers, domestic and foreign suppliers, constructors, CSC's top management, chairmen from CSC subsidiary companies, and CSC labor union representatives.
The third operational period of the No. 1 blast furnace was blown-in on January 10, 1997 and was blown-out for revamping on January 10, 2010. In 13 years of non-stop production, the No. 1 furnace produced 24.43 million mt of hot metal, much more than that of its second operational period which saw the production of 18.51 million mt of hot metal during a lifespan of 11 years and eight months.
The scope of engineering in the revamp of the No. 1 blast furnace at the end of the third period was much wider and more complicated than in the previous revamp, the company said, stating that its whole construction was enormous and difficult, especially in dismantling and replacing the blast furnace shell, replacing the highly efficient cooling stave, and thoroughly revamping the cast house, etc.