The Ukrainian flat steel producer Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol (Ilyich) has announced the recommissioning of its open hearth furnace No. 3 following capital repairs.
Accordingly, Ilyich's open hearth furnace No. 3 was stopped in March 2008, mainly due to technical and technological reasons added to the effects of the global economic crisis, with some of the equipment being disassembled and the unit being put out of service. The decision to restart operations at the furnace was taken in December 2009.
According to the company's statement, the capital repairs of the 650 mt open hearth furnace No. 3 took less than two months, and recently it produced its first melting.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Ilyich has decided to reconstruct its open hearth shop, incorporating the switch from open-hearth furnaces to oxygen converters with secondary steel treatment and continuous casting. This technological improvement will allow Ilyich to produce steel under cleaner environment-friendly technology than with the open-hearth method.