Russia-based leading global iron ore and hot briquetted iron (HBI) producer Metalloinvest has announced that the upgrading of equipment has been completed successfully at the HBI-2 Plant at its subsidiary Lebedinsky GOK. As a result, the productivity of the HBI-2 Plant is set to increase by four percent.
A system of cooling conveyers has been replaced at the plant. According to projections, the new cooling conveyors and a modern vapour system will enable the HBI-2 Plant's productivity to increase by approximately 7.5 mt per hour or around 58,000 mt per year. In addition, the application of technology for the slow cooling of briquette to the required temperature will lead to higher durability of briquettes. The new equipment was tailor-made for LGOK.
The HBI-2 Plant came into operation in 2007. At present, the plant produces 1.4 million mt of HBI per year and is the largest HBI plant in the world.