Russia-based Severstal, one of the world's leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, has announced that its Cherepovets Steel Mill, part of the Severstal Russian Steel Division, has completed an upgrade of the air heater of its blast furnace No. 5.
With the upgrading of air heater No. 4 at a cost of RUR 736 million ($24.5 million), it will be possible to increase the operating efficiency of Europe's largest blast furnace.
Upgrade operations started 18 months ago. Over this period of time, the old unit which had been in use for 24 years, was fully dismantled and replaced with a new one. Two more air heaters of blast furnace No. 5, are to be upgraded in the near future.