Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced that it will begin a major overhaul at its blast furnace No. 4 at its Cherepovets plant. The blast furnace with a 2.4 million mt annual pig iron production capacity is scheduled to stop its operations in the second half of 2025.
SteelOrbis previously reported that at the end of January the company announced its plans for the revamp of its furnace to increase pig iron output.
Evgeny Vinogradov, general director of Severstal Russian Steel and Resource Assets Division, said that the implementation of the overhaul will lengthen the life of the blast furnace by at least 15 years, restore the design parameters and ensure high productivity and reliability. The main operations within the framework of the project are the replacement of the bell-less loading device, the furnace cooling system and refractory masonry, repair of the air heater block, casting yard and air conditioning system. The overhaul will increase the share of pellet production at the furnace and reduce solid fuel consumption.
Currently, the preparation and design phase is underway at the site.