The Ministry for Environmental Protection of Ukraine and the Zaporizhia regional council have concluded an agreement with local steel producer Zaporizhstal according to which the mill will be allowed to operate open hearth furnaces until 2017.
According to the agreement, Zaporizhstal has up to 2017 to complete the switch from open hearth production to converter production and to take out of service all its open hearth furnaces.
In addition, in 2011-2017 Zaporizhstal is to implement environmental projects from its own funds, including the reconstruction of its gas purification system and of the aspirator units at its sintering production, and is also to implement some water protection projects.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Zaporizhstal plans to build an oxygen-converter shop for which it has ordered equipment from Austrian plantmaker Siemens VAI Metals Technologies. The order includes two new hot-metal desulphurization stations, two 250-mt capacity LD oxygen steelmaking converters, two twin-station ladle furnaces, a vacuum oxygen decarburization plant, primary and secondary dedusting facilities, and two twin-strand slab casters. The new shop is to have an annual capacity of 4.7 million mt and is to allow Zaporizhstal to decommission its open hearth furnaces.