MMK Completes Environmental Project to Reduce Dust Emissions by 300 Tonnes per Year
PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has completed the reconstruction of the gas-cleaning facilities at its electric arc furnaces.
MMK invested RUB 2.7 billion in constructing a 2.4 million m3/hour capacity dust and gas recovery system at electric arc furnace No. 1 (EAF-1), and gas discharge ducts at electric arc furnaces EAF-1 and EAF-2. This large-scale environmental project included the pouring of more than 3,000 m3 of concrete, the assembly of 2,500 tonnes of metal structures and around 1,500 tonnes of equipment, and the construction of a new 52-metre chimney.
At the new gas treatment facility, polluted air is cleaned through a modern sleeve filter. The project will ensure that residual dust content in the workplace does not exceed 6 mg/m3, and that the concentration of suspended particles after aspiration remains lower than 10 mg/m3, which is in line with the best available technologies not only in Russia, but also globally. The project will also reduce dust emissions by 300 tonnes per year.
The freed capacity from EAF-1’s previous dust and gas recovery system will be reconstructed and combined with a similar unit from EAF-2. The combined gas-cleaning capacity will be 2.3 million m3/hour. All waste gases from furnaces and fugitive emissions will be collected by rooftop covers, cleaned, and disposed of as dust. This will reduce the quantity of harmful emissions to permissible levels and significantly reduce the impact on the environment. The total gas-cleaning capacity will be 4.7 million m3/hour, twice the previous capacity.
This is one of several projects MMK has implemented at the electric steelmaking shop as part of its environmental programme. In 2017, the Company replaced two obsolete wet gas scrubbers, No. 32 and No.33, with modern dry systems. These systems ensure a nearly 100% purification of flue gases generated by the twin-tube steelmaking unit, as well as that of fugitive gases, with the latter being reduced by more than 1,800 tonnes per year. This MMK project received a special prize in the Eco-technology category of the national ERAECO 2017 award, established under the auspices of UNESCO.
The continuous reduction of its environmental impact and introduction of the best available technologies are essential aspects of MMK’s strategy to ensure the Company’s long-term sustainable development. MMK is working to reduce its impact on atmospheric air in Magnitogorsk as part of the Federal ‘Clean Air’ project. This work has led to a reduction of the plant’s gross atmospheric emissions by 22.4 thousand tonnes between 2017 and 2021, and reduced the concentration of benzopyrene and dust by a factor of 3.8 and 1.5, respectively. In addition, the Comprehensive Air Quality Index (CAQI) in Magnitogorsk has already decreased 2.6 times to 5.8 units.