MMC Norilsk Nickel plans to relaunch its furnace at the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMP) in early August after the completion of a major repair, Reuters reported with a reference to the company’s spokesman.
The reconstruction of the NMP began in May this year which included the replacement of one of the melting furnaces.
The new melting unit will be significantly different from the old one. According to NMP director Vitaly Muravyov, the furnace loading will be completely modernized and a new charge atomizer will be installed.
“The technical specifications include a reduction in the sulfur content in the concentrate supplied for smelting, which reduces the energy intensity of the process. Gas-dynamic and thermal calculations were carried out and based on those, we changed the configuration of the furnace, increased the height of the reaction shaft, and increased the height of the furnace bay,” noted Muravyov.
In addition to the construction of a new furnace, a major overhaul of the peripheral equipment of the second production line will be carried out, as a result of which the company will have a completely new melting unit and the reliability of production will be increased.
According to Reuters, Nornickel had to postpone repairs of one of the two furnaces at NMP, a key production asset, for two years due to Western sanctions imposed on Russian metals.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
