Norilsk Nickel starts scheduled maintenance of the first production line equipment at the Nadezhda Plant

Scheduled maintenance work has begun to repair the equipment of Flash Smelting Furnace No. 1 and the related auxiliary and external equipment of the first production line at the B. I. Kolesnikov Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMP). Timely maintenance is essential for maintaining high standards of the industrial safety, reliability, and efficiency of the key production assets.

The scheduled maintenance covers the entire equipment complex of the production line, from concentrate preparation and drying equipment to gas cooling and exhaust-gas disposal systems. The maintenance will include the repair of spray dryers, the concentrate drum dryer, two electric furnaces, a waste heat boiler, and electrostatic precipitators. 

Approximately 400 specialists will be involved in completing the scheduled maintenance within a tight deadline. The key contractors are Norilsk Nickel’s specialized repair enterprise and the Pechengastroy company. To reduce the scheduled maintenance period, contractors quickly moved their teams from the Kola production site to Norilsk.

“Conducting regular scheduled maintenance is an integral part of the life cycle of a modern metallurgical plant”, said Vitaly Muravyov, Director of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant. “This approach to scheduled maintenance allows us to maintain the entire equipment complex - from the main unit to the related auxiliary equipment and external systems - in sound condition and good repair. This is the foundation for the trouble-free and stable operation of the production line”.

The Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant clarified that the total scheduled maintenance period, including the flash smelting furnace firing-up phase, will take maximum five days. This minimizes the impact on overall production performance. 

“The special thing about the maintenance work being carried out is its high intensity and focus on the results to be achieved within an extremely tight timeline. We have established a clear logistics system and coordinate now the efforts of hundreds of specialists and contractors to ensure maximum reliability and efficiency of the equipment and facilities once they start the routine operation again. This approach of scheduled but short-term maintenance allows us to flexibly manage our production assets, constantly maintaining them operationally ready,” added Oleg Landyshev, Deputy Director of Industrial Asset Management at the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant.

Information

The B. I. Kolesnikov Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant processes nickel concentrates produced at the Talnakh and Norilsk processing plants. The NMP’s end product is copper-nickel matte that is sent to the Kola MMC for further processing.