At the BF4 blast furnace, which has an annual hot metal production capacity of 3.1 million tonnes, advanced wear was detected in the hearth area, with the lining around the tap hole in particular nearing the end of its service life. The planned repair was therefore carried out and successfully completed within just 42 days.
In the project executed by SMS group, sectoral carbon block replacement was applied under Paul Wurth technology, and the entire hearth was re-profiled using special heat-resistant concrete. Thanks to this targeted approach, a safe and long-lasting structure was achieved without the need for a complete hearth relining, while production downtime was significantly reduced. By intervening only in the worn areas and optimizing the drying and subsequent processes, the project schedule was maintained and operational risks were minimized.
With this method, SMS group offered the customer lower costs, shorter outage time, and reduced project risk compared to a full hearth replacement. Unforeseen tasks encountered during the works, such as cutting frozen salamander, were also completed swiftly, ensuring no delays in the restart of operations.
Commenting on the project, SMS group Project Manager Jan Zmrzlík stated that they delivered a targeted, high-quality partial hearth repair that met the customer’s expectations for the shortest possible shutdown time, adding that the selected method allowed intervention to be limited to the critical area while the entire hearth was efficiently re-profiled.
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