February 2009                                                                                 Issue 8

LATEST NEWS
Jindal Stainless Limited
SmartRepair-a campaign extension at SSAB
AK Steel Amanda-one old hearth
INFORMATION
 
 
 
 
 
UPCOMING Events
 
March 11
Graftech BF Seminar
Bejing, China
 
May 4-7
St.Louis, MO
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Dear Valued Customer:                   
 
Looks like this year will be very challenging to all of us in this industry.  But as always under volatile conditions, there are great opportunities to prepare for growth and to take advantage of inevitable and hard-to-predict market changes. 
The number of Newsletter subscribers keeps growing.  You are now one of 1040 readers! In this issue you will read about some of the metal producers that are also confident in the "survival of the fittest" and are investing in GrafTech™ linings to stand prepared for the future.  We will tell you about Jindal Stainless, which are successfully operating two 60MVA FeCr furnaces in Kalinganagar, Orissa, and present to you an old hearth in Kentucky. We will also show you how Pirson Refractories, in December 2008, on short notice, made a SmartRepair at a hearth wall at SSAB in Sweden. Hope you will enjoy it!
Jindal Stainless Limited-
A leading Indian FeCr producer 
 
In our September 2007 Newsletter (#3), we told you about the contract signing with Mr. Ratan Jindal in Dusseldorf.
 
The first of these ferrochrome furnaces was started up in March 2008 with a new GrafTech supplied ChillKote™
lining. To date, the furnace has been operating extremely well, with low and stable thermocouple readings. Remember that this is a furnace where a conventional refractory lining failed within a year in the last campaign! Jindal is the first Indian ferroalloy producer that takes advantage of the GrafTech concept. The second lining was installed in furnace #2 this December. 
 
The photo shows you part of the project team; Mr.Yadav, Assistant Vice President, JSL; Mr.Naik, Works Director, JSL; Mr. R.K. Basu, Marketing Coordinator for GrafTech's local agent; Sarvesh Refractories, Mr. Piet Lamont, MD IRCI -installation supervisors from South Africa; Mr. Jayaswal, Executive Works Director, JSL; Ms. Colette Coetzee, GrafTech's Accounts Manager for Africa and resident SAF expert; and, Mr. Mishra, Assistant VP, JSL.  
Both furnaces are rated 60MVA with a 11,6 m shell diameter.  The photograph to the left shows the taphole abutment being
built.
AK Steel Amanda - one old hearth
 
The picture below shows the Amanda Blast Furnace in Ashland, Kentucky, owned and operated by AK Steel Corporation. First blown-in 1963, it celebrates its 45 year anniversary in March this year. Towering 234 feet above the Ohio River and with a daily production capacity of approximately 4,800 tons of iron, Amanda is a two taphole, medium size furnace with a working volume of 2,039 m3 and a hearth diameter of 10,2m. 
 Amanda at Night
In 1992, the operation was changed from 30% fluxed sinter and 70% acid pellets to 100% pellet burden operation. This furnace was also a pioneer for PCI before everyone else. Did we mention that they also have a state-of-the-art hearth lining? 
 
There have been a few published reports of blast furnaces around the world reaching the 20-year campaign threshold with big carbon block hearth wall lining designs, but none claim to have done so while increasing productivity over the lifetime of the furnace, and none claim to have exceeded 25 years. Both of these have been achieved with the use of a GrafTech NMA™ brick hearth at Amanda, Ashland, and new milestones continue to be reached every day as these outstanding campaigns continue.
 
The GrafTech™ hearth wall is now 25 years old, the GrafTech GradeD™ hearth bottom was 40 years old in November 2008 and there are no immediate plans to end the present campaign! Congratulations to the operators of Amanda Blast Furnace and their 45 year celebration.  Great Job!
SmartRepair-a unique repair service
fixing the SSAB BF #4 taphole in Oxel�sund, Sweden  
 
In today's market, furnaces are being idled and restarted on short notice, many times without tapping the salamanders. These operations put great stress on hearth linings and shells and could dramatically shorten the campaigns. Several of our customers keep a full UniGraf™ universal lining on the ground. These linings are dimensioned to fit any of the BF hearths within the company and can be installed on very short notice. Others keep a small emergency inventory of HotPressed™ bricks in order to make limited size repairs, with a minimum amount of down time.
  
Many are seeing great opportunities in today's market to make campaign extending refractory repairs on idle blast furnaces as well as submerged arc furnaces. As many of you are aware, the most suitable products for such investments are supplied by Graftech International.  Yet another option is to take advantage of the SmartRepair emergency repair service. 
 
The photo shows the installation of HotPressed™ bricks by Pirson at SSAB blast furnace #4 this December. The repair of the taphole area at SSAB Oxel�sund, was successfully completed in December 2008. 
 
The repair was initiated by the sudden change in steel demand.  Pirson Refractories, the Refractory Installation Specialist from the Netherlands, together with SSAB and the technical back-up of Graftech, developed the best repair scenario, including engineering, demolition, refractory installation, mechanical work and an improved monitoring system. The repair was successfully executed within the time frame of 10 days. 
 
During the project it was decided that the ramming joint between the shell and the carbon blocks next to the repair area needed to be replaced by graphite tiles in order to maintain good thermal contact. 
SSAB Photo 2
 
The graphite was installed in the panels (each ~3 x 3 m) on the left and right side of the taphole. The taphole area
(~ 3 x 3 m) was completely replaced using HotPressed NMD™ bricks, leaving a gap of �8 mm to the shell, and using NMA™bricks at the hot face. Once the shell plates were re-installed, the whole area was first grouted with a self flowing silicon carbide castable. The next day the same area was grouted again, this time using uniquely expanding and graphitic GR37™ grout, in order to fill any remaining voids.  An optimum contact of the carbon blocks with the spray cooling system has now been re-established and this, together with the additional thermocouples installed, has given SSAB a more secure furnace capable of producing at full capacity during an extended campaign.
 
SmartRepair-Pirson Refractories, the European installation experts, and Graftech can provide all furnace operators a unique offer in case of repairs:

  • 1st assessment by Pirson within 24 hours after being contacted.
  • Solution planning starting within 24 hours.
  • Pirson repair scenario utilizing GrafTech carbon and graphite material fully available within 48 hours!
For further information and details about these services, call or email Pirson 24 hours a day, 365 days a year:
Phone: +31 (0) 251 27 24 12
We would love to hear from you and receive feedback on how we are doing!
If you have suggestions for articles or information that you would like to see, please feel free to contact us! Also, if you know of someone who would value this information, please forward it on to them!
 
GrafTech, HotPressed, ChillKote, C34, GR37, Grade D, NMA, NMD, SmartRam, and UniGraf are trademarks of GrafTech International Holdings Inc.  The information contained in or referred to in this newsletter is based on data believed to be reliable but GrafTech makes no warranties, express or implied, as to its accuracy and assumes no liability arising out of its use. GrafTech's liability to purchasers is expressly limited to the terms and conditions of sale.
 
Sincerely,

Your GrafTech Refractory Systems Team