In our March Newsletter, we told you about the UCAR lining order from Shougang Jingtang for its new 15.5m / I.V. 5.500 cu m blast furnace. At the time, this was the 43rd UCAR lining order in China. Today, we are happy to announce that UCAR has been awarded its 46th hearth lining order from Baosteel, the largest steel company in China. The other two contracts were received for Benxi #8 and Handan #7. (Seated left to right in this photo: Mr. Henry Yu of UCAR, Mr. Zhang Wei Gang and Madam Tang Li, both of Baosteel)

History: In 1990, Baosteel had 3 large and identical blast furnaces in operation. It made the decision to explore how to achieve a longer campaign life at higher productivity rates. To do this they installed 3 different concepts with imported refractory materials from leading manufacturers in its furnaces:

1. Micropore and super micropore big blocks with a typical ceramic cup lining;
2. Micropore and super micropore big blocks, but without the ceramic cup; and,
3. UCAR Hot-Pressed™ bricks.

Today, the life of campaign #3 has reached 13 years and is among the highest productivity furnaces in China! There are no plans to reline the furnace. In 2006, Blast Furnace #2 was relined with UCAR Hot-Pressed™ bricks, replacing the big block lining. In 2005, Baosteel built a new #4 furnace and installed the proven Hot-Pressed™ brick hearth lining. In 2008, #1 will be relined with UCAR Hot-Pressed™ bricks, replacing the big blocks and ceramic cup concept. At that time, Baosteel will have converted 100% of its furnaces to UCAR Refractory Systems.

(Photo above depicts Baosteel BF #3 blow-in on September 24, 1994)

To quote Mr. Jin Jue Sen from Baosteel: "#1 and #2 blast furnaces have been harassed by the abnormal raise of hearth wall temperatures. However, Baosteel #3 with Hot-Pressed bricks never had the problem of hearth temperatures abnormal jumps for over 10 years and the hearth wall situation is very stable!"

• Hearth diameter: 14.5m
• Working volume: 5046 m3
• Number of tapholes: 4
• Hearth cooling: staves
• Design productivity: 11500MT/day
• Annual capacity: 4 million tons
• Design coke rate: 290kg/MT
• Coal rate: 220kg/MT
• Blow in: October 2008

Pirson Refractories, the European installation experts, and UCAR Refractory Systems offer all European iron makers a unique solution for lining emergencies:

• 1st assessment within 24 hours after being contacted
• Engineering starting within 24 hours
• Repair scenario fully available within 48 hours!

The Pirson SmartRepair commitment is made possible by the Pirson Refractories' unsurpassed ability to react quickly from any of their many offices in Europe and UCAR keeping a large emergency inventory in Holland. Short delivery time combined with Pirson's professional advice, project management, and experienced field personnel promote safety and minimum down time.

The UCAR emergency inventory* in Europe includes the following unique refractories:

• Hot-Pressed™ NMA micro pore carbon bricks
• Hot-Pressed™ NMD micro pore semi- graphite bricks
• C-34 two component graphitic cement
• RP-4 carbon ram
• RP-10 graphite ram
• Smart-RamŪ RP-20 expanding graphite ram
• GR-37 graphitic grout

As our valued customer, all you need to do to take advantage of this unique service is to contact Pirson. This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year via email or phone.

Email: smartrepair@pirsonholland.nl

Phone: +31 (0) 251 27 24 12

Iron makers that have experienced Pirson services, coupled with UCAR materials, and have benefited from the quality installation and refractories proven to perform excellently in blast furnace hearth wall repairs include:

• Salzgitter BF C in Germany
• SSAB BF 4 in Sweden
• Carsid BF 4 in Belgium
• Arcelor-Mittal Vanderbijlpark BF C in South Africa

*The content and size of this emergency inventory, may, during periods of several coinciding large carbon block failures vary, but the ambition is to keep the inventory at full capacity at all times.