Avdiivs'kyi Koksokhimichnyi Zavod PAT : Metinvest commissions new environmental equipment at Avdiivka Coke

[Attachment]Metinvest Group commissions a thermal and catalytic afterburner at Avdiivka Coke (AKKhZ) designed to reduce emissions by tar distillation shop of the enterprise. Project investments total about UAH 6.5 mln.

Despite the difficult situation in Avdiivka and interruptions in the power supply from time to time, Metinvest Group continues to modernize Avdiivka Coke. Set-up and commissioning of the catalytic detoxifier of ventilation emissions are currently in progress at AKKhZ. It is a top-notch system of this kind in the country.

The operating principle of the system is simple: polluted air gets into a special heat exchanger, is heated to a required temperature and is then directed to the catalyst. Organic compounds are fully cracked there into carbon dioxide and water. As a result, emissions include only safe substances.

Set-up and commissioning of the thermal and catalytic afterburner are performed by the specialized company Promteploecopomosch, LLC. Its commissioning is scheduled in the second half of August.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Group:

One of our most important objectives is to have clear sky above the mills and cities where our company operates.We continue to upgrade our facilities using top-notch technologies to reduce negative impact of our operations on environment. New equipment at AKKhZ is designed to significantly improve environmental safety of the enterprise - from now on 99% of waste gases will be cleaned. Despite the difficult situation in the city because of the armed conflict, we believe peace will be established and therefore continue to invest in the plant and environmental future of Avdiivka.

Musa Magomedov, the General Director of Avdiivka Coke Plant:

- The thermal and catalytic afterburner is unique for our enterprise. It is manufactured from high quality materials and its maintenance will be done by specially trained personnel. The afterburner was designed by Viacheslav Maikov from Zaporizhya, and the first system like that was installed at ZaporizhCoke. According to the designer, today these systems have no analogues in the world and their use at all coke and chemical enterprises is recommended by the A. N. Marzeyev Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology.

This is to remind that the construction of the catalytic detoxifier of ventilation emissions at Avdiivka Coke was started in 2013, yet the project implementation had to be put on hold in 2014 because of the shelling. The construction work was resumed in 2015.

The tar distillation shop of Avdiivka Coke makes seven types of products that have a high cost and are in high demand by Ukrainian and international companies. The key product of the shop is electrode pitch (liquid and granulated). It is used in non-ferrous metallurgy. Avdiivka Coke currently supplies pitch to aluminium plants located in the CIS, Europe and Africa.