Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works : MMK Hosts Knowledge Exchange School for Coke Industry Experts

On 6 December, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) launched the first stage of an industry-wide knowledge exchange school for coke production workers.

Initiated by the Eastern Research Coal Chemitry Institute, the school focuses on key topics in coke plant maintenance and operation. The event will take place in two stages: participants will meet at MMK on 6-7 December and will continue the programme at Mechel-Coke in Chelyabinsk on 8 December.

Around 60 employees from 25 various companies are taking part in the school, including experts in coke and by-product operations at Russia's largest metallurgical companies, specialised coke and by-product enterprises, as well as service companies. In addition to MMK and Mechel, the participants represent NLMK, Severstal, Evraz, Gubakhinskiy Coke, the Moscow Coke and Gas Plant, and others.

The first day of the Magnitogorsk stage will focus on current issues related to the operation, maintenance and repair of coke plants, as well as refractory materials for coke ovens. On the second day of the school, participants will tour MMK's coke and by-product production shop, which is the largest in Russia's metallurgical industry. It includes nine coke plants capable of producing 6 million tonnes of coke per year, a coal preparation shop, and a chemical product recovery and processing plant that consists of three units. One of these units, built by Germany's Krupp Koppers, has a capacity of 240 thousand cubic metres of purified coke oven gas per hour, making it one of the most powerful in the world. The recovery unit enables MMK to cut its emissions of polluting substances by 20 thousand tonnes per year.

MMK's coke and by-product production facilities are currently undergoing a large-scale overhaul that includes the construction of a major new coke plant, as well as the renovation of the chemical product recovery and processing plant and the biochemical unit. The most important element of the project for MMK and for all of Magnitogorsk, especially in terms of its environmental impact, is the construction of coke plant No. 12, which will have a capacity 2.5 million tonnes of dry coke per year. The start-up of coke plant No. 12 is scheduled for 2023, after which two obsolete plants will be phased out. This will reduce gross emissions of pollutants by 11.35 thousand tonnes per year, including emissions of two hazardous pollutants: benzo(a)pyrene, by about 92%; and formaldehyde, by about 89%. Thanks to its use of dry quenching technology, the plant will make it possible to recover heat from coke production to produce steam for technological processes purposes and electricity generation. In addition, the new coke plant will reduce CO₂ emissions by 2.2 million tonnes per year.