Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works has completed the technical re-equipment of its blast furnace No. 2. The Company plans to put the upgraded unit into operation in August. The company launched the large-scale modernisation of the second blast furnace in February 2020. The general contractor for the technical re-equipment was JSC Prokatmontazh. Total investments into the reconstruction of the furnace amounted to more than RUB 5 billion. During the reconstruction of blast furnace No. 2, company dismantled and replaced the metal components of the existing furnace and upgraded its cooling system. This transferred the cooling system from one based on vertical plate crude iron refrigerators to one using modern, horizontal copper refrigerators in the bosh, the tuyere region, and the belly of the lower part of the furnace shaft. The design of the cooling system and the supply of equipment was carried out by the company Paul Wurth. The implementation of a new reliable cooling system and the lining of the tuyere belt, bosh and furnace waist at blast furnace No. 2 will allow the Company to avoid the need to carry out major repairs of the 2nd category in favour of less lengthy repairs. An important part of the reconstruction of company's blast furnace No.2 was the reconstruction of the foundry yards using a system of closed gutters, and the aspiration of the foundry yards and charge feed. The equipment of the foundry yard for the production of cast iron and slag was replaced with modern hydraulic mining machines produced by the company Dneprogidromash. Previously, similar equipment was installed at four company blast furnaces. The main chutes are now convective-cooled and enlarged to improve the separation of cast iron and slag. The lining of connective chutes will be made from refractory concrete. The chutes are equipped with shelters with an aspiration device manufactured by Dneprogidromash, with a capacity of 850 thousand cubic metres per hour. The newly built aspiration system will reduce dust emissions by 250 tonnes/year and improve the condition of the Company's workplaces. By maintaining the integrity of the cooling system, the implementation of the above measures throughout the furnace’s exploitation period reduces the risk of productivity declines due to unplanned shutdowns. Changing the design of the bosh will allow work on the blast furnace to be carried out with an increased proportion of pellets, while productivity will increase to 3,900 tonnes/day (compared to 2,477 tonnes/day in 2019). The consumption of natural gas will amount to 132 m3/t of pig iron, while per-unit total coke consumption will amount to 421 kg/t of pig iron (versus 435.4 kg/t in 2019). The use of modern supermicroporous refractories from the company SGL in the lining of the furnace and bream will allow the furnace to work for 15 years until the next major repair of the 1st category. Blast furnace No. 2 was commissioned at MMK in June 1932, a few months after the commissioning of blast furnace No. 1.