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Out with the old blast furnace, in with the new… in 100 days

Date Posted: July 6 2007

DEARBORN - Steel making at the Ford Rouge has continued unabated since the complex was opened in the 1920s - and with a $300 million investment to upgrade one of its two blast furnaces, the plant will continue to show its mettle.

Ford no longer owns the steel making processes at the Rouge - SeverStal North America bought out the operation several years ago. But the Russian company has performed several major upgrades of the steel making process, including the ongoing replacement work for the C Blast Furnace.

"There have been a number of modifications over the years to C furnace, but SeverStal decided it's time to replace it," said Andy Payne of Metro Industrial Contracting. "The new furnace is going to have features that didn't exist when this one was built - a new pump house, new turbo-blowers, and all the latest technology."

The construction process is being led by contractors Graycor (the general contractor), Metro Industrial, Power Process Piping, and Triangle Electric. Approximately 540 Hardhats are currently working on the project, a number which will soon increase to about 800, with the workforce toiling 24 hours in two shifts.

Work began on the new blast furnace nine months ago, although planning for the job has been going on for 18 months.

"We looked at many different options over the last few years, from minimal repair to completely replacing the C Blast Furnace," said Dave Morris, manager of engineering for SeverStal. "We concluded that the best value scenario for us is to replace the furnace."

The C Furnace, which is about 50 years old, is active today even as its replacement is being constructed in five major sections in nearby lay-down areas. But on July 13, the old furnace will be shut down, cleared of materials inside, cooled with water, and tested for the presence of gas. After a two-day cool-down period, the trades expect to start tearing down the furnace and have it dismantled in less than two weeks.

One hundred days later, SeverStal should have a modern new blast furnace in place. "It will be one of the most modern blast furnaces in the nation," Morris said. The new furnace, he said will increase production by 20 percent and reduce operating costs with the ability to use pulverized coal instead of costlier natural gas for fuel. Environmental controls on the new furnace are also expected to capture 98-100 percent of polluting emissions during casting operations.

(In the meantime, the site's other blast furnace - "B" - which dates to 1921, will continue to be in operation).

Performing the heavy lifting on the project are a 300-foot tower crane (which Payne said is the largest in North America) and a 340-foot Manitowac 21000. The Manitowac will hoist the project's five heaviest picks, which will come in at about 450 tons each.

"One of our concerns going into the job was that we have the right number of best quality, knowledgeable craftspeople for the project, and the building trades have done that," Morris said. "We have a high level of confidence with the team we have in place with our contractors and workers. You can see that they've done a lot of work already, and they've done an excellent job."

Including the new furnace, SeverStal has several ongoing or planned construction projects through 2009 that will result in the total expenditure of $750 million to enhance its steelmaking operations.

When all is said and done, SeverStal will look to enjoy a 20-year "campaign" of service for the new furnace. "I visited a blast furnace in Canada that will be similar to this one," Payne said. "It was clean, quiet, the emissions were very low, and they were producing more steel."

Added Scott Glasgow, field superintendent for Power Process Piping: "We have a short amount of time to work with, 100 days, but we're going to get it done. We work together here and there's a lot f teamwork."

The blast furnace, which operates at about 2,300 degrees, is the first step in producing steel from iron ore. Pig iron that is produced in a blast furnace is taken to a basic oxygen furnace, and then refined into a higher grade of steel. SeverStal final product is flat-rolled steel, sold mostly to the automotive industry.

Construction challenges ahead, Payne said, include the "ambitious" schedule and the "enormous" lifts.
"The B Furnace will be in operation, and that isn't going to bother us, but we'll be working within the tight quarters at this site," Payne said. "We've had 18 months to plan and think through the process, and we have skilled people and good contractors in place who know what they're doing. The major parts of the new furnace are here, it's just a matter of coordinating the people and the pieces."

THE "C" BLAST FURNACE, part of SeverStal steelmaking operation at the Rouge Plant in Dearborn, dominates the right side of the photo. Much of the C Furnace dates to the late 1940s, but the building trades will start dismantling the structure beginning next week. In its place: a new, cleaner, more environmentally-friendly blast furnacethat will work more efficiently and produce more iron.
PUTTING A GRINDER to a six-inch, schedule 8 high-pressure nitrogen pipe is Rich Mitchell of Pipe Fitters Local 636. At the other end of the pipe is 636er Steve Klein. Both were working for Power Process Piping at the SeverStal "C" Blast Furnace site in Dearborn.