Russian steelmaker NLMK Group has announced that it has started to install equipment for a pulverized coal injection (PCI) facility at the two largest and most productive blast furnaces at its Lipetsk plant, namely blast furnace No. 6 with a capacity of 3.1 million mt of pig iron per year and blast furnace No. 7 with a capacity of 4.3 million mt per year.
According to NLMK, the new PCI facility is an integral part of its overall Strategy 2017 program to boost operational efficiency and cut costs by reducing the consumption of expensive coke by approximately 30 percent and by reducing the consumption of natural gas by more than 50 percent.
The company expects to launch the new PCI facility in the first half of 2017. Capital expenditure for the PCI project for the two blast furnaces will amount to RUB 6.5 billion ($98.02 million).