Russian steelmaker MMK Group has announced that its group company Shlakservis LLC has invested about RUB 3 billion ($34.68 million) to build a waterless cooling system for blast furnace slag aimed at eliminating the release of hydrogen sulfide and reducing dust emissions into the atmosphere by 50 percent.
Before the construction of the new system, blast furnace slag was cooled with water, emitting a lot of hydrogen sulfide and dust. However, with the commissioning of the new system, the company will be able to cool slag without water, significantly reducing its impact on the environment.
“The new site will allow us to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by approximately 100 mt per year and completely eliminate hydrogen sulfide emissions. The slag will cool down to ambient temperature on its own. After that, it will be loosened with the help of excavators and loaded onto vehicles for further processing. It is important that during the loosening process we will minimize dust emissions, since our vehicles are equipped with dust suppression systems,” Sergey Masyanov, director of Shlakservis LLC, commented.