Step by step, ThyssenKrupp Stahl is carrying out the €62 million investment agreed with the North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Ministry in April 2001 to reduce dust pollution in the north of Duisburg. €15 million of the total was invested in an encapsulation and dust collection system for sinter belt 3 in Schwelgern.
Step by step, ThyssenKrupp Stahl is carrying out the €62 million investment agreed with the North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Ministry in April 2001 to reduce dust pollution in the north of Duisburg. €15 million of the total was invested in an encapsulation and dust collection system for sinter belt 3 in Schwelgern. The new sinter plant equipment began operating today. 'We expect this major investment to deliver the greatest positive environmental impact out of the total package. It will reduce dust emissions from this critical area to almost zero,' said Dr. Hans-Ulrich Lindenberg, Executive Board Member of ThyssenKrupp Stahl AG responsible for the Steelmaking/Plate Division.In the sinter plant, ore fines purchased from overseas are prepared for charging in the blast furnace. The ore particles are fused together at high temperatures to form lumps, or sinter. The finished sinter emerges from the process at a temperature of 800°C and is cooled to 200°C in giant rotary coolers. These employ very large volumes of air which pick up large quantities of dust particles. To stem this source of emissions, the rotary cooler on sinter belt 3 has been fitted with a steel cover. This allows a very large amount of dust-containing air to be captured and later cleaned. Around 1.4 million m3 of air per hour is extracted via a 6.2 m diameter pipe big enough to drive a truck through. The air is piped to an electrostatic precipitator the size of an apartment building, with a collection surface area of 32,000 m2. 99.7% of the dust contained in the raw gas is collected.. Since then, 2,400 tons of steel have been used to build the electrostatic precipitator, raw and clean gas pipes and ancillary equipment. Similar sophisticated equipment is already installed on sinter belt 4, and belt 2 will follow next year. Both are considerably smaller than the unit which has now been modernized. |
