A sludge drying and retention station at the Steel Melting Shop, aimed at protecting the environment, reducing the consumption of raw materials and water was commissioned and passed the final tests, reveals a release received by energynomics.ro.
The state-of-the-art technology, amounting 1.8 million euro, will allow the company to reintroduce in production at least 26,000 tonnes of dry sludge per year, as raw material and reduce the water consumption by 400 cubic meters/hour. The project was done in collaboration with NALCO Company, which will operate the equipment and process.
“This investment brings a positive impact on the environment, allowing us, at the same time, to reduce the Plant’s costs, by increasing our economic efficiency”, said Bruno Ribo, Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal Galati.
“The new technology recycles the sludge, reintroducing it into the production process, and, – thus – reducing the consumption of raw materials and water. This way, the Plant continues its commitment to increase efficiency of its operations and the competiveness of the business, as part of the Transformation Programme ARC 2015+.”
The new equipment reduces the solid suspensions from the water evacuated in Malina Pond, recovers the sludge resulted from the gas purification process and uses it as a by-product in the sintering process.
Given the fact that the sludge contains 45% iron, the sludge retention station reduces the iron ore consumption, while also allowing the second use of the water obtained from the sludge retaining process. At the same time, given the equipment’s placement near the purification tanks, the fuel consumption, necessary for the sludge transport, would be reduced.
