ArcelorMittal is making a new attempt to restart blast furnace B at its Gijón plant in Spain. The facility has not produced pig iron normally since last summer’s maintenance shutdown.
After the failed start-up at the end of September, the company began a new BF ignition operation using a complex method.
“On Tuesday, we reintroduced oxypropane technology into the blast furnace,” ArcelorMittal’s spokesperson tells Kallanish. “We are simultaneously usimg two burning bars in two ports to extract the solidified pig iron from within the facility and we will have to wait a couple of days to see the result.”
This process causes significant wear and tear on the facility, as it requires drilling into the furnace crucible.
According to workers’ representatives, BF B production could stabilise between the end of January and the first week of February, if the start-up is successful, with the first pig iron smelting taking place at the end of December.
At a recent meeting with trade unions, the company’s management denied it was planning to carry out the cooling and subsequent emptying of BF B, citing the high costs involved and the length of the process, which would take at least three months.
