ArcelorMittal Zenica cuts dust emissions with upgrades

ArcelorMittal’s Bosnia-based Zenica long steelworks has completed two major environmental overhauls that will contribute to improved air quality, the company says.

A second hybrid filter has been installed in the sinter plant, cutting dust emissions from sinter machine No.6 to below 10 mg/Nm3, a level which is well within EU standards. It is also far below the 50mg/Nm3 legal limit in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company also marked the completion of the installation of the secondary dedusting system at its oxygen converter.

Total investment amounted to €5.1 million ($6m), Kallanish notes. Putting the entire system into operation and testing the equipment is currently underway, and on course for completion before the end of 2020.

The company is also in the process of installing new gas boilers for a new combined heat and power plant that will provide greener energy to the city of Zenica.

In 2017, ArcelorMittal Zenica became the first steel plant in the world to have industrial-scale hybrid filtration technology installed in its sinter plant, the enterprise claims.

The company resumed production at the end of May after ten days of stoppage due to low demand provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic (see Kallanish passim).

Zenica produced 800,000 tonnes of crude steel in 2019, up 14% on-year. Several new investments are expected in the coming years to continue improving the environmental footprint of the plant by reducing emissions.