Celsa Atlantic, the rolling and processing mill in northern Spain controlled by Celsa Steel, is working on a new energy efficiency plan for its A Laracha plant, Kallanish notes.
The steelmaker is updating its environmental permit and is looking into reusing the hot gases from the main electric arc furnace to reduce natural gas consumption, cut carbon emissions, and harness the energy potential of its existing infrastructure.
“We are carrying out tests and calculations to implement a system that will redirect the hot gases emitted by furnace No.1 and use them to preheat billets before they enter the rolling mill,” the company says in its Integrated Environmental Authorisation (AAI) report.
“Under this measure, the gases would no longer be discharged directly but would instead pass through a preheating chamber before being released through the chimney of furnace No.2,” it adds.
The A Laracha plant is currently operating well below its installed capacity. The facility has two rolling mills and two furnaces with a combined steelmaking capacity of 1 million tonnes/year. However, due to weak market conditions, furnace No.2 has been idled, reducing the plant’s utilisation to around 28%, according to the report.
Celsa Atlantic produces light long products for the construction sector, rolling mainly billet sourced from the group’s EAF mill in France.
