Dniprovskyi Steel (DMZ, formerly Evraz-DMZ), which is part of DCH Steel group of DCH businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi, has transferred heating furnaces of rolling shop #1 to natural gas instead of blast furnace gas due to idle blast furnaces and shortage of coke oven gas.
According to DCH Steel corporate newspaper, two heating furnaces of PC-1 have been switched to natural gas since October 2022, and since January 2023 six furnaces involved in production have already been switched to this energy carrier.
“The energy resource is very expensive, so the focus is on continuous monitoring of natural gas costs per ton of production for each well. Thus, we strive to monitor how different indicators influence specific gas consumption: technical condition of the equipment, duration of air alarms, during which the metal is in the furnace overtime, human factor and others,” explains Director for Quality and Technology Yuriy Kravchenko, who is quoted by the newspaper.
According to him, the situation is analyzed on a daily basis and optimal solutions are developed. In particular, in January the target indicator of natural gas utilization was reached and there is a potential for its reduction.
“It is clear that the transfer of furnaces to natural gas is a forced decision, but this way we ensure the work of PC-1 and its independence from domestic resources, as there is no blast furnace gas, and coke is not enough due to small production volumes at KHP (coke oven division),” states Kravchenko.
And added that blast furnace production is currently idle due to a shortage of raw materials and blocked ports. In this case, the rolling mills are working on give-and-take raw materials, in particular, the first rolling campaign at PC-1 started on January 18, 2023.
DCH specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled steel and products from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to purchase Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
Sukhaya Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It mines iron ore using the underground method. The mine includes the Yubileynaya and Frunze shafts. Frunze.
DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
