OREANDA-NEWS. May 09, 2014. Flash smelting furnace #2 (FSF-2) is one of two most important aggregates of Nadezhda plant. Capital refurbishment took 60 days.

The aggregate may be compared to a 9-storey building: 32 meters high, 31,3 meters long and 10,1 meters wide. The furnace was practically dissembled down to foundation and erected of new joints changing basic construction elements.

Total weight of assembled and dissembled metal parts amounted to 300 tons, copper caissons, to 350 tons and fireproof lining, to 1350 tons. 30 km of water cooling piping was replaced. The refurbishment was realized by the employees of industrial company Norilsknickelremont.

After the reconstruction the furnace operation did not see any remarkable changes. The aggregate goes on processing 170-220 tons of feed per hour.

At the moment, the furnace passes through a scheduled 15 day warm-up. The gradual procedure comprehends several picks-up temperature control and aggregate’s heat expansion control. Finished the warm-up, the furnace will be commissioned after endorsement of commission act.

The second technological section was also totally decommissioned, said Sergey Yudchenko, deputy head of smelting shop #1 of Nadezhda metallurgical plant. Alongside with the capital refurbishment of the furnace, we restored auxiliary installations of the second technological section. Waste heat boiler, electric filters of drying units and electric filters of the furnace were repaired.

Flash smelting furnace #2 smelts nickel concentrate into matte – alloy of sulphides rich in non-ferrous metals.

Capital refurbishment of the FSF-2 is an important event for the plant and the entire Polar Division. The cyclicity of such large scale processes is 6-7 years. The work done improved the operation of the entire second technological section and will have positive feed-back for the stability of the entire plant operation.