Ansteel Starts Up its Largest Blast Furnace in Northeastern China

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel) (Anshan, Liaoning) has begun to deliver air from the Blast Furnace 1 unit in the Bayuquan Iron and Steel Project, located in Liaoning province in northeastern China, Ansteel announced on August 21. The company also began operation of a sinter unit on August 16. The blast furnace is currently Ansteel's largest as well as the most advanced, with an effective volume of 4,038 cubic meters and an annual designed production capacity of 3.25 million tons.

The project's total planned production capacity of iron and steel is 10 million tons. In Phase I, Ansteel will invest $3.27 billion to build a 5 million-ton sheet material production line with two blast furnaces shared by the facilities. Zhongye Changtian International Engineering Company Limited (Changsha), a subsidiary of the Metallurgic Corporation of China (MCC) (Beijing) and the former Changsha Design Institute of Metallurgic and Mining Engineering, is responsible for the design and engineering of the project.

After 10 days of being online, the device for air delivery in Blast Furnace 1 will be dismantled and prepared for ignition. Drilling for tap holes could begin soon.

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