As part of this year's major overhauls of the BOF shop's main equipment at Kamet-Steel, considerable attention has been paid to enhancing equipment reliability at the steel ladle treatment site. Recently, shop specialists have completed a comprehensive overhaul of ladle furnace No. 1 through coordinated teamwork.
The overhaul focused on replacing the water-cooled roof of the ladle furnace – a key unit designed to prevent secondary oxidation of metal during heating and purging with inert gas. The quality of processed steel largely depends on the stable operation of this roof. This component also prevents thermal ejections of slag and metal from the ladle during smelting.
Yevhenii TKATSEVYCH, Senior Production Foreman of the steel ladle treatment site in the BOF shop, explained:
"After dismantling, diagnosing, and inspecting the cooling elements of the water-cooled roof, we decided to restore the existing equipment rather than purchase new components, which resulted in significant cost savings. Our colleagues from the metallurgical equipment repair shop replaced damaged elements of the roof. Through the combined efforts of various departmental teams, we assembled this crucial component, installed hydraulic cylinders, performed alignment, diagnostics, and testing, as well as connected all necessary utilities. Thus, we increased the reliability of water-cooled elements, which will help us avoid emergency shutdowns and unscheduled equipment downtime that could lead to production losses.
As part of the major overhaul, we also upgraded infrastructure equipment that can only be accessed during a ladle furnace shutdown, specifically replacing the steel ladle carrier.
Electrical service specialists inspected components of the 35 kW transformer, carried out restoration work on the transformer cooling reactor, and independently replaced a vacuum chamber to ensure trouble-free power supply to ladle furnace No. 1.
To date, the ladle furnace No. 1 is operating stably, fulfilling production tasks alternately with ladle furnace No. 2."
