|
|
Six months of successful operation of first commercial Finex plant at Posco, Korea
Oct 26, 2007
Tapping of hot metal for the first time from the Finex plant, Pohang, Korea
-> Click the image to see video.
|
During the first six months of operation more than 650,000 tons of hot metal were tapped from the first commercial Finex plant at Posco's Pohang Works in Korea. The nominal melting rate of 180 tons per hour was achieved within several weeks following the initial start-up. The quality of the hot metal fully satisfied the requirements for subsequent processing in Posco’s steel works right from the start of production.
The Finex process, jointly developed by Posco and Siemens Metals Technologies, allows for the use of low-cost iron-ore fines and non-coking coal. This reduces hot-metal production costs by approximately 15% in comparison with the blast-furnace route. At the same time, environmental emissions are significantly reduced.
"Finex technology offers producers the potential to further reduce ironmaking costs with an environmentally compatible technology," comments Dr. Johannes Schenk, responsible for the development of the Finex process at Siemens Metals Technologies. "With consideration to the further optimization capability of the process, Finex thus has the potential to revolutionize the iron and steel industry, similar to other breakthrough technologies such as the LD (BOF) steelmaking and continuous casting processes."
The first commercial Finex plant with a capacity of 1.5 million t/a was built at Posco’s Pohang Works. In August 2004, a contract was signed with Siemens Metals Technologies for the engineering of this plant. This was preceded by the successful operation of a demonstration plant in Pohang with a nominal capacity of 800,000 t/a of hot metal, which was the result of the joint development of the Finex process since 1992.
The excellent production parameters that were already achieved in the Finex demonstration plant have been generally equaled or surpassed by the Finex 1.5M Industrial Plant. Currently, activities are focusing on further optimizing the process with the goal to reduce the already excellent hot-metal unit costs. Export gas from the Finex plant is used primarily for the generation of electric energy in a highly efficient combined-cycle power plant owned by Posco.
According to Dr. Schenk, the close cooperation with Posco was the key to the success of the first commercial Finex plant. "The Finex Process is an outstanding example of a successful cooperation between a plant operator and a plant builder. Thanks to the pooling of Posco´s and Siemens´ strengths, a highly cost-competitive and environmentally friendly technology could be developed for the iron and steel industry on the basis of low-cost iron-ore fines and non-coking coal."
 Follow this link to see
-> video of first tapping of hot metal from the new Finex Commercial Plant at Posco's Pohang Works, Korea.
Additional information on the Finex-process is available at -> Siemens-VAI website.
In addition, make sure to read these articles:
Posco to expand Pohang, Korea, steel works
Heavy-plate rolling mill for Posco Gwangyang works, South Korea
Processing line for stainless steel: Posco orders special equipment and electrical systems
Successful start-up of first LiquiRob robot system at Posco, Korea
Six months of successful operation of first commercial Finex plant at Posco, Korea
Posco places order for world's first continuous tandem mill with 18-high stand technology
Posco orders continuous caster for blooms
Posco will upgrade Pohang and Gwangyang pickling lines
Stable supply of iron ores from Australia secured
Posco: Improvements Completed in Plate Mill II
|
 top of page
back
Tell a friend
print
read times
© 2007 GRIPS media GmbH All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
|
|
 All external sites will open in a new browser.
GRIPS media does not endorse external sites.
|
|
