The key department manufacturing merchant products at Metinvest Central Iron Ore, namely the pelletising plant, undergoes a major overhaul every six months. Specialists carry out a number of planned activities to restore or replace process equipment during this period. During the last shutdown, essential work was completed on the conveyor system and the induration machine.
The key tasks carried out during the autumn major overhaul included the replacement of conveyor belts and refractory lining.
"Overall, we mounted belts on seven conveyors, which are used at the plant to transport the charge, green pellets, and fired pellets. As part of the replacement of the induration machine lining, we used 120 tonnes of refractory materials," said Andrii IVANOV, Deputy Head for Engineering of the pelletising plant at Central Iron Ore.
In order to conduct repair works at the pelletising plant, employees of the plant and Central Iron Ore's maintenance service shop were involved, particularly mechanical repair section No. 1 and scheduled repairs and major overhaul section No. 4. The repair employees worked around the clock without days off to meet the established timeframe.
"Our department carries out maintenance and repair of equipment across all shops of the enterprise, so we can say that our people are true all-round specialists. A distinctive feature of the latest overhaul at the pelletising plant was that, for the first time, we replaced Venturi pipes No. 2 and No. 3 of the D-2 smoke exhauster. Previously, we had only repaired them. Also, employees of the section No. 4 were involved in replacing the rims of disc pelletisers No. 73 and No. 75. I would like to acknowledge the excellent performance and initiative shown during the major overhaul by section mechanics Denys Kudin and Artem Tyschenko, as well as maintenance fitters Vitalii Burhart and Viktor Rovetskyi," said Denys ZAVIALOV, Head of the section No. 4 of the Central Iron Ore maintenance service shop.
Following the completion of the scheduled works, a commissioning and acceptance procedure was carried out with the participation of representatives of the pelletising plant, the maintenance service shop, the mechanical service, and occupational health and safety specialists. Currently, the pelletising plant equipment is operating smoothly and at full capacity.
"The pelletising plant of Central Iron Ore systematically ensures the proper technical condition of its equipment. We carry out comprehensive maintenance and repairs of the entire production complex twice a year. Timely replacement and modernisation of the process chain allow us to consistently manufacture high-quality products for our customers and serve as a reliable pillar of Ukraine’s economy," said Andrii ZHYLKINSKYI, Head of the pelletising plant at Central Iron Ore.
