In the energy sector of Kamet-Steel, one of the most extensive repairs of the year is underway. In November, under the 2024 program, the AKAr-40/35 air distribution unit went into a 50-day overhaul.
The purpose of the modern air distribution unit, which was commissioned in 2007, is to provide technological processes of steel-making and blast furnace departments with air separation products, primarily oxygen, nitrogen, and argon. The capacity according to the data sheet of AKAr-40/35 is 40,000 m³/hour of nitrogen and 35,000 m³/hour of oxygen.
The unit also produces krypton and xenon and neon and helium mixtures, which the enterprise sells to external consumers.
Repairmen are completing preparation for a complete replacement of the adsorbent – a highly dispersed material for purifying air from moisture and carbon dioxide, which negatively affect the productivity and quality of air distribution. The adsorbers have already been cleaned of the old material, and specialists are repairing internal metal structures of large diameter. Afterward, "fresh" zeolite and aluminum oxide, already delivered to the plant in full volume, will be loaded into the complex cleaning unit.
They are also performing cleaning and repair of the air pre-cooling system in this part of the unit.
No less important is the set of measures to restore cryogenic equipment, including the expander, which is the "heart" of the unit, focused directly on the air separation process. Now qualified specialists are completing a revision of the main assemblies and parts – impellers and shaft.
The main tasks of this year's overhaul are primarily concentrated on the complex cleaning unit, where air preparation for the distribution process is carried out.
Andrii PYSMENNYI, Head of the Oxygen Compressor Shop:
“Our key task during the major overhaul of the modern AKAr-40/35 air separation unit is to restore the operational parameters in its data sheet and extend its operational period. This will allow us to meet the enterprise's requirements for technical oxygen, nitrogen, and high-quality hydrogen, as well as manufacture additional products to fulfil customer requests, providing extra income to Kamet-Steel.”
During the air separation unit major overhaul, the requirements of blast furnace shop and BOF shop for oxygen and nitrogen provision are secured by the two Kar-30 units, brought out of reserve for this period.
