Bethlehem's
"L" Furnace and Basic
Oxygen Furnace (BOF) Resume
Operations at Sparrows Point
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
For Immediate Release
SPARROWS POINT, Md., August 17, 1999 - - "L" blast furnace at Bethlehem Steel�s Sparrows Point Division was re-lighted and will begin producing molten iron early on Thursday, August 19, 1999 following a $100-million, two-month-long renovation, Carl W. Johnson, division president, announced today.
"This was a major rehabilitation of all the blast furnace department�s facilities in addition to the reline of "L" furnace. The work included "state-of-the-art" technology, such as a furnace burden profile meter, new process control computers, and extensive full stack cooling to accommodate pulverized coal injection", Mr. Johnson said. "We expect the furnace to operate more than 12 years before another reline would be considered, thus establishing a low investment per ton of capacity. With this project completed and several others due to conclude soon, we will be well prepared for the next century."
"L" blast furnace, the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere when it began production in 1978, cast its last molten metal in early June. The refractory brick lining of the furnace�s interior was then removed and replaced. During its last campaign, the furnace produced 29,000,000 tons of iron following a similar reline in 1990.
The furnace�s electric controls were upgraded to programmable logic controllers. Other areas of the furnace, such as environmental pollution control equipment, were rehabilitated to reduce the creation of wastes. All of the furnace systems were reconditioned during the outage.
Projects extended to the sinter plan and ore handling facilities, also part of the blast furnace department. Kvaerner Songer Construction Company, Washington, PA., was the prime contractor.
In another improvement project at the site of "L" blast furnace, DTE Energy Services, Ann Arbor, Mich., a wholly owned subsidiary of DTE Energy Company, is constructing a pulverized coal injection facility to provide fuel to "L" furnace. DTE Services will own and operate the new facility, supplying pulverized coal under a 12-year agreement with Bethlehem.
The introduction of coal injection at "L" blast furnace is expected to reduce the division�s coke consumption and result in substantial cost reductions, further improving Sparrows Point�s overall competitiveness. The facility is scheduled to operate next year.
Also resuming operation following a major rehabilitation program is Sparrows Point�s basic oxygen furnace (BOF) shop, which is dependent on molten metal from the blast furnace. The main project at the BOF was the replacement of the hoods above the two furnace vessels. The hoods are the primary air pollution control devices. The new hoods are constant-pressure, constant-temperature systems that will offer better operating performances in the temperature extremes above the furnaces, resulting in more efficient capture and control of particulate emissions and significantly improving their integrity and reliability of the hoods.
Another environmental project at the BOF was the installation of steel doors on the tap side of the furnaces at the charging floor level. These enclosures will further contain the airflow, helping to channel particulate emissions through the hood and scrubber systems. Improvements were also made to the wet-scrubbing and thickener systems.
In addition, new cooling and control systems were added for the oxygen lances, a new automated alloy dispensing system was installed, crane trolleys were replaced on the charging side of the furnace, and structural steel supports were upgraded.
After a long campaign, the No. 1 BOF vessel was re-lined with refractory brick. The previous lining set a corporate record of 17,000 heats of steel.
Located 10 miles south east of Baltimore, Md., at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, Bethlehem Steel�s Sparrows Point Division manufactures hot-and cold-rolled sheets, galvanized sheet, Galvalume� sheet, tin mill products and semi-finished steel. The division shipped 3.2 million tons of products in 1998.