EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

ArcelorMittal Atlantique et Lorraine BF-2 5th campaign started in 1992 was concluded in 2015 with a total hot metal production of 26 million tons. The furnace was stopped for 129 days, from August to December 2015 for a relining aiming to revamp the top charging system, the hearth, the casting house and the gas cleaning. In terms of top charging system, existing Bell-top with movable armor has been replaced by a compact version of Paul Wurth’s Bell-Less Top®. After the start-up, the operational performance of the blast furnace has been improved, notably the daily productivity, total equivalent coke rate and hot metal quality. During the project, the plant and R&D teams worked together in different steps, from the choice of the best option in terms of design, up to the calibration of the main settings of the system, in order to optimize the charging parameters. Such a close cooperation between the industrial site and the R&D was very important for the project success. This paper aims to describe the different steps of the revamping and to show how a more efficient control of the burden distribution is essential to improve the operational indicators.