Fundia Wire Oy’s Koverhar steel mill stepped up the quantity of the oil injected into the blast furnace, thus boosting its use of energy by replacing the more expensive coke with cheaper, extremely heavy fuel oil that in normal environmental temperatures is in a solid state. Etteplan’s Oulu office planned implementation of the oil-oxygen injection system in 2000.

The project doubled the amount of oil to be injected from the previous level of approximately 60 kg/tHM to 120 kg/tHM.

The conversion required the renewal of the ring pipelines at shaft and tuyère levels as well as renewal of feeding equipment for oil, steam and gas at tuyère level. The automation system was updated to bring about more efficient oil injection. At the same time, construction took place on new electric and automation facilities and an equipment platform for the blast furnace.