South Korean steel producer Posco has started the maintenance of its No. 4 blast furnace on April 29th and expects to resume production at the end of June. The blast furnace, which was completed in 1981 and has an internal volume of 3,795 cubic-meters, was later upgraded to an internal volume of 5,600 cubic-meters in 2007.
Posco plans to invest KRW 530 billion ($385 million) in this maintenance project.
The focus of the overhaul is to restore performance and establish stable production by upgrading old equipment, expand safety by enhancing durability, and use big data and artificial intelligence to establish an intelligent blast furnace smelting system.
The blast furnace has a capacity of 5.3 million tonnes per year. In addition, the steel mill will conduct a half-month maintenance of its No.1 hot strip mill with a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per year.
