Gusa Nordeste commissions its green steel plant
Russula supplied the complete water treatment solution, consisting of both pretreatment and process water treatment, for Gusa Nordeste’s new 420,000 tpy steelmaking plant. At the end of 2015, Gusa Nordeste, part of the Ferroeste Group, commissioned its steelmaking plant. Located in the city of Açailândia, in the western part of the Maranhão state in Northern Brazil, the new melt shop adds 420,000 tons per year of billet production to Brazil’s steel sector.
Russula supplied the complete water treatment solution, which consisted of both pretreatment and process water treatment. From October 2015 on, a Russula engineering team was on-site to supervise the water trials. Hot commissioning began when the first billet was casted in Gusa Nordeste’s three strands CCM towards the end of December.
Russula successfully delivered the entire water treatment solution on schedule. All of the equipment, basic and detailed civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, installation supervision, commissioning support and training were included in the scope of supply.
About 50% of a typical integrated steel facility’s energy input comes from coal, 35% from electricity, 5% from natural gas and 5% from other gasses. The production of one ton of pig iron using coking coal in a Blast Furnace emits approximately 1.8 tons of CO2. As the world economies attempt to wean themselves from fossil fuels, companies will have to significantly improve energy efficiency and start to harness power from alternative sources such as waste heat from factories. Gusa Nordeste has done just that. This is one of the first steel projects in the world that is authentically ¨Green¨ because fossil fuels are not used at any time during the production process.
Russula’s water treatment solutions focus on two important aspects of green technologies, optimize energy efficiency and minimize water consumption. In line with the Green Steel energy saving philosophy, Russula installed high efficiency motors driven by variable speed drives as required by rolling mill operations or motor power. The end result was a reduction in power consumption as well as the CO2 footprint.
Additionally, the water system was designed to recover as much blowdown and discharge water as possible. This reduces the consumption of water and chemicals required, which helps Gusa Nordeste to be less dependent on external water sources.
