In a statement, the firm said repairs on the No. 3 blast furnace were initiated after a hearth assessment revealed some areas that were in a critical state. Repairs were carried out during a 34-day outage and were completed by the beginning of July. 

The scope of work included engineering and execution of the salamander tapping, engineering of the hearth lining repairs and supply of the refractories. 

“The new refractory configuration selected by Paul Wurth was a tailor-made combination of a silicon carbide-based unshaped material as hot face lining and a monolithic carbon block in the taphole area surrounded by small carbon bricks, all suitably shaped to ensure a proper connection with the remaining carbon lining.”

Paul Wurth said repair work was enabled by a high degree of cooperation between the firm and the plant. 

The firm’s full announcement can be found here.