The Coil — Sheet Steel Blog

ArcelorMittal Dofasco is Restoring, Renewing and Innovating

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(Taken with permission from ArcelorMittal Dofasco's Steel Design, Spring 2015 issue and the ArcelorMittal Dofasco blog)

Between 2011 and 2016, ArcelorMittal Dofasco is making $700 million in new capital investment in both primary (steelmaking) and finishing facilities.

Reinvesting in our assets has been a common theme in ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s history. From taking a chance on producing tin in the 1920s, to being the first in North America to invest in oxygen steelmaking, to our more recent efforts to increase our Electric Arc Furnace’s capability to accept varying ratios of scrap and liquid iron, we have a long history of continuously improving our facilities through ingenuity and investment. Today, there are three major active projects in the Finishing areas of our operations, including:

  • No. 6 Galvanize Line ($120 million)
  • No. 3 Temper Mill ($33 million) and, the most recently announced –
  • No. 4 dual pot Galvanize and Galvalume Line ($55 million).

On the Primary side, we have also begun an $87 million project to restore our No. 2 and No. 3 Coke Plants.

Looking back, in 2010, we wrapped up a $145 million investment with our primary optimization project that saw the addition of pulverized coal injection in Ironmaking, the increase of hot metal usage in the Electric Arc Furnace and the restart of the No. 3 Blast Furnace.

These investments are a testament to the strong performance of ArcelorMittal Dofasco and our ability to execute projects within scope, on schedule and on budget.

Leadership in Energy Efficiency

ArcelorMittal Dofasco currently has 10 Energy projects underway with incentives from the IESO. Two projects include:

  • The No.2 Turbo Generator project consisted of installing a refurbished 12.5 MW steam turbine generator to use surplus steam to produce electricity. This project created approximately 82,000 person-hours of employment and is anticipated to result in 49,000 MWh of annual electricity savings. The Generator launched in April.
  • President and CEO Sean Donnelly announced the launch of the Utilities Boiler and Power Generation project which see three existing boilers replaced by one high efficiency boiler as well as a Turbine Generator. The system will use waste gases from the steelmaking process to produce steam to generate electricity. Slated to be completed at the end of 2018, this project is estimated to create 80,000 person-hours of employment and is anticipated to result in about 129,000 MWh of annual electricity savings.

New dual pot Galvanize – Galvalume Line

The most recent Finishing project to be announced is the dual-pot configuration for No. 4 line, with the capability of producing both Galvalume and Galvanize products. Our planned completion is early 2016. Together, the No. 4 Galvanize/Galvalume and No. 6 Galvanize lines will eventually replace our No. 2 Galvanize and No.1 Galvalume lines while the No. 3 Temper Mill will replace both the 2-66” and 5-56” Temper Mills.

Our revamped No. 4 line will provide ArcelorMittal Dofasco and our customers with a world class line capable of producing high quality Galvalume and Galvanize products, featuring pre-paint quality with superior surface and flatness. The line will be capable of producing a wide range of thicknesses including one of the heaviest thicknesses for Galvalume available in North America as well as a broad width capability.

Restoring

“Our restorative work is well underway,” says Sean Donnelly, President and CEO. “The goal is to continuously improve our safety, efficiency and environmental performance. There isn’t an end to our efforts as we feel we can always improve, even if those improvements come in smaller and smaller increments. To do this we have a number of approaches including one time capital improvements, improved operating practices as well as normal annual repair, maintenance and capital investment budgets.