OREANDA-NEWS. February 01, 2013. NLMK’s main production site in Lipetsk, continues to hot test its new dedusting systems and high-capacity new-generation filters at the hot metal pouring section in BOF Shop No.2 – one of major sources of graphite emissions into the air. The new equipment will reduce the dust load of waste gases by 7.5 times, bringing the dedusting rate up to 99%.

Nitrogen will be used to protect the hot metal flow to reduce dust levels.  With the 40% increase in the Shop’s production capacity, this project will not only prevent an increase in air emissions, it will also reduce the cumulative dust discharge from those sources by 60%.

The environmental project capex as part of NLMK's Technical Upgrade Programme amounted to approximately RUB550 million. Another section of BOF production will be equipped with such dust collection and cleaning systems in the future.

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Since the launch of its Technical Upgrade Programme in 2000, Novolipetsk has implemented over 280 projects aimed at reducing air emissions, worth almost RUB17 billion.  As a result, the Company’s environmental footprint has reduced by 22%, and specific emissions have been cut by almost 50% to 22.7 kg/t. The total environmental capex is approximately RUB22.5 billion.