OREANDA-NEWS. Petrostal, the subsidiary of Kirovsky Zavod, streamlined the operations of its steelmaking production. With the usage of open hearth furnaces the company is able to increase monthly steel smelting by 4,000 tons, while the overall steel output grows by 3,000 tons.

It is the first time in recent years that the metallurgical plant Petrostal has utilized four open hearth furnaces. The improved productivity of the furnace workshop was achieved due to reducing the duration of quarterly repair and maintenance of the steelmaking equipment. The enterprise streamlined its logistics, labor and other processes among the repairing and construction services and was able to reach a twofold reduction of the furnace maintenance standstill.

With the maximal charge of its steelmaking equipment Petrostal can increase its monthly steel smelting by 4,000 tons, while the overall steel output will grow by 3,000 tons. The new technological process will provide an additional 48,000 tons of steel per annum. In 2012 the overall steel output reached 310,000 tons, and the output in 2013 is estimated to grow by 11 percent.

The increase of Petrostal's steel output will help drive down the energy consumption per ton, which, in its turn, will reduce its prime cost and increase the profitability of the enterprise. Furthermore, the optimization of the operations will help enhance the efficiency of the Kirov Group's metallurgical sector.

As part of the program for increasing the efficiency and production activity and reducing non-production costs Petrostal previously implemented the first industrial project in installing an energy-saving lighting system in its oxygen workshop. Currently the enterprise is launching the manufacturing execution system (MES) to synchronize, coordinate, analyze and optimize the production output of its rolling-mill shop.