OREANDA-NEWS. A new ring heating furnace has been commissioned at INTERPIPE NIKO TUBE. The equipment, manufactured by German Loi Thermprocess Company, serves to heat steel billets before rolling. The signifcant advantages of the new furnace include high production capacity, energy efficiency, and reduction in metal consumption. With an investment into this project in the amount of USD 20 million, the ring furnace is unique in Ukraine.

Through its investment programme, INTERPIPE continues to modernize its production facilities and enhance energy efficiency and labour productivity at its enterprises. This is despite the current economic climate.

Production capacity of the new furnace will be 325 thousand tons of billets a year, exceeding the rates of the old furnace by an additional 50%. Additionally, the new equipment reduced electric power consumption by one third, and specifically reduces consumption of natural gas for the heating of 1 ton of billets by 20%.

Further, the new furnace reduces scale formation during the billet heating process by 1.5%, ensuring a cutback in the metal discharge coefficient.

All pipe products, made at the No 2 tube-rolling shop within the diameter range of 159-325 mm, will go through the new ring furnace. Casing and line pipes produced at the No 2 tube-rolling shop are marketed in 20 countries around the world, including Austria, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

“Over the last several years INTERPIPE NIKO TUBE has been the centre of large-scale transformations. We have invested USD 60 million into the modernization of our production facilities, and we have also invested money into our people - in new working clothes, personal service rooms, catering, and the training centre, - said Vladimir Gornstein, INTERPIPE NIKO TUBE Supervisory Board Chairman. - The most important thing we have managed to achieve is the change in attitude of people towards their work. Our priority now is to offer a top quality competitive product to the market”.