WHEELING, W.Va., May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wheeling-Pittsburgh
Steel Corporation (Nasdaq: WPSC) began using a new metallic heat exchanger on
its No. 1 Blast Furnace on April 12. The device, which pre-heats blast gas
used in the operation of the blast furnace, is expected to reduce the
consumption of coke by about 3,000 tons per month. The $4 million heat
exchanger is expected to pay for itself in coke savings during the first two
months of its operations. The installation of a metallic heat exchanger is a
first-of-its-kind application in the steel industry.
"The heat exchanger uses surplus blast furnace gas to increase the
temperature of the blast gas to the furnace by 350 degrees," said Harry Page,
Vice President, Engineering, Technology and Metallurgy. "While it is a fairly
simple concept, it has never been used in the steel industry before and will
result in a reduction in our coke usage at a time when coke is selling at
record high prices."
Page notes that the concept was developed internally by the company's
blast furnace operations department.
"The concept was initiated within blast furnace operations and further
developed in cooperation with our engineering group," said Page. "Installation
was completed within five months of project approval, which is a remarkable
accomplishment."
Aker Kvaerner E&C developed the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel concept into a
final design. Alstom provided the heat exchanger and Chapman Corp. performed
the installation.
Hot blast for blast furnaces is normally preheated in refractory stoves,
using blast furnace gas as a fuel source. In the case of the new metallic heat
exchanger, a portion of the blast is heated in this new unit. The
corresponding reduction in air flow through the refractory stoves allow the
blast from the stoves to increase in temperature, effecting an overall
increase in hot blast temperature to the furnace.
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation is a metal products company with
3,100 employees in facilities located in Steubenville, Mingo Junction,
Yorkville, and Martins Ferry, Ohio; Beech Bottom and Follansbee, West
Virginia; and Allenport, Pennsylvania. The company's Wheeling Corrugating
Division has 12 plants located throughout the United States.
Statements in this release that express a belief, expectation or
intention, as well as those which are not historical fact, are forward
looking. They involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which may cause
actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. For
more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation's annual report on Form 10-K for the period
ending December 31, 2003, and other filings, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
SOURCE Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.wpsc.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/967451.html
CONTACT:
Jim Kosowski of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel
Corporation, +1-304-234-2440
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