15 August 2012
The first phase of investment project “New air separation unit construction (ASU-1400) at Yenakiieve Steel”, being implemented together with Air Liquide, French company, is coming to the end. On August, 14th the first truck train with metal column of 54 meters height for producing crude argon arrived to the enterprise site. Weight of such non-standard equipment is 74 tonnes.
New ASU of Yenakiieve Steel is going to become the first Ukrainian-French outsourcing project on industrial gases supply. Investments poured into the project by Metinvest amount to USD 30m, and Air Liquide will earmark USD 110m. This is the largest sum of foreign investments ever lured into steelmaking of Ukraine. ASU start-up is scheduled for 2014.
This argon column was manufactured, tested and tailored for Yenakiievo Steel. Such solid non-standard equipment was transferred by the sea to Mariupol, where it was met by the truck train of Kharkovspetstyazhtrans, a transport company. It took the whole two days to deliver this equipment to Yenakiievo. Shippers told that delivering such non-standard cargoes as the argon column for Yenakiieve Steel could be performed within Ukraine and CIS only 2-3 times a year.
Four more non-standard equipment of different weight will be delivered to the ASU construction site till the end of this year. In line with Air Liquide’s requirements Yenakiieve Steel has prepared a lay-down area abutting to the Works site and a road, meant for cargoes transportation, given soil density requirements.
It should be reminded that project “New air separation unit (ASU-1400) construction at Yenakiieve Steel” is being implemented within the long-term agreement signed between Metinvest Group and Air Liquide (France) in June 2011.
According to the agreement, battery limits for project implementation were defined for Ukrainian and French parts. The task of Yenakiieve Steel, Metinvest Group, is to prepare lay-down and construction areas, as well as unit external infrastructure. French company will concern itself with state-of-the-art unit construction for generating air separation products (oxygen, argon and nitrogen), which are required for Yenakiieve Steel BF and BOF Shops processes. This unit is to be equipped with cutting-edge safety control systems. ASU-1400 capacity will amount to 40 Km3 of oxygen per hour.
With this project 30 high-tech and comfortable working places will be created in Yenakiievo. Air Liquide intends to hire Yenakiievo citizens and train them at the company’s own expense.