COMMISSIONING OF NO. 5 BLAST FURNACE AT PORT KEMBLA.

Present capacity for molten iron production at Port Kembla is an average of 13 000 t/day from five blast furnaces. The most recently installed blast furnace, No. 5, was commissioned in March 1972 with a design capacity of 4 500 t/day. For the first reline currently scheduled for 1977, plans are being finalized for significant modifications and uprating of capacity. Achievement of the initial design capacity from No. 5 blast furnace on a sustained bases was not realized until the third year of operation. Although the furniture is only 42% larger than No. 4 blast furnace on an inner volume basis, the more stringent raw materials, operation and maintenance requirements of the larger furnace and more complex equipment have been found to be much more critical than anticipated in the planning stages. The problem areas include the failure of the shower cooled bosh, failure of the upper shaft brickwork, sludge deposition in cigar coolers, dustcatcher blockages, tuyere stock limitations to blast temperature, taphole clay and machinery inadequacies, hot metal ladle availability and coke quality.