ThyssenKrupp Steel will invest an additional EUR 30 million to reduce particulate pollution in the north of Duisburg, Germany. By mid-2011 the company is to equip its sinter plant in Duisburg-Schwelgern with additional filters to capture particulates and dust-containing off-gases. The EUR 30 million investment in the sinter plant will further reduce the company’s share of particulate emissions. Sinter plants convert fine ore into a coarse-grained material suitable for charging in the blast furnace. The plant at ThyssenKrupp Steel produces around 12 million tons of sinter per year. It already has filters with a total surface area of 150,000sq/m which clean approximately a hundred billion cum of gas per year, with the captured iron-bearing dusts being cycled back to the sinter plant. To improve control of particulate emissions still further, among other things ThyssenKrupp Steel will be installing an additional fabric filter downstream of the existing electrostatic gas cleaners. In addition, new high-voltage electrostatic precipitators are to be used to separate particulates inside the sinter belt areas. At the same time, further particulate sources will be connected to the improved dust collection systems. The filter concept for the sinter plant will reduce particulate pollution in the north of Duisburg by up to 3 micrograms per cum.
