Upgrade for PK Sinter Plant
BHP Limited
27 March 2001
Release Time IMMEDIATE
Date 26 March 2001
Number 26/01
MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL UPGRADE FOR
PORT KEMBLA SINTER PLANT
BHP Limited (BHP) today announced a major upgrade of the Port Kembla
Steelworks Sinter Plant.
The A$94 million upgrade will significantly improve environmental conditions
in and around the steelworks, reducing both dust levels and dioxin emissions.
President BHP Flat Products Lance Hockridge said the Sinter Plant will be
fitted with a proven technology that will virtually eliminate the single
biggest plume from the steelworks.
'Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to appropriately reinvest in
BHP Steel to meet the ongoing demands of our business and customers, ' he
said.
'BHP Steel is in great shape as a business and we intend to keep it that way.'
The project includes a carbon packed bed filter that uses activated char
granules as the filtering medium and for the disposal of waste.
Mr Hockridge said selection of the filter system followed extensive studies
and trials of numerous methods of reducing emissions over the past three
years.
'The technology has been proven elsewhere in the world and is operating
successfully on a number of sinter plants in Japan,' he said.
'In addition, we have been trialling a smaller scale plant on site over the
past eight months to prove the technology will achieve the environmental
objectives set out for the Port Kembla Sinter Plant.'
Detailed engineering planning will begin immediately with construction planned
to commence immediately following regulatory approval. Target completion date
is 31 December 2002.
MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
* The Port Kembla Sinter Plant makes approximately 5 million tonnes of
sinter a year.
* Sinter is formed when iron-bearing waste dusts recovered from the
plant's heavy-duty air filters and fine particles of iron ore, coke and
limestone are roasted to form fist-sized solids.
* Sinter comprises around 60% of the total feedstock for the blast
furnaces.
* The upgrade will install a carbon packed bed technology, comprising a
50-metre stand-alone structure with a 100-metre stack. It will filter
dusts and destroy dioxins from the Sinter Plant's waste gas stream.
* Dust levels will be reduced from 80-100 milligrams per normal cubic
metre to less than 20 milligrams.
* Dioxin emissions will be reduced from 3 nanograms per normal cubic metre
to less than 0.3 nanograms per normal cubic metre
* 1 milligram = 1 thousandth of a gram (1/1,000)
* 1 nanogram = 1 billionth of a gram (1/1,000,000,000)
****
Further information can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhp.com
Media Relations:
Mike Archer
Manager External Affairs
Port Kembla
Ph: 61 2 4275 3968
Mob: 61 419 466 990
Mandy Frostick
Manager Media Relations
Melbourne
Ph: 61 3 9609 4157
Mob: 61 419 546 245
Investor Relations:
Francis McAllister
Vice President Investor Relations, Houston (North America)
Tel: (713) 961 8625
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