SMS group completes partial hearth repair at Třinecké Železárny blast furnace

SMS group has completed a partial hearth repair at blast furnace BF4 operated by Třinecké Železárny, restoring the furnace within a tightly limited shutdown window.

The repair was carried out in response to advanced wear in the hearth area, with linings around the tapping hole approaching the end of their service life. Instead of opting for a full hearth rebuild, SMS implemented a targeted solution, replacing damaged carbon blocks and reprofiling the entire hearth using heat-resistant concrete.

The work was completed in just 42 days, significantly reducing production downtime. According to SMS, the furnace – which has an annual hot metal capacity of around 3.1 million tonnes – was returned to service with a safe and durable hearth profile fully within the planned schedule.

The project relied on Paul Wurth technology combining sectoral carbon block replacement with specialized concrete reprofiling. By limiting the intervention to the affected hearth sector, the approach avoided a complete rebuild and minimized operational disruption. Optimized drying procedures and carefully sequenced follow-on activities further shortened the outage period.

SMS says the method allows operators to restore hearth integrity and extend campaign life while keeping project risk and downtime costs substantially lower than those associated with full hearth replacement.

Jan Zmrzlík, project manager at SMS, highlighted the execution of the repair under tight time constraints. “We delivered a targeted, high-quality partial hearth repair that met the customer’s need for the shortest possible outage,” he said. He added that “the chosen method allowed us to confine interventions to the critical sector and complete full reprofiling efficiently,” noting that even unforeseen tasks, such as “cutting a frozen salamander,” were handled “rapidly without delaying the handover.”

Source and Photo: SMS group