Blowing-in Ceremony for the Tobata New No. 4 Blast Furnace at Yawata Works
Apr. 21, 2014
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation
Blowing-in Ceremony for the Tobata New No. 4 Blast Furnace at Yawata Works
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation’s Yawata Works (Shinji Tanimoto, Managing Executive Officer and Head of Works) blew out the Tobata New No. 4 blast furnace on January 25, 2014 for relining work and blew in on April 20, 2014 to resume operation. The Tobata No. 4 furnace began operation in 1972 and the present relining work, done here for the third time, expanded furnace volume from 4,250m3 to 5,000m3. We used the Ring Method, which is optimal in terms of shortening the relining period and reducing relining costs.
The blowing-in ceremony was held at the pig bed of the Tobata New No. 4 blast furnace on April 10, at 10am. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Hiroshi Ogawa (Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture), Kenji Kitahashi (Mayor of Kitakyushu City), and Asahiko Mihara and Satoshi Oie (members of the House of Representatives in the Diet) were among around special 30 guests at the Ceremony, which was attended by around 200 people. The ceremony began by a ritual blowing-in, conducted by the chief priest of Takami Shrine, and was followed by blowing-in from the tuyere by 40 people. Then by sending in the air, the Tobata New No. 4 blast furnace resumed operation. The previous fire, which had been kept going elsewhere, was blown in, signifying that the relining had successfully completed.
Outline of the relining project
| Blowing-out | January 25, 2014 |
| Blowing-in (resumption of operation) | April 20, 2014 (construction period: 85 days) |
| Investment | Approximately 34 billion yen |
| Main constructor | Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd. |
| Method of construction | Ring method A new hearth wall, separated into many pieces in the form of rings, is manufactured in advance. After the furnace is blown out, the existing wall is raised from the top, cut horizontally, and removed by pieces from the bottom. When installing the new cut pieces, they are put in horizontally, assembled into rings, and raised to permit insertion of the next ring from the bottom. This is repeated the necessary number of times to form the new hearth wall. |
| Before relining | | After relining | |
| Furnace volume | 4,250m3 | → | 5,000m3 |
| Tapholes | 4 | → | 4 |
| Tuyeres | 36 | → | 40 |
| Furnace cooling system | Cast iron stave cooler | → | Copper plate stave cooler with cast iron stave cooler |
| Material charging system | Bell type | → | Bell-less type |
| Furnace bed diameter | 13.8m | → | 14.3m |
(Reference) Past relining works of Tobata’s new No. 4 blast furnace
・1972 Began operation
・1978 First relining work
・1989 Second relining work
・1978 Third relining work
For more information, contact:
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
Public Relations Center, General Administration Div. Tel: +81-3-6867-2977
Shinto ritual blowing-in ceremony
Mr. Tanimoto, Head of Works, is blowing in from the tuyere of the blast furnace.
The Tobata New No. 4 blast furnace after relining
