Qarmet continues its large-scale gasification program at the metallurgical plant in Temirtau, moving into the active phase of the second stage. This project aims to expand the use of natural gas to other technological processes at the enterprise, reports infohub.kz.
In 2025, Qarmet successfully completed the first major stage of gasification, switching blast furnace production and the methodical furnaces of rolling shop No. 1 to natural gas. This allowed natural gas to be included in the plant's fuel balance and eliminated the use of more expensive and less environmentally efficient fuels. In particular, converting the blast furnaces eliminated significant volumes of fuel oil previously used in the production process.
As part of the second stage, the plant plans to receive more than 10,000 cubic meters of natural gas per hour this year. The gas will be directed to further expand gasification of production units. One of the key areas is the oxygen converter shop, where pig iron is processed into steel. Here, the plan is to replace coke gas and propane-butane mixture with natural gas.
Another important facility is lime kiln shop No. 2, where shaft and rotary kilns are planned to be switched from coke gas and fuel oil to natural gas. At the most advanced sites, construction and installation work has already reached 90% readiness.
“On the internal part of the facility, the degree of readiness is even higher. The installation of main supports, pipelines, and shut-off valves has been completed. Beams, cantilever structures, L-shaped half-frames, and individual elements of the gas pipeline system are fully installed. In parallel, work continues at other facilities of the converter shop and lime kiln shop No. 2: as the construction part is completed, specialists move on to the installation of metal structures, pipelines, fittings, and technological equipment,” project engineers note.
Expanding gasification is not just replacing one type of fuel with another. The project is part of a comprehensive modernization of the metallurgical plant and aims to improve the economic, technological, and environmental efficiency of production.
The use of natural gas allows for a consistent reduction in the dependence of technological processes on fuel oil, coke gas, and propane-butane mixture, optimizing costs and more flexibly managing the plant's fuel and energy balance. The environmental effect is equally important: expanding the use of natural gas helps reduce emissions associated with burning traditional fuels and becomes one of the tools to lessen the environmental impact of metallurgical production.
Furthermore, the creation of an extensive gas infrastructure forms the basis for further modernization of units. New and upgraded production facilities at Qarmet are designed with modern requirements for energy efficiency, production economics, and environmental friendliness of technological processes.
Thus, Qarmet is building a unified modern energy infrastructure for the enterprise. Gasification, along with the construction of new production complexes and deep modernization of existing capacities, is becoming one of the key components of the plant's large-scale transformation.