NORILSK, October 30. /TASS/. The Sulfur Program's first industrial line to cut sulfur dioxide emissions was launched at Nornickel's Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant in Norilsk, a TASS correspondent reported from the opening ceremony.
The Norilsk Nickel Company's Senior Vice President Sergey Dubovitsky said the project was unique. "In terms of the scale, it is unique for Russia, for the Russian mining and metallurgical industry, and not only for the Russian, but rather for the global industry. The amount of investments in the main technological complex alone is more than 180 billion rubles ($1.9 billion), where more than 120 billion [rubles] ($1.3 billion) have been invested already. This is just the main technological complex, to say nothing about the external projects. This is a unique project in terms of its complexity," he said at the opening ceremony. According to him, the first line will cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 20%, and as the second line, due to be launched next year (2024) - will cut the emissions by more than 45%.
Nikolay Utkin, Nornickel's Senior Vice President and head of the Norilsk Division told the audience about the problems to replace earlier imported equipment. "[Foreign] companies were simply refusing equipment supplies, we were changing design solutions. The construction was connected with the existing production, which also caused certain difficulties," he said. In the long run, the share of equipment produced in Russia or in friendly countries amounted to more than 90%, he added.
Green Patrol's director for environmental programs, Roman Pukalov, in an interview with TASS said he considered Norilsk Nickel's Sulfur Program an unprecedented project in the domestic industry. "Now, the main pollutant - sulfur dioxide - that used to fly into the atmosphere, is converted into an absolutely neutral substance - gypsum. This is the largest project in the Russian industrial history. We've never seen such a reduction in emissions by hundreds of thousands of tons," he told TASS.
Difficulties, and how to overcome them
The program's implementation depends on the Arctic's harsh climate conditions. According to NN Development's leader of sulfur projects group Andrey Sergeenkov, after heavy snowstorms they had to clean the construction site for a few days running, and in windy weather they could not use any cranes. Due to pauses in the navigation, when cargo could not be delivered either along the Yenisei or by the Northern Sea Route, the company had to use air transport, or when the navigation was possible - to ship huge volumes of cargo at a time.
Nornickel's President Vladimir Potanin summarized the factors - climate conditions, complex logistics, the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical difficulties - saying they had transformed the program. "Today, we are launching the program's first stage at the Nadezhda Plant. This is an all-Russian project that has an impact on the entire Arctic. For Norilsk Nickel's team, this launch demonstrates we fulfil our obligations to Norilsk residents," the company quoted Potanin as saying.
About project
Nornickel's Polar Division implements the Sulfur Program to cut sulfur dioxide emissions. It includes a comprehensive upgrade of production facilities at the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant and the Copper Plant in Norilsk. It is the company's biggest environmental event.
Under the project, the company plans a partial redesign of the metallurgical production and construction of a new continuous converting unit and an acid neutralization line for the utilization of sulfur dioxide with necessary infrastructure projects. The program is part of the federal Clean Air project and is its largest event. The Sulfur Program technologies comply with the specifics of the Norilsk Industrial District's ore base, with the used pyrometallurgical processes, as well as with the logistics limitations of Norilsk (a lack of external railway, a limited navigation period on the Yenisei River, the inter-navigation period where only air traffic is possible, and the Northern Sea Route's logistics). Sulfuric acid from sulfur dioxide will be further neutralized by limestone to produce gypsum.