Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Hyundai Steel pledges to reduce pollutants at its sinter plants
Sinter gas treatment system at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin plant / Courtesy of Hyundai Steel
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hyundai Steel will reduce air pollutant emissions from its sinter plants by more than 50 percent by 2021 through operating a sinter gas treatment system (SGTS), the company said Tuesday.
According to the company, the amount of pollutants emitted from sinter plants in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, has been reduced since it adopted an SGTS.
The emissions of hazardous air pollutants, such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, have been reduced to the range of 30 ppm and 40 ppm from the original 140 ppm and 160 ppm.
The SGTS uses catalytic converters to remove nitrogen oxides and adds sodium hydrogen carbonate to the sinter mixture to remove sulfur oxides from waste gas.
Two of three SGTS started operations in May and June, respectively, and the additional system will be completed by June 2020.
If all three systems operate without a break, the company expects to reduce the amount of hazardous air pollutants to 10,000 tons in 2021 from 23,292 tons in 2018.
“We decided to embed SGTS at sinter plants because the carbon selective catalytic reduction deteriorated and there were times we had to halt our operation to fix problems,” a Hyundai Steel official said during a press briefing.
“With the newly introduced SGTS and our efforts to reduce dust, we aim to make the most environmentally friendly steel mill.”
The company also apologized for causing trouble over environmental violations.
In May, South Chungcheong Province ordered Hyundai Steel to halt one of its three furnaces in Dangjin for 10 days.
According to the local government, pollutants were being released into the air during scheduled inspections at the steel furnaces.
To counter, the steelmaker filed an appeal against the provincial order with the government.
The company expressed concern about the impact of a suspension, saying that it could disrupt supply chains for months.
“A blast furnace is designed to operate continuously for decades. Once it is halted, the steel inside hardens, the metal needs to be removed through an explosion or some other painstaking process before the furnace can restart,” the official explained.
“Getting a furnace back on track would take three to six months and a three-month hiatus at one plant would slash company revenue about 900 billion won ($763 million).”
The company added it will continue to hold talks with the local community and share their emissions data with Ministry of Environment and local government.