ArcelorMittal Warren underwent a rehabilitation of its No. 4 Battery. The coke plant, built in 1979, converts coal into metallurgical-grade coke and has the capacity to produce 550,000 tons of coke per year.

Graycor’s portion of the overall rehab project involved repairing 27 oven walls which included two coke battery through-walls and 25 end flues, four flues deep, on the battery’s coke and pusher sides.

In addition, the project called for performing demolition down to the third tier to replace gun blocks on ends, and down to the tenth tier of the existing oven floor.

Work also entailed repairing checkers, rebuilding regenerator faces, replacing the buckstays, tie-rods and repairing end flue brick, as well as demolishing and re-bricking two courses of pavers on the battery top including charge and inspection holes.

The project reached completion under budget and ahead of schedule.

ArcelorMittal—the world’s largest steel and mining company—established strict safety practices that ensured the work could be performed in a safe manner given the complexity of the repairs while working on a operating battery.

Self-performing the refractory and structural steel work, Graycor’s team worked a total of 128,000 worker hours with no safety recordable incidents.

In recognition of its stellar safety, the project received the Zero Injury Safety Award (ZISA).

The project was a success on many impactful levels. Graycor’s team performed the work safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, enabling the owner to continue its normal coke production sooner than expected.

In the past, Graycor has provided services for coke battery work at other ArcelorMittal plants.