News El 6 Chelyabinsk
EL 6 GROUP INVESTS 800 MILLION RUBLES TO EXPAND DRY CALCINED COKE PRODUCTION
El 6 (the largest manufacturer of graphite and carbon-based products in the EAEU) has increased the production output of dry calcined coke at its Chelyabinsk plant by 25% by implementing the coke calciner flue gas and coke dust heat recovery project. The upgraded coke calciner was put into commercial operation on November 5th. The unit is now being tested in terms of its modes to subsequently reach the target capacity of 6 tons per hour based on annealed material. The project is intended to supply anode block production facilities at El 6 Chelyabinsk with its own dry calcined coke.
The large-scale modernization project is a new stage in expanding facilities producing green (unsintered) anode blocks, one of the primary products of El 6 Group. Among other things, the vibrating press was retrofitted at the Novosibirsk plant, and the new vibrating table was installed at El 6 Chelyabinsk. This effort allowed the company to increase the production capacity twice so far—by 40% in 2024 and by 20% in 2025. The upgraded coke calciner satisfied the increased demand for coke at the Chelyabinsk site.
The Coke Calciner Flue Gas and Coke Dust Heat Recovery project was designed to make use of waste gas heat for steam production while reburning volatile matters and dust in a special chamber.
"This investment project solved several strategic tasks at once. First of all, we got a significant cost impact from additional production of calcined petroleum coke. We do not need to transport large amounts of dry calcined coke from other El 6 establishments anymore. The second effect is considerable saving of natural gas by switching the boiler house to utilize only exhaust gases coming from the coke calciner. Yet the most important thing is the reduction of environmental impact, because the heat recovery facility reburns coke dust and volatile matters produced in the rotary furnace during petroleum coke calcination. Our major accomplishment is the fact that we solve tasks comprehensively," Aleksey Tishkin, Director, El 6 Chelyabinsk branch, reported.
