Reline and modernization of AHMSA No. 5 blast furnace

No. 5 blast furnace (11.2 meter hearth dia and 2,210 cu meter working volume) was commissioned in 1976, relined in 1985 and then modernized with state of the art technology in 1994. The modernization project objective was for a campaign life of 10 years and 19 million tons of hot metal, and included: integrated furnace lining and intensified cooling design, including new bosh cooling tower system; complete shell replacement from the top of the hearth jacket up to mid-stack, including major furnace walkway replacement; replacement of internal ceramic stove burners, including a portion of checkers; gas cleaning system upgrade; and new process control and instrumentation systems--distributed control system (DCS), PLC-based stove changing system, level 2 (VAX) computer system and new field instrumentation. The paper will concentrate on the installation of the furnace lining and cooling system including shell replacement, internal ceramic burner rebuild combined with checker replacement, and the new furnace and stove control systems upgrade. Problems encountered during the design, manufacturing and installation stages, and subsequent solutions will be discussed. Operating data before and after the rebuild will be compared.