After almost 1.8 million man hours, $372 million and five years of planning, the most critical phase of BlueScope Steel's No 5 blast furnace reline began at Port Kembla last night.At 7.35pm, Peter Cross and Syd Webb combined 103 years' experience to relight the giant pressure vessel.The blow-in is the most nervous time for all involved and over the next three days the furnace needs to be nursed like a baby.
SLIDESHOW: The blast furnace relineBut Mr Cross and Mr Webb's involvement in bringing it to life helped ease the tension.The honour of lighting a blast furnace is considered such a privilege internationally that Mr Webb, 67, delayed a long overdue holiday for the symbolic event, which involved a long lance with a gas hose attached to one end.A flame burning in a lantern since January was used to ignite a flare that was then fed through a small hole.The selection of the two men, who started their careers at Port Kembla in the 1950s, was popular."They're both experts in their field," operations manager Julio Nascimento said."I've called them out on many a night for advice. They've put their heart and soul into the job. I don't think either of them has had a day off since we blew-out."Project manager Phil Shoard said their knowledge on such a large, highly technical and intense project involving more than 3500 people was priceless."It's good recognition of their long-term contribution to blast furnaces. I think Peter has been involved in relining every furnace in Australia since 1958."Mr Webb and Mr Cross are both humble about their achievements but are considered among the most experienced steelmakers in the world.They were also ideal to have around when Mr Shoard handed the furnace back to Mr Nascimento yesterday so he and Ana Bran could conduct a final check before the reignition sequence."We took the flame and lit a gas flare, then we put the gas flare through a peep sight and down through the boot pipe, through the tuyere to the burden and the fuel that's in there," Mr Nascimento said."That ignited it and we left it there while we went up and pushed the button that started pushing hot air in from the stoves."It will take about three days to gradually bring the furnace up to operating temperature.With more steel orders being placed than Port Kembla's No 6 blast furnace can fill, No 5 is expected to help BlueScope blast off into a more profitable space after reporting a $66 million loss. No 6 is operating at full production with the aid of the upgraded sinter plant's increased capacity and quality improvements. No 5 is now more advanced and will have slightly greater capacity.The major capital investment is expected to place BlueScope in a position to improve efficiency, increase its global reputation for quality and set new production records from September.Mr Webb was the chief consultant on the initial core-design team in 2003 and could not think of a better way to end an enjoyable 51-year career. "This is my swansong," he said."It's a double honour to do it with my old mate. I've worked on this furnace a fair bit over the years so this is very symbolic. "I feel privileged. I also feel like I'm representing a whole line of ironmakers who I knew very well but who aren't here now."Mr Cross is considered among the world's leading refractory experts after repairing every blast furnace at Port Kembla, Newcastle and Whyalla over the past 52 years."This is a great privilege to me because I've been on blast furnaces all my working life since 1958," he said."Over the last 20 to 30 years I've spent a lot of time on (No 5)."
