JSC "Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant" Free Sokol "»: history, production, products

OJSC "Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant" Svobodny Sokol "» is the oldest enterprise of the city of Lipetsk, which marked the age-old history. The production specializes in the unique for Russia products - water pipes made of high-strength cast iron.

Historical reference

Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant was founded in 1899 by Belgian entrepreneurs. Since the production facilities were located in the village of Sokolsk, later included in the city line of Lipetsk, the enterprise was named the Sokolsky Metallurgical Plant. At full capacity the company came out in 1900 after the launch of two blast furnaces.

In the Soviet period, production was renamed the Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant "Svobodny Sokol". For many years the enterprise was engaged in the production of high-quality industrial pig iron. Since 1934, the organization has switched to the production of water-cast iron pipes.

Cast iron production

Today, the structure of the Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant includes 14 productions. The main are blast-furnace and pipe-founding shops. The blast furnace shop has two furnaces with a capacity of 700 m ³ each with a range of filling and auxiliary equipment. They provide the production of liquid and pig iron. The workshop produces foundry and terminal cast iron of various categories.

Due to the small volume of blast furnaces metallurgists are able to smelt metal of very high quality in any quantities, even in small batches. Casting technology makes it possible to achieve the highest quality of metal, the structure of which is characterized by stable mechanical properties, lack of free cementite in the microstructure, minimal inclination to the edge section and excellent workability. Cast iron is produced in pigs up to 9 kg, it is convenient to transport them in bulk in freight rail cars.

Pipe production

In 1990, on the eve of the collapse of the USSR, the Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant commissioned a pipe-thread shop equipped with modern equipment to produce water pipes made of high-strength cast iron, in the structure of which graphite is in a spherical (globular) state. This material in itself combines unique properties - the mechanical properties of steel and the corrosion resistance of cast iron:

• High elongation;
• Impact resistance;
• Tensile strength;
• plastic.

These properties are obtained as a result of the modification of conventional gray cast iron with magnesium. The modified graphite particles in the high-strength material are in the form of microscopic spherical spheres. They exclude the formation and spreading of cracks, giving cast iron both firmness and plasticity.

Shaped castings

The Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant mastered mass production:

• Refrigeration water cooling plates for the blast furnace cooling device. They are made of low-alloyed chromium cast iron of various overall dimensions with a weight of 1.58 to 2.9 tons.
• Chutes for cast iron, as well as slag from blast furnaces.
• Castings from the brands of cast iron SCH-15, SCH-20 with dimensions of 3x1,2x1 m and a maximum weight of 3.5 t.
• Castings of aluminum alloys up to 8 kg.

The plant plans to master the production of parts of the sub-assembly of blast-furnace stoves (sub-screens, support columns).

"Synthetic"

The plant "Free Sokol" has mastered the industrial production of a new class of synthetic composite metal cord with the commercial name "Sintikom". The billets charge for metallurgical production is a material consisting of iron and iron oxides, the composition, properties and future behavior of which are specified at the manufacturing stage.

"Synthetic" is produced from pig iron P1, P2 or cast iron and pig iron PL2 and oxidizer (iron ore pellets of Lebedinsky or Mikhailovsky GOKs) in the form of pyramidal castings weighing 7-10 kg, similar to cast iron pigs.

Other products

JSC "Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant" produces a wide range of products:

• Shaped casting: manhole covers for cable telephone and observation wells; Lattice fence; Grinding cast-iron balls. The latter are made of white cast iron with perlite-cementite structure and are designed for grinding various materials in ball mills.
• Domain sludge. It is used for casting castings in iron foundries. Due to the small volume of blast furnaces of the plant and modern equipment, metallurgists receive cast iron of grades L1-L6 of sufficiently high quality.
• Nodular cast iron is used in the manufacture of critical castings.
• Pig iron is necessary for the production of conventional castings.
• Crushed stone from blast-furnace slag of fractions: 0-5 mm, 10-20 mm, 20-40 mm.
• Slag blast furnace: fraction 40-250 mm.
• Coke fines: fraction 0-10 mm, ash content no more than 18%, humidity not more than 24%.
• Dust is bladed.
• Metal scrap 5A, 12A.

Prospects

Today, "Free Falcon" is going through hard times. Despite the unique products in the form of pipes from Ductile Iron Ore, the plant is actually bankrupt. However, the bankruptcy procedure does not necessarily mean the closure of production. Shareholders and the administration have time to carry out the recovery of the enterprise. Neither the creditors nor the city authorities in stopping production are not interested.