With V.A. Satskiy’s accession to the leadership of Zaporizhstal as Director in 1986 the epoch of rampant development of technical personnel potential of Zaporizhstal begun. It was caused by a high degree of freedom to accept operative decisions at workplaces throughout the whole technological cycle of the Works. In the future this became an accelerator for setting a course for implementation of technical re-equipping of fixed assets. The Works has become a large-scale ground for vast reconstruction of the blast furnace, steel making and rolling productions based on scientific work and practical activities. Regular work directed towards providing conditions for stable, accident-free activity, increasing operational reliability of technological units, fulfillment of the production program, improvement of products’ quality, reduction of raw material and power resources, introduction of new technological processes and nature protection measures is being conducted.
1986 — a new technology for warming killed steel ingots based on exothermic mixture was introduced.
1987 — argon blasting of killed and low-alloy steels in a ladle was implemented. Ore grab loading crane № 7 was mounted and put into operation in the blast furnace shop.
1988 — blast furnace № 5 was reconstructed with increase of its volume. A bell-less furnace charging device, conveyor charging, sieving of fines, aspiration and a dust catching system were installed. In the hot-strip mill shop new coilers with a disposal conveyor for reception of 20 ton coils were mounted.
1989 — ramming mix for lining of ladles was implemented in the open-hearth furnace shop. Production of stainless steel cold-roll formed sections for railway car building was mastered.
1990 — installation of ore grab loading crane № 8 in the blast-furnace shop was carried out. A new block of gas thermal furnaces in cold-rolling shop No.1 was put into operation.
1991 — mechanized lining stripping of steel pouring ladles was introduced with the usage of machine MR 2004Э. A department for thermal cutting of large-sized scrap was organized in the scrap shop.
1992 — production of hot-rolled sheets of new alloyed steels and cold-rolled sheets of stainless nickel-free steels for the enterprises of Ukraine was mastered. A department for production of stainless steel sinks was put into operation.
1993 — reconstruction of units № 7 and № 8 of the gas protection station, providing high-quality protective gas, was accomplished.
1994 — the technology of direct (transit) rolling of slabs on continuous hot-strip mill-1680 without heating them in continuous reheating furnaces, was developed, studied and introduced. The production of hot- and cold-rolled sheets and strips of steels previously produced in Russia was mastered. In the slabbing mill shop a thyristor converter substation for “slabbing mill -1150” was put into operation.
1995 — new slabbing shears were mounted. The shearing unit (APR-4) in cold-rolling shop No.1 was put into operation.
1996 — steel lancing in the furnace with mixtures of argon and oxygen was implemented. Lines were built and technologies were mastered for packing sheets and coils of cold-rolled metal at the level of the requirements of international standards.
1997 — the technology for producing hot-rolled coils of weight up to 16 tons was developed and introduced.
1998 — capital and reconstructive maintenance of sintering machine № 6 with modernization of gas cleaning was accomplished. Open-hearth furnace № 11 was reconstructed. The first stage of automation of heating ingots in soaking pits was introduced. Pickling line No.1 in cold-rolling shop No.1 was reconstructed.
1999 — the slabbing mill vertical rolls’ drive was modernized. Shears for cutting the front and rear ends of hot-rolled transfer bars before the finishing group of rolls on continuous hot-strip mill 1680 were put into operation.
Under the initiative and the direction of Vitaliy Antonovich Satskiy the concept and program of technical re-equipment of Zaporizhstal was developed.
From 2000 to 2010 a whole complex of measures on modernization of the equipment and perfection of technological processes at the Works was executed.
Regarding the sintering and blast furnace production capital and reconstructive maintenance of all the six sintering machines, reconstruction of blast furnaces № 2 and 3, equipped with automated control systems of technological processes, modern casting yards with runner covers and powerful aspiration system, were executed. On blast-furnace No.2 for the first time in Ukraine shaft-less devices with cone burners were installed. They allow to increase the hot-blast temperature to1200 0С and reduce coke consumption for the production of pig-iron.
The unit for air aspiration from the discharging parts of sintering machine was put into operation. This measure was one of the most important ones in the “Program on overcoming the ecological crisis in Zaporozhye”.
Jobs were carried out connected with modernization of blast furnace No.2 regarding power facilities.
2008 — a new turbo generator and boiler were put into operation, providing additional blast furnace gas recovery amounting to 50 thousand m3/hour with following electric power generation for the needs of the Works in an amount of more than 100 million kWh per year.
The project on reconstruction of sintering machine № 1 with technological gas purification and increase of the sintering area to 75 м2, instead of the existing 62,5 м2, is being realized.
2010 — to realize the program of power saving the Works is carrying out the construction of the unit for PCI into the blast furnaces, delivered by firm “Küttner”.
Regarding steel-making production: open-hearth furnaces №№ 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 were modernized, introducing modern means of power saving.
2007 — a new air separation unit was put into operation with productivity of 60 thousand m2 per hour, which allows to provide industrial shops with oxygen with purity 99,5 % (against 95-96 %) and provide annual economy of electric power, thermal power, and also to reduce steam and water consumption. Start-up of VRU-60 became one of the first steps in realization of the future transfer of steel-making production from the open-hearth production to the converter method of production of steel.
2008 — a contract with firm SIEMENS-VAI, Austria, was concluded on the delivery of technology and all the basic processing equipment, including gas cleaning equipment for the converter shop complex, with continuous casting of steel at a volume of 4,7 million tons of cast slabs.
2006-2009 — in the open-hearth furnace shop all the furnaces, mixer and stands for drying ladles are equipped with new highly effective jet-niche burners which have allowed to reduce the consumption of reference fuel.
On rolling production: modernization of soaking pits and introduction of automatic heating of ingots in the slabbing mill shop; on hot-strip mill “1680” in the hot-strip mill shop conditions for straight rolling of slabs of weight to 16 tons according to the diagram “ingot-slab-coil” for rolling strips of minimum thickness 1,5 mm have been established.
In the hot-strip mill shop further reconstruction of mill 1680 was carried out, taking into account introduction of straight rolling of a slabs weighing up to 16 tons according to the diagram “ingot-slab-coil” for rolling strips less than 2,0 mm thick.
2005 — in the hot-strip mill shop replacement of electric motors of the main drives of the finishing group and the main drives of stands 2, 4, 5 and 6 was fulfilled, housings of “2-high mill” were replaced strengthening their main base and other equipment.
2007 — the intermediate coiling device “coil-box” for rolling steel before the finishing group was put into operation; a new roll grinding machine-tool of firm “Herkules” for profiling working and back-up rolls for hot-strip mill 1680 was commissioned.
2006 — in cold rolling shop № 1 reconstruction of the heat-treatment department was carried out. 18 stands of bell-type furnaces and a station for production of hydrogen of firm “Ebner” for the production of high-quality cold-rolled metal at the amount of 300 thousand tons was carried out.
Constructive and technological features of high convective hydrogen furnaces have allowed to produce cold-rolled steel of grade 08Yu according to GOST 9045-93 requirements.
Shearing aggregate № 5 of firm “Danieli” was put into operation providing production of competitive products — cold-rolled strips with tight uniform winding, qualitative oiling and weight of coils according to the requirements of the consumers.
2008 — delivery of the basic equipment has been fulfilled and construction of the continuous chloride pickling line (НТА-4) has begun with the installation of regeneration of hydrochloric acid (УРСК). Commissioning of НТА-4 and УРСК in the cold-rolling shop will allow: to provide production of 1,35 million t/year of pickled metal, including 200 thousand t/year of hot rolled commercial coils; to reduce expenses of fresh acid from 20 to 0,25 kg/t, water from 1,49 to 0,425 m3/t, steam from 0,067 Gcal/t to 0,023 Gcal/t; to considerably improve the quality of pickled metal; to use scale in production of sinter; to eliminate losses from tear of welded seams; to increase the level of mechanization and automation; to exclude emission of harmful substances into atmosphere and dump of chemically polluted flow in the Dnieper; to reduce dumps into the slurry reservoir to 90 %; to improve labour conditions.
Modernization of production is also being carried out in other shops of the Works.
2005 — new modern induction furnaces for iron and non-ferrous castings were installed.
2005 — in the mechanical department a new heat treatment department was put into operation with the installation of 6 electric pit-type heating furnaces, two chamber furnaces and a furnace with movable hearth for thermo hardening by high frequency currents.