For the maintenance of a blast furnace, we used a special robot for the first time, a special “doughnut" designed and equipped by our technical team, fitted with cooled cameras and remotely controlled through monitors.

The operation involved the demolition and removal of the furnace hearth plug and the removal of slag material deposited on the cast iron of the blast furnace. It also included the reconstruction of its walls through the spraying of refractory material.

This machine was able to remain suspended above the incandescent material inside the blast furnace. The ideal solution to withstand high temperatures (exceeding 800 degrees), the absence of oxygen, the instability of the hearth, and confined spaces.

This special demolition intervention was completed in just 12 hours, a record time not only compared to traditional solutions, but also in comparison to the initially estimated sixteen hours.