In November 2011 Loesche, the leading supplier of the world’s largest vertical roller grinding mills, obtained a contract for the first ever four-roller coal mill for the injection of pulverised coal into a blast furnace.

The Loesche Mill LM 43.4 D has a capacity of 120t per hour and will be installed in the iron and steel plant of SSI Redcar in Great Britain.

Together with the Loesche hot gas generator LOMA LF 28, with a maximum heat capacity of 17MW, this will be the world’s largest single coal grinding plant for PCI technology. Advances in the development of the multiple lance burner (MLB) will allow for operation of the hot gas generator with blast furnace gas, as well as with coke oven gas.

The complete injection system will be implemented by Siemens VAI and is planned to start operation at the beginning of 2013.