Russian nickel, palladium, and smelting giant Norilsk Nickel announced a decline this week in emissions in their 2011 Polar division environmental survey.
Because of modernization efforts, total emissions in 2011 were at 1.8 percent below maximum permitted allotments, with sulfur dioxide at 1.4 percent below the permitted levels and solid particle emissions at 23.3 percent below the maximum, according to ScrapMonster.com.
As a part of Norilsk’s air quality improvement program, electric furnace No. 4 at the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant underwent a reconstruction of the gas treatment system, and an electric filter for the grate refrigerator of the concrete production facility’s clinker line is currently being substituted for a more efficient bag filter, ScrapMonster reports.
In 2011, wastewater was also reduced by 762 th. m3 with the construction of eleven new wastewater treatment units. A total of 20 new local purification units are planned between 2012 and 2014 that are expected to dramatically reduce pollutant discharge. Norilsk also plans on carrying out an overhaul of the gas treatment systems at NMT’s electric furnace no. 2, replacing old equipment with more efficient parts in 2012.
Norilsk Nickel is the world’s leading producer of nickel and palladium, and is headquartered in Moscow.