Selfies at the fiery lava and locations, as in the Terminator. Tourists are invited to AFP
The products of the Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant are used for the production of stainless steel, which is used in aviation, space and other industries. This year our AFP turns 80 years old. Now anyone can see with their own eyes how one of the most unique factories in the world works.
TNC Kazchrome JSC (part of the ERG group of companies) is developing a new direction of tourism in Kazakhstan at its facilities. Industrial tourism is a unique phenomenon that allows you to learn more about large-scale industries and dispel stereotypes that all global city-forming enterprises are damaging the environment. Tourists get a unique opportunity to see with their own eyes how Kazakh aluminum is produced in Pavlodar, how the first-born ferrous metallurgy in the country, the Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant, works. This article will focus on the second object. Several groups of tourists have already visited the ferroalloy plant in Aktobe. And each tour is not like the previous one, the participants are shown different locations, because the plant is an ongoing movement for a second, new technologies are regularly introduced here, the most advanced equipment, and most importantly, the priority of the plant is labor protection, industrial safety and careful respect for the environment. But let's skip the words and get down to business.
At the AFP, before the start of the tour, each tourist undergoes a mandatory briefing and is provided with personal protective equipment. And then a unique journey through locations reminiscent of the movie "Terminator 2". Against the backdrop of huge workshops and round-the-clock units, you feel like a small grain of sand. Workshop No. 1 is of great interest to industrial tourists. From here began the history of stove No. 11, which is called "Komsomoka", it started working in 1943. The history of Komsomolka continues now, it was completely modernized last year. Other furnaces are next in line, furnace No. 12 will be reconstructed in the near future.
- We have seven furnaces in the first workshop. Four furnaces are currently in operation, one was taken out for major repairs and two are in the current one. The overhaul of the furnace is carried out every 10 years, the furnace is completely demolished from above to zero and rebuilt. It is symbolic that "Komsomolka" was launched for the first time in 1943, this is the first furnace in the workshop. And it also became the first in a large-scale reconstruction, - the guide and director of the AFP Yerzhan Abdulabekov told the tourists.
Tourists were also shown the so-called umbrellas over factory stoves, which do not allow dust to spread. That is, these umbrellas minimize the ingress of dust into the working area and improve working conditions. These are recent technologies. Tourists visited the construction site, where new gas cleaning complexes are being built. TNC Kazchrome JSC spent more than 12 billion tenge on a unique project to modernize gas cleaning facilities.
Tourists are also shown how special briquettes are obtained from the dust generated during production, which are returned to production again.
- We have a kind of meat grinder, into which we feed dust, and briquettes come out from there. We are putting them back into production. Waste-free production is taught. Previously, all this, unfortunately, was stored in our slag dumps. But lately we have not added anything there, - Yerzhan Abdulabekov explains, - it turns out that this process is not only environmentally friendly, but also profitable.
The whole plant with workshops, warehouses, gas cleaning complexes works as a single mechanism, all processes that make huge machines work are automated. All data on computers is continuously monitored by specialists.
From one object to another on the territory of the plant, the tourist group moves by bus. From the windows you can see how many green spaces are being planted on the territory.
Of course, not only the participants of the tour route, but, probably, all Kazakhstanis are interested in how it is possible to organize such a large-scale production and at the same time take care of the environment. For people from Kazchrome, this is a priority. ERG has created a special company that is engaged in the disposal and processing of industrial waste. For several years, ERG RECYCLING LLP has been processing stale slag from the so-called slag dumps, which have been accumulating almost since the day the plant was founded. Moreover, the amount of recycled waste is growing every year. By 2025, the company plans to process 500,000 tons of waste annually at slag dumps.
And also a very important point. From production waste at the Aktobe ferroalloy plant, crushed stone is produced, which can be used in road construction. It passed all possible checks and examinations, which showed that it is environmentally friendly, does not contain harmful substances. And you can buy it for a symbolic 200 tenge per ton.
You can write a lot about all the environmental initiatives of TNC Kazchrome JSC and the ERG group of companies as a whole, but it's better to see it all for yourself. A ladle with liquid metal, huge furnaces, a car dumper, unique equipment - you will not see such locations anywhere else, for selfie lovers there is a great expanse. You can sign up for a free tour on the website vtour.erg.kz.
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