ThyssenKrupp Company, Santa Cruz, Brazil:

J. T. Marins, Executive Officer on Cast Iron Production, tavares.marins@thyssenkrupp.com

M. A. de Carvallho, Manager of a Blast-Furnace Shop

A. B. de Castro, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

S. L. Alberto, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

R. A. da Silva, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

S. L. de Moura Purcino, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

C. E. Carra Citelli, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

Th. Kuckertz, Engineer of a Blast-Furnace Shop

On 12 July 2010, ThyssenKrupp CSA successfully commissioned its new blast furnace No. 1. This article describes the main characteristics of the blast furnace, the main stages during commissioning, from basic design until blow-in. The charging schedule, blasting schedule and the first operational results after start-up are discussed. Blast furnace No. 1 of ThyssenKrupp CSA, Brazil, is the first ThyssenKrupp blast furnace outside Europe. All specialists and technicians involved worked closely with each other through out the project implementation. After four years of hardwork, the blow-in of the blast furnace was successfully done and the first tapping was performed smoothly 25 hours later. The excellent blow-in and a smooth ramp-upperiod confirm that a good planning, strategic vision and organization supported by a skilled and committed team is a successful combination. Technical data of the blast furnace and burner positioning for the heating-up are presented, as well as evolution of daily fuel rate, silicon content in hot metal and daily got metal production. Heating-up curves of the blast furnace are analyzed. The commissioning phase was performed according the original time schedule without any accident and the adopted strategy provided a general sense of self-confidence to go in operational phase. Although general rules for plant commissioning do not exist, concerns regarding team organization,s afety system, care in preserving equipment and a detailed checking are mandatory to performa good start-up.