Major Overhaul of Cooling Tower Completed at Aksu Ferroalloys Plant

Investment in the upgrade of the furnace cooling system amounted to KZT 1.7 billion.

The upgraded Cooling Tower No. 1 supports the operation of two smelting shops at the plant, Shops No. 1 and No. 6. Its function is to cool the circulating water that continuously flows through the system and removes heat from production equipment.

The scale of the facility is reflected in the figures: more than 9,000 cubic meters of water per hour pass through the cooling tower, which is 54 meters high and has a base diameter of 48 meters.

“The technical condition of this facility is critical to the uninterrupted operation of the smelting shops. Following the overhaul, we expected to receive a fully functional facility, rather than simply extend its service life through isolated restoration works. That is why we opted for a comprehensive overhaul. Today, the cooling tower is already in operation, and we can see that the investment has delivered the expected result,” said Musabek Makashev, Director of Aksu Ferroalloys Plant.

The major overhaul lasted 90 days. During this period, the water distribution systems and cladding materials of the structure were completely renewed. The estimated service life of the upgraded cooling tower is 12–15 years.

Following its commissioning, two cooling towers are once again operating within the furnace cooling system, ensuring production stability and the required level of redundancy.