Kelag Supplier Award 2012 goes to voestalpine Stahl GmbH

District heating since 1982

voestalpine Stahl GmbH in Linz has been converting waste heat from the production plants into useful district heat since 1982. Instead of blowing the heat into the atmosphere, the company sends the heat to regional energy suppliers.

Kelag Wärme GmbH has been a recipient of this heat since 2009 and supplies district heating to buildings in the Linz and Traun regions for the purpose of room and water heating. Because district heating is such an efficient and environmentally compatible form of energy, the voestalpine Steel Division will be expanding the service and setting a new benchmark.

Waste heat from the production plants

The heat is generated at the Linz production site in pusher-type and walking-beam furnaces, the continuous annealing line, hot-dip galvanizing line 2 and steelmaking converters. Here the heat is output in the form of flue gas. This hot gas is converted into steam. A portion of the steam is utilized at the production site, and part of it is transferred to heat exchangers where water is heated to a temperature of 120 °C.

The district heating is delivered in the form of this hot water. Steam from the voestalpine power station is sometimes added in order to keep the volume and temperature of the district heating medium constant.

High level of availability seldom

The high degree of availability of the voestalpine district heating was the reason that Kelag presented the award in the category of external heat. It is very seldom that a steelmaking company is presented with an energy award. The award is a special token of the reliability and environmental responsibility demonstrated by the voestalpine Steel Division.