Iron trough and casthouse refractory upgrade at Inland's No. 7 blast furnace

Inland's No. 7 blast furnace has a 13.7 metre (45 ft) hearth dia and an inner volume of 4403 cu metres (155,470 cu ft). It is belt charged and has a bell-less top. The furnace is equipped with three hot blast stoves, four tapholes and an expansion turbine. During the first campaign, the highest quarterly productivity was 7240 tons/day. Currently, the furnace is averaging 7750 tons/day. The change that contributed to this productivity increase was the use of fluxed pellets in the burden. Service life of the casthouse iron trough and runner system has been improved by a redesign of the trough box. New design features include natural draft cooling together with an andalusite-based backup lining.