POSCO "Suspended Factory Operations to Prepare for Typhoon Hinnamnor, Prevented Greater Damage"

Pre-Typhoon Landfall, All Factories Halt Operations
Preventing Major Damage Such as Explosions Through Preemptive Measures Like Power Shutdowns

Smoke is rising from the POSCO Pohang Steelworks factory in Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] On the 20th, POSCO faced an unprecedented situation where the Cheongcheon stream flowing next to the Pohang Steelworks overflowed due to Typhoon Hinnamnor, causing flooding and power outages throughout the steelworks. However, the company assessed that prior preparations helped prevent casualties and mitigate greater damage.

The company stated, "We are currently restoring the rolling line for finished product production," and added, "POSCO established stronger disaster prevention measures than the existing natural disaster response manual in anticipation of the unprecedentedly powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor, which helped prevent more severe damage."

The Pohang Steelworks activated a natural disaster emergency response team one week before the typhoon's landfall to thoroughly inspect potential risks. On the day of the typhoon, all plant managers worked overnight to maintain a strict response posture on-site. Notably, to prevent fatal secondary accidents such as large fires or explosions that could cause casualties in the event of flooding and power outages, the Pohang Steelworks took the unprecedented step of "shutting down all plant operations" for the first time since its establishment.

Park Chan-hyung, Production Control Section Leader at Pohang Steelworks, said, "The extraordinary measure of halting steelworks operations in preparation for the typhoon prevented potential large-scale equipment accidents and casualties in advance. Even though most of the steelworks were flooded due to the unexpected Cheongcheon overflow, damage from short circuits in tens of thousands of motors within the steelworks was avoided, and the blast furnace was able to resume normal operation early," he shared his reflections.

Furthermore, Pohang Steelworks took preemptive measures by shutting off power as it halted all plant operations. Jeong Gyu-jeom, POSCO Master Craftsman (selected in 2020) and the top authority on electrical equipment at Pohang Steelworks, explained, "The steelworks houses tens of thousands of electrical devices such as motors, transformers, circuit breakers, and cables. If flooding damage had occurred during operation, short circuits and leakage currents would have damaged the equipment, effectively ending the life of the electrical facilities. Thanks to the preemptive shutdown, there were almost no electrical accidents, and rapid normalization is expected through cleaning and drying recovery work," he said with relief.

POSCO also prepared countermeasures in advance for the blast furnace shutdown. The blast furnace, which melts iron ore to produce molten iron, can experience 'cold shut' if operation is stopped for an extended period, causing the molten iron inside to solidify. Cold shut can cause critical damage to the equipment and require a long recovery time. Based on 50 years of operational know-how, POSCO established preventive measures.

Son Ki-gwan, Plant Manager of the 2nd Steelmaking Plant, said, "Before shutting down the blast furnace, we increased the coke charging amount, which is the heat source that maintains the high temperature inside the furnace, and reduced the amount of iron ore to keep the internal temperature high for a long time, preventing the molten iron from solidifying during the extended shutdown."

In particular, if the rolling line had been flooded while in operation, it could have caused damage to the rolling rolls, furnace explosions, refractory damage, and plate jamming, making it impossible to resume operations for a long time. The reheating furnace at the 3rd Heavy Plate Plant operates at about 1300 degrees Celsius. If water entered the equipment due to flooding, there was a risk of explosion. Therefore, employees stopped operations in advance to lower the furnace temperature, cut off all power to the equipment, and maximized the circulation of cooling water to reduce the internal temperature beforehand. Jang Myung-hoon, Plant Manager of the 3rd Heavy Plate Plant, said, "We took every possible measure under the assumption that a sudden power outage could occur due to the typhoon. Thanks to the quick efforts of our employees, we were able to protect the furnace refractory and equipment and are proceeding smoothly with recovery work."

According to POSCO, the drainage work for the Pohang Steelworks rolling line is currently in its final stages. Power supply has been restored to about 70%. Thanks to thorough prior preparations, dedicated recovery efforts, and support from various sectors of society, steel semi-product production resumed on the 12th. The 3rd Electrical Steel Sheet Plant began operations on the 15th, and part of the 2nd Electrical Steel Sheet Plant started on the 17th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.