Excursion of students of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of ZNTU to Interpipe Steel
How often do we hear that no new enterprises are being built in Ukraine and that the entire technological base that we use is just the remains of the equipment of the USSR? Students of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering can say for sure that this is not true. Recently, our students visited the first enterprise in Independent Ukraine, built, so to speak, on an empty site – Interpipe Steel. This small enterprise near Dnipropetrovsk completely changes the idea of what a steelmaking plant should look like.
We live in Zaporizhzhia and we all know very well what a metallurgical enterprise looks like – at least from afar. This is a large number of pipes, an unpleasant smell, polluted air, shabby buildings, a huge territory – in general, not a very pleasant sight. Interpipe, compared to the enterprises we know, looks like candy – bright green lawn, buildings – art objects, neat sidewalks, clean air and a pleasant atmosphere. And most importantly – friendly people.
The tour begins at the information center, where the tour guides are shown a short documentary about the enterprise, given a short safety briefing, given special clothing (helmets, vests) and a tour system that allows you to hear the tour guide even if the noise level is high around.
The first pride of the enterprise is the «Pichna» substation. For its construction, an underground power transmission line 12.8 km long was laid from the Pridneprovskaya TPP, which is almost twice as long as the Dnipropetrovsk metro. The substation has 4 transformers manufactured by the Zaporizhzhia Transformer Plant, which is nice. The second pride is a gas purification system that allows the air to be completely cleaned of metal combustion products. The air emitted from the only pipe at the plant is as clean as possible and contains harmful impurities several times less than the standards established in Ukraine. The third pride is modern equipment from the Danieli company, which allows the technological process to be made fast and safe. And finally, the fourth pride is art objects. As already mentioned, the buildings themselves on the territory of the enterprises are art objects. They are called «Your Fiery Pattern». The passageway for transport at the enterprise is not just a barrier, it is «Your Tunnel Time». It looks like a portal through time and space! In addition, on the territory of the plant there is an installation «Dnipropetrovsk Sunrise» – a giant metal sun, which, as they say, has not been tested, is visible from any corner of the left bank of the city. Also, in the steelmaking workshop, five huge mirrors are fixed directly on the wall. From round, like the sun, to an oval one stretched almost into a line. This is the installation «Material – is movement», which has two interpretations – sunrise, and a drop of liquid metal falling. And the last, but no less beautiful object is «Your Bridge of Thoughts». This is a mirror corridor in which everyone can see hundreds of their reflections – a spectacle that is simply enchanting.
The tour takes you from the very beginning of production – the filling of scrap metal – to the receipt of the finished product – billets for pipes of various diameters. It was surprising that the average age of all workers without the plant management is 26 years old, with the management – 33 years old. As the tour guide said, the plant management recruited graduates without work experience, sometimes even without education (30% of the plant’s workers do not have higher education), and trained them to work on this equipment and in these conditions. Even now, you can get a job at the enterprise after completing 3-month courses. Workers are taken to the plant from the center of Dnipropetrovsk, people from other cities or those who rent housing in the city pay their expenses.
The impressions from the tour of the Interpipe Stal enterprise are very positive. It is very pleasant not only to know that this is a high-tech plant, but also to enjoy what you see. It is difficult to call Interpipe a steel mill. It is, most likely, an art object itself, which is pleasant to look at.
Shapka Kateryna,
Oleh Barybin,
Press service of the trade union committee of students of ZNTU
