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Seamless connection: new pneumatic dispatch system for greentec steel

Countless media lines run through the voestalpine works in Linz, supplying the production systems with process-related media and the power plant gases to generate electricity. They are frequently oversized, and yet the smaller lines that are inconspicuous when compared to the other media lines are also decisive for quality. Although the lines in the pneumatic dispatch system have a relatively small outer diameter of 80 millimeters, they carry particularly valuable samples from steel production for lab analysis.

Direct dispatch

Samples are transported through kilometer-long pneumatic lines from the liquid phase (blast furnace, LD3, foundry) and sintering plant directly into the process analysis lab. In the future, samples from the new hybrid steelmaking plant (electric arc furnace, Secondary Metallurgy 5 and hot-briquetted iron systems) will also be transported through the pneumatic dispatch system. Pipe Bridge E, which runs south of the LD3 Steelmaking Plant, was selected as the main route for the new pneumatic dispatch system. In 3D planning, future media lines on this route and the enormous dimensions of the new scrap bucket transporter were also taken into account in order to avoid possible collisions and malfunctions.

Über die Rohrpostleitungen werden Proben von den Betrieben direkt ins Prozesslabor transportiert.

Mitte Mai 2025 startete die Vormontage westlich der Kontiglühe 2.

Assembly of the pneumatic dispatch system

The initial system sections are up to 20 meters long and were installed in September. The last section was installed on 4 November 2025. The remaining sections will be installed between November 2025 and March 2026, and the roof lines that lead to the receiving stations in the new process lab will also be installed. Beginning in November 2026, the existing steelmaking plant and the blast furnaces will be supplied with time-critical process analyzes in the new and fully automated process lab. The new roof line on Company Building BG02 will then ensure the timely dispatch of time-critical samples. In January 2027, the electric arc furnace will be connected to the HBI supply system, and Secondary Metallurgy 5 will be completed in April 2027. Interesting fact: The newly installed HBI sampling system will be fully automated in the next few months and will not require any manual intervention.

To greentec steel

The greentec steel project of voestalpine is an ambitious step-by-step plan that makes a valuable contribution to the achievement of the climate goals. As a first step, the voestalpine Group plans to replace two blast furnaces with two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) by the year 2027. The investment volume amounts to roughly 1.5 billion euros.

Carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 30% as early as 2029 by making this switch from the blast furnace to the EAF. This corresponds to a savings of nearly 4 million tons of CO₂ per year, amounting to nearly 5% of the carbon emissions in Austria. This makes greentec steel the largest climate protection program in Austria.

The two electric-arc furnaces will enable voestalpine to produce roughly 2.5 million tons of carbon-reduced steel by the year 2027, roughly 1.6 million tons in Linz and 850,000 tons in Donawitz. Learn more about greentec steel here.

How the pneumatic dispatch system works

Samples with a diameter of roughly 35 mm and a thickness of roughly 12 mm are packed into a container by production personnel and introduced to the pneumatic dispatch system through a dispatch station. Compressed air transports the tube to a receiving station, often several hundred meters away, to the heart of the fully automated process laboratory in Company Building BG02. On its way, the sample navigates an altitude of more than 20 meters, switches, several flaps and passage detectors. Depending on the dispatch location, the transport takes between 25 seconds and 3 minutes.