The Florange dust collection system, which had been shut down for over 12 years, was in almost new condition as it had only been in service for a few months in 2011. Disassembled piece by piece, and cleaned, it will be reassembled in Differdange and connected to industrial hoods positioned as close as possible to the processes that emit the most, to capture as much dust as possible at the source. Works in Florange will take place until July 2024. The commissioning of the installation in Differdange is planned for the end of 2025 / beginning of 2026.

In Luxembourg more than elsewhere, with the extension of the urban area, residential districts are now located close to steel production sites. The ArcelorMittal Long Products Luxembourg site in Differdange is no exception to the rule and is facing significant urban development.

However, the arrival of new inhabitants is not the trigger for this investment. The dust collection installation project is the culmination of more than ten years of continuous improvement and technical tests at the Differdange site, starting with the identification and quantification of emission sources. It was then decided to launch projects for watering the processes with water cannons, setting up watertight unloading to reduce the loss of dust during loading and improving already existing dust collection systems. In addition to this, the current approach relied on several joint measurement networks with the Environment Administration and ArcelorMittal, in Fousbann, Niederkorn and Sanem in addition to Differdange, these helping to map all the sources of emissions and thus plan the most coherent and effective actions to implement.

This installation does not aim to produce more steel, nor to make savings on site operating costs or energy consumption. Supported by the Luxembourg State with funding of 5.2 million euros, this project will allow Differdange facilities to be the first to benefit from such equipment. You must imagine the scale of this device, able to process about 1,200,000 m3 of air per hour!

Thanks to this new installation, the ArcelorMittal Long Products Luxembourg site in Differdange will meet the highest required standards and will allow it to go beyond the recommendations of the European Commission in terms of diffuse dust emissions.

For Henri Reding, Country Head ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, “this significant investment is a further step in meeting the expectations of our stakeholders, first and foremost our employees, the residents neighboring our industrial facilities and the municipalities where we operate. We desire to limit all our impacts for a responsible industry, and for this we are ready to invest in systems that are non-productive but beneficial for the communities around us.”

Pierre Jacobs, CEO ArcelorMittal Long Products Luxembourg adds: “our steelworks and the Grey mill located in Differdange produce very high-tech steels that promote Luxembourg know-how throughout the world. We are determined to make these installations not only efficient, but also more environmentally friendly”.