The Gerdau Group continually invests in atmospheric protection. Some of the highlights in this area are the dust removal systems with quenching towers installed in 2005 at Gerdau Cosigua (state of Rio de Janeiro), Gerdau São Paulo (São Paulo) and Gerdau AZA (Chile). The quenching tower at Gerdau Cosigua has increased the efficiency of the gas cooling process in the electric arc furnaces by 70%.

Compared to other cooling technologies, the new equipment consumes a third less water. This is due to a characteristic of this cooling system, which works through direct contact between the water and the hot gases, unlike the previous model, in which the contact was indirect.

The Gerdau Group’s quenching towers are up to 40 meters in height and five meters in diameter. The strength of the equipment gives the furnace exhaust system greater flexibility. In the case of increased steel production, for example, the equipment can easily be adjusted to the new level of gas generation.