Steel Times International May/June 2019 by Quartz Business Media

ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

NEWS ROUND-UP

INNOVATIONS

A CAUTIONARY TALE...

Electric steelmakers are growing their share of the US steel market

Six pages of latest news from the global steel industry

Thirteen pages of new products and the latest contracts awarded

Nobody is immune from incompetence

www.steeltimesint.com May/June 2019 - Vol.43 No4

STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – May/June 2019 – Vol.43 No4

From John Cockerill to CMI. From CMI to John Cockerill Back to original values and mission: CMI takes the name of John Cockerill (again)

STI Cover.indd 1

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CONTENTS - MAY/JUNE 2019

ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

NEWS ROUND-UP

INNOVATIONS

A CAUTIONARY TALE...

Electric steelmakers are growing their share of the US steel market

Six pages of latest news from the global steel industry

Thirteen pages of new products and the latest contracts awarded

Nobody is immune from incompetence

4 Leader By Matthew Moggridge, editor, Steel Times International.

www.steeltimesint.com May/June 2019 - Vol.43 No4

STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – May/June 2019 – Vol.43 No4

Picture courtesy of John Cockerill

From John Cockerill to CMI. From CMI to John Cockerill Back to original values and mission: CMI takes the name of John Cockerill (again)

STI Cover.indd 1

22/05/2019 14:40:26

EDITORIAL Editor Matthew Moggridge Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855151 matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com Consultant Editor Dr. Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor Annie Baker Advertisement Production Martin Lawrence SALES International Sales Manager Paul Rossage paulrossage@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855116 Sales Director Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855117 Managing Director Steve Diprose stevediprose@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855164 Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Paul Michael SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email subscriptions@quartzltd.com Steel Times International is published eight times a year and is available on subscription. Annual subscription: UK £195.00 Other countries: £270.00

6 Innovations The latest contracts and new products from international plant builders and suppliers.

Published by: Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, England. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034

76 Electric steelmaking US EAFs on a roll. 81 Testing and analysis Lasers and infra-red cameras. 91 Automotive Digital transformation for steel.

31 A cautionary tale Nobody is immune from incompetence.

95 Process control Computerised heating control system.

34 News round-up The latest news and diary dates.

99 Technology Dramatic digital opportunities.

45 USA update Not everyone is happy with tariffs.

104 Continuous galvanising lines The revamping of a skin pass mill.

48 Latin America update Chinese investment in Latin America (part 2).

112 Perspectives: Primetals Technologies Understanding customer needs.

German steel industry 51 The steel industry in Germany and Europe. 55 Disruptor or disrupted?

2 years subscription: UK £350.00 Other countries: £485.00 ) Single copy (inc postage): £45.00 Email: steel@quartzltd.com

59 Environment Can we ﬁnd a market for green steel?

114 Perspectives: Pesmel A globally active logistics business. 116 History PLUTO - Pipe Line Under The Ocean.

www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International (USPS No: 020-958) is published monthly except Feb, May, July, Dec by Quartz Business Media Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER send address changes to Steel Times International c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437.

64 Proﬁle Steel innovations from Severstal.

Printed in England by: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent NP12 2YA, UK

69 Steel mills logistics Logistics 4.0 solutions for steel mills.

©Quartz Business Media Ltd 2019

ISSN0143-7798

www.steeltimesint.com

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MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE™ TO OUR ENVIRONMENT We’re changing… We’ve even changed our name as we signal our intention to create a greener footprint and evolve into one of the world’s truly unique environmental solutions companies. Our purpose is to repurpose. Our goal is zero waste. We are putting our environmental responsibilities at the very heart of our company, bringing added value to our customers while breathing life into our communities and our environment. We know that we cannot change the world, but we are… MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE™

Harsco Environmental, Harsco House, Regent Park, 299 Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SG, United Kingdom t 44 (0) 1372 381400 © 2019 Harsco Corporation. All Rights Reserved. This document and the information set forth herein are the property of Harsco Corporation.

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LEADER

I’m not a celebrity, but get me out of here anyway...

Matthew Moggridge Editor matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com

There’s nothing like a lack of time to focus the mind when there’s a leader article to write, and here I am embarking upon the task in hand. I’ve not long returned from the USA, Pittsburgh to be precise, where I experienced first hand the weapons-grade positivity flowing through the veins of the American steel industry. It was good to sit in front of the big hitters of North American steelmaking, and hear them use words and phrases like change, intense, fabulous, brutal and record-breaking when asked to describe how 2018 had been for their businesses; and there was no let-up. Other words and phrases thrown around included ‘accelerate’ and ‘billion dollar investment’, even ‘sexier steel’ courtesy of US Steel’s Scott Burkiso. If the truth be known I felt like a character in Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Michael Valentine Smith, a human raised by Martians. I won’t bore you with the details, but remember that I come from Brexit Land, it’s not a discount furniture warehouse, but a strange theme park on the other side of the Atlantic where everybody is bickering and shuffling around in dirty-looking clothes and nobody seems capable of making a decision about

anything. In Brexit Land you can catch life-threatening sepsis from visiting your dentist or die from MRSA if you have the misfortune of visiting a hospital, possibly because you’ve been stabbed in the street by a maladjusted teenager with no future. It’s a grim place where career politicians with Aryan Nation haircuts have unworthy political ambitions and stand a fair chance of running the country although, talking of words, perhaps that ‘o’ in ‘country’ is superﬂuous these days. When I did return to Brexit Land, I did so via the Big Apple because my riverfront hotel in Pittsburgh ‘stole’ my passport. It’s a long story and the only negative element of my trip and you can read all about it on page 31. When I arrived home, tired and jet-lagged, it wasn’t long before there was some bad news to deal with: British Steel had gone to the wall and at the time of going to press has entered compulsory liquidation, threatening at least 5,000 jobs. Par for the course in my neck of the woods, where the political classes have messed things up ‘good and proper’. Future Steel Forum, Budapest, 25-26 September. Further details, www.futuresteelforum.com

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INNOVATIONS

US Steel invests in Primetals ESP line Austrian plant builder Primetals Technologies will supply an Arvedi ESP (Endless Strip Production) line to United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) for its Edgar Thomson Plant at Braddock, Pennsylvania. The company claims it will be the first ESP line constructed in the US. The casting-rolling plant has a rated capacity of 2.5Mt/yr of high-quality, ultra-thin strip. With a maximum strip width of 1,956mm, it will be the widest ESP line ever built, says Primetals. The Arvedi ESP line is designed to produce strip with thickness between 0.8mm and 6mm in a width range from 965mm to 1956mm.

Primetals Technologies is responsible for the engineering of the Arvedi ESP plant and will supply mechanical equipment, media-control systems, technological packages and automation systems. The line is controlled by an integrated basic (Level 1) and process optimisation (Level 2) automation, which fully controls all casting and rolling operations. Level 3 automation is also included in the scope of supply as well as the power supply transformers and substation. For coil transport, a modular shuttle car will be provided. According to Primetals, with this investment, US Steelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mon Valley Works will become the principal source of substrate for the production

of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s XG3 Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS). In addition to producing sustainable AHSS, the technology provided will improve environmental performance, energy conservation and reduce the carbon footprint of the Mon Valley Works. First coil production is expected in 2022, contingent upon permitting and construction. Founded in 1901, United States Steel Corporation is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States and Central Europe. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., the company manufactures a wide range of value-added steel sheet and tubular products for the automotive, appliance, container, indus-

Converter replacement for Serbian steelmaker

May/June 2019

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INNOVATIONS

trial machinery, construction, and oil and gas industries. • The Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, is part of US Steel´s Mon Valley Works. It is located about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and is where basic steel production takes place. The facility operates two blast furnaces, two BOF converters, vacuum degassing and ladle metallurgy facilities and a dual-strand continuous slab caster. Slabs are further processed in another facility of the Mon Valley Works. With the Arvedi ESP process, hot-rolled coils are produced in a linked casting and rolling plant directly from liquid steel in a continuous and uninterrupted manufacturing process. The line commences with the casting of a thin strand that is subsequently rolled to an intermediate thickness of 10mm to 20mm in a 3-stand high-reduction mill positioned at the end of the caster. After reheating in an induction heater, rolling of the transfer bar to the targeted end thickness is performed in a 5-stand finishing mill followed by laminar strip cooling. Strip cutting is then carried out with a high-speed shear immediately prior to coiling. Energy consumption and associated costs of this type of mill are up to 45% lower than conventional mills with separate casting and rolling processes, claims Primetals. “They also have substantially reduced CO2 emissions and are considerably more compact than conventional casting and rolling mills,” the company said.

For further information, log on to www.primetals.com

Focus on Primetals Technologies

HBIS Serbia has contracted Primetals Technologies to replace its BOF converter number 2 at its production site in Smederovo, Serbia, with a view to improving the process and raising the production capacity of the plant. The aim is to increase the converter vessel’s shell volume while at the same time keeping the critical outer dimensions the same so as to keep existing adjacent interfaces. www.steeltimesint.com

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A strong presence at METEC Primetals Technologies has a strong presence at the forthcoming METEC exposition and convention in Dusseldorf, Germany (25-29 June). The event runs every four years and when it last took place, in 2015, Primetals Technologies announced its formation. Four years on, in 2019, the company is displaying its digitalisation, technology, product and service portfolio for every step of the iron and steel production value chain. The company can be found at booth E02-E10 in Hall 4 where its key focus will be: digital plants, sustainable steel, productive assets and new business. The central theme of the booth will be the “Steel City”, offering an interactive experience of complex plant processes. It will also feature the “Future Lab” offering deep insights into e-services and digital solutions. In the “Pioneers Lounge”, presentations, panel discussions and other event formats will be hosted.

Primetals Technologies will also present around 45 technical presentations at the European Steel Technology and Application Days (ESTAD) congress, which is being held in conjunction with the trade fair. According to Primetals, “providing answers to what the future holds for metals producers is the key for their business success. Primetals Technologies is supplying insights into the fascinating possibilities on the way to the fully automated steel plant of the future, laying out what is possible today and what will be state-of-the-art in a few years.” Technology experts and the management team will on hand to answer questions about key technologies that can help metals producers to take a decisive step towards a fully digitalised operation.

The new converter will have a tapping weight of 105 metric tonnes and will receive, among other equipment, a Vaicon Link 2.0 suspension system and a new tilting device. Modifications of the BOF pedestal or the revamping of civil works, claims Primetals, are not required. The expected start-up date is Q2 2020. HBIS Serbia produces hot and cold rolled products and tin plate in South Eastern Europe. Its facilities are located in the village of Radinac near Smederevo. The Smederevo plant produces iron in two blast furnaces and converts it to raw steel at a three-furnace converter shop and continuous casting complex. Where steel processing is concerned, the facilities include a hot strip mill, sheet cold reduction mill, annealing and tempering units. Converter number two’s vessel shell and trunnion ring had reached the end of it’s useful life, according to Primetals.

For the new BOF converter number 2, the scope of supply includes the new vessel with detachable BOF bottom part, the trunnion ring, the Vaicon Link 2.0 suspension system, new supporting bearings with housings, a new tilting drive including a pneumatic emergency drive system, bottom stirring system, a dart machine for slag retention and the implementation of slag splashing.technology. The company will also supply the electrics and basic (level 1) automation system for the new tilting drive and existing melt shop equipment. The scope covers the execution of the erection works and related advisory services. Dismantling of the old BOF equipment and installation of the new one are planned to be started and finished within approximately 55 days. Installation will be carried out jointly with a local Serbian company.

For further information, log on to https://www.primetals.com/metec2019/

For further information, log on to www.primetals.com May/June 2019

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INNOVATIONS

FACs issued for steelmaking equipment Ukrainian steel producer Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, based in Mariupol and part of the Metinvest Group, has issued Final Acceptance Certificates (FACs) for a two-strand continuous slab caster, a twin ladle furnace with an alloying station, and associated dedusting equipment, all supplied by Primetals Technologies. According to Primetals, the two-strand caster CC4 is designed to produce 2.5Mt (metric tonnes) of slabs per annum, increasing the steelmaker’s annual production capacity to around 4Mt (metric tonnes), as well as enhancing and expanding its product portfolio to include, for example, HC, UHC and ULC steels. A level 3 heat-pacing solution co-ordinates the steel production with the casting operation, says the plant builder. Ilyich Iron and Steel works (MMKI) produces steel using three LD (BOF) converters. A new 150 metric ton twin ladle furnace from Primetals and an associated alloying station will, it is claimed, help to set the desired steel grades and the correct casting temperature; thanks to Industry 4.0-ready automation on Level 1 and Level 2, this can be done via pre-selectable process models. A 28 MVA transformer provides the electrical energy for the ladle furnace, enabling a heating rate of 4.5 °C per minute. This heating rate and the guaranteed energy consumption value have been over-fulfilled during start-up. Primetals also designed a dedusting system to clean the off gases from the ladle metallurgy facility. This is claimed to improve the environmental situation in Mariupol, where MMKI is located. The dedusting system reduces the dust content in the off gases to a level of 12 mg/m3 (maximum). Ukrainian standards require up to 50 mg/m3 and the European standards up to 30 mg/m3. The equipment order for the continuous slab caster covered all the installations from the ladle turret and the tundish car through to the exit zone with its weighing, torch cutting, marking and deburring machines. The Primetals caster has a machine radius of 9m and a metallurgical

Focus on Primetals Technologies

Slab caster CC4 from Primetals Technologies at PJSC “Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol” (MMKI), Ukraine.

length of 29.8m. Primetals claims that it casts slabs with thicknesses of 170mm and 250mm in widths ranging from 900mm to 1,550mm. The maximum casting speed is 2.2m/min. It processes peritectic and peritectic alloyed steels, low, medium, high and ultra-high carbon grades and medium-carbon alloyed steel. The caster is equipped with automatic LevCon mold level control, a straight, cassette-type Smart Mold with the DynaWidth technology package to automatically adjust the width of the slab online, and a DynaFlex mold oscillator. The strand guide is equipped with Smart Segments and I-Star rollers. DynaGap Soft Reduction, the Dynacs 3D second-

ary cooling model, and DynaJet nozzles were also installed, making it possible for the steelmaker to produce a wide variety of high-quality grades with improved interior quality. • MMKI is one of the largest iron and steel works in Ukraine and produces a wide range of ﬂat products made of carbon, low-alloyed and alloyed steel grades. It produces heavy plates for pipelines, shipbuilding, pressure vessels and the construction industry, as well as hot and cold rolled plates and coils. For further information, log on to www.primetals.com

Metinvest takes on Case SV250 loader A Case SV250 skid steer loader has been put to work in the gas shop of Ilyich Steel, part of the Metinvest Group and hereon known as MMKI. The unit will support the efficient operation of cleaning equipment in the blast furnace shop, according to the Ukrainian steelmaker. The new loader is described by MMKI as ‘compact, highly manoeuvrable and it can be used in ‘extremely restricted spaces’.

The steer loader comes with forks and bucket and the latter will be used to remove sludge from sedimentation tanks and other places where it is hard to use a full-size machine. The forks will be used to handle and place tanks filled with reagents for chemical treatment of recirculative water from the blast furnace’s gas cleaning system. Tara Shevchenko, general director of MMKI, commented: “We upgrade not only

the production capacities, but the equipment that serves them. We have technological and production tasks to accomplish and also have extremely important tasks aimed at improving the environmental situation, both on the production site and in the city, and we implement them consistently.” For further information, log on to www.casece.com

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Manufacturing of high-tensile super alloy forgings requires a high level of control of the material microstructure. Siempelkamp’s proprietary strain rate control technology allows for such high precision forging.“ Götz Sondermann Technical Director, Siempelkamp

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28.06.16 12:42

INNOVATIONS

SMS group to supply new pipe mill stand and a spiral pipe machine with submerged arc welding using its Perfect arc technology, which is claimed to enable energy savings of up to 30% when compared with other systems on the market. The new facility is scheduled to start production in 2020 and will offer material grades of up to X-70. According to SMS group, the pipes will mainly be produced as water pipes that meet American Water Works Association standards. The new line, says SMS group, will be designed to make pipes of more than 16 metres (55 feet) in length with an outside diameter ranging from 610mm to 3,658mm (24 to 144 inches). The maximum wall thickness will be The teams of the US-based 25.4mm (1 inch). SpiralWeld Pipe and SMS The so-called ‘one-step’ – or group after the contract was online – process will be used at the signed mill, relying upon submerged-arc SMS group has been awarded the welding from the inside and outcontract the supply a new online side taking place directly after spiral spiral pipe mill by SpiralWeld Pipe pipe forming, according to SMS group. Company LLC for their plant number three in SMS argues that the productivity of spiral Paris, Texas. welding systems is often restricted by the welding The German plant builder will be responsible speeds of submerged arc welding. However, the for the engineering, supply and supervision of company’s Perfect arc system is claimed to allow erection and commissioning of a coil preparation

an increase in productivity of up to 20% while maintaining process stability. SMS group’s systems operate with Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) power electronics with fully digital welding current control. No transformers are required, which means that welding machines ‘can attain an efficiency rate of over 90%’. For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

Focus on SMS GROUP

Zekelman to install new tube welding line With expansion on its mind, Zekelman Industries, the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America, has approached and commissioned SMS group to supply a new 28in ERW tube welding line to be installed at its Atlas Tube structural tube division. The company will be installing the biggest continuous line in the world once the unit is installed and will be capable of producing more than 400kt and extend its product ranges. SMS claims that the new line with allow Zekelman to produce structural and piling products with diameters ranging from 10.75 up to 28 inches (273 to 710mm) and wall thicknesses of up to 1 inch (25.4mm). It will also be able to produce square and rectangular hollows in dimensions ranging from 8x8 inches (203 x 203mm) up to 22 x 22 inches (559 x 559mm) or 34 x 10 inches (863 x 254mm). All of the steelmaker’s products are destined for the construction and building sector. SMS plans to employ its CSS Quicksetting system to ensure that the mill rolls can be adjusted automatically to their working positions after the size change. “Further to an operational speed reaching 35 metres per minute, the line offers superior diameter/wall thickness ratio capability which, along with a quick product change-over time, results in great product flexibility,” the company explained. May/June 2019

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Zekelman and SMS group have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship over many years. The company has placed several orders for expansion and product spectrum improvement at plants in

Blytheville, USA; and Harrow in Canada. For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

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INNOVATIONS

Spanish steelmaker upgrades walking beam furnace

New walking beam furnace for MEGASA And talking of walking beam furnaces, the MEGASA Group has approached SMS group for a brand new one to be installed in the company’s existing bar mill, SN Seixal Siderurgia Nacional in Portugal.

Sidenor Basauri of Spain is planning to upgrade its walking beam furnace with a view to increasing its capacity from 85 tonnes/hr to 130 tonnes/hr. The furnace was supplied by SMS group in 2016 and originally designed with a capacity increase in mind: Engineers had already taken into consideration all civil and mechanical modifications required for the future capacity boost in order to guarantee a short plant shutdown and a fast restart. It is hoped that the plant will be restarted some time in H2 2020. The upgrade will require SMS group to supply new steel structures with a set of ZeroFlame extra-low NOx burners (already included at stage 1) and designed to emit pollutants of less than 100mg/Nm3 at 1,250 C – meeting stringent European guidelines, claims the company. For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

Focus on SMS GROUP

The new furnace is rated at 160 tons/hr coldcharged and 210 tons/hr hot-charged, claims SMS group. It should be up and running by the end of summer 2020. The furnace will rely upon SMS group’s Prometheus Level 2 system, the company’s DigiMod combustion management system and its ZeroFlame burners. SMS believes that by using the combination of these three systems, the furnace ‘will ensure outstanding performance in terms of reductions in fuel consumption, scale formation and pollutant emissions’. They will also lead to reduced NOx emissions (down to 90mg/Nm3), less scale formation (down to 0.4%) and reduced fuel consumption to less than 27 Nm3/tonne. According to SMS group, MEGASA will consolidate its leading position in the construction steel market with this investment. The furnace will be able to reheat billets starting from as slender as 120mm up to 160mm in various lengths of up to 14.5 metres. The project will be turnkey in nature, including erection, supervision and commissioning. For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

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INNOVATIONS

Eyeron commended at Russian Future Forum

A real-time steel quality control solution from Fives Group has been commended at the first French-Russian ‘Industry of the Future’ forum. The Forum was held in Moscow and jointly organised by the French Alliance ‘Industrie du Futur’, the technological centre of the French-Russian Chamber of Commerce, known as Nauka Innov, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Russian Ministry of Industry, the French Embassy in Russia, MEDEF International and Fives. Fives was represented by a delegation headed by Frédéric Sanchez, Fives’ chairman and CEO, who was also chairman of MEDEF International. During the one-day event, delegates shared their vision of the industry of the future and discussed technological and industrial co-operation. The event focused strongly on the potential of the digital economy, technologies, additive technologies, automation, robotics, big data and the Internet of Things. Last year, Fives’ Eyeron system was successfully implemented in the steel shop, hot rolling mill 2000 and the plate rolling shop N2 of leading Russian steelmaker Severstal. ‘It enables the shops to automatically manage more than 20,000 rules to make a decision on product quality,’ said Fives. According to Alexandr Shevelev, “This is the first intellectual system to automatically certify product quality in the metallurgical industry of the Russian Federation, and it’s the first system in the world which not only makes the decision on certification, but also offers possibilities to rework slabs and rolled products, considering the quality required by our clients. The system has a very high potential, and we plan to introduce it into other production shops of the plant.” May/June 2019

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According to Peter Mishnev, technical development and quality director of Severstal’s Russian Steel Division, “Following the result last year, the system allowed us to significantly reduce non-conforming products. The quantity of slabs requiring scarfing was also decreased. The financial benefit totalled EUR1.7 million.” “It is in Fives’ DNA to develop innovative solutions for and together with its clients. Eyeron, a breakthrough digital application for steel quality management, was implemented at the Cherepovets plant thanks to the forward-thinking

and spirit of partnership between the teams of Severstal and Fives”, said Frédéric Sanchez during the ceremony. Recognising these significant achievements, the award was presented by Oleg Bocharov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation in the presence of Sylvie Bermann, French Ambassador to Russia (see picture below).

For further information, log on to www.fivesgroup.com

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 11:37:15

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INNOVATIONS

JSW awards upgrade contract to Danieli Italian plant builder Danieli has been awarded the contract to replace the primary descaler, hot plate leveller and plate shearing line No. 1 at JSW Steel USA, in Baytown, Texas. The steelmaker’s intention is to improve plant yield. Phase one of the project is underway now and commissioning of the new equipment is expected by the autumn of this year. Phase two of the project was confirmed by JSW in September 2018. The aim is to replace the reversing rolling mill, install a pre-leveller, direct quenching and accelerated cooling, fully replace the cooling beds and add a new cold plate leveller. Among other Level 2 automation features provided by Danieli Automation, the new 4-high plate mill stand will be equipped with plan view rolling technology (PVR), which will improve yield by approximately 2%. For further information, log on to www.danieli.com

Shapeline explains Opticool project Swedish steel producer SSAB claims to be a pioneer in the production of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and quenched and tempered steels (Q&T). It is said that the company is renowned for its world-leading steel grades such as Hardox wear plates, Strenx performance steel and Docol automotive steel. In 2012, SSAB started the production of Hardox directly in the hot strip mill. This was made possible by the use of innovative quench technology paired with a refined process, resulting in a direct quench capacity while maintaining material properties and shape over strip width and length. The elimination of down-stream processing yielded a financial windfall as well as an environmental gain. Several different parameters have to be mastered in a direct quench-line and the most difficult and important of these is flatness. As flatness changes through the laminar cooling process, it indicates variations in the material properties over strip width and length. In 2014, Shapeline AB (a Swedish company focused on laser line-based flatness measurement) and SSAB launched the Opticool project. The objective was to develop a concept to analyse

how flatness affects laminar cooling and how incoming flatness transforms into outgoing flatness after accelerated laminar cooling. The first step involved developing a reliable flatness gauge with enough accuracy and resolution to measure relatively small flatness deviations, followed by step two, measuring flatness before and after laminar cooling to understand the mechanisms behind the flatness transformations. The first step was completed in 2017 and resulted in the development of VeriShape. VeriShape, it is claimed, delivers the required performance and can be maintained, modified and calibrated without line-stop. Currently, there are two VeriShape gauges used to provide insight into how laminar cooling affects flatness. The first gauge is installed directly after the 6-stand finishing mill and the second at the exit of the laminar cooling section. The two most important flatness classes are waves and crossbow. Waves (for example, centre-buckles, quarter waves and edge waves) are normally measured in I-units, which represent differences in curve length for each “fibre” in the length direction, and crossbow strip shape in the width direction, such as ridge or gutter (see Fig.

2). Since these classes can exist at the same time, the software separates them, making it possible to compare I-units and crossbow individually. Observations The software uses data from both systems and is able to isolate the resulting flatness from the laminar cooling, split into crossbow and I-units, which allows for an objective analysis. Some results so far are: • The incoming shape is critical for the distribution of cooling power. Flatness has a considerable influence on the water-flow and distribution. • Crossbow is often amplified during laminar cooling which can be seen in ‘Error! Reference source not found.’ • Edge-waves can be created during laminar cooling which can also be seen in ‘Error! Reference source not found.’ This can be due to temperature gradients across the width resulting in phase transformation variations. • Different steel-grades and different campaigns produced different results while the results within each individual campaign stayed constant. The combination of the two VeriShape-systems has proven to be a powerful tool in analysing flatness transformation in the laminar cooling process. As a direct result of this, the initial project has been extended to analysing flatness transformation further as well as controlling the mill. The project will be presented in more detail at the ESTAD-conference during the METEC-show in Düsseldorf. For further information, log on to www.shapeline.com www.steeltimesint.com

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22/05/2019 11:37:22

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INNOVATIONS

Cognor contracts Fives for furnace renovation Polish steel producer Cognor SA has contracted Fives to implement the renovation of a reheating pusher furnace at its Krakow plant. The steelmaker was looking to improve furnace performance, both in terms of production availability and operational cost reduction. The existing furnace, with an initial production capacity of 90 tons/hr, is integrated into a rolling mill producing merchant bars and rebars. Over recent years, the plant has experienced difficulties with operating the furnace sustainably at the designed production rate. Furthermore, the furnace required frequent maintenance and consumes an excessive amount of gas. The project faced a technical constraint inasmuch as the furnace foundation could not be modified. Therefore, the dimensions of the furnace have to remain

the same. Fives claims it was the only company capable of offering its proprietary technology to sustain production capacity at reduced operational costs and with the same footprint. Fives further claims that in order to ‘significantly improve furnace performance’, it will use its AdvanTek proprietary combustion system technology, which fully separates the burner capacity control and flame length control. It is also the only combustion technology that operates the burners at the optimum capacity at any production rate and operating conditions, says Fives. As a result of this renovation, pusher furnace capacity will be sustained at the designed level. The operational costs will decrease thanks to a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and a 40% decrease in scale. The scope of work also includes

repairs of the refractories and steel structures of the soaking zone. Work is planned to start in March 2020 with the first hot product being scheduled in Q2 2020. Fives’ subsidiary in Spain will be responsible for the project. Traditionally, the company specialises in long product thermal solutions globally, but recently, its offering has been expanded through the acquisition of certain activities of RDI-Met, a subsidiary of Fagor Arrasate (Spain). Today it covers mechanical engineering for strip processing lines, including coating lines.

For further information, log on to www.fivesgroup.com

New guidance on industrial controllers Opto 22, a designer and manufacturer of industrial control products and Internet of Things platforms that bridge the gap between information technology and operations technology, has released a new white paper entitled, Meet the Future: Edge Programmable Industrial Controllers,” which discusses how controls engineers can meet today's demands for obtaining, using and sharing data. The white paper focuses on three main communication challenges: complexity, security, and expense. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and other data-intensive automation applications typically require many steps and a lot of middleware: hardware, drivers, parsers, and custom software. These steps are time-consuming to set up, difficult to maintain and change, and create major security concerns. The white paper explains how a new kind of industrial controller—an edge programmable industrial controller, or EPIC—can simplify and secure automation and IIoT projects, while reducing cost and complexity. In addition to IIoT and data-based projects, EPIC devices can also be used to provide real-time control for all kinds of traditional automation applications. Included application examples bring these concepts to life by demonstrating how automation

professionals are using EPIC devices to improve operations. EPIC devices are claimed to free-up operators so that they can focus on what they want to do: connect legacy systems and smart systems, get data, transform it into actionable information, visualise it when and where they want, and perform real-time control. Because EPIC systems are scalable, they can

be applied to smaller applications and then expanded with virtually no limitation, allowing operators to see how EPIC can work for them before committing significant resources. An EPIC device offers a simple, secure, maintainable, and cost-effective solution for data communication. For further information, log on to www.op22.co/EPICwhitepaper

May/June 2019

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From John Cockerill to CMI. From CMI to John Cockerill. The encounter between traditional values and modern trends has helped us to offer the bestadapted response to modern clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; aspiration.

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Inspired by the visionary and entrepreneurial personality of its founder, CMI once again becomes John Cockerill. Since 1817, the strong commitment to a culture of creative thinkers helped us to provide innovative and profitable answers to the needs of our clients. Resolutely oriented towards the future, innovation forms an inherent part of our engineering. While growth is substantial, the challenge is to focus on generating sustainable progress. This is what we have done for the past 200 years.

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johncockerill.com/industry 197561-ann-CMI Metals John Cockerill-A4.indd 1

2/05/19 13:42

INNOVATIONS

Testing begins at Chinese steel mill

Hot testing has begun for Italian plant builder Danieli’s Universal Endless (DUE) plant in Caofeidian, China. For the first time ever, claims Danieli, coilto-coil and endless, thermo-mechanical and multi-phase, ultra-thin and thick products will all be produced on a single production line, making both value-added niche products as well as commercial-grade products. Shougang Jingtang’s DUE plant will produce

2.1Mt/yr in a wide mix of steel grades and strip dimensions from 0.8mm to 12.7mm thickness and widths from 900mm to 1,600 mm. In mid-April the hot test of the caster area started as scheduled, and within a few days several heats of LC and MC grades had been cast. The target was achieved as planned, producing 110mm thick, 1420mm wide slabs. By the end of April, the mill also commenced rolling tests.

According to Danieli, this start-up represents a milestone in modern flat products production. The DUE layout configuration, together with effective and optimised energy consumption, now represents the most extensive application of Danieli’s concept of production flexibility.

For further information, log on to www.danieli.com

Industrial grade cooling tower on show Baltimore Aircoil Company (BAC) showcased its Series 5000 industrial grade modular cooling tower at the recent AISTech 2019 held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Centre in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Also highlighted was the FXV3 closed circuit cooling tower. BAC claims that its modular equipment provides the highest reliability and helps minimise planned and unplanned downtime, maximising output and process yield. The company’s modular designs are also claimed to be quicker to install and service compared to field-erected solutions. The Series 5000 Industrial Grade Modular Cooling Tower features industrial grade construction, reliable year-round operation, installation flexibility, and the lowest maintenance costs. It provides superior performance with BAC’s patent pending ENDURAFLOW heat transfer system for dirty water applications. According to BAC, the Series 5000 also offers the most corrosion resistant materials package, including EVERTOUGH Construction, combined with the most reliable drive options, including the direct-drive ENDURADRIVE fan system. Visitors who stopped by the booth learned about the FXV3 Closed Circuit Cooling Tower. “It’s perfect for applications to maximise performance in a small footprint,”said BAC. May/June 2019

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“Now the highest capacity modular closed circuit cooling tower on the market, the FXV3 surpasses historical standards.” The company further claims that the FXV3 offers unmatched reliability as it features the ENDURADRIVE fan system, which is described as ‘the only variable-speed direct-drive solution for modular cooling towers that virtually eliminates maintenance and downtime’. With up to 20% higher capacity in the same single cell

footprint than other similar industry products, the FXV3 is Certified Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) tested. “The FXV3’s seismic and wind load capabilities have been upgraded to meet IBC code requirements,” added BAC.

For further information, log on to www.BaltimoreAircoil.com

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 11:37:30

Industrial Solutions for Steel and Coke Plants

Reinstatement during ongoing operations No problem if you call on thyssenkrupp. Our extensive expertise in complex and sophisticated revamps of steel and coking plants guarantees you worry-free reinstatement. When we carry out a “hot repair” project, the refractory and steel construction is rehabilitated, the heating adjustments deliver optimized energy and waste gas flows, and higher environmental standards are met. Needless to say, all the work will be completed on time and you don’t need to worry about operational restraints, environmental requirements or regulatory stress. www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com

tkis-ad-steel-times-A4.indd 1

30.04.19 10:01

INNOVATIONS

Sending steel coils by container? CakeBoxx Technologies (CBT), the company that builds two-piece intermodal shipping containers, has announced a new container designed specifically for the transportation of steel coil cargos. The 20-foot ‘CoilBoxx’ is claimed to take advantage of the same ‘deck and lid’ form factor as other CakeBoxx models. A specially designed floor in the CoilBoxx deck houses adjustable cradles onto which coiled cargo can be easily loaded, secured, transported and stored, claims the company. “This simple but extremely practical design allows coils to be loaded once at their point of origin and remain in the same container while being shipped globally…without having to be handled or transloaded”, said CBT. The launch of CakeBoxx marks the first new product for CBT in 2019. “It continues a trend of game-changing, practical innovations from the company, which in recent years has included the launch of the BreakBulkBoxx product line of 45foot and 53-foot containers that allow shippers to containerise many cargos previously only transportable by break bulk or ‘roll-on, roll-off’ vessels,” said CBT. CoilBoxx is claimed to provide a new way for domestic and international steel shippers to take advantage of the safety, low cost and route efficiency offered by container shipping. Designed and manufactured to ISO specifications and CSC certified, the CoilBoxx is said to provide a time and cost saving containerised shipping alternative to traditional flatbed trailer, flat rack and break bulk vessel transport. It is also claimed to be effective at protecting coils from exposure to adverse environmental conditions and typically unavoidable handling mishaps. The CoilBoxx is claimed to be suitable for transporting and storing all types of coiled or cylindrical cargo. The CoilBoxx deck is fully accessible from 360° for ease and speed of both side and top loading. The CoilBoxx cradles are adjustable to accommodate up to three coil ODs, as large as 1700mm and as small as 300mm with a maximum width of 2,232mm. These can be easily secured without the need for blocking and bracing or any further packaging using the embedded tie-down system. May/June 2019

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Scott Lyman, CakeBoxx Technologies’ director, commented, “The CoilBoxx will be an eye-opener for coil shippers. As more and more high-value coils are being produced and shipped globally it makes great sense to take advantage of the benefits of expedited container service. They can easily load their coils into our two-piece 20-foot container and lock into cheaper, faster and safer

intermodal options, from short haul truck lanes to rail and water transit anywhere in the world – increased product protection and fewer damage claims.”

For further information, log on to www.cakeboxx-technologies.com

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 11:37:32

OUR TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS FOR THE METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY

Visit us at METEC in Dusseldorf Hall 04 Booth 4D20 kamag.com

INNOVATIONS

Wiesel stands out, says Kamag The Tii Group’s Wiesel is claimed to be already on the road to success. The manoeuvrable lift transporter has been designed for ensuring the rapid handling and transporting of swap bodies around logistics yards or terminals. Nimbler than the eponymous weasel, the vehicle is said to stand out among other things due to its flexible adaptability in order to accommodate

different parking heights, a high level of driving safety and low fuel consumption. Up to now, Kamag Transporttechnik – part of the Transporter Industry International (TII) Group – has sold more than 2,000 Wiesel swap body transporters, mainly in the DACH region. In major logistics companies, the Wiesel is also being used in France, Italy and Poland.

Moreover, demand is expected to grow in other European markets in the future. “With the Wiesel, we help our customers to organise their intralogistics processes more efficiently and more cost-effectively,” said Jürgen Dirr, Kamag’s area sales manager responsible for the swap body transporter business. An emission-free version complete with elec-

TML’s UNIDACHS 110 for steelmaking industry TML will be showing its new UNIDACHS 110 de-bricking machine, which it has developed especially for work in the metallurgical industry. The 110 is smaller and more compactly built than its predecessor the UNIDACHS 220 and features what is claimed to be a unique 360° boom rotation. The new UNIDACHS can be deployed in very tight areas and where working space and height is extremely restricted. TML has designed the new machine for hot applications in the metallurgical industry. The typical working areas are de-bricking of smaller ladles, BF-runners, tundishes and furnaces. The 360° rotary cantilever boom can utilise attachments such

as hydraulic hammers, rotary drum cutters or a bucket and can reach every point from which material needs to be removed, TML claims.The new machine is said to stand out in the crowd with its compact design, high manoeuvrability and a strong hydraulic drive. The width of the undercarriage is only 1,315mm and the height is 1,635 mm. This allows access to working areas that are not easily accessible for other machines. Due to remote operation, the operator is always at a safe distance. Compared with mini-excavators with an articulated arm, it has a further degree of motion. The 360° boom rotation, combined with the double articulated cantilever boom, offers a

very high level of flexibility. The attachments can be utilised at almost any required angle of surface to be worked on. Despite the compact size of the machine, it has a large working reach, depending on the attachment. In combination with the kinematics of the boom, a working radius of up to 5,000mm can be achieved.Michael Hobden, vice president of sales and marketing at TML Technik GmbH, commented: “As is the case for all our machines, we have adapted the UNIDACHS 110 to cope with the conditions inside the hot zones of steelworks. This is the reason why our new machines carry the ‘heavy metal’ logo. For instance, the boom is fully enclosed and that means that

Driverless transport systems for steel mills Heinrich GEORG GmbH Maschinenfabrik and Hafen- und Industrietechnik GmbH including its sister company HIT Machine Technology GmbH, have signed a co-operation agreement with respect to the use of autonomous low-floor transport vehicles in connection with GEORG machines. Under the agreement, it is now possible to use the move-e-star low-floor transport vehicles from HIT for the internal transport of loads to and from GEORG machines in operation at customer sites. In steel and aluminium strip production or in the manufacture of cores or magnetic yokes for transformers, the transport of material and product to and from the various production stages ties up resources and may delay processes. A similar situation is found in the mechanical engineering sector: when machining large and heavy parts and components, such as aluminium May/June 2019

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slabs or turbine rotors, unproductive waiting times often occur as a result of transport being needed for other tasks. The co-operation with HIT now enables GEORG to offer a solution that fits in with current digitalisation trends and the growing interlinking of production processes. The autonomously operating ‘move-e-star’ low-floor transport vehicles from HIT are designed to automatically transport loads of between two and 120 tons weight, for example, coils or stacks of transformer plates, within production areas. They slide underneath the load-carrying racks, pick them up and navigate autonomously to their destination where they set the load down again. The vehicles’ central elements are the drive axles, which integrate the traction drive, the steering system and the lifting system. They give the ‘move-e-star’excellent manoeverability. The vehicles can freely move about the floor: they

can drive forwards and backwards, sideways or at an angle, and even turn ‘on a table’and can easily and safely perform transport tasks even in tight spaces and aisles. It handles thresholds and gradients with ease as it comes with a dynamic levelling system. Andreas Thölke, managing director of HIT Machine Technology GmbH, explains how the autonomous navigation of the transport platforms works: “The system orientates itself within the production area by means of laser scanners. It creates a map of the current situation and determines the optimal route. We call this ‘natural navigation’, as the transport platforms need no rails or wiring in the floor.” Under the co-operation agreement with GEORG, HIT will supply the vehicles, the automation technology and the interfaces to connect to the plant operator’s control system, which issues the transport orders and receives the ‘complete’ www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 11:37:35

INNOVATIONS

tric drive is also available. Driverless, self-navigating vehicles are currently being piloted with customers.

For further information, log on to www.tii-group.com

the components inside the boom – the hydraulic cylinders and the hoses – are perfectly protected from heat radiation and from falling debris.” With remote control operation, the operator is always working at a safe distance. The remote control system consists of a lightweight control panel with logically arranged elements, which can either be carried on a body belt or incorporated into a control station. If the machine is not visible from the control station, cameras can be installed on the machine as an option, to ensure visual contact with the machine and its environment, displayed on a split screen monitor. Volker Bongardt, international country manager at TML Technik GmbH, sees great advantages for his customers: "The machine users appreciate the combination of the cantilever-boom and the boom rotation, especially the fact that they are

able to work from a single position and at the same time reach areas that were not possible in the past. Demolition robots and mini excavators with articulated booms do not offer this kind of kinematics. Our customers are now able to profit through the multi-functionality known from other machines that we build: the flexibility of the rotary boom and the compact design of the

radio remote de-bricking robot. “The machines are available with a choice of diesel-hydraulic or electro-hydraulic drives. Diesel engines have either 26 kW (EU Stage 3a) or 18,5 kW (EPA TIER 4), the electro-hydraulic unit has 25 kW. For further information, log on to www.tml-technik.com

messages. Bernd Peter Schmidt, managing director of GEORG’s Transformer Lines Division, commented: “At our customers’ facilities cranes usually have to perform a whole lot of different tasks and they are often used at their maximum capacity. The low-floor transport vehicles provide a great deal of flexibility because they operate autonomously and, being optimally controlled by dedicated software, they do not tie up any other transport equipment. Additionally, they can be easily retrofitted in existing production facilities as they do not require any physical alterations, such as the installation of guiding rails.” With the ‘move-e-star’, GEORG is taking its systems to the next level of digitalisation. The new transport platforms can be easily integrated into digitalised production environments, further paving the way for Industry 4.0. For further information, log on to www.georg.com www.steeltimesint.com

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INNOVATIONS

Greater accuracy offered by Radialign Bricking Solutions, a full solution provider of refractory installation equipment, is offering the Radialign Laser Alignment Device, which is claimed to increase radial alignment accuracy during refractory installation and, therefore, extend brick life, minimise downtime and reduce mechanical stress on the kiln. Radialign is part of Bricking Solutions’ full-service product offerings for refractory maintenance. “The key to efficient refractory maintenance is making sure it’s done right the first time,” said Heather Harding, Bricking Solutions’ managing director. “Bricking Solutions’ tools ensure accuracy and efficiency for refractory installation. Radialign helps masons achieve highly accurate measurements in less time than the plumb line method as well as ensure the quality of their work as they move forward for long-lasting results.” Radialign is described by Bricking Solutions as ‘a cutting-edge replacement for the traditional practice of using radial welds and a plumb line to determine alignment’. According to the company, the latter is ‘a time-consuming method with a high risk of calculation errors due to distorted or worn away weld seams’. Radialign produces a continuous laser light parallel to the kiln’s axis that is intercepted by a rotating pentaprism device. The laser is refracted perpendicularly onto the circumference of the kiln shell, allowing masons to accurately mark along the kiln before beginning refractory work and creating an exact reference for installation, claims Bricking Solutions.

May/June 2019

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The precision of the Radialign’s laser and pentaprism, says Bricking Solutions, allows exact placement of each row of brick to be perpendicular to the kiln, reducing wear and extending brick life. The laser system can be assembled and ready for use in 20 minutes, enabling masons to mark over 100 feet (30 metres) of kiln shell in less than an hour, significantly reducing downtime required by other methods, claims the company. Additionally, Radialign allows masons to project a display on the kiln surface every five to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 metres) for more accurate marking, compared to the variable spacing between radial welds. “In some cases, Radialign’s accuracy has even identified improperly installed retaining rings that contributed to less efficient refractory installation,” said Bricking Solutions. The Radialign laser alignment device is comprised of three parts – the laser assembly, pentaprism assembly and plumb bob assembly. The laser Class IIIA has an effective range of 500 feet (150 metres) and is claimed to be ideal for new refractory installation in rotary kilns 10 feet (3 metres) and larger. It comes with a durable transport box to keep the laser safe and ensure continued accuracy. The case also contains laser safety goggles, marking card and chalk, rechargeable batteries for both the laser and pentaprism assemblies and an A/C adapter. The device is covered by a one-year limited warranty.

For further information, log on to www.brickingsolutions.com

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 11:38:15

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A CAUTIONARY TALE

Nobody is immune from incompetence

It’s hard keeping out of trouble. Even doing virtually nothing, you can still have problems. All I did was get out of bed and spend the day at Kennywood, an amusement park. When I got back to the hotel, all hell broke loose purely because procedures weren’t adhered to. By Matthew Moggridge* SOMETHING bizarre happened to me after I arrived in Pittsburgh ahead of a steel convention at the David L Lawrence Centre. I was booked into a hotel on the north bank of the Monongahela River and supposedly the only hotel with a riverfront location. It’s not a bad place, a little corporate, perhaps, but otherwise fine. There’s a self-service breakfast at weekends, the staff are fairly pleasant and the rooms are fine. I couldn’t have asked for more. My room offered a splendid view of the river and railroad track, I was made up. With a day to spare before I had to work, I thought I’d take the day out and visit Kennywood theme park, it was where a movie, Adventureland, was filmed and I had orders to buy a tee-shirt. So I hopped on the 61C bus and headed out for the day, through some edgy parts of town, like Homestead, but otherwise an uneventful journey. After a long day, I returned to the hotel around 5pm and was still suffering from jet lag so I took a nap, fully clothed, on top of the bed, and woke up around 11pm. Time, I thought, to get the laptop out of the safe and do some work. But there was a problem. The safe door was ajar and my computer and passport had gone. I hadn’t put the latch on the door and started to

wonder if somebody had entered the room while I was asleep, although it was unlikely. It’s at times like these that I question myself: did I lock the safe? Of course I did. And then the blame game sets in; it must be the housekeeping staff as they’re the only ones with room access. I went down to the front desk and they said there was little anybody could do until morning when the front-of-house manager was on duty and could check who accessed the room. Apparently, the key cards hold a lot of data. Nate, the night manager, advised me to call 911.

Three uniformed cops arrived and took details. They advised me to cancel my passport, which I did. Now I had no way of leaving the country and I soon discovered that I would have to travel to New York after arranging an interview with the British Consulate there. Without any photo ID it would have to be a Greyhound bus or Amtrak. I opted for the latter, having discovered that a train leaves Pittsburgh daily at 0730hrs, so I booked my ticket and then changed my flight to depart from New York to London.

Finding the safe door ajar and no passport or laptop inside, well, I knew there was going to be trouble...

* Editor, Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com

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May/June 2019

22/05/2019 14:51:33

A CAUTIONARY TALE

I arrived at Penn Station, New York, and queued for a yellow cab. No, that’s not me in the green tee-shirt!

I didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, after being interviewed by the police and changing all my passwords on various websites, I had a big breakfast ahead of meeting with the front desk manager. What she told me made me angry. Very angry! You would have thought that when she handed me back my computer and passport I’d be as happy as Larry, but I was steaming. Fortunately I kept my calm, but the hotel had put me in a very bad position. Like Private Pyle in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, I now found myself in a world of shit. Thanks to the incompetence of the hotel, I would now have to travel to the Big Apple, by train, to pick up emergency travel documentation in order to fly home. Here’s what happened... While I was out, moseying around Kennywood, a guest in the hotel approached the front desk. He had a complaint. The previous occupant of his room had forgotten to follow the golden rule: Leave the safe door open when vacating the premises. Not a problem, the hotel would send an engineer to his room immediately and open the safe. “What is your room number, sir?” asked a supposedly well-trained member of the hotel’s front desk staff. “It’s room 619,” said the man, mistakenly. He’d given them May/June 2019

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MY room number and the hotel didn’t bother to ask for more details, like his name. The other theory is that the person on the front desk simply misheard the guest, but either way didn’t check the hotel record. When the engineer reached my room he found that, sure enough, the safe was locked and when he opened it he found a laptop and a passport and took them out of the safe, leaving the door ajar so the customer downstairs could use it. Where he took the computer and passport is

anybody’s guess, but one thing’s for sure, nobody on the front desk had any idea when I turned up and reported a stolen lap top and passport, so I set about doing what I had been advised to do. Getting a train ticket was easy enough, although, unlike in the UK where train travel is commonplace, in the USA people prefer to drive, so the passenger train plays second fiddle to the car, which is a shame. Pittsburgh railway station had a makeshift look about it and was hidden away behind the city’s Greyhound bus station. It opened for business at the odd hour of 6pm. It proved harder to change my flight. British Airways’ website told me it was not possible and to call a 0800 number, but that didn’t seem to work either. In the end I called Pittsburgh airport and they gave me a couple of numbers. I had to hang on the line for an hour, having set the alarm to wake me at 0100hrs so as to be first to call. Eventually I got through and changed my flight. At this point the mounting pressure of the past few days trickled away. Emails were exchanged between the hotel’s general manager and myself and eventually a resolution was reached. We parted on amicable terms. I wrote this article on the Pennsylvanian, an Amtrak train which left Pittsburgh at 0730hrs and took 11 hours (yes, 11 hours!) to reach New York. I was heading for the Big Apple and an interview with the British Consulate and hopefully an emergency passport to get me home. I got one and everything worked out just fine. The moral of the story? Take all the precautions you like, but you will never be safe from incompetence. �

Back at Heathrow Terminal Five – time for tea and a cookie at Caffé Nero

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 14:51:37

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NEWS ROUND-UP • ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, is now stepping up to the plate with the development of a EUR65 million low-emissions technology strategy, which targets not only the use of alternative feedstocks and the conversion of CO2 emissions, but also the direct avoidance of carbon (Carbon Direct Avoidance, or CDA).

• Growing global protectionism, tariffs and oversupply issues are posing problems for South Korean steelmakers. The Chinese have imposed tariffs of 23.1% on POSCO products, while the Mexican government has announced that it will continue with its 15% tariffs on imported steel products from nations without a bilateral trade deal. China will ﬁnalise it’s decision on tariffs in July. Source: Hellenic Shipping News.

• South Korean steelmaker Hyundai is planning to slash harmful emissions by 50%. The country’s second biggest steel manufacturer plans to spend 530 billion won (US$468 million) to reduce ﬁne dust and other emissions by 2021. POSCO, South Korea’s number one steelmaker, is planning to spend 1.1 trillion won on reducing ﬁne dust emissions by 2021. Source: Korea Biz Wire, 1 April 2019

• China is making room for self-driving cars on a 100km motorway linking Beijing and Xiongan New Area in Hebei province. Two of the freeway’s eight lanes will be designed solely for autonomous vehicles, according to an online report. Source: Beijing Daily.

• JSW Energy, part of the Indian steel group JSW, has shelved plans to enter the electric vehicle market despite originally wanting to pursue both the personal and commercial areas of the market. While JSW pulls out of the market, India’s national eMobility programme, FAME, moves into phase two with a budget of 100 billion rupees (1.24 billion Euros). Source: Electrive.com, 1 April 2019. • FAME 2, phase two of the Indian government’s national eMobility programme will invest its three-year budget of 100 billion rupees (1.24 billion Euros) to support the purchase of 1 million electric two-wheelers, 500,000 electric tricycles, 55,000 electric four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. Source: Electrive.com, 1 April 2019.

• A long-running family feud has led to the co-founder and chairman of Usha Martin, a leading wire rope and speciality steel maker, being unceremoniously thrown out of the business. Basant Kumar Jhawar needed 75% of the votes to remain on the board, but didn’t quite make it. Source: Economic Times.

• Residents of Minzhen village in China’s Hebei province are rightly suspicious of milky water coming from an irrigation well since last year. While local government ofﬁcials say it’s alright to drink after processing, it is feared that an industrial complex in nearby Xingtang county has something to do with the dodgylooking water. Source: Yahoo.com, 2 April 2019.

• Continued problems with unwanted emissions at US Steel’s Clairton Coke Works has led to an additional $707,568 in ﬁnes for the US steel giant. Since June 2018, the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh has issued over $2 million of ﬁnes against the company. Source: TRIB Live, 1 April 2019

May/June 2019

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NEWS ROUND-UP DIARY OF EVENTS 35 • ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Embraer Defence & Security and Atech, which together form the Águas Azuis Consortium (ACC), have secured business from the Brazilian Navy. ACC will build four ships in the Tamandaré Corvettes Class of defence ship. Source: Webwire. com, 2 April 2019

• The theory that protectionism breeds protectionism is holding water now that South Korea has announced it is to suspend tariff concessions on products from the European Union (EU) following the latter’s safeguard measures on Korean steel products. The EU exports goods to the value of 56.8 million Euros to South Korea, according to the World Trade Organisation. Source: Korea Herald, 2 April 2019

June

• Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) announced plans to reconstruct its blast furnace number two as part of its modernisation programme. The furnace in question was commissioned in the summer of 1932 and currently produces 3,800 tonnes of pig iron per day. Source: MMK, 3 April 2019

• Gender is on the agenda at Tata Steel as the company has opened up two shifts at its Jamshedpur steel plant shop ﬂoor for female employees between 0600hr and 2200hrs. Since 1 April 52 female employees have been deployed at the coke plant and electrical repair shop throughout the week. The company hopes that women will constitute 10% of its workforce by 2025. Source: United News of India, 2 April 2019

• ArcelorMittal has announced a fatality at its Indiana Harbour steel mill in East Chicago. A man, named as Edward Fleming, died following a train accident at the plant. He had worked there for 17 years and his passing represents the 392nd death to occur at the mill, which has been in operation since 1902. An investigation is underway and this is the ﬁrst fatal accident at the plant since 2017 when two people died, one in a crane accident, another in a buggy incident. Source: AP News.com/wsws.org, 3 April 2019.

• Steel Authority of India (SAIL) produced 16.3Mt of crude steel in FY19, up 8% on the previous year. The company despatched 14.86Mt, thanks to a dedicated logistics set-up. Turnover was improved by 16%. Source: Economic Times, 3 April 2019. • American SpiralWeld Pipe Company is to build a new spiral pipe mill on a greenﬁeld site in Paris, Texas, USA. The contract for the project has been awarded to German plant builder, SMS group. Source: SMS group, 3 April 2019.

4-6 International Maintenance Fair Location: Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Spain. Organised by Bilbao Exhibition Centre. This event provides visitors with an excellent opportunity to ﬁnd out more about state-ofthe-art industrial maintenance technology. Where Industry 4.0 is concerned, the event will focus on electronic maintenance, asset management and condition monitoring technology. Further information, log on to www.bilbaoexhibitioncentre. com 17-19 Steel Success Strategies Location: New York Hilton, Midtown, USA. Organised by AMM. Steel Success Strategies attracts some of the global steel industry's big hitters and is a must-attend conference as a result.This year's event includes presentations from JFE Steel Corporation, Sanjeev Gupta from the GFG Alliance and Big River Steel's David Stickler. Further information, log on to www.amm.com 24-28 METEC & 4th ESTAD 2019 Location: Dusseldorf, Germany Organised by Steel Institute VDEh. Once every four years this massive event rocks up in Dusseldorf and it covers everything of importance to the global steel industry including Industry 4.0, the environment, sustainabilty, rolling and forging – everything. It really is a case of 'be there or be square'. Further information, log on to www.metec-estad2019.com 24-28 GIFA, METEC, Thermprocess and NEWCAST Location: Dusseldorf, Germany Organised by Messe Dusseldorf In addition to METEC and the ESTAD, there's also GIFA, Thermprocess and NEWCAST, exhibitions within exhibitions and all connected in some way to the metals industries. You must attend this event. Further information, log on to www.metec-estad2019.com May/June 2019

Industry news.indd 2

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NEWS ROUND-UP 37 • Jiangsu-based Shagang Group, in co-operation with North American steel giant Nucor Corporation, has launched China’s ﬁrst ultra-thin strip production line to make products greener and more competitive. Double-roll strip casting technology can directly produce 0.7 to 1.9mm thin and hot coil plate from liquid steel without continuous casting, heating and rolling processes, it is claimed. Source: Xinhuanet.com, 4 April 2019 • Dmitry Kholkin has been appointed vice president for digital transformation and IT at NLMK. Previously, he was vice president for digital transformation. The new function is formed by merging digital transformation and IT practices. Elena Demyanova, the company’s former vice president for the development of information systems, has moved to the Corporate Solutions Centre and will focus on building uniﬁed IT solutions. Source: NLMK, 5 April 2019

For more steel industry news and features, visit www.steeltimesint.com

• ThyssenKrupp has set up a 3D printing innovation centre in Singapore, it’s ﬁrst outside of Germany. Source: Straits Times.

• Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has announced that it intends to increase its crude steel output by 21% between April 2019 and March 2020. SAIL produced 16.3Mt of crude steel in 2018-19, up 8.5% from its 2017-18 ﬁgure of 15.02Mt. Source: Argus Media.com, 4 April 2019

• It is being reported that Siegfried Russwurm, chairman of German engineering group Voith, is expected to be nominated to the supervisory board of ThyssenKrupp. Mr Russwurm will take the seat of Hochtief CEO, Hans-Peter Keitel. Source: Reuters, 4 April 2019

• Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Minster of Foreign Affairs, claims that the imposition of tariffs by the USA on Canadian steel and aluminium is unjustiﬁed and illegal. She described the 232 tariffs as absurd. • Source: Global News.ca, 5 April 2019

• German steelmaker Salzgitter AG and Italian plant builder Tenova have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a view to working together on the SALCOS project, a concept for ‘signﬁcantly reducing CO2related steel production’. The plan is to jointly apply for public funding for the project. Source: Tenova

• Tata Steel has been named Global Slag Company of the Year at the 14th Global Slag Conference and Exhibition 2019. The company won the award for its innovative practices in the development of new applications for steel by-products. Source: Business Standard, 5 April 2019 www.steeltimesint.com

Industry news.indd 3

May/June 2019

22/05/2019 14:55:53

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NEWS ROUND-UP • US Steel claims that it is now desulfurising 100% of the coke oven gas generated at its Clairton Coke Works following issues with the process that led to emissions violations. Source: WPXI.com, 6 April 2019.

• South Korean steelmaker POSCO has announced that it is withdrawing from the magnesium business because of erroneous demand forecasts and environmental issues including GHG emissions and soil pollution. Source: Business Korea.co.uk, 8 April 2019

• Russian steelmaker Severstal’s hot metal output increased 6% in Q1 2019 to 2.36Mt compared with Q4 figures of 2.23Mt for Q4 2018. Crude steel production grew to 3.04Mt compared with 2.94Mt in Q4 2018, reflecting an increase in pig iron production and production growth of EAF billets, the company said. Source: Severstal, 9 April 2019 • The European Commission has approved the sale of a number of European steel plants owned by ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker. The sale satisfies regulatory requirements for ArcelorMittal’s acquisition of Italian steelmaker Ilva. Source: Reuters, 17 April 2019.

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• Helmut Gruber, who is currently responsible for the technical management of strip production at voestalpine’s Linz-based steel division, is soon to become the Austrian steelmaker’s new technical director, taking over from Hubert Zajicek. Source: Steel Times International, 11 April 2019. • Merrion Oil & Gas, a family-run exploration and production business, has partnered with Pittsburghbased US Steel and intends to engage in fracking at the steelmaker’s Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, south of Pittsburgh. Plans have been submitted to the state regulator for up to six Marcellus Shale Play wells roughly 6,000 feet deep. Source: Kallinish Energy.com, 8 April 2019

• Madison, Indiana-based Century Tube, a supplier of carbon steel tubing for automotive and other mechanical and structural applications, has been acquired by American steel giant Nucor Corporation. Source: Aftermarket News. com, 16 April 2019.

• State-owned Vietnamese steelmaker Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Jsc (TISCO) is claimed to be on the verge of bankruptcy. The company has written to shareholders claiming that its current ﬁnancial crisis could result in the ﬁrm going bankrupt if it is not bailed out by the government. Source: e.vnexpress.net, 8 April 2019

• Linda Hernandez, a resident of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is suing US Steel in connection with the Christmas Eve 2018 fire at the Clairton Coke Works. She was working outside on 24 December last year and claims she started to feel sick and experiencing physical discomforts, like a burning throat, breathing difficulties, headache and persistent coughing. Source: Triblive.com, 17 April 2019. • As part of its reorganisation of its LNG business structure, South Korean steelmaker POSCO is transferring its liquefied natural gas storage business to its power generation affiliate, POSCO Energy Co. POSCO Energy will transfer its off-gas combined cycle power plants in Pohang and Gwangyang to POSCO. Source: Business Korea.co.kr, 16 August 2019

22/05/2019 14:56:11

NEWS ROUND-UP

• Iran’s copper concentrate output over the past year has exceeded last year’s ﬁgures. This year the ﬁgure was 1.18Mt compared to 1.12Mt last year. According to IMIDRO, production of copper cathode and anode also increased by 15% and 21% respectively (247kt and 313kt). Source: Tehran Times, 18 April 2019.

• Iran produced 4.24Mt of crude steel in January and February 2019, up 7.6% from 3.94Mt over the same period in 2018. Source: Iran’s Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO), 9 April 2019. • Steel demand from the Indian automotive sector is expected to rise by 5-6% over the next ﬁnancial year (2019-20) because of lower interest rates and the introduction, in April 2020, of new emissions standards, which may encourage more vehicle sales. Passenger vehicle sales are expected to increase by 3-5%, but sales of commercial vehicles might slow to 10-12% compared with last year’s 17.5%. Source: Argus Media, 18 April 2019.

• And the biggest steelmaker in India award goes to… Tata Steel, which pipped JSW Steel at the post for the ﬁnancial year 2018-19. Tata’s production topped 16.79Mt at the close of business on 31 March 2019. JSW was just behind with 16.69Mt. Source: Economic Times, 18 April 2019. • Denise Giles of Port Talbot is claiming that red dust from Tata Steel’s Port Talbot works is not only covering her house, but making her life a nightmare. She says it makes it hard for her to breathe (she’s asthmatic) and it leaves her house and garden dirty. Speaking to Wales Online, Miss Giles commented: “Every time I contact Tata they tell me to wait 72 hours and they never get back.” Source: Wales Online, 19 April 2019.

• Pollution alerts have been issued to communities in Clairton, close to a US Steel plant where a ﬁre on Christmas Eve 2018 resulted in harmful emissions. The plant was ﬁned $700,000 by the Allegheny Health Department. The childhood asthma rate in Clairton is above 22% – more than twice the state average and almost three times the national average. Source: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 22 April 2019.

• Indian steelmaker JSPL has delivered its ﬁrst ever rail order. The company received an order from Indian Railways last July and it has managed to supply the goods within a year, which is ahead of schedule according to NA Ansari, JSPL’s joint managing director. JPSL has recently received another order from Indian Railways, this time for 30kt of long rails. Source: Daily Excelsior, 24 April 2019.

• ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, has offered to provide steel for the reconstruction of Notre Dame in Paris. Source: Construction Week Online, 21 April 2019.

• Iran exported over 57kt of mineral products last year worth an estimated $9.22 billion. Steel products exports accounted for the lion’s share of these shipments, it is claimed. Source: MEHR News Agency, 23 April 2019. www.steeltimesint.com

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NEWS ROUND-UP

• A report on the BBC website claims that two people have been injured in an explosion at Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks in the UK. The explosion came from a train used to carry molten metal, claims Tata Steel, and two people were injured, but not seriously. Their injuries were linked to a spillage of liquid iron that was being transported to the steel plant. Source: BBC, 26 April 2019

• Is Tata Steel Europe the largest corporate polluter? Some would argue yes, but Theo Henrar, the company’s head honcho, is planning to spend ‘hundreds of millions of euros’ to cut emissions – if the government invested a similar amount. Source: cnbctv18.com, 26 April 2019. • Applications are now being accepted for the Swedish Steel Prize 2019, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The Swedish Steel Prize is an award for ideas and products that have an impact on future steel solutions, and it attracts competitors from across the world. It will be awarded on November 14th, 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of the Swedish Steel Prize 2019 event. Further details, log on to www.steelprize. com/apply Source: SSAB, 3 May 2019.

• Liberty Steel’s ‘Next Gen’ 10Mt Whyalla steel plant is one of 16 projects of national signiﬁcance to China, according to the Chinese Government. Sanjeev Gupta, who was attending the Belt and Road CEO Conference in Beijing recently said he was pleased that the plant had been identiﬁed as such an important project. Source: GFG Alliance, 30 April 2019

• Austrian steelmaker voestalpine fears a global economic slowdown in the 2019/20 ﬁnancial year, according to CEO Wolfgang Eder. Speaking in Dusseldorf, Germany, Mr Eder said the company would be implementing a cost-cutting exercise to increase efﬁciency. Source: Reuters, 30 April 2019. • Blast furnace number one at US Steel’s Mon Valley Works’ Edgar Thomson plant near Pittsburgh, PA, USA, is back in action after repairs to its top charging equipment. The furnace, one of two, can produce 2.9Mt/yr of raw steel. Source: Argus Media, 25 April 2019.

• Two men accused of stealing over £200,000 worth of parts from Tata Steel have walked from court with suspended sentences. Mark Elson and Tim Barry stole some 660 imperial bearings (used to prevent friction between moving parts) and were later arrested following an internal investigation. Source: Yorkshire Post, 3 May 2019.

• US Steel is hit with more ﬁnes over pollution violations at its Clairton facility near Pittsburgh, PA, USA. The Allegheny County Health Department has this time hit the steelmaker with a $300,000 punishment for ‘excessive visible emissions’ at the plant’s batteries, which make coke by baking coal at high temperatures. Source: Stateimpact.npr.org, 13 May 2019.

• The USA imported a total of 2.27Mt (net tons) of steel in March 2019, which included 1.86Mt (net tons) of finished steel (down 6.6% and up 6.7% respectively). Through the first three months of 2019, total and finished steel imports are 8.18Mt and 6.05Mt, down 5.9% and 11.4% respectively when compared with the same period in 2018. Source: AISI, 9 May 2019.

• Despite having posted Q1 2018 net income of $1.2 billion, ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel maker, reported a net income for Q1 2019 of just $0.4 billion, a fall of 66%. The company’s CEO Lakshmi Mittal said the results reﬂected ‘the challenging operating environment the industry has faced in recent months’. Source: Livemint.com, 9 May 2019 • Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of South Korean steelmaker POSCO, has been appointed to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) executive committee. There are 13 members on the association’s executive committee. Choi will serve for three years until April 2022 and is the third POSCO chairman to be appointed. There was also a POSCO vice chairman on the committee, Kwon Oh-joon. Source: Korea Times, 18 May 2019.

May/June 2019

Industry news.indd 6

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USA UPDATE

Not everyone is happy with tariffs

While American steel producers have applauded the imposition of tariffs against foreign steel imports it would be naïve to state that all is hunky-dory in the nation’s steel sector. By Manik Mehta* IT is true that some of the nation’s big steel players are doing well, thanks to the decline in cheap steel imports, taking away the pricing pressure on domestic production and supply. Many steel companies are emboldened to make substantial investment in their operations; the Arkansas-based Big River Steel has made a $2 billion investment in its hi-tech plant on the Mississippi River. The flip side of the steel tariff saga is that tariffs on steel imports have sent the prices of domestically-produced steel soaring. While the US steel producers may have benefitted from the tariffs, their products also face intense domestic competition. US Steel which was in the forefront of the campaign calling for steel tariffs against cheap imports, is now battling for market share with other, more technology-savvy and aggressive steel companies that make extensive use of artificial intelligence.

US Steel, which plans to spend $ 2 billion, spread over several years, to modernise its plants, recently resumed construction of an electric arc furnace in Alabama. The facility’s overhaul was long overdue if the steelmaker was to face longterm competition. The use of mini-mills, as electric arc furnaces are known, has increased in recent times, with roughly 65% of steel produced in the country coming from mini mills. Nucor Corporation, whose mini mills supply steel to most steel-consuming industries, has announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art steel plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky, saying it will invest around $1.35 billion to build the mill, which will be capable of producing 1.2 million tons per year of steel plate products. “This strategic investment will enable us to build a clear market leadership position

in the US plate market. Kentucky is an excellent location for this mill, right in the centre of America’s largest plate consuming region,” said Nucor chairman and CEO John Ferriola. Nucor’s record volume of steel sold in 2018, was matched by its record revenues and profits. However, during its recent fourth-quarter 2018 conference call, the company said that while 2018 was a record year, 2019 would not reach the 2018 level, according to the hints dropped by one of its executives. Indeed, Nucor’s more recent announcement suggested that earnings in the 2019 first quarter would be lower than 2018 fourth quarter results. While Nucor is not expected to face a difficult time, it should not expect a similar result of 2018 in 2019. By investing in construction and expansion of its operations, Nucor’s

* USA correspondent www.steeltimesint.com

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22/05/2019 15:54:33

USA UPDATE

management wants to maintain its leading position and, also, make acquisitions in times of economic slowdown. The company said that for 2019, it estimates capital expenditure to reach about $ 1.8 billion, up from some $ 1 billion capital spending in 2018. Another steelmaker planning investments is Steel Dynamics of Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is setting up a $ 1.8 billion mill. Other steel players also plan to upgrade or create new electric arc furnace facilities. UK-based GFG Alliance’s executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta, whom I interviewed at the 2018 Steel Success Strategies conference in New York, observed in a recent press release, that US steel consumers were increasingly buying locally-produced steel rather than foreign steel. As the largest scrap exporter and the world’s largest steel importer, the US can produce more steel for the domestic market from locally-available scrap which, Gupta said, would also provide opportunities for his company. Rising steel prices in the US following the imposition of tariffs on imports have bolstered profits of domestic steelmakers with US Steel, for example, posting a profit of $ 1.1 billion in 2018, up from $ 387 million in 2017. The company had recorded losses of $ 440 million in 2016 and $ 1.5 billion in 2015. However, a number of factors could work against domestic steelmakers. US President Donald Trump is said to be working out a

USA.indd 2

“deal” with China. Despite the widespread confidence about his re-election, the steel industry cannot be absolutely certain that Trump would be re-elected in 2020. Uncertainties caused by economic slowdown plague home construction or the automobile industry or the economies of many countries. It remains to be seen how these factors would play out in the future. Meanwhile, across the borders, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) recently recommended tariff rate quotas on two types of steel – heavy plate and stainless steel wire – among seven that the government had already applied provisional levies to. On the five other products, the CITT either found no spike in imports or no harm caused to Canadian producers. Piqued Canadians While these recommendations are not binding and are limited to certain countries such as China, the move has piqued Canadian steelmakers, with Catherine Cobden, president of the Canadian Steel Producers’ Association, saying that CSPA was disappointed and concerned over the tribunal’s recommendations, and urged the Canadian government to disregard the recommendations and impose the measures on all seven steel products, warning that Canada’s steel faced “loss of jobs, significant community impacts, market share erosion, and growing investment uncertainty”. After careful consideration, the government will decide on CITT’s recommendations in the coming weeks. Analysts say that Canadian proponents of steel tariffs are “inspired” by the Trump administration’s imposition of 25% steel tariffs on several countries, including Canada which responded with its own retaliatory tariffs. Canada says that it will eliminate its steel tariffs on the U.S. as soon as the US eliminates its tariffs on Canada; the Trump administration has, however, floated the idea of imposing a quota system, which

has not gone down well in Canada. The bitter truth about the US steel sector is that the real victims have been American consumers, as a recent study by economists from the New York Federal Reserve Bank and Columbia and Princeton Universities, suggests. Trade sanctions always, invariably, hit consumers. The steel tariffs may have benefited the US steel industry, but steel-consuming industries such as autos, construction, home appliances and many others, have been hit by the tariff fallout. The Ford Motor Company, for example, reported in January that tariffs had cost it $1.1 billion more in 2018 than in 2017. The auto industry, already groaning, could face a worsening situation if Trump imposes a 25% tariff on imports of autos and auto parts, as he is considering doing. That would increase the average price of a car – foreign or domestic – sold in the US by as much as $2,750 and “threaten” more than 366,000 jobs, according to a study by the Centre for Automotive Research. President Trump’s imposition of tariffs, using national security as a reason, is being challenged by a steel importers’ interest group which petitioned the US Supreme Court in mid-April to reject Trump’s use of the national security argument. Trump imposed a 25% levy on steel and 10% tariff on aluminium last year under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, after deeming those imports a threat to national security, and is now considering applying the same for imported cars and auto parts. Critics say the White House uses security as a thin veil for trade protectionism. Section 232, which had all but died until Trump resuscitated it, unleashed a fierce legal debate, with some calling it an outdated relic of the exaggerated Cold War economic fears. A US Court of International Trade panel expressed reservations, a few weeks back, about the broad authority used by the President under Section 232, but it also acknowledged that it was bound by a subsequent high court ruling passed in 1976 to uphold the statute. Section 232 gives the White House unchecked authority to impose whatever import restrictions it wants, regardless of any actual security risk. The steel sector – both the steel producers and importers – will be closely monitoring developments in this context. �

22/05/2019 15:54:36

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LATIN AMERICA UPDATE

Chinese investment in Latin America (part 2) THE giant Baosteel was engaged in two initiatives to erect large coke-integrated mills in Brazil, both in association with the Brazilian iron ore miner Vale. The first project was called BV Steel, reflecting the name of two investors. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a 3.7Mt/yr slab mill was signed in April 2002. The rationale was to take advantage of the low cost basis in Brazil to supply semi-finished products to the Chinese partner. It is important to stress that the plant would be located in São Luís, Maranhão State, where Vale has a large port to ship Carajás iron ore. In this way, it would reproduce the strategy that was observed in the case of Tubarão steelworks, which is located in Vitória, Espírito Santo State, where Vale has another large harbour to export iron ore. BV Steel’s project gained momentum in January 2004, when Arcelor joined the feasibility study. At that time, Arcelor had already owned a large stake of the Tubarão steelworks, which had a considerable proportion of its sales derived from slabs. BV’s project capacity was enlarged to 4.2Mt/yr in the first phase (at a cost of $1.5bn) and to 7.5Mt/yr in phase two (at additional investment of $0.9bn). However, in January 2006, the project was cancelled due to environmental issues and difficulties in making available the land selected for the mill. In July 2007, Baosteel and Vale signed a new MoU aimed at the implementation of a 5.0Mt/yr slab mill in Anchieta, Espírito Santo State. In October 2007, they

established Companhia Siderúrgica Vitória (CSV), as a 60%-40% joint venture. In January 2009, environmental problems led Baosteel to give up the project. A month later, Vale acquired Baosteel’s stake in CSV and the company’s corporate name was rechristened to Companhia Siderúrgica de Ubu (CSU). The investment was estimated to be $6.2bn. The motivation is similar to BV Steel’s, but again the project remained only on paper, due to difficulties overcoming environmental constraints. Thus, the first two attempts by Chinese investors in the Latin American steel industry were based on joint ventures with a large miner, focused on developing big greeenfield mills to export slabs.

Paraguay’s small mill attempt In August 2018, China’s Henan Complant Mechanical & Electrical Equipment Group (HCME) leased the Paraguayan long steel producer Acepar, which has 130kt/yr charcoal-integrated mill capacity. Acepar was established in 1975, under the control of the Paraguayan government, but startedup only in 1986. It was privatised in 1997. Since then, it has changed ownership

occasionally and it is understood that the mill became increasingly outdated. HCME was the sole entity to have submitted a bid after Brazil’s pig iron producer Vetorial had left Acepar in January 2018. It has originally agreed to invest $116 million to renovate the mill, as well as to pay $96 million for the 20-year concession (that could be extended another 10 years), enabling the Paraguayan mill to fabricate at least 240kt/ yr of rebar. However, documentation issues (including the remittance of funds and the constitution of a local subsidiary) have led to the postponement of its investments in the facilities, which was the primary reason why Acepar cancelled the contract in February 2019. HCME had paid its workers’ remunerations from August to November, but December and January wages were delayed. The steelmaker is now open to negotiations for the lease of the company. It has roughly $20 million in debt and has been offline for a year. The investment in Paraguay was very diverse from the previous attempts in Brazil, due to: a) scale: small mill versus large ones; b) technology: charcoal-integrated versus coke-integrated mills; c) type: brownfield versus greenfield; d) focus: domesticoriented versus exported-oriented project; e) product: rebar versus slab. Bolivia’s iron ore and steel new approach The Bolivian president Evo Morales officially launched the building of the Siderúrgica del Mutún steel complex (ESM) in January

* Professor in Economics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. E-mail: germano@ufu.br May/June 2019

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LATIN AMERICA UPDATE 2019. The construction of the plant will be carried out by the Chinese state-owned steel trader and equipment manufacturer Sinosteel. The value of the investment is $546 million and the construction period for the mill will be 30 months, according to the agreement. Upon commissioning, the plant will be operated by Sinosteel for a period of 12 months. The ESM’s first phase includes a 650kt/ yr iron ore concentration plant, a 400kt/yr pelletising plant, a 250kt/yr direct reduction (DRI) plant, a 190kt/yr steel shop and long rolling mill. Initially, it will serve only the domestic market and this volume will cover nearly 50% of the country’s demand. A second phase aims to add a 450kt/y flat product rolling mill. Furthermore, a third phase expects long steel capacity to reach 450kt/yr and flat steel capacity to achieve 550kt/yr. The integrated steelmaking operations in Mutún will use exclusively natural gas in its production processes. Mutún, which has 40bt of iron ore deposits, has a 1Mt/yr production capacity of iron ore fines. Bolivia’s parliament passed and President

Morales signed an authorisation for a preferential credit of $396 million with the Export-Import Bank of China to ﬁnance 85% for the construction, execution and commissioning of ESM. The National Treasury will contribute $69 million for the execution of the plant. In this speciﬁc case, the Chinese companies will be not investors, but they will beresponsible for the design, construction and commissioning of the mill and the main provider of funding. Nonetheless, the steel production capacity is relatively small, in contrast to previous attempts in Brazil.

Concluding remarks Until now, in most cases, Chinese investments in the Latin American iron and steel sector can be considered disappointing. The best performance, so far is the investment in Peruvian iron ore mining, which showed a 75% boost of production since its ﬁrst year of operation. At the other end of the spectrum, the attempts to be engaged in the construction of two large coke-integrated mills in Brazil focused on exporting slabs, stayed only on paper. The investments in an Argentinian iron ore project and the Paraguayan rebar producer were relatively tiny and resulted in poor outcomes. In Bolivia, the iron ore and steel project was approached differently, because the Chinese are involved only in construction and ﬁnancing, instead of being owner. It is quite recent to be characterised as a new trend, but not surprisingly this strategy might be reproduced in future. It is also important to highlight that this analysis is restricted to the iron ore and steel business and that the Chinese investments in other Latin American activities might have delivered better results. �

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GERMAN STEEL

The steel industry in Germany and Europe Between global challenges and regional perspectives. By Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff

THE steel industry in Germany, with its innovations and sustainable products, makes an important contribution towards the European Union’s prosperity and future viability. Numerous European and, in particular, German value chains build upon the quality of steel from Germany. The sector’s social significance becomes even clearer when one considers its employment figures: of the 320,000 people directly employed in the steel industry in Europe, about 85,000 work at steel companies in Germany, where a total of four million employees work in steel-intensive sectors. But it is also true to say that the steel industry in Germany and Europe faces numerous difficult national and international political developments in 2019. Decisions made this year will have a massive effect on the future contribution the sector will be able to make towards Europe’s economic power. Multilateral organisations have lost their influence The growth of world trade has slowed, and globalisation is losing its social acceptance. Indeed, protectionism and isolationism are a growing worldwide phenomenon. Multilateral organisations such as the WTO have forfeited their regulatory power and thus lost their effectiveness against

state capitalism ﬂows and increasing protectionist non-compliance. When we look at the USA we see the possible imposition of import duties on vehicles. Steel from Europe has already been subject to an ad valorem duty of 25% for more than six months, and the United States is now considering imposing a further measure that would have a massive impact on the steel industry in Germany. In this situation, it is important and appropriate that EU member states have ﬁnally decided to initiate safeguard measures with the sole aim of limiting distortions in the European market arising from the US measures – and not to seal off the market. Thus tariff quotas have been imposed that do not affect traditional steel supply streams into the EU. Duties are only levied in extreme cases, when these import quantities are exceeded. Extension of the measures that came into effect on 23 July 2018 was urgently required. While steel imports into the USA fell by 13% in 2018, imports into the EU rose by 10% .

That the status of multilateral agreements has diminished is not only to be seen in international trade, but also in global climate protection policy. The steel industry is committed to both the Paris agreement and fair world trade. We are, however, farther away from a level playing ﬁeld and comparable competitive conditions than we probably ever thought possible. Steel is the material that drives every industrial development, and is even indispensable in saturated economies. Like a seismograph, earlier than other sectors the steel industry may well show the effects of its regional perspectives increasingly being inﬂuenced by global developments. The G20 Steel Forum: structures need time to take effect Crude steel capacities, above all in China, have also risen massively in recent decades due to industrialisation and globalisation. This has led to distortions on international markets. Governments are, therefore, continuing to work in the G20 Global

* President, German Steel Federation www.steeltimesint.com

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Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to achieve progress in overcoming this international structural crisis. The Forum has been in existence since 2016 and is an important instrument for applying multilateral pressure: for example, on China to change its behaviour on international markets. The Forum can actually point to considerable successes. Joint core principles have been agreed and greater transparency created regarding the topic of state aid, in particular. The structures, however, need time to take effect. The G20 Forum is a good platform for joint discussions on the governmental level – which become particularly important when trade conflicts are on the rise. Future-oriented industrial policy is the right path In a situation that is challenging for the entire economy, a paper on strategic industrial policy presented by Peter Altmaier, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, has the right goal – increasing the share of industry in Germany to 25% and in the EU to 20%. This is not only important with regard to the current conflicts with the USA and China. The EU needs its own industrial policy per se. It is to be welcomed that the retention of intact industrial value chains has meanwhile been defined as a key strategic topic. This is directly connected with securing the competitiveness of energy-intensive primary industries. The consequences of energy and climate policy for industry could have been even more clearly addressed. The steel industry in Germany operates within a system which has conflicting priorities, particularly in these areas of policy. The industrial location faces important decisions here. In essence, we hope that some energy and climate policy objectives will be accompanied by an industrial strategy. On the one hand, a long-term climate-neutral economy will not be possible without contributions from the primary industries. On the other hand, appropriate political conditions must be created to enable the steel industry to take the path to a climate-neutral economy. National and European debates on how the long-term climate goals to 2050 can be achieved have rarely been more intensive. Steel production with low CO2 emissions: the conditions are decisive In the debate about the decarbonisation May/June 2019

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of industry, the contribution that the steel industry in Germany has already made towards the conservation of resources, as well as environmental and climate protection, must not be forgotten. The sector has always treated resources as sparingly as possible. It is continuously working on improving its products. Modern steel grades also enable savings in their use – for renewable energies, efﬁcient energy transmission, the light construction of automobiles, or long-lived infrastructures, for example. These savings effects must be credited to the steel industry. And steel can be recycled repeatedly without quality loss, which also contributes to reducing

innovations. There are numerous projects taking place in these areas involving research and even initial implementations. In energy-intensive material production, even processes with low CO2 emissions are still energy-intensive. They may involve considerable additional demand for hydrogen and electricity, which must be covered in sufﬁcient quantities and at competitive prices. The important challenge for a transition to production methods with low CO2 emissions, therefore, lies in the economic perspective. Investments would be required amounting to those made in completely new factories. In this context it becomes clear that low-

“Steel is the material that drives every industrial development, and is even indispensable in saturated economies. Like a seismograph, earlier than other sectors the steel industry may well show the effects of its regional perspectives increasingly being inﬂuenced by global developments.”

greenhouse gas emissions. Steel is a prominent example of a successful circular economy that will play an even more important role in future. The emissions involved in the production of each tonne of steel have also been reduced by about 60% during recent decades, and by more than 20% since 1990 – the reference year for international climate protection. We have thus reached the scientiﬁc and technical limit of what is possible during this production process. Politicians now also understand that no more drastic reductions can be achieved using existing processes. A CO2-neutral economy in 2050 would, therefore, involve a massive upheaval in the production method used in primary steel production and require some revolutionary

CO2 steel production in the EU only makes sense if the use of low-CO2 steel can also be guaranteed. This is not solely a matter of climatic policy but also, above all, an industrial policy issue. This development is taking place over a long timescale and cannot be implemented overnight. Processes and technologies with low CO2 emissions must ﬁrst be developed and then tested on an industrial scale. The widespread implementation of low-CO2 processes with the potential for reducing emissions simply could not take place until after 2030. A holistic discussion on how the ambitious climatic goals can be implemented in concrete terms during the coming years and decades – and not just in industry and the energy sector, but also in the other areas – is long overdue. � www.steeltimesint.com

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GERMAN STEEL

German steel: Disruptor or disrupted? Many companies are spending increasing amounts of money to identify the next big market breakthrough and drive disruption (rather than end up its victim), says Dr Andrew Zoryk* As the seventh-largest steel producing nation globally, understanding what the future holds for Germany and its steel industry can provide valuable insights into the potential fate awaiting other European producers. The German steel industry has played a key role during the past several decades in enabling the country’s industrialisation, yet it is certainly not more immune than other countries to the uncertainty created by factors including global economic volatility, trade tensions and environmental pressures. The German steel industry has certain characteristics that differentiate it from steelmaking elsewhere in the world. For example, it is uniquely focused on higher value-added products, such as advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and specialty alloy steels. Also, it is firmly committed to the environment and conservation in the context of the circular economy through, for example, using a high percentage of steel scrap in production supported by a well-established recycling industry. Despite these differences, German steelmakers are still impacted by the inherent cyclicality of the industry. The gradual economic recovery up to the middle of 2018, including price increases, led to improved profitability for steelmakers. However, more recent bearish market sentiment and reduced economic growth projections have subdued expectations. Such exposure to cyclicality is an indication of “industry compression,” which occurs with a slow and gradual decline in revenue and profit. Such compression is characterised by a belief in enduring

industry stability, competitive advantage based on strategic asset ownership, and the historic track record of core businesses. German steel producers need to understand these potential risks and take appropriate actions. One aspect of current thinking – as evidenced by the recently proposed mergers in the industry – is that “bigger is better.” This enables economies of scale to be achieved and acts as a lever to increase pricing power for both a smaller number of prominent raw material suppliers and large dominant customers (such as automotive). However, it is unlikely that this thinking is the only strategy that can be successfully followed. What can and should be done by Germany’s steel producers to help ensure not only survival, but also drive future growth? Disruption Most people would not doubt that the level of disruption in the world is increasing. As a result, many companies across all industry sectors are spending increasing amounts of money each year to identify the next big market breakthrough and drive disruption (rather than end up its victim). Despite these investments, however, profits of incumbent companies are typically down; the scale of corporate bankruptcies is up; and it is quite likely that there is more of the same to come. A recent Accenture study of more than 3,600 companies across 20 industry sectors looked at the current level of disruption in each sector and compared it to the sector’s susceptibility to future disruption, in the

form of a “Disruptability Index” (see figure). The index essentially measures dimensions around the presence and penetration of disruptor companies; financial performance (profitability, growth); operational efficiency (asset and labour intensity); commitment to innovation (R&D spend, digital investment); and defenses against attack (brand image, openness of the market). The results show that the steel industry (along with other natural resources industry segments) is currently in a period of volatility. Previous sources of strength, for example in terms of fixed assets, have become weaknesses and led to the compression of revenues and profits as the industry has historically been unable to breakout from traditional economic and business cycles. Also, a few, large disruptors are starting to unlock new sources of value as a result of technological progress combined with other external changes. One example of the actions of a disruptor is an Asian steelmaker that has successfully moved from competing on price to competing on innovation. This includes providing new revenue-generating offerings while simultaneously using innovation to drive additional cost savings and an improved environmental footprint. Another example involves an Indian steel producer that is driving a cultural “mindset” change across the company based on advanced analytics. This is creating greater insights that unlock significant sources of value across the company’s end-to-end supply chain. Within Germany and more broadly across Europe, the pace of innovative change in

* Managing director, global metals lead – Accenture www.steeltimesint.com

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the steel industry has traditionally been slow, perhaps driven by the thinking that the sector is immune to rapid change. Indeed, the steel industry is not best known for being at the forefront of cutting-edge innovation adoption. As the Disruptability Index study indicates, however, steel companies need to consider how they can change their cost structures to create greater efficiencies, deliver significant innovation in products and services for customers, and breakdown competitive barriers. If not, they may face a serious risk of being marginalised in the future, becoming commodity players or perhaps an even worse fate. Becoming a disruptor Currently in the steel sector, there are relatively few companies who would be classified as a disruptor. This, therefore, presents opportunities for a “first mover advantage.” How would one characterise a steel company that is ready to take steps in this direction? Some of the key characteristics as defined by recent Accenture research include the following: • Hyper relevant – able to sense and address customer needs, creating personalised customer interactions. Many steel companies have already taken the step of using e-commerce as an additional

channel to market, providing the basis for a B2C experience in what has traditionally been a B2B business. But this is just a starting point. To go beyond this – developing hyper relevance – requires the development of products and services that make customers feel that the company shares and advances their values; that they are secure when doing business with the company; and that the company relates to and works well with them. • Network powered – capable of harnessing the power of a carefully managed ecosystem of business partners to bring the best innovations to customers. Increased collaboration with upstream and downstream ecosystem partners will play a key role in supply chain and customer facing agility, for example through increased B2B EDI integration. Our research shows that companies expect to see an increase in the volume of data exchanged with ecosystem partners over the next few years, driven in part by significant growth in the number of external partners. • Technology propelled – master of leading-edge technologies that enable business innovation. Clearly topics around Industry 4.0 and “smart mill” concepts form a key part of this new technology wave; however, other enterprise areas also need to be considered. • Talent rich – adept at creating new,

modern workforces (flexible, augmented and adaptive) to gain competitive advantage in fast changing markets. In addition, organisations need to reskill their workforce in the right way. Success in topics such as artificial intelligence is closely tied to investment in people. This means reskilling, retraining and teaching the workforce how to maximise creative skills and judgment. It also involves teaching employees how to train, interact and augment their work with “smart” machines. Companies that don’t reskill will likely encounter a talent crunch within the next few years. • Data driven – skilled at generating, sharing and deploying data to deliver new product and service innovations safely and securely. As companies implement the next generation of manufacturing execution systems and advanced process control capabilities, the sheer volume of available sensor data is growing exponentially. A clear strategy for managing this data is essential. • Asset smart – proficient with intelligent asset and operations management to run businesses as efficiently as possible, freeing up capacity for other innovative efforts. Many steel companies are starting to embrace the ideas of a smart factory and Industry 4.0 as part of their development strategies. These ideas also need to include understanding how the relationship between humans and machines will change in a future where smart machines re-engineer processes in real time based on data, rather than following predetermined steps and workflows. Historically, Germany has been a leader in innovation. The German steel industry needs to use this to its advantage and focus beyond Industry 4.0 to create a more holistic view of innovation. As Accenture’s research shows, disruption follows an understandable pattern. The starting point for steel industry leaders is to assess where in this pattern the industry is positioned, and why. Next, they must gauge the likely speed of change by measuring how susceptible the industry is to future disruption. By understanding the intersection between the current level of disruption and susceptibility to future disruption, industry leaders can identify new opportunities for their business. Disruption is thus not necessarily impossible to predict. �

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ENVIRONMENT

Can we ﬁnd a market for green steel? The race is on to find an alternative and greener way to make steel away from the fire and brimstone associated with traditional methods. Higher prices for ‘green steel’,however, will mean that new markets must be found, argues Marlene Arens1,2, Valentin Vogl1 FOR the first time, European steelmakers consider the phase-out of blast furnaces for primary steelmaking. This marks a watershed for the steel industry and it would be a crucial step for European climate action. The Paris Agreement sets the pace for climate action. It reaffirms the goal to keep global warming to well below 2 °C versus pre-industrial levels and that efforts should be pursued to stay below 1.5 °C. The latter means that carbon neutrality must be achieved globally by mid-century, whereas the 2 °C target means net-zero between 2070 and 2085. The EU’s current 2050 goal is an 80 - 95% emission reduction against 1990 levels, but in an attempt to bring policy in line with the Paris Agreement, the Commission has suggested a new net-zero emissions target by 2050. Some countries passed their own targets with increased

ambition, such as Sweden’s carbon neutrality by 2045 and Germany’s carbon neutrality by 2050. The steel industry is one of the largest industrial greenhouse gas emitters and accounts for about 5-7% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Converting an existing steel plant into one without carbon dioxide emissions is far from trivial. Europe is home to only a few dozen blast furnaces, but each is built to last for two decades or more and each is worth hundred millions of Euros. Still, the answer to the question which future these industrial giants might have in Europe has changed in recent years, but it is obvious that reaching future climate targets requires action today. Back in the mid-2000s the answer seemed to lie in carbon capture and storage (CCS). The 40 million Euro Ulcos

project aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the steel industry by at least 50% through capturing flue gases from steel plants and transporting the carbon dioxide to safe underground storage sites. Three out of the four selected technologies within that project relied on carbon capture and storage but so far, CCS in the EU steel industry has not made it beyond the research and development phase. The economic crisis in 2009 and the years after pushed economic survival on top of the agenda, but CCS also faced a major barrier as public acceptance declined and citizens grew increasingly concerned about living on top of carbon dioxide storage sites. Consequently, carbon capture and storage stepped down the agenda and the development of the Ulcos technologies dwindled. Yet, in recent years and months there is

1 Lund University, Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden 2 Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany www.steeltimesint.com

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growing news on replacing coal-based blast furnaces with iron- and steelmaking based on hydrogen.

be replaced, as well as the two Finnish blast furnaces in Raahe. In parallel, hydrogen direct reduction plants will be built to supply iron to the arc furnaces.

SSAB in a consortium with LKAB and Vattenfall In April 2016, three Swedish companies formed the HYBRIT consortium that aims at carrying through the transition to fossil-free steelmaking in Sweden and Finland. The partners are the steelmaker SSAB, Europe’s single iron ore mining company LKAB, and the power company Vattenfall. In their vision, ironmaking will be based on a direct reduction process using renewable hydrogen produced through electrolysis, and using electric arc furnaces for steelmaking. A pre-feasibility study was conducted

voestalpine Four European steelmakers now suggest hydrogen as the way forward to cut carbon dioxide emissions. In summer 2016, voestalpine announced a strategic co-operation with a power utility on renewable energy and the provision of hydrogen. “voestalpine plans to consistently decarbonise steel production step by step and make the shift in the long term from coal to a possible utilisation of CO2neutral hydrogen”, Wolfgang Eder, CEO of voestalpine stated. However, already three years earlier, in 2013, voestalpine

between 2016 and 2017, and is now followed-up by a four year research programme. This first research programme contains research in fossil-free mining and pelletising, electrolysis and hydrogen storage, as well as iron- and steelmaking with renewable hydrogen. In parallel, a direct reduction pilot plant with a capacity of about 1 ton per hour is being built in the northern Swedish city of Luleå, where trial runs are set to start in 2020. A demonstration plant as the subsequent stage is scheduled for 2025. All of these activities are supported by the Swedish Energy Agency. In 2025, SSAB will replace its two blast furnaces with a total capacity of 1.8 Mt in Oxelösund with electric arc furnace steelmaking. By 2040, Sweden’s third and last blast furnace in Luleå is scheduled to

announced an investment in a 2-milliontonne natural gas-based direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, as being a fundamental step in achieving the company’s internal energy and climate goals. The plant started operation in October 2016 and half of its production is shipped to the company’s Austrian plants. The consecutive step of shifting from natural gas-based direct reduction to hydrogen-based steelmaking is not a big step, industry experts claim. Next to the natural-gas based direct reduction facility in the US, voestalpine announced the development of the back then world’s largest PEM electrolyser, a low-temperature electrolysis, in 2017. It is located at Linz and is partly funded by the European Union under the H2Future project. It has a capacity of 6 MW and will

May/June 2019

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produce 1200 m³ of hydrogen per hour. Full operation is scheduled for spring 2019. The third pillar of voestalpine’s decarbonisation pathway is the hydrogen plasma smelting reduction research activities in Donawitz that aims at directly producing steel from iron ore fines. An upscaling from 100g to a 50kg batch operation is planned, leaving still some way to go until a commercial scale is achieved. Plasma smelting reduction would replace current blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces as well as coke and sinter making. Salzgitter Salzgitter, a German steelmaking company, proposes a tighter schedule for its transition to hydrogen. Already by 2025, the company aims to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 25%. By 2030, carbon dioxide emissions shall be cut by 50% and by 2050, the target is 90-95%. While voestalpine sets its sights on plasma smelting reduction, Salzgitter goes for hydrogen-based direct reduction plants. Direct reduction plants fed with natural gas are commercially available and a proven technology. Feeding them with hydrogen is expected to be possible. Direct reduction plants replace blast furnaces as well as coke and sinter making. For steelmaking, current basic oxygen furnaces have to be replaced with electric arc furnaces. In October 2018, Salzgitter announced the development of a reversible hightemperature SOEC electrolysis that should be ready for green hydrogen production by 2020. In regular operation, the plant shall produce 200 standard cubic metres of hydrogen per hour. Salzgitter includes green electricity production in its project: next to the electrolysis, seven wind turbines shall be erected, three directly located on the steel site. The hydrogen will be used in the annealing facility, but in the long term, it shall be used to replace coal in ironmaking. ThyssenKrupp In January 2019, ThyssenKrupp announced a strategy based on hydrogen. While their flagship project until then, carbon2chem, aimed at carbon capture and usage, they now focus on hydrogen-based direct reduction plants. These are planned to replace all their blast furnaces by 2050. The transition phase shall start in 2021 evaluating the extraction and consumption of hydrogen in current blast furnace based steelmaking. The company plans www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 16:06:15

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investments of 10 billion Euros until 2050. As Germany’s largest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp has a significant impact on the low-carbon transition in this industry. ArcelorMittal The latest announcement on hydrogen in steelmaking came from ArcelorMittal in March 2019. The company will build a direct reduction facility next to its MIDREX plant in Hamburg, Europe’s single natural gas-based direct reduction facility. They envision demonstration scale with a capacity of 100kt/yr. In a first step, the hydrogen will be provided from the top-gas of the current MIDREX plant (grey hydrogen). Later on hydrogen produced from renewable energies may be used (green hydrogen). In contrast to its competitors, the site of ArcelorMittal Hamburg already has an electric arc furnace and experience in natural gas-based steelmaking. Using grey hydrogen allows for economical operation, the company claims. Outlook With the announcements of ThyssenKrupp and ArcelorMittal, two large-scale steelmaking companies have now joined the group of smaller, but forerunning steelmaking companies that render the possibility to substitute the use of coal with hydrogen. This is a double milestone. For the first time European steelmakers consider the phase-out of coal-based blast furnaces for primary steelmaking. Furthermore, these companies represent the majority of European primary steelmaking companies. The carbon dioxide reductions now discussed are more in line with the Paris Agreement than any other propositions. The Ulcos project, for instance, aimed at carbon dioxide reductions of 50% compared to steelmaking processes at that time. Ironmaking based on renewable hydrogen has the potential to cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95%. However, not a single tonne of low-carbon primary steel is on the market so far, and companies have not undertaken investments in commercial plants up to now. Yet, ArcelorMittal claims that running its direct reduction plant with grey hydrogen allows for economical operation already today. The next years or maybe even months may be crucial. Major blast furnace capacities are due for relining. Once they have undergone this renewal, they ought to run for another two decades. Yet, to reach future climate targets, action should start today. With its Innovation Fund, the European Commission aims to support the low-carbon transition of the steel industry, but investment support is not enough. The operating costs of green hydrogen-based steelmaking still exceeds the current coal-based process despite the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) or - in other words - due to the vast exemptions given under the EU ETS. If the EU and European steelmakers strive for a low-carbon transition, they need to find a market for green steel, since it comes with a higher price tag. �

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22/05/2019 16:06:20

PROFILE

Steel innovations from Severstal AS traditional oil and gas reserves deplete across the world, producers are doubling down on new technologies to enable them to develop “hard-to-recover”, more complex reserves, at greater depths and at lower concentrations. Companies are already drilling in blocks with minimal reservoir permeability (as low as 0.1 millidarcys), by using deviated, horizontal and multilateral wells, with multiple offshoots, which require increasingly complex pipe and valve systems for efficient extraction. In North America, producers engaged in “unconventional” extraction, from shale reserves, are employing a whole range of new technologies, skills and equipment. Those tasked with developing and maintaining the pipe infrastructure to transport oil and gas to consuming regions face similar pressure to innovate in order to reduce waste, cost, and environmental risk. Some of the world’s largest oil and gas pipelines traverse regions of temperature extremes, both over and underground as well as underwater, where any malfunctions or leaks could have devastating economic and environmental consequences. Pipe producers for the oil and gas industry are continually innovating to meet the increasingly complex requirements of their customers, and major traditional steel producers with the right R&D capabilities are taking a slice of the action. Steel producers focused on value added downstream products are innovating to meet this quality requirement. May/June 2019

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Tenaris joint venture Severstal, a major Russian steel producer, which sells products to 76 countries worldwide, recently announced a joint venture with Tenaris to build the global pipe producer’s first production footprint in Siberia, Russia, one of the most oil and gas rich territories on the planet. The new mill will add 300,000 tons of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) products to the Russian pipe market annually, signaling confidence that demand for these high-tech steel pipe products will continue to grow. Severstal has produced high valueadded (HVA) pipe products for the oil and gas industry for some years, with its St. Petersburg and Cherepovets-based pipe mills developing high specifications large diameter pipe (LDP), one of the most metalintensive products in the long-distance pipeline construction industry. The steel producer has been supplying 1.5 metre diameter pipes, made from K60 strength steel and coated with both internal and external anti-corrosive covering, to major infrastructure projects such as Gazprom’s 3,000 km Power of Siberia pipeline and its transmission capacities in the Northwest region of Russia. In Russian Arctic and Siberian conditions, oil and gas pipelines need to withstand temperatures below -50 and above maximum 25 degrees centigrade in the winter and summer months. They span wildernesses over difficult terrain, where maintenance and repairs for leaks and other

malfunctions can be extremely challenging. In 2018, to meet requirements for even stronger pipes, Gazprom and Severstal launched a joint initiative to develop LDPs of K80 strength class. These pipes will be able to withstand pressures of up to 14.8MPa, breaking the previous record for onshore gas pipelines. As a result, by 2023, Severstal will become the first company in Russia to design and begin producing electric-welded longitudinal steel LDPs and fittings, which will be supplied to Gazprom. Vertical integration enables Severstal to deliver quality at every stage of the production chain. Severstal is the only Russian LDP supplier with its own end-to-end production chain, from the extraction of raw materials (iron ore and coking coal) and the release of as-cast billets, to the manufacturing of steel and the final value-added product – large diameter pipes. This has a valuable synergistic effect, giving the company full control and the ability to make constant improvements in product quality at each stage of production through the implementation of technological, organisational and investment activities. Peter Mishnev, director of technical development and quality for Severstal’s steel divisions, explained: “Continuous casting passes at least 10 technological cycles and control stages. The purity of steel (for example, the levels of non-metallic and foreign objects, such as sulphur and phosphorus) directly affects the quality of www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 15:38:55

PROFILE

Traditional industries rely on new technologies to remain competitive and sustainable. In the oil and gas sectors, producers require innovative steel pipes to reach hard-to-recover reserves and to transport through harsh climates.

the final product. “In order to ensure our slabs consistently meet the high requirements, our company chooses its investment projects carefully. In particular, in 2018, we upgraded our systems to ensure that the level of metal in the mould would be maintained, while improving protective methods against secondary oxidation. In terms of the opportunities new developments in technology offer us, they are truly remarkable – we recently introduced high technology software that allows us to www.steeltimesint.com

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make changes in the slag and temperature processes through digital modeling." The next stage of Severstal’s LDP production takes place in the Kolpino district of St. Petersburg, where the Izhora Pipe Mill (IPM) and Cherepovets Steel Mill’s Rolling Mill 5000 are located. IPM’s capacity is 600 thousand tons of products per year. The plant is able to produce pipes with a diameter of 508mm to 1,420 mm and a wall thickness of up to 40 mm and can produce pipes that are up to 18.3m long. Such products, when

used in the construction of gas pipelines, help to increase the speed of construction and can reduce the required number of welded joints by up to one and a half times, increasing the reliability of a facility’s operational integrity. The nearby Rolling Mill 5000 supplies thick plate for pipe production. The mechanical properties of metal for pipes are determined by its chemical composition and technological modes of its production. Pipe producers must monitor developments in rolling technology closely. May/June 2019

22/05/2019 15:39:11

PROFILE

Severstal was the first company in Russia to successfully master production of hot-rolled sheets from low-alloyed steel of strength class K60 with increased deformation capacity and cold resistance. Ultra-low temperatures Vitaly Lipin, deputy general director for quality at IPM, said: "Special requirements were made for the parameters of this product: uniform elongation, ratio and crack resistance. Products were then supplied for the construction of several sections of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, which lie in the zones of active tectonic faults. The experience we gained here allowed Severstal to use this technology to develop these K60-strength steel pipes, which can operate at ultralow temperatures (down to minus 42°C). This product line is becoming increasingly relevant, since large fields are often located in remote areas, such as the permafrost region or on the Arctic shelf. In general, we are seeing LDP production trends towards increased wall thickness, higher May/June 2019

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strength class and working pressure, and a greater cold and corrosion resistance, while the diameter is decreasing. Our test requirements across all of our product ranges are also becoming more and more stringent.” Steelmakers are continuously innovating to meet specific oil and gas customer requirements – Severstal’s strategy is for every product to become a USP. Severstal is implementing innovations across all its key business processes to create opportunities to meet individual customer requirements, provide additional services, and reduce costs. Together with relevant institutes, Severstal is working to develop new product types, such as LDP made from rolled products of strength category X100, products for underwater pipelines and transporting corrosive mediums. IPM employees are developing processes for modeling tube billet moulding, which will enable steelmakers to improve the accuracy of their pipe manufacturing in terms of its geometrical parameters.

Big data Peter Mishnev noted: “We are using tools and methods based on Big Data to analyse accumulated statistical data on the technological parameters of production. We are using this to develop our customer support service. For example, in order to more effectively interact with consumers, we have created a cross-functional team of experts. When customers run into problems, we are able to track the problems to their root causes and develop measures to eliminate these problems, and then strictly control their execution. “We are also actively developing technical arbitration processes – internal production inspections, designed to prevent the shipment of non-typical products to the next stage – to prevent possible employee errors. These methods are helping us to innovate further, and to develop working customer solutions for the next-generation producer, as well as next-generation products.” � www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 15:39:20

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DIGITALIZATION

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Ready We invite you to join us on our journey into the future of production management. Next stop is at METEC 2019 in Düsseldorf. On the road to the future. Together.

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STEEL MILL LOGISTICS

Logistics 4.0 solutions for steel mills Imagine the intralogistics of a steel plant where individual process equipment is interlinked with the primary production planning system, where equipment information can be used not only for control purposes, but also for smarter intralogistics to improve the key performance indicators. The aim of such as solution is to reduce costs, inventory and delivery performance in order to deliver in-full and on-time. By Ing. Monika KĂśhler, B.Eng.1, Dr. Markus Ringhofer 2, Dr. Gerhard Kurka3

THE solutions which will be covered in this paper span the topics of transparency of the logistics process and how to achieve it by analysing the present logistic situation and to provide measures in order to debottleneck the production process. Second, the findings of such an analysis can be cast into the constraints of a production management system to optimise the production process sustainably by means of the planning and scheduling of production units. Third, a solution is presented to fully automate the scrap yard in front of a melt shop. Fourth, full transparency of

the stock yards can be achieved with yard management solutions. Fifth, automated intralogistics processes are enabled with supporting technologies, like (a) tracking ladles within the melt shop, (b) products and goods are moved around by means of automatic cranes, (c) intermediary products but also the final products being tagged and tracked, (d) coils are being transported with fully automated coil shuttle cars. These solutions can be leveraged by interlinking them together to enhance the predictability of the intralogistics process.

2 Offline logistic simulation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; de-bottlenecking In order to visualise and analyse how the production flow works in a plant, logistics experts conduct a fact-finding mission together with the customer's production team. Aspects such as the plant's current layout, production capacity, material flow, and final-product mix are taken into consideration. More detailed questions regarding maximum sequence length, the number of hot ladles in circulation, crane utilisation, and other factors, are equally studied and accounted for until the

1.Digital Business Development & Technical Sales Industry 4.0. 2. Sales Manager, Industry 4.0 3.General Manager for Integrated Plants and Expert for Plant-Logistics Simulations www.steeltimesint.com

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May/June 2019

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STEEL MILL LOGISTICS

full scope of operations can be precisely mirrored and simulated in software. It was shown in multiple studies that even a small change to a plant's logistics can have a major impact on overall productivity. Based on this simulation, Primetals Technologies' specialists are able to pinpoint bottlenecks and make proposals of what improvements or changes to

May/June 2019

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both equipment and logistics could be made for increased productivity. For a sustainable improvement it is advisable that the improved processes should be further fostered by having frequent checks on their conformity with the recommended measures or to be put into production management systems.

3 Production management system The production management system covers the metals production process from iron and steel making, rolling and then shipping of the final product. The first step is to evaluate if and how a product can be produced using the available plant equipment. Rules need to be defined that allow a dynamic translation of customer orders to production instructions including their processing route through the different processing units until shipment of the ordered product. Product specific information is combined with machine data and constraints and logistics information to compile all production relevant master data into a central repository. This approach enables us to follow a strategy of increasingly individualised customer products independent of any product catalogue and allows the sales department to make ad-hoc statements on the feasibility to produce a required product. The planning and the scheduling system has the ability to produce an order according the current utilisation and takes into account machine capacities and throughputs, planned maintenance and/or reduced machine capabilities. Both aspects â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the general feasibility to produce and the available capacity to fulfil required customer due dates with the correct quantity (OTIF) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; need to be available in real-time and decentralised, in order to allow the sales department to act immediately. 4 Smart scrap yard â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fully automated scrap handling In present and past projects, Primetals Technologies has developed automatic scrap basket loading for EAF lines and

www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 15:01:05

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also automatic loading of scrap chutes for Quantum EAFs. Following on from this, Primetals Technologies established the fully automated scrap yard where scrap handling can be achieved with maximum reduced space and investment costs. Starting at the registration of scrap delivery by truck, train or vessel, an automatic loading pattern for fully automatic crane movements are used to load the respective chute on railway or truck-based systems to be ready for the next process steps. The automated scrap yard solution covers full production genealogy and online inventory including the interface to existing Level 2 and Level 3 system. Furthermore, operational safety can be maximised by a reduced workforce in the scrap handling area. 5 Yard Management System The essential tasks of yard management systems are location tracking of individual pieces of material and the management of required transports. Generally Primetals Technologies’ yard management solutions are responsible for the determination of the physical location of material and where it should be stored next or be relocated so that it can be used as feedstock for the next processing unit. The system features solutions such as: • Every material relocation is tracked in May/June 2019

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the system • Automatic finding of the best suitable destination for any material depending on current storage situation and production requirements • Automatic finding of the best suitable route depending on current material location and logistical constraints such as availability of transportation. In combination with smart cranes the result will be reduced intralogistics costs, minimized inventory, 100% material location identification with yard management system and optimized use of available yard area thus minimize capital bound in the yard. www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 15:01:09

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6 Systems supporting automated intralogistics systems 6.1 Advanced tracking system Automated intralogistics processes are supported by an Advanced Tracking System (ATS) to automatically track equipment in steel plants. It features automated identification and localisation. Errors due to incorrect manual input are completely eliminated, enhancing acceptance of operators in a plant as it can be relied on as being valid. ATS provides complete status and information on all ladles and vessels at any time: Where they are, at what time, and which vessels are in use at any given moment. Based on a RFID or 3D surface measurement scan in combination with software, an advanced tracking system for ladles, pots, chutes and mobile equipment can be set-up. The collected data on the one hand supports planning and logistics system and on the other hand it allows predictive maintenance as the condition of the equipment can be monitored accordingly. 6.2 Smart cranes The challenge of a smart crane is to know its actual position in a plant, know where the goods it is supposed to pick-up is located and then relocate itself, bypassing on its way safety areas, picking up the desired goods and bringing them to the desired location. All of this requires sophisticated solutions to ensure that the performance of a smart crane is at the level of a highly skilled crane operator thus enabling a predictable performance of a smart crane 24/7. The instructions triggering the movement are sent out from the yard management system; for example, scrap, ladle manipulation or for (intermediary) products. 6.3 Product tracking Product identification at any product stage or process step enables secure traceability of products and product quality. Marking via RFID labels, spray system by alphanumeric numbers and/ or QR-Code system are considered the future product identification is concerned. The makes available the full genealogy of a produced product. 6.4 Coil shuttle cars A novel development of coil shuttle www.steeltimesint.com

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are modular coil shuttle car systems, which drive autonomously on the rail tracks from the down coiler to the coil storage area. The shuttle cars are fed by current collectors via conductor rails and controlled by an industrial wireless LAN. The implementation is done with modular components such as shifting, turning or lifting so the coil transport route can be designed highly flexibly. The transport capacity can be easily adapted by varying the number of shuttle cars in operation. The most important requirements of coil transport system are • safe and gentle coil handling, • high reliability, • maximum coil collection frequency • minimum maintenance costs. 7 Conclusion State-of-the-art intra-plant logistic solutions enable an efficient flow of materials and goods within a steel plant. The more predictable the intraplant logistics, the closer a plant can be operated at its bottleneck capacity and, therefore, operated at its highest output capacity. Furthermore, it also minimises the production buffers in between the processing units as operators know where individual goods are stored and when they need to be retrieved in order to transfer them to the next processing unit. Overall, intralogistics can greatly enhance operations for any steel producer who is determined to find hidden bottlenecks, wants to optimise production output and strives to ensure future profitability. �

References: [1] Herzog, K; Winter, G; Kurka, G; Ankermann, K; Binder, R; Ringhofer, M; Maierhofer, A: The digitalization of steel production, Proceedings of ESTAD conference 2017, Vienna, p. 269 – p. 278 [2] H. Kagermann, W. Wahlster, J. Helbig. “Umsetzungsempfehlungen für das Zukunftsprojekt Industrie 4.0.” Final report study group Industrie 4.0 (2013). [3] Lückhoff, J.; Apfel, J.; Buttler, J.: Vision eines vollautomatisierten Elektrostahlwerks, Stahl und Eisen 137, 2017, Nr. 1 [4] Ringhofer, M.; Wimmer, G.; Plaul, J.F.; Tatschl-Unterberger, E.; Herzog, K.: Digitalsierung in der Stahlindustrie, Stahl und Eisen 137, 2017, Nr. 5

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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

US EAFs on a roll

All indications are that electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers will continue to grow their share of the US steel market over the next decade or so. Not only are domestic EAF companies significantly increasing their domestic production capacity over the next several years, they have also set their sights upon making further inroads into what are perceived to be traditional integrated steel end use markets. By Myra Pinkham* “2019 appears to be another dynamic year for US EAF steelmaking,” with domestic EAF mills positioned to both take advantage of the opportunities and to meet any challenges that lie ahead, says Philip K Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA). This is amid what is expected to be the continuation of what is widely characterised as tremendous growth in the US EAF steel sector over the past several decades. In fact, Christopher Plummer, managing director of Metal Strategies Inc, observes that the fact that the EAF share eased very modestly – 0.4% – to 68% last year from its record 68.4% level in 2017, that doesn’t

indicate that that U.S. EAF steelmakers’ have reached their ceiling. Rather, it was the result of the restart of certain previously idled integrated mill production capacity, particularly United States Steel Corp’s restarts of both the “A” and “B” blast furnaces at its Granite City Works in southern Illinois – furnaces that it had idled during the US steel market downturn in 2015. He points out that over the past three years US EAF steel production rates have grown by over 5% per year, including last year when they saw a 5.5% increase in output. It was just because the production rates at the integrated mills grew faster – by

7.4% – that their share inched down. This is even though some EAF steelmakers also increased their production capacity last year, Timothy Gill, chief economist for the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) notes. For example, Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) started ramping up its 350kt/yr rebar micro-mill in Durant, Okla. – the first mill in the United States to produce spooled rebar and the first in the world to produce it in a continuous fashion. Also, Liberty Steel USA, a subsidiary of GFG Alliance, restarted its Liberty Steel Georgetown (SC) 750kt/yr wire rod plant that it acquired from ArcelorMittal, who idled the facility about three years ago. This

* USA correspondent May/June 2019

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www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 12:04:52

ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

was the first step in the company’s stated intention to eventually become the largest wire rod producer in the United States. At the beginning of 2019 it acquired Keystone Consolidated Industries and Sanjeev Gupta, GFG’s executive chairman, has publicly announced that he is considering restarting the second EAF at Georgetown, which would add up to 500kt of production capacity there. Year-to-date through March US EAF steel output was up 6.8% compared with the first three months of 2018, although Plummer says he doubts that rate of growth will hold. Rather he is expecting that this year their production will increase by 3 to 4 %, which means that 2019 will be another good year for the EAF mills. And going forward they could make further strides. Plummer says that he believes that the EAF share of US steel production could cross 70% in the next few years and could account for as much as 75% of the domestic market by 2030. John Anton, associate director of the pricing and purchasing service of IHS www.steeltimesint.com

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Markit, says this comes as US integrated, or blast furnace, mills have almost entirely retreated into sheet products – particularly high quality sheet for the automotive and appliance markets – with not a lot of exceptions. He declares that all the long products in the USA are produced by EAF steelmakers and that, other than for some higher end products, virtually all domestic plate is also produced by the EAFs. “So, if you are in anything but automotive or appliance, all of your steel is coming EAF steelmakers.” And the EAF steelmakers, which also have the advantage of being more flexible in terms of their ability to quickly adjust their production levels to changes in demand, have also been making strides to increase the quality of their production to enable them to make further inroads into these traditional integrated market sectors, Amy Bennett, principal consultant for Fastmarkets AMM Research, declares. In fact, Plummer says that while the construction sector continues to be by far their largest end use market, approximately 10% of the shipments of several major U.S. EAF steelmakers already go into the automotive sector. He admits that, at least for the time being, the lion’s share of those shipments is for interior, unexposed structural parts, although some of the coldrolled steel sheet produced by Nucor Corp. and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) is already being used in certain exposed automotive applications and further inroads are likely over time. “It is, however, going to be a slow, gradual process, as it requires an investment in certain more sophisticated mill equipment that enables them to produce higher purity steel,” Plummer points out. He notes that to date Big River Steel LLC, whose steel is in the midst of being qualified by several automakers, is the only US EAF steelmaker that currently has an RH degasser, although other steelmakers, including Nucor and SDI, are upgrading their tank degassers to be able to improve the quality of the steel that they produce. There are also other factors that have been attributing to the growth of the EAF share, AISI’s Gill says, including that scrap – its main feedstock – is widely available in the United States at a competitive price, and their increased ability to use certain other iron units, such as direct reduced iron (DRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI). In doing

so, they can more carefully control the metallurgical properties of their steel than they were able to in the past. Another factor, SMA’s Bell points out, has been their willingness to invest in their people, processes and equipment in good times and bad. He says that while certain governmental policies, such as the Section 232 tariffs and tax and regulatory reform, have played a role in some EAF steelmakers’ investment decisions, they have been more based on their expectations of future market dynamics, including their optimism about the sustainability of current robust economic conditions. “They believe that there are a lot of opportunities in the marketplace for a wide variety of steel products – including rebar, merchant bar, sheet, plate and tubular products – especially for new, state-of-theart technologically advanced facilities that are going to be efficient and sustainable,” Bell says, voicing optimism that most of the capacity additions announced by the US steel industry – mainly by EAF producers – will be brought online by the middle of the next decade. Plummer says that the EAF steel projects, including some that are already under construction and others that have been mentioned by some steelmakers but have not yet been authorized for construction, would add an additional 15.8Mt (short tons) of flat-roll capacity and 1.8Mt of long product capacity on top of the 10.8Mt that has come onstream between 2007 and 2018. Nucor alone has several projects, representing approximately a $1 billion capital investment, slated to begin operations this year with others coming online over the next few years, John Ferriola, its chairman, president and chief executive officer, declared during a recent earnings conference call. That doesn’t include a 1.2Mt plate mill that it is planning to bring online in 2022 in Brandenburg, Ky. It has two major investment projects underway at its Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky, including a new galvanising line, which is to be up and running during the second quarter of this year, while a project to Gallatin’s hot rolled coil capacity – including coils as wide as 73 inches – is expected to come online in 2021. It is also upgrading the caster at its Decatur mill in Alabama. Nucor recently added new specialty cold rolling facility at its Hickman, Ark., mill to enable it to make third May/June 2019

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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS) there. Nucor is also building two 350kt/yr rebar micro-mills – one in Sedalia, Mo, that is coming online later this year, and another in Frostfree, Fla, that is to be running in 2020 – and is adding an 850kt/yr merchant bar rolling mill at its Nucor Steel Kankakee facility in Bourbonnais, Ill., that is expected to be operational later this year. Meanwhile, Steel Dynamics, which completed a 200kt/yr rebar expansion at its Roanoke Bar division last year, plans to build a third 400kt/yr galvanising line at its Columbus, Miss, mill that is planned to be up and running in mid-2020. It has also announced its intention to build a new flat roll steel mill at a yet to be determined location in the Southwestern United States to position itself to better service the southern United States and Mexican market. It is expected have a total 3Mt/ yr production capacity including a 450kt/ yr galvanising line and a 250kt paint line with Galvalume capability. It is reportedly considering three sites in Texas and two sites in Louisiana. Mark Millet, Steel Dynamics’ president and CEO, says the company hasn’t decided yet whether it will put an EAF meltshop into its Heartland Steel mill in Terre Haute, Ind, that it recently acquired from Cia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). In addition to doubling the production capacity of its Osceola, Ark., facility to 3.3Mt/yr – largely increasing its production of hot rolled steel there, but also enhancing its electrical steel production capability, Big River Steel has signed an option agreement with the Port of Brownsville (Texas). This has led to speculation that it could potentially build a second mill there although Big River hasn’t made any formal announcement to that effect. Also, North Star Bluescope is considering adding around 850kt/yr of sheet capacity at its Delta, Ohio, mill including the addition of a third EAF and a second caster. JSW Steel USA is adding an EAF to its Baytown, Texas works and US Steel has revived plans to put a 1.6Mt/yr EAF in at its Fairfield Works in Alabama. It isn’t, however, expected that this move by US Steel foretells similar moves by other US integrated steelmakers. Plummer says that US Steel’s decision is somewhat unique because of the products produced there – seamless tubes, which require seamless rounds. He says there is only a remote

possibility for another integrated producer to put in an EAF, pointing out that some integrated mills, including ArcelorMittal, have been shedding some of their EAF operations over the past several years. “It is also very unlikely that there will be any new integrated facilities built in the United States,” Plummer says. But AISI’s Gills says that doesn’t mean that EAFs will totally displace blast furnace capacity. “Integrated steelmakers will always maintain a sizeable share of the US market,” he maintains. Anton agrees, admitting that it is even possible that integrated producers could even take a little of the share back through the development of new, high-end steel grades, such as third generation AHSS for the automotive sector. While micro-mills are clearly a new phenomenon in the United States, industry observers are reluctant to call it a long term trend equivalent to what occurred with mini-mills in the 1970s. “Rather they meet certain market needs, particularly for rebar and certain other long products,” SMA’s Bell states. “While I can’t see them replacing traditional mini-mills, in certain applications they fill a very important need,” he says, especially when a company is looking to focus upon a specific set of products and concentrate on a small geographical area that is currently being underserviced. They could be built quicker at a lower cost than a traditional mini-mill and they are extremely efficient and have a smaller footprint, enabling them to be located in areas where they have logistical advantages. They also have certain technological advantages, Plummer says, as they are highly automated and through the integration of continuous casting and hot rolling operations, they can do long sequential runs of the grades and products that they produce. However, he says there is a limit to how many more micro-mills will be built, predicting that only one or two more will come online by 2025. That, Fastmarkets’ Bennett says, is assuming that they aren’t used to produce certain standard quality hot roll products for the construction section. “That could be the next step.” Concern has been voiced as to whether there will be enough demand to warrant all the expected increase in production capacity should all the expected EAF steel projects actually be built, especially if, as some fear, US economic growth begins

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US EAF MYRA electrical steelmaking.indd 3

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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING

to slow. Ferriola, says that such concern is not warranted. He noted that in the sheet market – where most of the new capacity is likely to come from – with imports down about 1Mt and about 2.5Mt of capacity coming online, the net is only about 1.5Mt in a total 60Mt market. “That’s not that great of a change.” Plummer agrees, echoing what Keith Busse, Steel Dynamics’ former chief executive officer, often said – that there is always room for a new low cost, high quality, high technology steel mill. But the question is whether this capacity will further replace imports, as domestic mills expect, or if it will displace existing domestic steel, most likely integrated steel, capacity. Given recent actions indicating that steelmakers are more interested in increasing their prices than sales volumes, IHS Markit’s Anton says the latter is more likely. “If US steelmakers kept their prices flat when the Section 232 tariffs were imposed, imports would have dropped to zero,” he maintains. “Instead steelmakers increased their prices by the full amount they could get away with and imports

US EAF Production (Million Tons) 70

have barely changed. So, building new steel mills doesn’t mean that there will be less imports. It means that they will keep prices as high as they can and that they will reduce domestic capacity to do so if need be.”

Bell sees it differently, stating, “I believe there will be enough demand to support this additional capacity as long as we have trade policies in place to level the playing field.” �

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TESTING AND ANALYSIS

Lasers and infra-red cameras In this article, Andreas Viertauer*, Gregor Lammer** and Patrik Bloemer*** discuss the use of a laser scanner to determine the residual lining thickness, and the use of infrared cameras to monitor the shell temperature of metallurgical vessels CONDITION monitoring is very well known for mechanical components in the steel industry and mainly used for predictive maintenance. This article describes the use of a laser scanner to determine the residual lining thickness and the use of infrared cameras (IR) to monitor the shell temperature of metallurgical vessels. Both methods are linked for further analysis. Examples will be presented. The first example is an electric arc furnace (EAF) application with discontinuous data from laser measurement data to predict the wear lining focusing to optimise the gunning maintenance and life time prognosis. The examples are descriptions for a Ruhrstahl-Heraeus (RH) degasser and ladle furnace (LF) applications. Data from IR which are continuously recording the shell temperature used on one hand as hot spot detection to avoid any unplanned vessel shut down. On the other hand, the IR data are linked with process data for condition monitoring as tool for preventive maintenance. In general, the data for both cases are essential inputs to generate algorithms as prognosis tool to reduce unplanned down time which leads to a

higher availability at lower operational expenditure (OPEX) and gives indication for operation improvement. Finally, an outlook will be given how such an intelligent system can be used as self-learning instrument that will take the decision on how to proceed. Growing numbers The numbers of measurement systems are growing in the metallurgical industry [1, 2] . Traditional measurements related to process tracking and follow-up, such as temperature measurement, steel and slag samples for chemical analysis, are still crucial and remain the back-bone in industrial production, to ensure a high process performance [3]. Based on the definition, condition monitoring is the process of monitoring a parameter or condition (e.g., vibration, temperature, pressure etc.), to identify a significant change which in turn is indicative of a developing fault. It is a major component of predictive maintenance. The use of condition monitoring allows for scheduling of maintenance or other actions to be taken to prevent failure and avoid its consequences. Condition monitoring is

uniquely beneficial to detect conditions that would shorten standard lifetime and to address issues before they develop into major unexpected failures. Condition monitoring techniques are normally used on rotating equipment and other machinery (e.g., pumps, electric motors, internal combustion engines, and presses), while periodic inspection using non-destructive testing techniques and fit-for-service evaluation is used for stationary plant equipment such as steam boilers, piping, and heat exchangers. Currently, decisions of process adaptations are predominately made by humans based on experience. This is also valid for refractories [4]. A self-optimising future In the future, the decision process will be increasingly assisted by self-optimising and knowledgeable manufacturing systems. In this paper, we also discuss methods of condition monitoring for different metallurgical vessels where we apply image processing and analysis algorithms to support the decision base for the current status and refractory maintenance scheduling.

Table I. Possible measuring methods for hot metal, primary, and secondary metallurgical process steps.

* RHI Magnesita, Vienna. ** RHI Magnesita, Vienna. ***Agellis AB, Lund www.steeltimesint.com

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TESTING AND ANALYSIS

Fig 1. Laser measurement of EAF using a manipulator

More demanding Over recent years, the increasing need for repeatable and stable operations in metallurgical production has put even greater demands on equipment performance. Costly down-times and damages due to failures must be avoided. Consequently, refractory-related measurement systems have been developed to monitor critical equipment and vessel functions which, in principle, can be divided into two different groups based on the frequency and condition of measurement. The status of the vessels under load and in steel making mode is called online. In contrast, offline means the steel making plant/vessel is empty, and measurement is performed during downtime (for example, maintenance or idle time). Table I provides an overview on different measurement methods and their applications. At the end of the day, the purpose of different groups of measurement systems for metallurgical plant/vessels is similar, namely to generate an accurate database for decision making. In the 1980s thermocouples were introduced and are still used today to monitor vessel shell temperature. Later in the 1990s laser-based contour measurement systems, for example, EAF bottom steel as an example for offline measurement systems, entered the market to determine the residual lining thickness. A major inherent disadvantage of this measurement method is that, for basic oxygen furnace (BOF) or EAF, the vessels are not in service for steel production during measurement (i.e., in the offline state) and recording of valuable data describing the May/June 2019

RHI.indd 2

Fig 2. Residual wear lining thickness over life time for a specific area [13, 14]

vessel behaviour is, therefore, not possible. Intermitted or Offline Measurements Intermittent measurements are taken outside steel making operation time, for example, laser contour scanning of the refractory profile during idle time. The outcome is a snapshot of the residual thickness and presents the current status of the wear lining. This should be remembered when discussing system purpose. Continuous measurement or online measurements Continuous measurement means a permanent ongoing 24/7 monitoring. These systems allow for safety-oriented workflow. The most common example of this is the continuous temperature scanning of vessel shells for hot spot detection [5]. Infrared (IR) supervision of metallurgical vessels can be done both online and offline (during operation and also during idle times). Often, IR systems are used to detect hot spots, mainly on transport vessels like torpedoes, hot metal or steel teeming ladles which is a useful tool for steel plant operation, as it provides easy and comprehensible information, especially regarding go/stop/inspect decisions. [6, 7, 8, 9]. IR detection systems are the typical decision base for the on-site operator of the specific vessel to take immediate action. When combined with process data, the measurement data is crucial as an additional input for condition monitoring. Processing this complete data set would provide valuable input to plant operators and managers, especially when the output

of such systems could be the current refractory status as a function of the shell temperature, which could include the lining lifetime forecast and finally reducing unplanned downtime. In most cases, the online and offline systems are complementary, and most value is generated when combining them. Recent trends aim at producing more intelligent evaluations of measured data and results, thus taking the benefit of relevant process data, which will increase the value-in-use. These additional input values on top of the process data enables algorithms to find trends which will be described for EAF, RH degasser and ladle furnace (LF) in detail. Example EAF condition monitoring and lifetime prognosis with laser As described in Table I, laser contour measurement systems to determine the residual lining thickness are already well established in the steel industry. Before being able to take laser measurements, the roof of the EAF must first be opened and the vessel bottom must be completely empty. This means the measurement can only be taken during idle time as depicted in Fig.1. The manipulator arm with the mounted laser measurement head is moved into the measuring position. The measurement itself takes less than 20 seconds [10, 11]. The result provides a snapshot of the current status of residual working lining thickness. When combining laser measuring data with analyses of more than 140 process parameters, such as power on time, data www.steeltimesint.com

22/05/2019 15:05:13

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TESTING AND ANALYSIS

Fig 4. Showing (a) ladle break out in the slag line, and (b) LF in operation, the ladle side wall temperature will be online monitored with an IR system.

Fig 3. Deskulling, preheating of an RH vessel, the shell temperatures will be monitored online with an IR system

from the electrode control system, slag chemistry, and refractory maintenance (amount and frequency of hot bank repair or gunning areas) just to name some parameters, machine learning systems can generate a refractory model which describes refractory behaviour. All the residual lining thickness measurements during the campaign are used as a training target for such algorithms. The number of base points for the regression model depends on the measurement frequency, and thus a high number of laser measurements have a beneficial impact on the model accuracy. Usually one measurement per day is a sufficient input for model calculation. Such machine learning systems, for example, automated process optimisation (APO) [12] can also provide refractory wear prediction to provide information on future refractory wear behaviour. As an example, Fig. 2 shows the residual lining thickness for a specific area both as historical data as well as prediction over lifetime as calculated by APO. The vertical blue line represents dates of actual laser measurements. In this example, the measured refractory wear (blue dotted line) is in the upper light blue area. The upper (light blue-gray) area of the window indicates that refractory wear is in accordance with planning if refractory maintenance is continued at the same level. The lower (darker) section indicates that more refractory maintenance is required to reach the lifetime target. The blue line indicates the future lining thickness May/June 2019

RHI.indd 3

as predicted by APO. Such tools deliver accurate information about remaining lifetime and give valuable input into operation scheduling. Two examples for hot spot detection, condition monitoring, and lifetime prognosis with IR system As opposed to the offline measurement systems described above, online measurement systems provide a continuous data stream independent of the process steps involved such as idle, under load or maintenance. IR systems monitor the vessel shell thermal status with a sufficient resolution to detect developing hot spots and shows the operator the current state of play, for example, go/no-go/inspect. Fig. 3 shows an example of how to monitor the shell temperature distribution online for defined shell areas. For the RH degasser in general, the most critical area besides the snorkel, is the conjunction between the bottom and wall up to the level of the alloying chute. The snorkels are immersed into the steel during the treatment and, therefore, not suited for online detection. Direct output of such a set-up on the shop floor level is a monitoring and alarming system for immediate action. Fig. 4 (a) shows a break out in the slag line area of a steel teeming ladle. The shell temperature of a steel teeming ladle can reach up to a red spot or finally to a break out if heating without sufficient purging

performance combined with extremely extended steel and slag contact time, high amount of carry over slag, and finally high refractory life time during LF operations occur. Fig. 4 (b) describes the online ladle shell temperature measurement during LF treatment. The shell temperature and distribution online process data (steel and slag contact time, purging details like line and back pressure, flow rate, power-on time) are processed in an algorithm to monitor the operation conditions. This allows prevention of hot spots, to create maintenance plans for gunning and purging plug [15] and to predict ladle lifetime. The influence of the different steps of the metallurgical process on the temperature can clearly be distinguished in the data stream as shown in Fig. 5. The temperature peaks (rising and dropping of mean temperature for a defined area) follow certain rules in a defined range corresponding to steel contact time. A temperature increase beyond a certain limit can indicate a unique event (deskulling with oxygen lance or extended preheating for a RH degasser). Correlating temperature profile with process data can be used as a refractory wear indication. In addition to process data, post mortem results should also be included in the data set for a holistic analysis approach described in Fig. 6. One key task of successful modelling is to calculate main influencing parameters for in-depth impact analysis of process events www.steeltimesint.com

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TESTING AND ANALYSIS

Fig 5. Temperature trend of a selected area in the side wall of a RH degasser

Fig 6. Interaction of closed control loops

on refractory performance. Given the high number of process parameters (more than 200), the modelling itself is a complex task. Modern machine learning methods can autonomously identify, select, and validate the input parameters according to their influence on the target value (refractory wear). Fig. 6 describes the vision of the interaction of closed control loops. All production key components, e.g., cyclic online process and IR data together with offline data (post mortem and laser measuring results) are condition monitored in real time. All module data, current plant set up, maintenance schedule, operating times, and statuses are then visualised on intuitive human machine interfaces (HMIs). The outlook report for the manager is based on the model and gives a prediction of the future plant availability. Conclusions Fig. 7 finally describes the interaction of plant/machine as the source of online (cyclic) and offline data. Online cyclic data (Level 2) is related to the steel making process (e.g., treatment duration, oxygen consumption or shell temperature). Cyclic data is defined as recurring events with time stamps. Offline data (residual lining thickness measurements, post mortem refractory reports, and gunning consumption) is the second class of input. Combining both groups of data with the production plan and processing it using a self-learning algorithm gives two major output streams. The first stream provides an ad-hoc status (go/no go/inspect), predicts remaining lining lifetime, schedules maintenance, and interacts seamlessly with production planning. The second stream May/June 2019

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indicates corrective actions to be taken to ensure best plant/machine performance in a self-optimising loop if there is a difference between the behaviour of the digital twin (the digital representation of the physical system) and the vessel itself are retraining of the model is triggered [16]. Following the trend of digital manufacturing, this cyber physical model contributes to the vision of decision making without human influence [17]. We continue to focus on this issue and optimise the processes for safe operation at longest possible lifetime in order to achieve best cost/performance level and high productivity with decreased downtime of the vessels.

und Eisen, 2017, Vol. 137, No. 4, pp. 61–69. [4]

Steiner, R., Lammer, G., Spiel, C. and Jandl, C.

Refractories 4.0, BHM, 2017, Vol. 162, No. 11, pp. 514–520. [5]

Görnerup, M. Thermal Imaging in Metals

Production. Metsol, white paper, www.metsol.se. [6]

VISIR- Torpedo Safe, Agellis, Data sheet, www.

agellis.com. [7]

VISIR- Ladle Safe, Agellis, Data sheet, www.

agellis.com. [8]

Sarfels, J and Wandelt, M.

Infrarotbildverarbeitung zur Gießpfannenüberwachung. Stahl und Eisen, 2010, Vol. 130, No. 4, pp. 100–102. [9]

Viertauer, A., Trummer, B., Dott, K-H., Spiess,

B., Hackl, G., Skala, K. and Pellegrino, M. Efficient Hot Metal Desulphurisation Ladle. UNITECR, 2017, 15th Biennial Worldwide Congress, Conference Proceedings, pp. 345–347.

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TESTING AND ANALYSIS

[12]

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Ladle. RHI Magnesita Bulletin No. 1, 2017, pp 31–36.

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analyze refractory behaviour. AISTech 2017, Conference

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The future of metals- the outlook for the metals

This article was based on a paper presented at 7th International Congress on Science and Technology of Steelmaking - The challenge of industry 4.0 - ICS 2018, Venice 13-15 June 2018, organised by AIM

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680 PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

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DANIELI THE RELIABLE INNOVATIVE PARTNER TO BE A STEP AHEAD

680 PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

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Danieli Centro Combustion and Danieli Olivotto FerrÃ¨ provide the most efficient and low consumption heating and heat treatment systems for all steel and NF metals production processes.

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Danieli Environment offers a full range of proprietary technologies for air pollution control, water treatment, solid waste recovery, noise reduction and energy savings.

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AUTOMOTIVE

Digital transformation for steel A flat steel producer that we know, focused on the automotive sector, recently held a kick-off meeting with its teams to develop a digital strategy. By Dr. Nils Naujok* and Holger Stamm**

MANAGEMENT had high ambitions for the expected benefits of the company’s new digital future. Digital transformation needed to be nothing less than a game changer when it came to throughput, inventories, quality, lead times and agility in operations and the supply chain. But they were not sure what the outcome of that ambition would be in hard numbers. When we told them that, based on some recent analysis we’d done, we found that margins could be improved by as much as 16% on a tonne of steel – a pretty dramatic improvement – they could see clearly what the result could be. For our clients in the steel industry, digitisation is rapidly becoming one of those “known unknowns”. They know it’s essential, yet at the same time it can sometimes be hard to get clarity on what that means for the top and bottom lines at a time when the metals industry seems to be preoccupied with economic, political and technological disruption, not to mention price volatility. Yet it’s the combined weight of all these forces that is starting to be the catalyst for a digital revolution among steel makers. We think that embracing the use of connected assets and sensors, allowing “real time” communication with

suppliers and customers, as well as using refining processes based on data analytics, together can lead to a significant increase in productivity in this highly competitive industry. Let’s recognise that challenges affecting the ability of steel makers to grow profitably and sustainably remain considerable. After strenuous efforts to recover from a recession a decade ago, global over-supply caused a further collapse in prices three years ago. Although a period of reasonable health in the global economy boosted demand again, the market must now deal with the return of a shaky outlook for global growth and, therefore, demand, while grappling with the fallout from the imposition of tariffs amid trade tensions between the US, China and the European Union. Also, more stringent environmental regulations and greater competition from producers in lower-cost economies are crimping profitability. Clients want stronger and more durable kinds of steel, more diversified and specialised portfolios of products and grades, and shorter innovation cycles. Some companies have successfully implemented, on a piecemeal basis, digital changes such as monitoring and analysing

temperature data to maximise furnace performance. Or they have used predictive maintenance technology in rolling mills. But the real challenge is to build these individual initiatives into a coherent digital strategy and digital business models. Significant performance improvements and cost reductions can result from a number of digital tools and approaches: from “track and trace” within the steel plant and additive manufacturing, to real-time data sharing with customers on the quality of a coil. Digital champions – companies with an overarching strategy that applies from their production process through to interactions with customers and suppliers – are already reaping the benefits. The value of the right digital strategy Strategy& recently carried out an in-depth analysis of 50 companies in the metals industry, covering the five-year period up to 2017, which showed unequivocally that it pays to adopt digital in the right way. There is a clear divide between the digital champions in the group – the companies already using digital tools and systems to improve productivity and build closer ties with customers, which display good top line and margin performance – and digital novices, whose revenues fell over the period

* Partner, Energy, Utilities and Resources, Strategy&PwC; **Director, Strategy&PwC www.steeltimesint.com

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AUTOMOTIVE

while margins shrank. Digital champions were the only companies in the group achieving a reasonable level of top line growth – a compound annual growth rate of about 1.5% over the five-year period of the study. The same companies also grew their margins by more than 14%. They were better positioned to handle fluctuations in raw material prices, tended to have less debt and, in the western world, were able to remain viable in the face of considerable price pressure from large Asian competitors. Our analysis looked at how each metals company performed in digital products; market and customer access; value chain processes; IT architecture; compliance and legal; and organisational culture. We then divided them into four groups based on how far along they were in their digital journey: digital novices; vertical integrators; horizontal collaborators and digital champions.

helping to reduce waste and scrap. The opportunity is to develop a "digital body shop" platform for integrated product and process optimisation in a network of engineering, steel making, pressing and automotive companies. The business model is built on an integrated digital twin along the value chain in the car body construction that enables: • Integrated tool, component and process design as well as an integrated predictive quality management • Self-optimising processes, real-time transmission and flexible adaptation • Transparency and agility in the logistics chain

What are digital champions getting right? The digital champions are both vertically integrated, using digital tools to ensure their production is seamlessly organised and monitored for efficiency, and horizontally integrated, sharing data and analytics with suppliers and customers, for example, in automotive. When it comes to horizontal collaboration, digital champions have figured out how to get closer to their customer base by integrating the data from their processes and products (digital twin) with the processes of their end customers. For example, a steelmaker supplies information on the quality of its products on a real time basis to an automotive customer, so the automaker can precisely calibrate the pressing of a car body part,

and partners. Car manufacturers have significant benefits by reducing scrap (running-in components), reducing quality inspection costs and lead times, while the steel maker can differentiate itself from the competition and improve margins. Our proprietary analysis shows that getting this digital process right can significantly increase margins, by as much as €40 (16%) on a tonne of steel. Taking a typical mid-sized car body shop, we estimate that it costs on average €4,200 to make one car body, and €635 to process a car body in the pressing plant. By implementing the digital platform we describe above, it is possible to reduce ‘quality costs’ by around 25%, translating into a saving per tonne of steel of €25. Given that production costs are 19% of total body shop costs – and 3% of

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The digital twin obtains data from all partners involved and provides an integrated database on material, grades, quality, process parameters and the value chain. This allows a direct and self-learning interface to car manufacturers, suppliers

those of a pressing plant – we estimate that it is possible to increase productivity by 0.25% if the digital platform is used. That is a significant improvement across a high-volume manufacturing process, and translates into an additional saving per tonne of steel of €15. To reap such rewards, metals companies must work to create a fully integrated digital ecosystem with their suppliers and customers, combining processes and data at every stage, from raw materials to the end product. Looking forward to 2025 Strategy& believes that the next step for metals companies is the creation of a fully integrated digital ecosystem that combines processes and data across the whole value chain. This will include digitisation of the physical product (information about the quality of the coil), digital services (product development and quality management) and digital interaction with customers. By 2025, we see three possible roles for the steel industry: • Suppliers in a digital ecosystem with consolidated and centralised sales, distribution and planning for various steel producers. • Far closer integration with customers: steel companies supporting customers with design, development and component production, in a similar relationship to today’s battery companies and electric carmakers. • Network supplier: a similar business model to internet platforms would create a virtual and digital network of partnerships in production, development, and sales. To become digital champions, players in steel must streamline their processes through vertical integration, leverage digital tools to work more closely with suppliers and customers – through horizontal collaboration – and use them as the basis to build digital business models. Back at the kick-off meeting with management at the flat steel producer, the team then laid the foundations for revolutionising the company’s productivity to enable it to thrive in an environment of technological change, volatile demand, increased regulation and political uncertainty. The journey that they have started certainly will have its challenges, but the team recognised that the time to act is now. � www.steeltimesint.com

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PROCESS CONTROL

Computerised heating control system

A computerised heating control system based on a process model which uses feed-back information of actual thermal conditions offers a more scientific approach to one based on manual observation and control. By S Mitra*, A Kumar*, P A Aneesh *, A K Jha*, M Gangadaran*, S Bhattacharya**, V Kumar*** & Bhaskar Prasad*** OPTIMUM heating control is one of the crucial operations which delineate the entire coal carbonisation process in a coke oven battery. A process model based Computerised Heating Control System (COHC) using pause time control has been developed by SAIL based on several theoretical mass balance equations. Theoretically calculated heat demand is continuously adjusted against actual heat consumption in the battery as well as the actual thermal condition of the battery. The developed system constitutes Level-II of the automation hierarchy and is seamlessly dovetailed with the Level-I Distributed Control System (DCS) and PLC network through an in-built Object Linking & Embedding for Process Control (OPC) based interface. The system has been successfully commissioned at Coke Oven Battery No 5 at Durgapur Steel Plant. Coke ovens are one of the main energy consumers in any steel works and blast furnace productivity depends on the quality of coke produced by the coke ovens.

The present worldwide crisis in supply of metallurgical coal has further enhanced the need for efficiency in coke oven battery operation. The optimum heating control is one of the crucial operations which delineate the entire coal carbonisation process. Optimum heating control by way of ensuring complete combustion, minimises sensible heat being taken away by the waste gas and reducing heating time has a crucial role in lowering the energy input and improving coke quality. A march forward in this regard has been taken jointly by the R&D Centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS), the Centre for Engineering & Technology (CET) and Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), all within the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to develop an advanced computerised heating control system with the aim of energy reduction as well as improving coke quality. The system has been successfully commissioned at the newly rebuilt coke oven battery No 5 of the Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP). This technology programme exemplifies

a stupendous effort in terms of marshalling multi-disciplinary resources in the fields of heat transfer and combustion, kinetics, reaction dynamics of the carbonisation process, control system design, sensors and the three levels of automation with intricate mathematical modelling. The system involves collecting accurate information on the chemical compositions of the heating gas, waste flue gas and raw gas as well as temperatures, charge weight, pushing and charging times, different phases of coal carbonisation and coke mass temperature. Automation The newly re-built Coke oven Battery No 5 of DSP consists of two blocks each with 39 ovens. The heating is by twin flue under-jet. Both blocks can be heated by either mixed gas or coke oven gas. In conventional heating control, the battery heating regime is derived from the coke production target on which is based the average coking time and set average heating wall temperature. Although simple,

*R & D Center for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority of India Ltd, PO Doranda, Ranchi – 834002, Jharkhand, India. **Centre for Engineering & Technology, Steel Authority of India Ltd, *** Coke Oven, Durgapur Steel Plant, Durgapur – 713203, West – Bengal, India. www.steeltimesint.com

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PROCESS CONTROL

this conventional heating control suffers from such drawbacks as assuming the heat requirement of each oven is the same, there is no way to determine the actual status of coal carbonisation in ovens, it is labour intensive and prone to subjectivity and human errors. However meticulous is the operator, the heating control requires a knowledge of the heating gas, waste gas and raw gas chemical composition, coke mass temperature, different phases of carbonisation and coal-coke properties etc. A state-of-the-art computerised system is essential for efficient battery heating, which can take care of all such parameters. The COHC system comprises Level l and Level-II tiers of automation hierarchy. The Level-II system is seamlessly integrated with the Level-I system through OPC-based driver software. The Level-I automation tier comprises a multi-vendor Distributed Control System (DCS), Electrical PLC, Winch Reversal PLC and an Oven identificationsystem. The instrumentation related data is provided from the DCS. Winch Reversal data and control is provided from the PLC. The Oven Identification related data is provided from another PLC installed in each oven machine linked with a central coordination PLC in the control room through wireless communication. A block schematic of the control system architecture is shown in Fig 1. All these multi-vendor DCS and PLCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are integrated with the COHC system using an OPC link. The OPC interface is an integral part of the COHC model for seamless data integration between Level I and II. The mathematical model, which is the core of the system, is based on the philosophy of continuous supply of heat to coke battery by actual process demand.

OVEN IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

CHARGE WEIGHT

COKE MASS TEMPERATURE

(From SIEMENS & OPTO 22 PLC)

(From SIEMENS DCS)

(From OPTO-22 PLC)

PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION SIGNALS (From SIEMENS DCS)

COMPUTERISED COKE OVEN CONTROL SYSTEM

BATTERY THERMAL REGIME Neutral pause time control (WINCH REVERSAL SIEMENS PLC)

LAB DATA (GAS CHEMICAL COMPOSITION) (From plant ERP)

Fig 1. Block schematic of control

HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE

HEAT DEMAND MODEL CALCULATION

HEAT CONSUMPTION MODEL CALCULATION

system

The system is both feed-forward as well as feed-back in nature. Initiating feed-forward action, the model calculates the heat demand of an oven as soon as it is charged with coal. The system incorporates feedback corrections with respect to final coke mass temperature and actual coking index. Meticulous prediction of the battery thermal regime requires a precise knowledge of several process parameters such as coke mass temperature, charging time, pushing time, average charge weight, waste gas temperature, coal moisture, heating gas calorific value and chemical analysis of the heating gas, waste flue gas and distillation gas and so forth. The system also receives all laboratory analysis data regarding chemical composition of the heating gas, waste gas, raw gas and coal coke properties. The actual oven pushing

time, actual charging levelling time and average charge weight is furnished by the Oven Identification PLCs installed on the respective oven machines through wireless communication. The coke mass temperature of coke pushed from individual ovens is measured by a pyrometer installed at the entrance of the quenching tower. The instrumentation system also records process parameters such as tunnel temperature, heating gas flow, pressure, battery draught and pushing/charging current. Process model The process model is based on meticulously worked out mass balance equations. The total heat energy imparted in the battery by combustion of the heating gas is mainly consumed by the following:

HEAT BALANCE OF COKE OVEN

QdCoal 2.08% QdAir 1.62% QdHTgas 0.33%

QDCoke 47.34% QDCRaw Gas 19.38% QDMoisture 18.36% QdTar 2.63% QdBenzol 0.69% Total Heat Demand (2245.57 MJ/Ton) Waste Gas Heat Loss (278.64 MJ/Ton) Surface Heat Loss (232.12 MJ/Ton)

Heat of Reaction 7.13%

qd = Heat Demand per ton of dry coal charge

Fig 2. Result of Heat Demand / Loss Calculation

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Fig 3. Predicted heating gas flow and pause time

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PROCESS CONTROL

- - - -

Coal – Coke carbonisation process; Products of coal distillation eg benzoyl, tar and moisture; Heat loss through waste flue gas; Heat loss through surface radiation.

The heat demand of the battery is computed by determining the heat requirement of each of these components. The model calculates this during every winch reversal for all the ovens charged in between previous and current reversal. The result of various heat demand calculations as computed by the process model is shown in Fig 2. The system works through perfect symbiosis between calculated theoretical heat demand and actual heat consumed. The thermal regime of the battery is calculated from actual heat demand in terms of heating gas flow and pressure. However, the calculated heating gas flow is compensated by feed-back signals of actual coke mass temperature to integrate the thermal condition of the battery. The actual control of battery heating is achieved by adjusting the heating pause time. Pause time is the time between two gas reversals when both the flow of gas and air is stopped for a moment. During winch reversal, initially the fuel gas cock of one side is closed followed by air purging. Then the air flappers on the same side close. This is the time when flow of both gas and air ceases in the battery. This is called the ‘Heating Pause’. In normal sequence it takes place only a few seconds, but the control system introduces additional heating pause time to control the heat input to the battery. After completion of the heating pause, the air flappers on the other side of the battery open followed by the fuel gas cock opening that side. This completes one reversal cycle. From the compensated thermal regime the model calculates the heating pause time. The calculated pause time is downloaded to the Winch Reversal PLC, which interacts with the battery winch reversal electrical mechanism to introduce additional heating pause time. A computer screen predicting the heating gas flow and pause time is shown in Fig 3.

LEADERS IN CUSTOMISED HANDLING SOLUTIONS

In addition to prediction and control of battery heating, the system generates HMI screens for the battery operators and analysis of battery health. Some salient features are: - Oven pushing and charging status and actual coking time; - Oven-wise battery heating status indicating remaining coking time left; - Oven-wise display of actual coke mass temperature and average charge weight; - Display of winch reversal times.

Conclusion A computerised heating control system based on a process model is a more scientific approach to one based on manual observation and control. The feed-back corrections in the control loop adjusts the calculation of the theoretical heat demand by using the actual thermal condition data of the battery. Several HMI screens facilitate the user with data analysis tools that will improve battery life. The COHC system developed has been successfully implemented at the newly re-built coke oven battery # 5 of DSP. � www.steeltimesint.com

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TECHNOLOGY

Dramatic digital opportunities Digitalisation is already transforming the way the metals industries conduct their business, says Stefan Koch*, but metals businesses must increase the digital representation of their own end-toend processes to be a player in multi-company business processes and combine this with real-world awareness that includes customers and environment FOR more than a century, metals companies have been innovating to improve material composition and production methods. This continuous optimisation process is aimed at making metal material lighter and stronger to reduce the weight of cars and aircraft and increasing material flexibility that supports the use of metals in construction, furniture, cans, cutlery, and many other areas. In parallel, metals companies have been constantly applying the latest technology in the production process to reduce material consumption, energy use, and processing effort. Increased technology use and innovative cross-company business processes will create dramatic new opportunities for metals companies. The level of digitally enabled and connected equipment will further improve product quality and will also become the connection point for processes that connect with other partners in the industry ecosystem. Greater collaboration enables circular economy concepts to become a reality, further extending the existing high recycling rate and use of scrap in metals. In addition, many other global trends are impacting metals businesses, including increasingly empowered customers, disruptors from adjacent industries, availability and prices of raw materials, and application of the latest digital technologies.

By 2025, metals companies will move away from a pure production focus to a more collaborative model and use their know-how to steer an industry network and offer services. These services will be delivered around highly customised products, enriched by digital information. To get there, metals companies will focus on five strategic priorities: � Achieving customer centricity � Offering small lot sizes and individualisation � Running smart factories and digital networks � Supporting value-added services and new business models � Producing for purpose Companies have to shift their mind-set and work to achieve the 2025 vision. They must increase the digital representation of their own end-to-end processes to become a player in multi-company business processes and combine this with real-world awareness that includes customers and environment. Additionally, winning and keeping business will be based on providing great experiences across all interactions. The need for change There are several macro trends having a tremendous impact on metals companies:

• The move from a linear to a “circular economy” will allow metals companies to take a double role: first, their products can be made of recycled material. Remelting of scrap is common, but technology will extend the range of achievable high-quality products. Second, companies will think about the circularity of their own products: Many can be designed to be first reused and then recycled with less effort. • Industry borders are blurring, with partners and competitors arising at the same time. Focus will shift from corporate-owned assets to successfully managing a multioperator global supply chain. This will help access raw materials at reasonable prices and allow for geographical access to consumer markets. • Where and how work is done will change as production automation increases. It will become less necessary to have physical assets and people in the same location, as remote operations enable companies to monitor, maintain, and manage from afar. • Cost and availability of energy and the related global imperative to reduce CO2 emissions will force producers to innovate processes and reduce energy consumption. • Extended value chain: Primary metals producers will use technology to interact with value chain partners beyond current

*Global Lead for Metals, SAP SE www.steeltimesint.com

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TECHNOLOGY

levels of collaboration. Interaction with customers’ customers will help achieve better final product outcomes, as usage information is being shared across the value chain. The metals sector in particular is being reshaped by four additional major trends. � Automated intelligent network: The “digital twin” of the value chain representing machines, products, and logistics will lead to higher value for all players. Metal producers will collaborate along the entire value chain to form an “outcome network.” But disruptors will continue entering from all sides, including customers, suppliers, and partners. � Disruptive manufacturing technology: New manufacturing techniques will change many aspects of how companies work. Innovations such as 3D printing and ubiquitous data availability will lead this change. Many metal (spare) parts will be printed on-site, causing classical manufacturing processes to disappear and requiring companies to build new capabilities. � Global uncertainty: Increasing customer expectations as well as continuing geopolitical uncertainties add ambiguity to the entire supply chain. Metal companies have to react quickly to global changes, but also to regional demand, tariffs, social influences, and more.

Being able to address these global megathemes and the associated industry challenges will determine who will be www.steeltimesint.com

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among the winners over the next 10 years. Successful business model innovation, process optimisation, and customer centricity are directly linked to delivering great customer and employee experiences. The best-performing companies are pulling away from the rest, widening the performance gap and creating a landscape where digital leaders are the most profitable because they successfully adopt new technologies and deliver winning products and services more efficiently. In 2025 metals companies will derive a large part of their business from collaborative business models Traditional borders and processes between the companies in the metals value chain will blur, and the supplier-customer relationship will evolve into deeper co-operation models. Digital technologies will foster business models that do not rely on pure ownership and operation of production assets but rather on managing the value chain starting with the customer’s wish through to fulfillment and after life. Metals companies will deliver individualised products and services that will address very specific requirements and serve the ‘segment of one’ on a global basis. Some will be based on new business models specifically around the capability to effectively share data on products shipped or advice on the best use of a complex product. Companies will be more flexible and efficient in responding to uncertain and changing conditions profitably while meeting governmental regulations and societal expectations. This is achieved through elimination of data silos, higher automation of processes, and close

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collaboration through business networks. Much of the value chain will be further automated and optimised through the use of innovation technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Metals companies will spend significantly more time and effort making products and servicing customers in a sustainable way and purposefully making a positive contribution to society. Companies will offer an increasing number of products containing more sustainable materials. They will support recycling, establish lower energy requirements, and reduce material consumption. They will strive for fair labour conditions and will continue to use technology to improve worker health and safety. Metals strategic industry priorities Differentiation will come from services delivered around highly customised products, enriched by digital information that can provide additional value such as usage recommendations. This shift will require companies to redefine their core competencies and also review and optimise their product, supply chain, and service systems to improve their products, services, and customer experience. It is essential that metals companies focus on these five strategic priorities to drive transformation: 1. Achieving customer centricity Putting the customers’ point of view at the centre of every decision is a key prerequisite for success in the digital age. This goes way past the sales department, as it encompasses what to produce May/June 2019

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102 TECHNOLOGY

and what services are offered. Having relevant information ready for a customer contributes to business success as well. Example: Severstal created new channels of customer interaction, including online and auction orders for standard rolled metal and online orders directly from available stock. The company is seeing higher customer satisfaction, thanks to self-service tools, a modern user experience, order dashboards, and reporting. 2. Offering small lot sizes and individualisation Quick order completion and delivery of tailor-made solutions create additional value for customers. Being able to execute the wish of a customer from order through to manufacturing and delivery – all while considering costs and margins – is a key differentiator. Example: Smurfit Kappa Group is a world-leading supplier of paper-based packaging solutions and is passionate about delivering quality products to its customers. That means producing the virgin and recycled papers that go into making its innovative and sustainable packaging solutions. With its unrivalled quality standards, Smurfit Kappa has harnessed data across its paper mills to drive consistent quality and productivity. 3. Running smart factories and digital networks Transform your supply chain into a responsive network. Companies face volatile customer demand and heightened expectations of responsiveness. Innovative technologies can help meet these higher expectations by providing vital business information across the network. Realtime insights into operations, such as asset status, enable agile and intelligent May/June 2019

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responses to last-minute changes, such as urgent customer requests or machine failures. Example: ArcelorMittal wanted to improve sales and operations planning for the more than 60,000 products that can be made from a steel coil. It wanted to optimise inventory levels, reduce the need for working capital, reduce unproductive lead time, and serve customers in the best way possible. The company implemented an integrated business planning solution and can now manage situations such as cancelled or changed orders in a much faster and more practical way, because it has visibility into the whole picture and can decide promptly on the best action to take. 4. Supporting value-added services and new business models The digitalisation and interconnection of products and services create additional value. An example is being able to drive new revenue opportunities by providing additional data on products shipped or advice on the best use of a complex product. There is also the opportunity for companies to look up, down, and across their value chains to expand into additional markets and evolve into managing ecosystems. Example: Hilti is using innovative technologies to connect equipment on customer (construction) sites. Based on that, Hilti offers new services to its customers, enabling them to manage this equipment more effectively. 5. Producing for purpose Metals companies want to address growing expectations from customers, investors, employees, and society. Offering a safe, attractive, and purpose-driven business attracts talent, investors, and customers

alike. Efficient production and logistics contribute to lower emissions and energy use – increasingly important criteria for suppliers. Reuse of materials is the future and is part of closed-loop material circulation. Example: Carbon2Chem Project at thyssenkrupp intended to use emissions from steel production as raw material for chemicals. Surplus energy from renewable sources will be used in the process. Thus, the project is an essential contribution to climate protection as well as energy transition. The need for intelligent, integrated business processes In a connected world where every company is becoming a technology company, smarter products and services will further focus on outcomes for your customers and change industry boundaries. To remain successful, metals companies should bring intelligence to their processes, services, and models for work and business. The Intelligent Enterprise is the fabric that weaves together all these siloed processes, intelligent technologies, and real-world data threads from customers and the environment into flexible, end-to-end value chains that provide a transformative customer experience and support nextgeneration business models. For metals companies, the Intelligent Enterprise offers unlimited innovation opportunities across the enterprise and opens up the path toward new frontiers beyond traditional enterprise boundaries. It offers intelligence that is embedded into pro-cesses within the enterprise and also transforms the enterprise by supporting new business models and revenue streams.� www.steeltimesint.com

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CONTINUOUS GALVANISING LINES

The revamping of a skin pass mill Due to increasingly stringent product requirements, galvanising lines dedicated to automotive products have to be modernised in order to meet market needs. In 2017, Segal, a Tata Steel galvanising line in Belgium, placed an order with CMI to increase line capacity and to be able to process a wider range of steel grades. The project was extremely demanding, with only seven months to evaluate options, design the modifications and manufacture equipment, aiming for minimum use of new parts. Installation time was only three weeks during plant shut down. The plant was successfully re-started on time and to specification. By Francois Dumortier*

Fig 3: During shutdown

Fig 3b. New motorisation

THE Segal continuous galvanising line (CGL) in Belgium is a strategic asset for Tata Steel. Supplied by CMI, the line was initially commissioned in 1986 for processing extra deep drawing qualities (EDDQ) and today, it is fully dedicated to the automotive market, producing galvanised and galvanealed strip up to1,900mm wide for exposed automotive parts. With increasing demand for advanced high strength steel (AHSS), the line needed a major revamp both to extend the steel quality range and increase plant capacity by 10%. To achieve such a

production increase, it was necessary to implement the following points: • Increase the furnace capacity with the addition of induction pre-heating • Increase the cooling capacity by implementation of CMI’s patented rapid cooling technology BLOWSTAB® • Install a new water quench • Increase entry looper capacity by adding four strands, which was possible by replacing the existing two-roll steering unit with single-roll steering units. • Increase the capacity of the inspection

looper. Extending the product range, including AHSS, required the following modifications of the skin pass section: • Increase the tension at the skin pass entry from 6 to 12t in order to achieve greater elongation on high strength steels • Increase the tension up to 30t at the exit of the tension leveller • Change the motorisation and elongation concepts from DC motors with complete mechanical elongation system

* Francois Dumortier is Product Line Manager Skin Pass Mills & Tension Levellers at CMI Metals, Seraing, Belgium. francois.dumortier@cmigroupe.com May/June 2019

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CONTINUOUS GALVANISING LINES

(one main motor with elongation motors) to an individual AC drive system (one motor and one gearbox per motor) (see Fig 3b) • Increase the work roll diameter from 560mm to 650mm in order to improve the overall quality and roughness transfer on soft grades. For the same grade and elongation, the force needed with Φ650mm work rolls is higher, and this aids strip surface defect removal. • Increase the roll force from 1,000 to 1,200t to increase the elongation This article only describes the skin pass part of the project, although the other parts were installed at the same time.

Fig 4a: Skin pass completely dismantled

The constraints of the project were substantial. Besides the overall project requirements, such as a short period of only seven months for engineering design, supply and transport to site, a plant shutdown of only three weeks (Fig 3), and a limited Capex, the skin pass section modernisation had to face additional constraints as illustrated below: • Only incomplete paper drawings were available for the skin pass mill that initially had not been supplied by CMI • Re-use of existing rolls and chocks was required by the customer, in order to avoid the addition of new operational spare parts www.steeltimesint.com

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• The existing pass line in the skin pass mill was to be retained

Engineering phase Tension increase: The aim was to increase the front and back tension in the mill as well as in the tension leveller. The previous mechanical elongation system had some issues; namely high maintenance costs, unsuitable mechanical design for the new target tensions, and the gearboxes were installed on different levels and, therefore, access for maintenance was not easy. To achieve the design requirements, a complete new drive concept has been

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and the complete assembly is now on floor level with an easy access for maintenance. • At the exit of the tension leveller, four rolls are now motorised in order to reach a maximum tension of 30t. Figs 4c and 4d show the mill after dismantling and upon completion of the revamp. Revamping of the skin pass stand A first modernization of the skin pass mill in 1998 was aiming at the implementation of two work roll diameters of 440-400mm and 560-520mm. A change that lead to the reduction of the back-up roll diameter to accommodate the larger work rolls and avoid the machining of the stands,

Fig 4b: Top view of motorisation and skin pass completely dismantled

implemented: • Each roll is now driven individually by an AC motor and gearbox. • The existing roll design has been modified by machining to fit to the new gear coupling. • The pass line has been modified to add one bridle roll (one tensiometer and one motorised roll) at skin pass entry to attain12t tension instead of 6t previously • Due to the height difference between the various deflector roll axes and civil work, each frame was designed as a platform with two motors and two gearboxes. This design minimises the loads on civil works as the torques are in the opposite direction

as well as new bending blocks, a passline adjustment, new roll force cylinders, as longer stroke was necessary, and the modification of the work-roll chocks for work roll changes. The main challenges of the most recent skin pass section up-grade was to be able to insert even larger Φ650mm work rolls into the existing mill housing. Fig 4 illustrates the main interference points when planning for Φ650mm work rolls. In order to solve the problem of interference of the top chock, three potential solutions were possible; machine the housing, machine the chocks, or May/June 2019

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Fig 4c. Skin pass and motorisation completely dismantled

a mix of both. After finite element (FE) calculations of the loads on the chocks, bearings and housings, it was demonstrated that a maximum of 90mm could be removed from the back-up roll chock while keeping the stresses within an acceptable range. This solution had tremendous advantages in terms of both reduced shutdown time and reduced Capex as machining was done during production. Another issue to overcome was the interference between housing roll force cylinders and the bottom back-up roll chocks. An FE study showed that machining 90mm from the stand was not possible because the remaining housing thickness would be overstressed. The solution proposed was to optimise the design of the roll force cylinder. By optimisation of stroke, seals and guiding system it was concluded that a saving of 90mm on the cylinder was possible. The rails for back-up roll change have been changed, both inside and outside of the mill, reusing existing anchors and bolts. In addition, the distance between the bending block wear plates had to be increased by 90mm to insert the Φ650mm work rolls. This had the following consequences: New bending blocks with a new positive bending cylinder position (shifted by 45mm) were provided. This then meant that the bottom positive cylinder was no longer in contact with the bottom chocks, therefore these were adapted and the bottom rail position aligned with the top rail. New anticrimping rolls were also provided. May/June 2019

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Fig 4d. Top view of motorisation and skin pass after restart

Furthermore, due to the new rail position, it would not have been possible to insert the bottom work roll, therefore the design of the rails was adapted with openings in the top roll and a system with two wheels implemented in the top chocks. This also meant adapting the pusher and rails on the motor side and making a new trolley at the operator side. During the first revamp in 1998, the work roll chocks (top and bottom) have completely been modified for the Φ560mm work rolls in order to implement a new solution for work roll changes. The solution implemented at the time, was to cut the ears off the chocks and shrink on a new piece with a new wheel position. Intermediate plates were installed in order to cope with the new position of wear plates. To solve the problem of interference between the work roll and the anti-crimping roll it was not possible to easily or cheaply modify the existing design during shutdown. It was decided, therefore, to provide new anti-crimping rolls with a different mechanical concept using stateof-the-art slides and hydraulic cylinders. New entry and exit tables were supplied and adapted to the new anti-crimping roll and with new tensiometers suitable for increased tension. Increase of roll force: The final requirement was to increase the roll force on the strip to 1,200t. As the hydraulic station was already at high pressure, the only solution was to increase the piston diameter by 60mm and reduce the cylinder

body inner diameter by 60mm by using better materials. Note: it was not possible to simply increase the outside dimensions of the roll force cylinder because it was inserted inside the housing. Additionally, following FE, it was determined that the back-up rolls were not suitable for the higher loads. These rolls were of double cast design and the fatigue properties of the roll journals were determined as being unsuitable for 1,200t loads. The upgrade to 1,200t was, however, possible by using forged back-up rolls. These are now in use. Conclusions • The customer requirements were very challenging regarding the high technicity of the engineering, as well as the short delivery and shutdown time. • The entire project analysis and engineering was completed within three months. • The complete motorisation concept has been replaced. • For the skin pass mill, only the housing, the auxiliaries inside the cellar and the interconnecting piping have been retained. All other mechanical subassemblies had to be changed in order to accommodate the new configuration. • During the shutdown, the teams worked 24/7 to implement all the necessary changes. • All parts of the modernisation project, the skin pass section, the furnace and the loopers, were successfully completed during the three weeks shutdown. � www.steeltimesint.com

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COMPANY PROFILES METEC

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INDUSTRY 4.0 AND THE STEELMAKING PROCESS 25-26 SEPTEMBER 2019 BUDAPEST • HUNGARY If you want to know what’s happening in the world of ultra-high technology and the production of steel, then look no further than the only steel conference in the world dedicated 100% to Industry 4.0 and how it – and its related technologies – can aid and optimise the steel manufacturing process.

DELEGATE REGISTRATION The conference fee includes a 2-day conference programme, refreshments, a networking lunch and conference proceedings. Register online to subscribe to the Future Steel Forum membership package which will include a subscription to Steel Times International, the Steel Times International Directory, relevant news alerts and admission to the Future Steel Forum, 25-26 September 2019, Sofitel Hotel, Budapest, Hungary. Delegate registration fees for this conference are as follows:

Join us in Budapest, Hungary on 25-26 September 2019 to discuss, debate and discover the latest hard hitting topics that are facing steel manufacturers in this digital age. Visit the website to view the full conference programme www.FutureSteelForum.com

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SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

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Join our Future Steel Forum Group

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Dr Svend Lassen, Tata Steel Europe

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Dr Marcus J. Neuer, VDEh-Betrebsforschungsintitut

Diego Diaz, ArcelorMittal

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Farrokh Mistree, University of Oklahoma

Dr MilisavljeviceSyed, University of Liverpool

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PERSPECTIVES: PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES

Understanding customer needs Primetals Technologies was formed at the last METEC in 2015 and is now a globally recognised world market leader and pioneer in the areas of converter steelmaking, casting, and hot and cold rolling. As Aashish Gupta* explains, the company intends to continue to grow sustainably in the short-tomedium term by forming win-win partnerships with its customers. 1. How are things going at PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES? Is the steel industry keeping you busy? Yes. Fundamentally, 2018 was a good year for the steel industry. Prices were good, and most steel companies were profitable. There was an investment backlog, and Primetals Technologies received significant orders. Generally, things are going well.

5. Can you discuss any major steel contracts you are currently working on? We are proud to be building two modern hot-strip mills in Mexico and a new Arvedi endless strip production line in China. Plus, we are executing multiple additional important projects in a variety of locations worldwide.

8. India is now believed to be the second largest producer of steel in the world. Is Primetals working with Indian steelmakers? India has overtaken Japan and is now the second-largest crude-steel producer in the world. It is the only major economy that will see a significant increase in steel demand over the next two decades, and it is one of our most important growth markets. We have a large, competent organisation that strives to support our Indian customers in the best way possible.

2. What is your view on the current state of the global steel industry? The global steel industry is in a transition toward more high-end, value-added products. Producers aim to fulfil customer demands with shorter product-development cycles. The steel industry is also looking to gain from the progress made in the field of digitalisation. The drive toward Industry 4.0 has led to new technologies that can improve productivity and product quality. However, the fundamental issue of overcapacity still remains and will persist far into the future. 3. In which sector of the steel industry does PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES mostly conduct its business? We are a ‘full-liner’ and do business in all areas of steel production – from ironmaking all the way to the handling of the finished products. The nature of the business is, of course, cyclical – over the last few years, we have seen significant investments in the fields of steelmaking, casting, and rolling. 4. Where in the world are you busiest at present? We have customers all over the world. However, our biggest markets are the USA and China.

year are highly interested in the benefits of the concept of Industry 4.0. The challenge lies in defining specific technologies and implementation plans, which will vary depending on each customer’s particular needs. Through studies and consultations, we are supporting many of our customers in establishing and realising the right Industry 4.0 strategy.

6. How important is the introduction of Industry 4.0 into the steelmaking process? In my opinion, this is one of the most important initiatives in a long time. If applied properly and consistently, it will allow producers to reap enormous benefits. 7. How committed is the global steel industry to implementing Industry 4.0 and where in the world is there the greatest take-up? Without exception, all steel-company executives I have spoken with in the past

9. What is PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES’ experience of the Chinese steel industry? In the last 20 years, China significantly expanded its steel-production capacity. A large part of that was in commodity steels. Today, Chinese producers are under significant pressure to differentiate their products and shift their portfolio up the value chain. Primetals Technologies is actively engaged with many Chinese companies to join them on their path of transformation. 10. How is the global steel industry performing in terms of reducing steel plant emissions? The global steel industry has been reducing

* Chief sales officer, Primetals Technologies May/June 2019

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PERSPECTIVES: PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES

emissions quite effectively over the last few years. But this development has now plateaued out. Steel companies, in partnership with local governments and institutions, are currently undertaking a multitude of initiatives—in the areas of CO2 reduction, alternate reducing agents such as hydrogen and biomass, as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. 11. In your dealings with steel producers, are you finding that they are looking to companies like PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES to offer them solutions in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? If so, what can you offer them? Our customers are definitely looking to Primetals Technologies for solutions that promote energy efficiency and sustainability. We have a comprehensive portfolio to that end—starting with agglomeration and ironmaking technologies, which target the most energy intensive and environmentally demanding areas, all the way through steelmaking, casting, rolling, and byproduct treatment. 12. How quickly has the steel industry responded to demands for more environmentally friendly steelmaking? Are they succeeding or fighting a losing battle? The steel industry is generally environmentally and socially conscious, and has adopted the currently available technologies for reducing emissions as much as possible. However, new technological breakthroughs – such as the availability of hydrogen at competitive rates – are required for additional significant improvements in the future. 13. Where does PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES lead the field in terms of steel production technology? Primetals Technologies is a globally recognised world market leader and a pioneer in the areas of converter steelmaking, casting, and hot and cold rolling. Some of our latest innovations, for example, the EAF Quantum with its very low energy consumption and the Arvedi Endless Strip Production process, are true breakthrough solutions that help our customers stay competitive worldwide. 14. How do you view PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES’ development over the www.steeltimesint.com

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short-to-medium term in relation to the global steel industry? Since its formation in 2015, Primetals Technologies has grown significantly faster than the global steel industry, and we intend to continue to grow sustainably in the short-to-medium term by forming winwin partnerships with our customers. 15. Where do you see most innovation in terms of production technologies – primary, secondary or more downstream? The main innovations on the primary side are focused on increasing energy efficiency and lowering the environmental footprint, for instance, through the use of alternative reducing agents. In the midstream, the focus is on the compression of the production process, such as the implementation of endless casting and

rolling technologies. In the downstream, it is particularly relevant to fulfil emerging customer needs for better and stronger steels – such as advanced coatings, thirdgeneration advanced high-strength steels, and even better electrical steels. 16. How optimistic are you for the global steel industry going forward and what challenges face steelmakers in the short-to-medium term? Since the start of the industrial age, steel has been – and will continue to be – the fundamental building block of economic growth. Of course, overcapacity will remain a challenge for steelmakers, but I am confident that there is sufficient space for steel companies to define and implement specific strategies for their respective markets, in order to thrive in the current conditions.

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17. METEC 2019 is almost upon us, but what can visitors to the event expect to see from Primetals Technologies? Will you be making any big announcements or showing off any new steelmaking technologies? Primetals Technologies is unique among its major competitors in that it brings together three core competences: First, machine design and manufacturing; second, automation solutions and advanced algorithms; and third, process-related expertise and metallurgical know-how. This unique combination allows us to not only design and supply our customers with the best equipment and automation solutions, but also to understand their needs in terms of their production process and product development—and to partner with them to apply the principles of Industry 4.0 and smart production, enabled through

digitalisation. It is this face of Primetals Technologies that will be presented at METEC 2019. 18. PRIMETALS TECHNOLOGIES is based in Europe, with headquarters in London, but what’s happening steelwise in the region? Even though the headquarters of Primetals Technologies are located in Europe, we are truly a global company with a significant presence and wide-ranging competences all across the globe—starting with Japan and India, to multiple European countries such as Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, all the way through the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. 19. Apart from strong coffee, what keeps you awake at night? Ensuring that we keep all of our ongoing commitments to our customers. � May/June 2019

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PERSPECTIVES: PESMEL

A globally active logistics business Finland-based Pesmel is looking at a bright future for itself in the steel industry and is currently extremely busy in India and China, but active globally. The company’s CEO Tony Leikas* says that his company is a market leader in the field of fully automated steel mill logistics solutions and is being kept very busy by the global steel industry 1. How are things going at Pesmel? Is the steel industry keeping you busy? The steel industry has kept us busy in recent months and the future is also looking reasonably bright. 2. What is your view on the current state of the global steel industry? Until this spring global steel demand has enjoyed modest growth in spite of a slowing economic environment. However, the recent announcement of protective import duties and trade barriers will have an influence on global trade in general.

aluminium versus steel argument? Pesmel can be of service for both of these industries alike. From purely our point of view, it has been good to see that both steel and aluminium industries invest in modern internal logistics and storage solutions.

3. In which sector of the steel industry does Pesmel mostly conduct its business? Pesmel specialises in mill logistics providing fully automated systems for the moving, storing, buffering, sorting and despatching of steel coils and sheets. 4. Where in the world are you busiest at present? We are active globally, but our biggest accounts currently are in Asia, India and China specifically. 5. Can you discuss any major steel contracts you are currently working on? It is difficult to choose from a number of contracts but currently we are busy with JSW Steel and TATA Steel, both very good customers of ours. They continuously invest in enhancing and increasing production which in turn calls for intelligent solutions for handling work in progress and finished goods effectively. 6.

Where do you stand on the

7. Steel mill logistics is an important part of the steelmaking process. What are the challenges facing Pesmel when dealing with the industry? Whilst key steel making processes are priority and often state-of-the-art technology, logistics are arranged in a more traditional manner. This is the starting point when our customers embark on discussions to remove bottlenecks or streamline production. 8. What are your views on Industry 4.0 and its role in steel mill logistics? Industry 4.0 is already very much present in automated mill operations. We see a

growing number of steel producers wanting to know more about opportunities of increasing efficiency in mill logistics, and it is exactly Industry 4.0 and its applications that will make this possible. Organizing a variety of machines and equipment to operate in an integrated system under the commands of one warehouse management system will bring benefits related to overall mill efficiency and end product quality. And all this will yield short investment payback. 9. When it comes to logistics, what are the key factors that steelmakers need to be aware of in order to be as efficient as possible? Application of conventional floor storage and manual/semi-automatic logistics solutions will soon lead to limitations in material flows as production volumes are increased. But an open mind and a desire to find an optimal logistics solution that can grow with production is a better starting point. The earlier we can engage in layout design and material flow simulations, the easier it will be to design a highperformance logistics solutions. 10. “…any hint of doubt when it comes to predictions of climate doom is evidence of greed, stupidity, moral turpitude or psychological derangement.” is Bret Stephens’ quote in The Wall Street Journal. Do you sympathise with his view? No comment. 11. In your dealings with steel producers, are you finding that they are looking to companies like Pesmel to offer them solutions in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? If

* Chief executive officer, Pesmel May/June 2019

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PERSPECTIVES: PESMEL

so, what can you offer them? Smooth and efficient material flows can very well be associated with energy efficiency and sustainability. This is where the entire logistics chain from the mill to the port or place of usage should be evaluated. There is huge potential for reducing storage footprint and time at the mill, but equally big opportunities in cutting loading, shipping and unloading periods. 12. How quickly has the steel industry responded to ‘green politics’ in terms of making the production process more environmentally friendly and are they succeeding or fighting a losing battle? We see opportunities from the logistical perspective as new technologies offer many solutions to take green actions. We have an ambitious customer who, in conjunction with planned logistics improvements, wanted to enhance their shipping operations to work without fossil fuels. We were able to replace an old system consuming half a million litres of fuel annually with electric power. This together with a regenerative braking system resulted in a total of 42% savings in energy consumption.

16. How optimistic are you for the global steel industry going forward and what challenges do global producers face in the short-to-medium term? Requirements set to steel structures and equipment are getting increasingly demanding. Facing the reality, the steel industry is investing heavily to meet with the challenges placed on the industry by the steel users and the environment alike. There will be a healthy future for those producers who take steps forward in a timely manner. 17. What exhibitions and conferences will Pesmel be attending in 2019 We are participating several events globally this year, but when the effort is spread over our three business areas it does not seem to be enough. As we are planning for 2020, it is important that we will be where our presence counts. We feel that conference papers give best kind of support in view of our efforts on the customer front. 18. Pesmel is based in Finland, but what’s happening steel-wise in the country The EU being our home market any analysis

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should focus on how Europe will perform on the global stage. We have an optimistic view on the developments and believe that regardless of market situation there will always be opportunities for technology driven solutions developed to add value. This is where Finland and Finnish companies have performed well – we have a sound base to innovate and solve our customers’ challenges anywhere in the world. 19. Apart from strong coffee, what keeps you awake at night? We do stand by 24/7 to support our customers anywhere in the world, other than that we try to get out of the office and rest at night. But yes, at times coffee is required to keep us going – and we do drink a lot of it in Finland, in fact more per capita than anyone else in the world! 20. If you possessed a superpower, how would you use it to improve the global steel industry? We do not wish to make any political statements, however, we believe a world without protective duties and other trade barriers would be a better place. �

13. Where does Pesmel lead the field in terms of steel production technology? We are the leading supplier of fully automated mill logistics solutions for steel mills. Material ‘flow how’ is our core competence, it has been in our primary focus from the company outset for over 40 years. We also work with the pulp and paper and vehicle tire industries globally. 14. How do you view Pesmel’s development over the short-tomedium term in relation to the global steel industry? We are a humble servant of the industries we serve. Even if we are not able to predict where the global industry is going in a volatile environment, we believe Pesmel will grow as a consequence of the increasing demands of automation at our customers’ operations. 15. What is Pesmel’s experience of the Chinese steel industry? Chinese steel industry wants to modernize itself in line with its global benchmarks. Our experiences of operating with Chinese producers are good. www.steeltimesint.com

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HISTORY

PLUTO – Pipe Line Under The Ocean “Job 99” was an ambitious petrol supply initiative, says Tim Smith*

A remarkable project was completed by Stewarts and Lloyds Corby works commencing in 1942. Over 1000 miles (1600km) of carbon steel tube from 2” (50mm) to 3.5” (89mm) bore and 0.25” (6mm) wall thickness was produced, to traverse the Channel between England and France to supply petrol to the Allied landing forces. ‘Job 99’ was conceived by H A Hammick and B J Ellis whose names were combined to give the project name ‘HAMEL’. Two types of pipe were in use, a smaller diameter tube adapted from telegraph submarine cable laid in a conventional manner by a cable laying ship and the larger diameter less flexible steel pipe. This combined approach was known as PLUTO, Pipe Line Under The Ocean, the ‘ocean’ referred to the English Channel. The cable method was called ‘HAIS’ (named from the suppliers, HartleyAnglo- Iranian-Siemens), this was flexible hollow cable with the bore lined with lead. However, so much lead would be required to make the 1000 miles of pipe deemed necessary, only a few HAIS pipelines were laid. The larger pipe lines were solid walled steel tube made to the same specifications as used in temporary bridges. No cable laying ship was large enough to carry the up to 80 miles of steel pipe required for crossings so a unique floating ‘reel’ was constructed onto which the pipe was coiled. The reel’s core was 40’ (12.1m) diameter and 60’ (18.3m) long with end flanges. These ‘reels’ were named ‘Conundrums’ short for ‘cone ended drums’. They were towed by a pair of tugs each attached by a hawser to a bearing on a cone shaped extension on each flange. Fully loaded, a Conundrum weighed 1600 tons and required the equivalent power of the Queen Mary liner to tow it. Once towed to the position for pipe

A 35 minute DVD of original

A Conundrum being wound with pipe

cine-ﬁlm showing the PLUTO enterprise is available from East Carlton Country Park, East Carlton, Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 8YF Tel +44 (0)1536 770977 Price £9.99 +pp

laying, the end of the pipe of the final lap was anchored to the shore causing the Conundrum to rotate as it was towed out to sea paying off the pipe as it moved. Trials at Corby proved the concept was practical. Further tests on a model showed that when paying off at sea, water trapped between the pipe windings put the reel out of balance. This was solved by inserting small spacers between the wraps of pipe as they were laid on the reel to allow the water to drain away quickly, preventing the reel becoming unbalanced. Tubes were made in 30’ (9m) lengths at Corby and transported by rail to Tilbury Docks in London where these were electrically flash welded together, the weld, while still hot, being upset by forcing the two tubes together. Pipe lengths of 0.75 mile (1.2km) were produced in this way. Care was taken to remove welding flash from both the bore and outer surface of the tube and every weld and length of tube was inspected for quality. These 1.2km long tubes were then carried through pipe conveyors to storage racks ready for winding onto a Conundrum. The elasticity in the tube created a ‘Mexican wave’ motion as it entered its rack, reaching 120mph (200km/h). Seven lines for carrying out these operations were built within five months of starting. Seven more followed. Before being wound onto the

Conundrum, the 1.2km long tubes were cleaned of all internal debris by blowing compressed air through them followed by a steel ‘bullet’. The end of the first tube to be wound on was sealed with a welded plate and attached to a buoy countersunk into the core of the Conundrum to enable recovery of the pipe end after laying. Just prior to reaching the end of each 1.2km length of pipe being wound onto the reel, winding was stopped and the next length of pipe flash welded to the previous pipe’s tail. This time, the internal weld flash could not be removed but its presence, every 1.2km, provided little resistance to the flow of petrol. Winding 80 miles onto the reel took 2-3 days during which time the angle of the pipe to the drum was adjusted to take into account the rise and fall of the floating reel with the tide. Once fully wound the length of the tube was pressure-tested for leaks by pressurising with carbon dioxide. The pipe had to retain full pressure for 2-3 days to pass. The first Conundrum to sail was in September 1944 laying pipe between the Isle of Wight and Cherbourg, the work being completed in a single night. Twenty pipe lines were laid in this way using the route and between Dungeness and Boulogne with pumping stations and storage depots completing the operation. The life of each pipe was six weeks. �

* Consulting editor Steel Times International May/June 2019

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