MPT International 5/2013 (Oct)

Page 1

Metallurgical Plant and Technology

G 25074

ISSN 0935-7254

5

October 2013

Reheating: Walking beam furnace at California Steel complies with lowest emission limits

Our power for tomorrow’s power.

Further applications of vacuum induction melting (VIM X-eed).

Tertiary metallurgy: Trust in expertise. Developing improved material properties. That’s the permanent challenge our tertiary metallurgy specialists tackle. Extreme requirements such as material alloys for steam, water or gas turbines demand optimal qualities for the toughest operating conditions. What makes our vacuum induction melting (VIM X-eed) plants stand out is their ability to produce these special steels perfectly.

You benefit from outstanding material properties due to hightemperature-resistant alloys for your customers in turbine manufacturing. Customers worldwide profit from our know-how in metal processing, knowing they can depend on absolute quality and reliability.

SMS Siemag and SMS Mevac – adding value to your steel.

SMS MEVAC GMBH

Bamlerstrasse 3a 45141 Essen, Germany

Phone: +49 201 6323-0 Fax: +49 201 6323-200

E-mail: mail@sms-mevac.com Internet: www.sms-mevac.com

Editorial

Mega projects launched by steel producers The fact that steel producers in growth markets like India and the Far East are investing in new production capacity demonstrates that they expect an increase in steel demand in their respective economies. In this issue of MPT International, we present several impressive mega projects which definitely deserve this name. SAIL, for example, has commissioned India’s biggest blast furnace at its Rourkela works in the Indian state of Odisha. Their blast furnace No. 5 was built as a greenfield project and is designed for a production capacity of 8,000 t of hot metal per day. The project is part of a multi-year expansion programme, which is to boost SAIL’s hot metal production from 13.5 million t in 2012 to eventually 24.6 million t/year. Also in the Far East there are projects of similar dimensions. A highly spectacular one in that region is the project implemented by Dragon Steel, Taiwan. In Taichung, the company built a complete integrated iron and steelworks with a rated capacity of 5.2 million t/year of flat-steel products. With the second newly built blast furnace in operation since March 2013, we can now provide a comprehensive report about the new hot metal basis of Dragon Steel. Siderúrgica Nacional in Venezuela has opted for a completely different technological route. Instead of blast furnaces, SN will build a minimill based on EAF steelmaking in the next few years. Although this 1.5 million t/year greenfield complex will be much smaller in terms of capacity than the above mentioned integrated works in India and Taiwan, the underlying technological concept is not less impressive. All three investment projects use latest steel production technology. It is a matter of course that, in addition to highest productive capacity, new plants today also have to meet high resource efficiency and environmental protection standards. Therefore it is not surprising that various articles in this issue deal with this group of topics, for example with ways of how to reduce energy consumption in an EAF, how to cut emissions from reheating furnaces and how a new software system – “Energy Advisor” – can keep track of energy flows and optimize costs within the production processes. Last but not least, MPT reports about a study which examines developments regarding emission trading systems and their significance for the steel industry in the major regions of the world. The study confirms that there is no international level playing field regarding emission trade for the steel industry so far.

Dipl.-Ing. Arnt Hannewald

MPT International 5/2013

3

Contents

Volume 36

No. 5 – October 2013

Topical themes R. Fackert, C. Mittag

68 Walking beam furnace at California Steel strictly complies with lowest emission limits Regenerative flameless burners developed by Tenova are installed in this new reheating furnace. The design criteria adopted for this furnace are highlighted here. Main results after several years of furnace operation are presented.

Cover photo: New walking beam furnace equipped with Tenova TRGX burners at California Steel Ind. Tenova Italimpianti, Genova, Italy Contact: www.tenova.com ' OCKN| KVCNKORKCPVK"VGPQXC EQO

Ironmaking 26 Start-up and operation of the new sinter plants and blast furnaces at Dragon Steel A completely new integrated steelworks was built in two stages in the harbour area of Taichung, Taiwan.

34 SAIL started up India’s largest blast furnace Erected on greenfield at the Rourkela site, the first hot metal was tapped from BF No. 5 after only 27 hours.

Editorial 3 Mega projects launched by steel producers

Steelmaking 36 Siemens extends plant portfolio for hot-metal desulphurization

Columns 8 International industry news 86 Technical innovations 95 Cartoon 96 Literature service 98 In the next issue 98 Imprint

The stirrer-based solution uses lime accumulated in the steel works as desulphurization agent, hence no magnesium or calcium carbide is required.

38 Reduction of total energy consumption in EAF processes by way of reducing energy losses Numerous EAF plants provide best preconditions for implementing commercial-grade components to reduce the waste of energy. This technical survey deals with possibilities of upgrading existing equipment.

Automation 42 Energy Advisor software provides transparency for plants and processes SMS Siemag makes available a new software as a management system for relevant energy data which can do more than mere monitoring.

Environmental protection 54 Efforts to reduce cooling water consumption in a region with limited water supply For a steel plant in a desert area cooling equipment has been adopted to reduce raw water consumption down to approximately only 120 mÂł/h on a daily average.

%QORCP[ RTQĆ‚NGU 62 South Steel commissions new meltshop with rolling mill in Saudi Arabia

64 SiderĂşrgica Nacional to build a completely new steelworks in Venezuela

Metallurgical Plant and Technology Advertisers’ index Interview

22 Timken to spin off its steel business into a separate company 46 Emission trade: no global NGXGN RNC[KPI ƂGNF HQT VJG steel industry

Continuous casting 66 Coating technology to increase life time of slab mould plates

Hot rolling 74 In-line heat treatment for thermo-mechanical production of beams Application of in-line heat treatments to different types of long products has led to specific technological solutions and layout concepts.

80 Ring-rolling mill for Electrostal metallurgical plant Siempelkamp expands its product range with ring rolling mills. The first plant has passed its crudial test.

Strip processing 84 A new paradigm for strip guiding in furnace atmospheres A new sensor for strip guiding is mounted outside of the hot area of the furnace. The furnace wall becomes transparent in the true sense of the word.

ABB AB

33

KELLER HCW

Aumund Fördertechnik GmbH

17

KettenWulf Betriebs GmbH

BEDA-Oxygentechnik Armaturen GmbH

63

Maschinenfabrik Köppern GmbH & Co.KG

18

Bloom Engineering (Europa) GmbH

LAP GmbH

16

79

Boldrocchi srl

55

Maschinenfabrik G. Eirich GmbH & Co. KG

25

Braun Maschinenfabrik Gesellschaft m.b.H.

Pert srl

71

94

Plakoma GmbH

53

QuinLogic GmbH

78

BWG Bergwerk- und WalzwerkMaschinenbau GmbH 81 Can-Eng Furnaces

79

!?QRCJJGLG -DjAGLC Meccaniche S.p.A.

RV Rheinbraun GmbH

61 49, 50

59, 60

RHI AG

93

87

RUSSULA, S.A.

73

Corewire Ltd.

14

Schuh Anlagentechnik GmbH

88

Danieli S.P.A.

6,7

SGL CARBON GmbH

Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH

67

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH

57

Edwards

91

EMG Automation GmbH

13

Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG

43

Endress+Hauser Messtechnik GmbH & Co. KG

SMS Concast AG

85

19

SMS Logistiksysteme GmbH

21

SMS Mevac GmbH

O.B.C.

I.F.C.

E.S.C.H. Engineering Service Center und Handel GmbH

94

Stein Industrie-Anlagen

15

FAIM S.r.l.

92

Stopinc AG

35

G.P.S. Engineering Srl

23

Tenova spa

9

Guild International Inc.

65

TML Technik GmbH

37

KOCH H&K Industrieanlagen GmbH

51

TMT Tapping Measuring Technology

77

IMS Messsysteme GmbH

39, 40

INTECO special melting technologies GmbH Jasper Ges. für Energiewirtschaft & Kybernetik mbH JP Steel Plantech Co. Amandus Kahl GmbH & Co. KG

47 83 I.B.C. 86

ThyssenKrupp Uhde Engineering Services GmbH VELCO Ges. f. Förder-, Spritz- und Silo-Anlagen mbH

89, 90 10

PAUL WURTH S.A.

29, 30

Z & J Technologies GmbH

11, 12

Zumbach Electronic AG

45

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International industry news

News in brief ThyssenKrupp Veerhaven, the Netherlands, received the Green U?PB ACPRGjA?RC DMP GRQ LCU JGLC F?SJ NSQF @M?R f4CCPF?TCL '4t UFGAF RP?LQNMPRQ MPC ?LB AM?J DPMK 0MRRCPB?K RM RFC @J?QR DSPL?ACQ MD 2FWQQCL)PSNN ?LB &)+ GL "SGQ @SPE 2FC @M?R PCACGTCB RFC ?U?PB DMP GRQ JMU E?Q MGJ AMLQSKNRGML ?LB AMPPCQNMLBGLEJW JMU !-2 CKGQQGMLQ

Steno Marcegaglia DMSLBCP ?LB AF?GPK?L MD RFC 'R?JG?L +?PACE?EJG? EPMSN BGCB ML 1CNRCK@CP ?ECB

SSAB, Sweden, F?Q AFMQCL RFC /SGL RGO NJ?RDMPK RM MNRGKGXC QSNNJW AF?GL NPMACQQCQ ?APMQQ GRQ NPMBSARGML NJ?LRQ

Shougang Qian’an, China F?Q MP BCPCB RUM QSPD?AC GLQNCARGML QWQRCKQ DPMK 'QP? 4GQGML .?PQWRCA 2FC QWQRCKQ UGJJ @C SQCB ML ? QIGLN?QQ KGJJ ?LB ML ? NGAIJGLE JGLC GL RFC AMKN?LW Q FMR QRPGN KGJJ

SMS Concast F?Q KMTCB GLRM LCU MD jACQ GL .SLC 'LBG? 2FC MDjACQ UGRF ASPPCLRJW CKNJMWCCQ ?PC JMA?RCB GL RFC f"MUL 2MUL !GRW !CLRPCt "2!

Atlas Copco, Sweden, and Edwards, UK F?TC CLRCPCB GLRM ? BCjLGRGTC KCPECP ?EPCCKCLR 3NML AMKNJCRGML MD RFC RP?LQ?ARGML ? LCU T?ASSK QMJSRGMLQ BGTGQGML UGJJ @C DMPKCB UGRFGL RFC RJ?Q !MNAM !MKNPCQQMP 2CAFLGOSC @SQGLCQQ ?PC? UGRF FC?B OS?PRCPQ GL !P?UJCW 3)

ArcelorMittal Bremen, Germany F?Q NSR GLRM MNCP?RGML ? R RUGL J?BJC DSPL?AC QSNNJGCB @W 1GCKCLQ +CR?JQ 2CAFLMJMEGCQ 2FC NJ?LR PCNJ?ACQ RUM NPCTGMSQ RPC?RKCLR QR?LBQ

The Americas Brazil

ThyssenKrupp CSA preventive maintenance activities. The service experts of Paul Wurth do Brasil performed a 24-hours preventive maintenance programme at the blast furnaces Nos. 1 and 2 and at the INBA® slag granulation facilities of ThyssenKrupp CSA’s integrated steel plant at Sepetiba Bay. All preventive maintenance activities could be performed during a 24-hours shutdown. The shutdown services included the inspection of the Bell Less Top® gearbox and chutes, the replacement of BLT® valve seals, bleeder seats and seals, downlegs, a clay gun hydraulic cylinder, various INBA® valves and screens, various nonstructural metallic welding activities as well as the opening of the hopper manholes for cleaning and inspection.

Mexico

JV to build and operate power plant. Tenaris, Ternium and Tecpetrol International have entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly build and operate a natural gas-fired combined-cycle electric power plant in Mexico, which would supply the Mexican industrial facilities of Tenaris and Ternium. Tecpetrol is a whollyowned subsidiary of San Faustín S.A., the controlling shareholder of both Tenaris and Ternium. The MoU provides for the power plant to be built in the Pesquería area of the State of Nuevo León and have a power capacity of between 850 and 900 MW. The project is intended to be undertaken through a joint venture vehicle named Techgen, S.A. de C.V., which would be owned 30% by Tecpetrol, 22% by Tenaris and 48% by Ternium. The power plant is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2016.

USA

AK Steel reaches agreement with environmental authorities. AK Steel has agreed to undertake two 8

MPT International 5/2013

supplemental environmental projects at its Ashland works steel plant to help reduce air emissions from that plant. The estimated cost of the supplemental environmental projects is approximately US$ 2 million. In addition, AK Steel will pay civil penalties of US$ 1,625,000 to the United States and US$ 25,000 to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. AK Steel permanently closed its Ashland coke plant in 2011 because it was no longer cost-competitive due to increased maintenance and increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Venezuela

Siderúrgica Nacional orders steelworks with heavy-plate mill. SMS has been awarded a major order by Siderúrgica Nacional (SN) for the supply of a new integrated plant complex for the production and processing of steel. In the first phase, the order will comprise an electric steel plant, a continuous caster and a heavyplate mill. In the second stage of construction, a ladle degassing plant and a Steckel mill for the production of hot strip will complete the plant complex. The overall capacity of the new plant complex will amount to 1.55 million t/ year of liquid steel. The new plant complex will be located in Ciudad Piar in the Bolívar State.

Asia Bangladesh

KYCR to upgrade cold mill. KYCR Coil Industries has contracted SMS Siemag for an upgrade of the existing single stand six-high reversing cold mill in Chittagong. The mill will be extended to a two-stand compact cold mill (CCM®) with CVC® plus in both mill stands. With this step KYCR will increase the annual production capacity to approx. 170,000 t. The first strip is scheduled to be rolled on the extended plant as early as in the second half of 2014. KYCR Coil Industries has been producing high-quality cold strip in widths of between 600 and 1,050 mm and with a minimum final thickness of 0.09 mm.

Follow the Leader in cutting-edge Furnace Technology

Without doubt, with our thousands of references, Tenova Italimpianti is the leading company for Reheating Furnaces. Cutting-edge innovation and a thorough understanding of every aspect of the thermal process continues to drive our success. Being the best is not only a commitment to continuously improve our environmentally friendly Furnace Technology, but it is also a promise to You, our customers who made us what we are today. Tenova Italimpianti, the furnace business of Tenova.

Tenova S.p.A. - Via Albareto, 31 - 16153 Genoa / Italy Phone +39 010 6054807 - Fax +39 010 6054741 tenovaitalimpianti@tenova.com www.tenova.com

China

Japan

BNA to expand automotive steel sheet capacity. Nippon

Rebuilding of facilities at Kashima. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo

Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) and Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) have been planning to construct the fourth hot-dip galvanizing line at a site neighbouring the existing lines at BNA (Baosteel-NSC Automotive Steel Sheets Co., Ltd.), the joint venture between Baosteel and NSSMC. BNA has now obtained approval for the project from the government of the City of Shanghai. This new line, though similar in type to the existing first and third hot-dip galvanizing lines, will additionally be capable of manufacturing advanced high-strength steel materials, such as galvanized dual-phase 980 steel, with a production capacity of 420,000 t/year of high-grade automotive galvanized steel sheet. The start of operation of the new line is slated for 2015.

Metal Corporation (NSSMC) started rebuilding the Iron-Making Area Centre (administration building) of the Kashima steel works. The works had sustained damage to part of the production and shipping facilities from the great earthquake in 2011. The centre will be rebuilt as a structure specifically designed to provide greater safety from tsunamis. A design concept, the “pilotis construction”, proposed by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation for earthquake and tsunami-resistant structures to serve as shelter bases at times of disaster will be adopted. The ground story will have only independent bearing columns, eliminating walls and providing atrium-like open space, to allow tsunami waves to flow through them, thus evading their destructive forces.

China

Japan

Baosteel orders annealing furnace. Fives Stein has been awarded the

NSSMC and NSSC to concentrate production bases. Nippon

contract to design and supply a vertical furnace for a continuous annealing line to Baosteel’s Zhanjiang project. The equipment will be for the 2030 cold rolling mill, one of the plant’s key units, which will mainly produce automotive exposed panels and sheets and other high-end products. The vertical annealing furnace will consist of ten different heating and cooling sections including the patented FlashCooling® technology. It will process the strip with a total strip length inside the furnace of 2.5 km over 95 vertical passes. The continuous annealing line will have an annual production capacity of 825,000 t.

Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC) have agreed to concentrate the production of specialty stainless steel plate and titanium plate at NSSC’s Yawata works. Currently, manufacture of these products takes place at NSSMC’s Naoetsu works and at NSSC’s Yawata works. This decision also includes the concentration of the sales functions into NSSC.

China

Hebei Jintaicheng to install roller mill for slag grinding. Hebei Jintaicheng Building Materials is installing a vertical roller grinding mill from Loesche which will be used for granulating blast furnace slag. Located in the industrial area of Baita County, Shahe City, the company plans to achieve an annual output of 500,000 t/year of granulated blast furnace slag. The mill will produce at a rate of up to 90 t/h. 10

MPT International 5/2013

Taiwan

Tung Ho Steel orders new induction booster. Tung Ho Steel has ordered a new induction system from SMS Elotherm to be installed at its production plant for medium and large sections in Miaoli. With the new induction reheater, Tung Ho Steel will reduce both heavy oil consumption and emissions. The induction process is a very quick process which generates the heat directly inside the steel and inhibits the formation of scale. The 19.2 MW system will be powered by four mediumfrequency transistor converters with a rating of 4,800 kW each. The new reheating line is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2014.

United Arab Emirates

Germany

United Steel Industries to build long-product mill. Siemens Metals

ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein to implement adjustment measures. As part of an optimization pro-

Technologies has received an order from United Steel Industries to construct a long-product rolling mill for a production capacity of up to 950,000 t/year of structural steel in the Fujairah Free Zone. Siemens had originally received the order to supply the equipment for the mill in 2006. The project was suspended in 2008 on account of the financial crisis, and those parts of the plant which had already been delivered were put into storage. Work was resumed on the construction site in Fujairah in May 2012. The current order for Siemens comprises the erection of the supplied equipment as well as additional services for the site project management. The project includes a bar mill and a wire rod line. The merchant-bar line will consist of 21 rolling stands, a heat-treatment system, a 120 m cooling bed as well as machines for counting, bundling and binding the bars. The wire rod mill will be able to produce either rods or wire coils, with diameters ranging from 5.5 to 16 mm. The equipment to be supplied by Siemens includes a ten-stand monoblock finishing mill, pinch rolls, the laying head, a cooling conveyor and machines for forming and compacting coils. Siemens will also supply a dedicated water treatment plant, a compressed air station and all electrics. The new rolling mill is scheduled to come into operation in mid-2014.

Europe Austria

Hot gas generators for steel coal project. Loesche will supply two hot-gas generators for a steel coal project in Linz. The generators will be used for hot-gas production at a coal dry-grinding plant. Both hot gas generators have a thermal capacity of approx. 8 MW through the combustion of about 6,750 m³/h (stp) blast furnace gas. Küttner and Siemens VAI Metals Technologies also participate as suppliers in the Linz project.

EMG-Vivaldi® — Looking through walls!

gramme at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, an agreement has been reached about measures at the subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein. Production at the Neuwied sheet plant will be discontinued step by step. Following the already implemented closure of one galvanizing line, a second line and the cold rolling mill will be closed. The pickling unit in Neuwied, which also works for the Andernach plant, will continue operation at its present site until September 2015. In parallel, pickling capacity is to be increased in Andernach as soon as the corresponding investment funds have been approved for this. Independently of necessary efficiency improvements, tinplate production in Andernach will remain a core business of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe. A new paradigm for strip guiding in furnaces

Germany

ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt to modernize cooling equipment. ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt has awarded Siemens Metals Technologies an order to equip the off-gas cleaning system on LD (BOF) converter No. 2 with a new cooling stack. The order also includes an option to install a cooling stack on converter No. 1. Siemens will be responsible for the design, supply and installation of the Simetal ECO Prime Cooler, the dual flow nozzle spray system for the evaporative cooler and a new hood car. The converter off-gas will be collected in the cooling stack installed immediately above the converter. The waste heat transferred from the converter gas during cooling will be used to partially vaporize circulating water to produce saturated steam. Siemens will also renew the piping in the steam system and replace some of the field devices and instrumentation. The new cooling stack is due to go into operation in June 2014.

Germany

ArcelorMittal Bremen modernizes continuous caster. ArcelorMittal Bremen has awarded Siemens MPT International 5/2013

13

strip position measurement with

electromagnetic waves measurement through gas-tight

furnace walls no installation inside the furnace measuring accuracy equal or better

compared to inductive sensors maintenance-free

Free your furnace from sensor installations!

e MetalVisit us at thcow, Russia os Expo in M 04 and at on booth 2C in Düsselthe Stahltag y on booth dorf, German6/117! P110/111/11

EMG Automation GmbH Industriestraße 1 57482 Wenden, Germany Phone: +49 2762 612-0 Fax: +49 2762 612-384 info@emg-automation.com www.emg-automation.com Group

International industry news

News in brief Changzhou Zhongtian (Zenith Steel), China, F?Q @PMSEFR ML QRPC?K ? KGJJGML R WC?P @JMMK A?QRCP DPMK 1GCKCLQ +CR?JQ 2CAFLMJEGCQ

Oman Aluminium Rolling Company (OARC), Oman, F?Q NPMBSACB AMGJQ ?APMQQ ?JJ NPMBSAR P?LECQ KCCRGLE AMKKCPAG?J QNCAGjA?RGMLQ 2FC LCU JGEFR E?SEC QFCCR PMJJGLE D?AGJGRGCQ ?PC @CGLE @SGJR @W $?R?

W. Silver, Inc, USA, F?Q SNEP?BCB RFC AMLRPMJ QWQRCK MD GRQ PCFC?RGLE DSPL?ACQ UGRF ? LCU .*! ?LB &+' ?SRMK?RGML QWQRCK DPMK '!

Metals Technologies an order to modernize its continuous slab casting plant. This involves equipping the machine head of the twin-strand casting plant with new moulds, as well as the DynaWidth and DynaFlex technology packages. The project is intended to boost the availability and reliability of the plant and to further increase product quality. The first strand is to be modernized in the autumn of 2014 and the second in 2015. The new equipment is designed in such a way that the existing steel structure of the two strands does not have to be modified, thereby reducing construction costs and shortening the downtime necessary for the conversion work.

Italy Hoesch Hohenlimburg, Germany, F?Q AMKNJCRCB RFC PCT?KN MD GRQ KCBGSK UGBC QRPGN KGJJ RM DSPRFCP GKNPMTC QRPGN OS?JGRW ?LB GLAPC?QC A?N?AGRW @W ? OS?PRCP RM ?PMSLB R WC?P @W &MCQAF &MFCL JGK@SPE GQ ? QS@QGBG?PW MD 2FWQQCL )PSNN 1RCCJ #SPMNC

Ilva to install dedusting systems in sinter plants. Siemens Metals Technologies has received an order from Ilva S.p.A. to equip the company’s two sinter plants at its Taranto steel mill with secondary dedusting systems. The new systems, featuring long-life bag filters, will be able to clean 1.5 mil-

lion actual m3/h and reduce dust emissions from the sinter plants to less than 10 mg/m3 (stp). The scope of supply also includes the raw-gas ducts, fans, cleanair ducts, stacks and an integrated automation solution. A special filter control system will ensure efficient dedusting even under changing operating conditions. Siemens will also be responsible for the configuration and installation of the equipment. Commissioning is scheduled for the beginning of 2014.

Russia

Rusal to substitute heavy oil fuel. Loesche will supply a grinding mill to Rusal Achinsk Alumina Refinery, Russia’s largest producer of alumina. Heavy oil shall be substituted with the solid fuel lignite to fire the rotary kilns for the sintering process of nepheline sludge. The Loesche vertical roller grinding mill will grind lignite with a moisture of 35% at a processing rate of 50 t/h and a fineness of 20% R 0.09 mm. Loesche will also supply the complete import portion of the grinding plant

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International industry news between the coal storage area, the kiln burners and the pulverized fuel dosing system, the electrical and automation equipment, the basic engineering for the steel structure as well as the complete inertization system, coal dust cooler and the hot gas generator with coal dust combustion. Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for the summer of 2014.

News in brief

Russia

Evraz Nizhniy Tagil invests in PCI technology. Loesche will supply a vertical roller grinding mill for the pulverized coal injection (PCI) plant of the blast furnace at the Evraz Nizhniy Tagil metallurgical plant. Loesche will supply a mill of the LM 35.3. D type. The project at Nizhniy Tagil is handled by Paul Wurth.

Russia

Tochinvest starts up galvanizing plant. In February 2013, Zink

Slovenia

Kรถrner received the FAC from Tochinvest Zinc for a new hot-dip galvanizing furnace installed in Ryazan, some 100 km to the southeast of Moscow. Tochinvest Zinc specializes in the manufacture of crash barriers and bridge railings. Zink Kรถrner supplied the galvanizing furnace, complete with the housing, and the drying furnace. The tank is 13.0 m long, 1.8 m wide and 3.2 m deep. The new furnace can galvanize up to 15 t/h. The recently built furnace features flat flame burners of the FL 20/50 type, which Kรถrner developed specifically for batch galvanizing.

Metal Ravne orders secondary metallurgy centre. Metal Ravne, which is part of the Slovenian Steel Group (SIJ), has placed an order with SMS Innse and SMS Mevac for the planning, delivery and erection of a secondary metallurgy centre, which will be integrated into the existing plant at Ravne na Koroskem. The new facilities will comprise a ladle furnace and a 45 t/60 t tank degassing unit (VOD/VD). Metal Ravne is investing in this installation to extend its product range to include stainless steel. The plant will comprise a movable tank car and a

Luoyang Wanji Processing Company, China, F?Q GQQSCB RFC $ ! DMP RUM LCU QGV FGEF AMJB PMJJGLE KGJJQ QSN NJGCB @W 1+1 1GCK?E

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MPT International 5/2013

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stationary cover for the VOD unit as well as a stationary cover for the ladle furnace. Also included in the scope of supply are the vacuum system, the temperature measuring and sampling device, the electrical lifting system and the slewing gantry, a wire feeding machine, the electrical, instrumentation and process automation systems as well as erection, cold and hot commissioning. The equipment is planned to come on stream in the first quarter of 2015.

Spain

ArcelorMittal to invest in Asturias site.

MEASURING SYSTEMS FOR THE STEEL INDUSTRY

ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe intends to make several investments at their Avilés site in Asturias. The main improvements resulting from these investments are related to product quality, internal logistics and customer service. The investments include a new tinplate inspection line, an upgrade of the roll shop, revamping of hot-rolled coil yard No. 15 and of the electrical system of galvanizing line No. 2 as well several mechanical improvements to the pickling line. In addition to these investments, it is intended to start up coke oven batteries 7 and 8 in Avilés by mid-November, following their hot shutdown in December 2011 due to the fall in steel demand in Spain and Europe.

Ukraine

EMZ to build new sinter plant. Siemens Metals

[THICKNESS]

[THICKNESS, LENGTH, WIDTH]

[DIAMETER]

Technologies has received an order from the Metinvest group to carry out detailed engineering work on a new sinter plant for EMZ. The sinter plant will be built at the Yenakiieve plant in the Donbass region and designed to produce 4.3 million t/year of sinter, almost doubling EMZ’s sinter production capacity. The new sinter plant will feature a specially developed off-gas recirculation system which will feed about half of the hot off-gas back into the sinter process. The other half of the off-gas will be cleaned in a dedicated cleaning plant, markedly lowering dust and pollutant emissions. The mixing and granulating system from Siemens allows EMZ to use the locally available, ultra-fine iron ore concentrates at high productivity levels. Construction is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2014 and commissioning is planned for 2016. The implementation of a covered stockyard and an aspiration system for the complete raw material and sinter handling will eliminate other sources of dust emissions.

[PROFILES]

Companies Eurofer concerns about ETS decision. Eurofer has strong concerns about the European Commission

W E decision on national implementation measures (NIMs) for the third EU ETS trading period. The decision applies the so-called cross-sectoral correction factor cutting benchmark-based free allocation for industrial installations. Based on this decision, the average reduction of free allocation will be 11.58% over the period 2013 to 2020. The steel sector already receives free allowances at levels far below the needs of even its best performers due to technically unachievable benchmarks. According to Gordon Moffat, Eurofer director general, the new decision worsens the situation significantly as the sector needs to buy more allowances on the market. He therefore requests urgent action from the commission to reopen the file and remove the correction factor for sectors which are competing internationally. Without action, the good intentions expressed in the new European industrial policy and EU steel action plan would just be empty words, Moffat adds.

C O N V E Y

Q U A L I T Y

Transport and Cooling of HBI

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe optimizes management structure. In connection with the optimization programme “Best-in-Class Reloaded�, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG has realigned the company’s management structure. The aim of the reorganization is to create a stronger focus on business operations and a leaner and more efficient organizational structure. The executive board now consists of four members, responsible for chair/finance, human resources & social affairs, sales & innovation, and production. The number of functional departments has been reduced from 28 to 23. The previously separate directorates for metallurgy and rolling/coating have been combined. All production operations from pig iron and crude steel production to the various rolling and coating operations to engineering services are now the responsibility of one executive board member. The research and development function is now under the responsibility of the sales director. In addition, responsibility for highly specialized products such as tinplate, medium-wide strip, heavy plate and electrical steel, have been combined under sales to align them more closely with end-user industries.

AUMUND Cooling Conveyors s 0ATENTED MIST COOLING WITH A MINIMUM OF WATER s .O SLUDGE s &ULLY AUTOMATED OPERATION

SGL introduces comprehensive cost savings programme. The overall business development of SGL Carbon in the first half 2013 was weaker than anticipated. Due to the weak development in all three business areas, group EBITDA decreased by 38% to EUR 67.3 million. This corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 8.1% after 13.4% in the previous-year period. Group EBIT before extraordinary effects declined accordingly and amounted to EUR 25.6 million (H1/2012: EUR 69.9 million). The negative developments in all segments – especially the increased competitive pressures from Asia and lack of business recovery in the second half year – resulted in an adjustment of the guidance for the full year 2013. To account for the changed fundamental environment, the management board will set up a comprehensive global cost saving programme: SGL2015. This programme consists of two pillars: the organizational structure will be

s .O CRACKS LESS lNES NO REOXIDATION s 3IGNIlCANT IMPROVEMENT OF (") QUALITY THROUGH PATENTED SOFT COOLING

HBI. HCI.

AUMUND Foerdertechnik GmbH 3AALHOFFER 3TR s 2HEINBERG s 'ERMANY 4EL q &AX E MAIL METALLURGY AUMUND DE q WWW AUMUND COM

International industry news reviewed (adjustment and simplification of business processes as well as streamlining management structures), and the programme will also include measures for site restructuring (potential divestment of non-core activities, transferring activities into partnerships as well as the relocation, closure or sale of production assets). The individual projects are currently being developed and will be incorporated into the 2014 planning session.

150 years of Maschinenfabrik Eirich. This year, Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1863. The Eirich group is a family-owned business, which has successfully pioneered new processes and launched new machines throughout its history. In many fields of application, simple mechanical mixers have evolved into multifunctional machines capable of combining several processes, such as drying, cooling, heating, pelletizing, blunging, kneading, etc., in one machine. Intensive mixing systems are designed for very high throughput rates. With approximately 1,500 employees and sales revenues amounting to approximately EUR 200 million, Eirich is a major supplier in this sector.

Brazilian steel industry increases use of charcoal from planted forests. One year after the

We agglomerate your valuable dusts and fines

enactment of the Brazilian Charcoal Sustainability Protocol, the steel industry has developed several activities in order to fulfill that commitment. One of the most important commitments established in the protocol for the steel industry is to ensure that, by 2016, 100% of the charcoal demand will be satisfied by planted woods. Between 2011 and 2012, steel industry owned woods – as a source for charcoal – increased their share from 80 to 86%. Brazil has favourable conditions for the production of biomass, due to its generous forests and climatic and ecological conditions that allow the rapid growth of vegetation. This made of Brazil an undisputed leader in the production of steel by using charcoal as a reducing agent of iron ore. Currently, almost 10% of Brazilian steel is obtained from the charcoal integrated value-chain.

In the metallurgical industry we briquette e. g. steel mill residues, sponge iron (hot and cold), chrome ore, nickel powder, copper concentrate, and other ďŹ nes. Briquettes are used for feeding shaft furnaces, BOFs, RHFs, EAFs, and other reduction or melting units. KĂśppern – Quality made in Germany. - & & ! & $& & ! ! * - $! %% & ! ! * !) !) - " & ( &* - ' $! $ $ " &

www.koeppern.de

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MPT International 5/2013

Calderys continues expansion into Asian markets. Calderys has signed a joint venture agreement with Indonesian refractory manufacturer PT Indoporlen and acquired the Japanese refractory producer Tokai Ceramics Co Ltd. In the Indonesian market, Calderys has been a partner of PT Indoporlen during over 30 years of service to the cement, tin, nickel, steel, aluminium and fertilizer industries. The JV was signed with Calderys as the majority shareholder and PT Indoporlen’s founding Halim family as the lead Indonesian shareholders. It includes PT Indoporlen, which produces monolithic refractories, together with sister companies PT Indoporlen Sakti (IPS) for installation and PT Bina Surindah Cemerlang (BSC) for trading. The business will continue to be based in Bekasi, near Jakarta. In the Japanese market, Calderys has had a sales office for more than thirty years. With the acquisition of Tokai

Ceramics, Calderys Japan now also has a local production asset in the country. Tokai was previously 100% owned by Covalent Materials. The company operates one production facility near Nagoya. This facility produces a complete range of monolithic refractory products including castables, plastics, ramming mix and precasts.

Personalities New head of Siemens’ electric steel business. Dr. Martin Fleischer has taken responsibility for Siemens’ global business in plant solutions and services for electric steelmaking and secondary metallurgy as well as for compact steelmaking plants.

Nucor names new lead director. The board of directors of Nucor Corporation has appointed Raymond J. Milchovich as lead director. He replaces Peter C. Browning who has served as Nucor’s lead director since 2006.

Executive changes at U. S. Steel. United States Steel Corporation’s board of directors elected president and chief operating officer Mario Longhi as a director. He will succeed chairman John P. Surma as chief executive officer, who will retire from the company and from the board of directors. Another executive change took place in the area of financial affairs. Gretchen R. Haggerty retired effective August 31 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. She will be succeeded by David B. Burritt.

General counsel of U. S. Steel to retire. James D. Garraux, general counsel and senior vice president – corporate affairs of United States Steel Corporation, will retire by the end of 2013 after 34 years with the company.

Senior executive changes at BHP Billiton. Mike Fraser has joined the group management committee of BHP Billiton as president, human resources; part of the role currently held by Karen Wood. Karen Wood will remain a member of the group management committee as president, public affairs. Having now completed the transition activities associated with the appointment of Andrew Mackenzie as chief executive, she will continue to assist Andrew Mackenzie on a range of specific corporate and board issues.

Change on Rautaruukki’s executive board. Markku Honkasalo, chief financial officer and a member of the Rautaruukki corporate executive board, will leave the company to take up a position outside Ruukki. Mikko Hietanen will be the acting chief financial officer until a new CFO has been appointed.

International industry news Outokumpu appoints executive vice president and CFO. Reinhard Florey has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of Outokumpu. He takes on the role from Esa Lager, who is leaving the position by the end of 2013. In his most recent position with Outokumpu, Reinhard Florey has served as executive vice president responsible for strategy and integration.

Events 6 – 8 November 2013 Songdo Incheon, South Korea Organizers: Metal Network Korea www.thermoprocess.com

10 – 12 November 2013 Lima, Peru Organizers: Alacero www.alacero.org

Alacero-54. The 54th annual congress of the Latin American Steel Association – Alacero – will be accompanied by a concurrent exhibition, which will bring together equipment manufacturers and steel producers from all over the world. The sessions will focus on raw materials and energy, global economy and global steel market, steel consumption in Latin America.

15 November 2013 Kolkata, India Organizers: Steel & Metallurgy www.steelmetallurgy.com

edition of these events will provide a broad overview of technology and processes in the fields of metallurgy, foundry, casting and forging as well as heat treatment and refractories, and furnace and finishing equipment. Concurrently, the 3rd International Welding, Cutting and Laser Equipment Exhibition will take place.

2013 Asean Iron and Steel Sustainability Forum. This conference will cover a wide range of economic, trade, environmental and safety topics, including steel market developments, trade policies and implications, market perspectives, environmental policies as well as safety and waste management.

7 – 8 April 2014 Paris, France Organizers: French Steel Federation www.acier.org

ESTAD & JSI. The JSI conference, Indian steel industry. A seminar

Metal + Metallurgy & Thermoprocess Korea 2013. The seventh

Organizers: SEAISI www.seaisi.org

titled “Indian steel industry – success and survival strategies” will be held on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the publication Steel & Metallurgy. The seminar will cover new generation cost-reducing and energy-efficient iron and steelmaking technology.

25 – 27 November 2013 Jakarta, Indonesia

previously known as the ATS Steelmaking Days or Journées ATS, has been organized since 1980 in Paris. European steel associations ASMET, French Steel Federation, Steel Institute VDEh and Jernkontoret have organized a new event called European Steel Technology & Application Days (ESTAD) which also includes topics on the steel products and their application. The first ESTAD will be held on the occasion of the 31st JSI.

STAHL 2013 28 November 2013 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Steel Institute VDEh and German Steel Federation www.STAHL2013.de 2013 has been an eventful year so far. Only in retrospective will it be possible to judge the purport of many of the developments we have been witnessing this year. Will the euro regain its strength despite the depth crisis? Will the economy continue to be faced with a volatile political environment? Will the structural change taking place in the European steel market also change the steel industry in Germany in the long run? Amidst the context of both, an increasingly volatile global economic

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MPT International 5/2013

environment and shortening cycle times of technological innovations, “Steel in Motion”, the motto of this year’s STAHL conference, is a perfect summary of the present situation. This year, the number of sessions (“Talks about steel”) has been increased to eight. The speakers will address the following topics: - Energy turnaround and industrial competitiveness in an international context - The city of tomorrow – Challenges for steel - New plants and processes

- Protectionism in raw materials and steel trading - The industrial location of Germany in the European context - How steel contributes to a lowcarbon Europe - Brussels’ clean air objectives – Demands beyond feasibility? - New developments in forming technology The conference day will be closed with the traditional “Steel get-together”, where participants have the opportunity to socialize and exchange ideas in a casual atmosphere.

Modern logistics systems

By logistics systems we mean the purposeful combination of individual functions, i.e. transport, storage, packaging and marking, to form one whole – the logistics in your rolling mill or finishing plant. Q

Q

Logistics planning based on studies and simulation models Transport and handling systems for heavy loads

Q Q

Q

Q Q

Fully automatic flat and high-bay storage systems Warehouse management and manufacturing execution systems Packaging and strapping machinery for coils, sheet packs and slit coils Marking systems for coils, metal sheets, slabs and pipes High-pressure grinding machines for slabs, billets and blooms

SMS LOGISTIKSYSTEME GMBH

Obere Industriestrasse 8 57250 Netphen, Germany

Phone: +49 2738 21-0 Fax: +49 2738 21-2222

E-mail: info@sms-logistics.com Internet: www.sms-logistiksysteme.com

%QORCP[ RTQĆ‚NG

6KOMGP VQ URKP QHH KVU UVGGN DWUKPGUU KPVQ C UGRCTCVG EQORCP[ The Timken Company announced a plan to separate its businesses into two independent, stand-alone publicly traded companies via spin-off of the Timken steel business. The new engineered steel company shall be headed by Ward J. Timken. Upon QCN?P?RGML (?KCQ 5 %PGDjRF shall retire from the company and Richard G. Kyle shall serve as president and CEO of the global bearings and power transmission company. The plan is expected for completion within 12 months.

On September 5, 2013, The Timken Company announced that its board of directors has approved a plan to pursue a separation of the company’s steel business from its bearings and power transmission business through a spinoff, creating two publicly traded companies. The board’s decision to split Timken into two companies resulted from a thorough evaluation by a strategy committee composed of independent directors and established by the board in response to shareholder input. Joseph W. Ralston, the board’s lead independent director, said, “The strategy committee and board concluded that even with the company’s success in improving performance in recent years and an impressive track record of accomplishments, the company’s share price has not appropriately reflected our significant progress. With our shares trading at a discount to our peers, we recognized the need to examine opportunities to better drive value in the market.�

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6JG 6KOMGP %QORCP[, Canton, OH, USA Contact: www.timken.com

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MPT International 5/2013

The new publicly traded engineered steel company would have estimated annual revenue of US$1.7 billion and is expected to have strong prospects for growth and margin improvement. Over the past decade, the engineered steel business has implemented changes that increased margins, dramatically lowered its breakeven point and streamlined its supply chain. Headquartered in Canton, Ohio, the engineered steel company will include approximately 3,000 associates, seven manufacturing plants, four warehouses and five sales offices. The steel business is North America’s leading manufacturer of SBQ large bars for industrial markets and its largest producer of seamless mechanical tubing. The premium steelmaker manufactures carbon, micro-alloy and alloy steels with annual melt capacity of more than 1.8 million tons. Recent investments are expected to significantly strengthen the engineered steel company’s position as

a leader in providing differentiated solutions for the energy, industrial and automotive markets, and enhance its operational performance.

6JG DGCTKPI CPF RQYGT VTCPUOKUUKQP DWUKPGUU Post separation, The Timken Company would have estimated annual revenue of US$ 3.4 billion consisting of the process industries, aerospace and mobile industries segments. The Timken Company’s product portfolio includes a broad range of bearings and related mechanical power transmission components and services. The company will continue to focus on numerous fast-growing attractive markets, supported by both organic expansion and acquisitions. Employing nearly 17,000 associates, the company will have 35 manufacturing plants, 25 service and repair facilities, four technology centers, and an extensive network of sales offices and warehouses around the globe. Company headquarters will remain in Stark County.

'ZRGTKGPEGF GZGEWVKXGU VQ NGCF DQVJ EQORCPKGU James W. Griffith, 59, will continue as president and chief executive officer of The Timken Company until the separation is complete, at which time he plans to retire after 30 years of service. The board plans to name Richard G. Kyle, 47, as The Timken Company’s new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Griffith. Until then, Kyle has been named chief operating officer of the Bearings & Power Transmission business. The board also plans to name Ward J. “Tim� Timken, Jr., 46, to lead the new engineered steel company as its chairman and chief executive officer. Timken will continue to serve as chairman as well as oversee the steel business until the separation. Following the separation, the board plans to name John M. Timken, Jr., 62,

%QORCP[ RTQƂNG non-executive chairman of The Timken Company. In that role, he assumes leadership responsibility for board activities and will oversee related board matters. Glenn A. Eisenberg, executive vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer, plans to leave the company next year after separation is complete. At that time, Philip D. Fracassa and Christopher J. Holding will be named chief financial officers of the two independent publicly traded companies.

2NCPPGF ECRKVCN UVTWEVWTG CPF IQXGTPCPEG CEVKQPU In addition to its strategic evaluation, the board also has completed a review of The Timken Company’s capital allocation process and objectives and corporate governance. Timken will complete its current capital investment programme for both businesses, which includes a new continuous caster for the steel business to come on-line in the second half of 2014, and expects investment levels to return to more normal levels thereafter. At separation, both companies are expected to have strong balance sheets and their respective pension plans substantially fully funded. Regarding corporate governance, the board noted that following the 2013 annual meeting of shareholders, John M. Timken, Jr., withdrew his name from consideration for the audit committee. The board also announced that Ward J. Timken, 71, expects to retire from the board in May 2014 at the end of his current term, in accordance with the director retirement policy. At a later date, The Timken Company and the new standalone engineered steel company will name new separate boards of directors. The company notes that there can be no assurances regarding the ultimate timing of the transaction or that the transaction will be completed. Any transaction of this type is dependent on numerous factors that include the macroeconomic environment, credit markets and equity markets. The separation plan will be subject to customary regulatory approvals, the receipt of a legal opinion regarding the tax-free nature of the transaction, the execution of intercompany agreements, final approval of the Timken board and other customary matters. One-time transaction costs are expected to be approximately US$ 125 million. 24

MPT International 5/2013

2TGXKQWU CEVKQPU CPF UEGPGU Initially, to spin off the steel business was a shareholders proposal submitted by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and Relational Investors LLC on Nov. 28, 2012. CalSTRS is a huge educator-only pension fund. Relational is a privately held asset management firm and registered investment adviser. At that time CalSTRS and Relational have been collective owners of 6.15% of the shares of The Timken Company. The idea of CalSTRS and Relational was to unlock greater shareholder value. The Timken Company’s full value would have been unrecognized by the market due to its current conglomerate structure, they argued. After rigorous analysis, CalSTRS and Relational filed the proposal because they believed that separating the bearings and steel businesses would eliminate the conglomerate discount and allow these two assets to be fully valued. Splitting the bearings and steel businesses could be effectuated through a stock spin off with little to no social impact to the employees or community. In this context, CalSTRS expressed also serious governance concerns. The influence of the Timken family would be disproportionate to their economic interest. Actually, the board has three Timken family members representing 25% of the board while their economic interest is only 10% of the company’s outstanding stock. Furthermore, CalSTRS has believed some of the independent directors’ qualifications and experience indicate they may be more sympathetic to the Timken family’s interests rather than that of all shareholders. $QCTF QRRQUGF CICKPUV URNKV RNCP The board and management team of Timken immediately refused this shareholders proposal, while rejecting the respective concerns. “We have significant technology, cost and revenue synergies between our bearing and steel businesses as well as diversification benefits in continuing to operate under our current structure,” James W. Griffith, president and CEO said on Nov. 28, 2012. “These synergies and benefits, coupled with a potential reduction in financial flexibility, among other factors, led the board to conclude that the separation of the businesses at this time would not be in the best interests of Timken shareholders.”

Over the course of time the board and management team repeated its arguments. Timken has paid a dividend to shareholders every quarter since the company became public in 1922. Being an integrated company, Timken has provided total shareholder returns of 111% within three years. This would have put Timken at the top of a peer group and well above the returns for the overall market. The Timken steel and bearing businesses would be tightly integrated and synergies related to the supply chain, shared research and technical expertise yield important benefits for customers and shareholders. These supply chain efficiencies would make possible lower costs, faster lead times and higher customer satisfaction levels as the bearing business goes to market. The board argued, the shareholder proposal to spin-off the steel business is based on a flawed analysis. The shareholders proposal would ignore the fact that a standalone steel business would be one of the smallest publicly traded steel companies. Given its small size and scale, the rating agencies would likely assign non-investment grade credit ratings to the stand-alone steel company. This would increase its cost of capital and reduce its financial flexibility to take on important, high-return projects like the Faircrest expansion. 5JCTGJQNFGU XQVG Timken held its 109th annual meeting of shareholders on May 7, 2013 in Canton, Ohio, USA. Shareholders voted 53% to support the CalSTRS proposal to split The Timken Company into separate steel and bearing businesses. CalSTRS director Anne Sheehan welcomed the vote: “While historically there were good reasons for combining the steel and ball bearings businesses, this is no longer the case. Since November 28, 2012, the date of the proposal’s announcement, Timken stock has risen nearly 32% with a potential to rise another 30% after the split.” “We appreciate the thoughtful feedback we’ve received from our shareholders on the spin-off proposal as well as their broader input on corporate governance and capital allocation,” said Ward J. “Tim” Timken, Jr. In June 2013, the board has formed the strategy committee to evaluate a potential separation of the company’s steel business from its other businesses and to review the company’s corporate governance and capital allocation strategy.

Figure 1. Aerial view of the integrated iron and steelworks during construction at Dragon Steel Corporation, Taiwan

Start-up and operation of the new sinter plants and blast furnaces at Dragon Steel In July 2006, the groundbreaking ceremony took place that marked the start of a major campaign by Taiwanese steel producer Dragon Steel Corporation to enter into RFC k?R QRCCJ K?PICR QCARMP Since then, a completely new integrated steelworks was built in two stages in the harbour ?PC? MD 2?GAFSLE $MP RFGQ FSEC undertaking, Siemens VAI supplied two sinter plants, two J?PEC QGXCB @J?QR DSPL?ACQ ?LB RFPCC QRP?LB QJ?@ A?QRCPQ

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By the mid 1990s, Dragon Steel Corporation (DSC), a 100% wholly-owned subsidiary of the China Steel Corporation Group, had already commenced with the planning of steelmaking facilities to enable the production of both long and flat products during the course of a twophase expansion project. During the Phase I Expansion Project, activities were initiated in November 1996 to install an electric arc furnace production line with a steelmaking capacity of approximately 1 million t/year for the manufacture of long products. This mill was completed in July 1998. In the Phase II Expansion Project, two blast furnace production lines were planned to be built in two stages; the first one between July 2006 and February 2010, and the second one from December 2009 until 2013. Since the launch of the Phase II Expansion Project, a completely new integrated iron and steelworks with a rated capacity of 5.2 million t/year of flat-steel products has emerged in the Taichung Harbour District on the west coast of central Taiwan, 30 km from the city of Taichung (figure 1). For this huge undertaking, Siemens VAI supplied and started up: - two sinter plants capable of producing more than 6 million t/year of sinter, - two 12-m-diameter blast furnaces, each with a rated hot metal output of 2.5 million t/year, and

- three two-strand slab casters with a total production capacity of more than 5 million t/year of high-quality slabs. Operational parameters, production results and product quality have been highly satisfactory to date, and environmental emissions are well within limits.

Sinter plants The sinter plants No. 1 and No. 2 in operation at DSC were supplied by Siemens VAI in cooperation with its Taiwan-based consortium partner CTCI Corporation. Sinter plant No. 1, which has a nominal capacity of 7,440 t/day or approximately 2.5 million t/year, was started up on December 7, 2009. Sinter plant No. 2, which began production in late September 2012, is designed to produce 11,600 t/day of sinter, or roughly 3.8 million t/year of sinter. With a footprint of approximately 43,300 m² (478.5 m x 90.5 m) each, the installed sinter plant facilities count among the narrowest in the world. Figure 2 shows a view of the completed sinter plant No. 1 from the cooler side. The main features of the sinter plants are summarized in table 1. Both plants are equipped with the same innovative technologies and systems to ensure a high and constant sinter quality, low operating costs and minimal environmental impact. These include

Ironmaking - the Intensive Mixing and Granulation System that considerably improves the homogeneity of the sinter raw mix and allows a far higher portion of fine iron ores and concentrates to be used in the sintering process; - the selective waste gas recirculation system that reduces the volume of sinter waste gas and pollutants released to the environment; - desulfurization, denitrification and dioxin-removal facilities; - a circular dip-rail sinter cooler that allows the remnant heat energy of the cooling air to be ideally utilized; and - the Simetal Sinter Optimization System for highly effective sintering operations and assured product quality (figure 3). Ore preparation. A unique raw-mix preparation process, referred to as the Intensive Mixing and Granulation System, was installed at Dragon Steel. This solution allows far higher portions of fine and ultra-fine iron ores (grain sizes less than 0.1 mm or less than 0.045 mm respectively) to be used in the sintering process than is possible with conventional systems. The raw materials used for the mixing and preparation of the sinter raw mix are first stored in a total of 26 bins (16 for iron ores and revert materials, 4 for fluxes, 2 for coke breeze, 2 for dust, 1 for burnt lime, 1 for in-plant return fines) with storage volumes of 380 mÂł each for sinter plant No. 1 and 500 mÂł for sinter plant No. 2.

Sinter plant

No. 1

No. 2

Design capacity

7,440 t/day

11,610 t/day

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KGJJGML R WC?P

Sinter plant footprint

K V K

K V K

Total reaction area

KÂĽ

KÂĽ

Machine width

K

K

Machine length

55 m

K

Bed height

700 mm

700 mm

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KÂĽ

KÂĽ

Sinter cooler diameter

22 m

35 m

Sinter cooler width

K

K

Sinter cooler bed height

K

K

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400,000 mÂł/h (stp)

660,000 mÂł/h (stp)

Recirculation gas share

ĂŚ

ĂŚ

Dust content at waste gas stack

K?V KE KÂŚ QRN

K?V KE KÂŚ QRN

SOV emission limit

K?V NNK

K?V NNK

NOV emission limit

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Table 1. Main features of sinter plants No. 1 and No. 2

Figure 2. General view of sinter plant No. 1 showing the circular dip-rail sinter cooler in the foreground

Figure 3. Schematic 3-D view of a sinter plant installed at Dragon Steel Corporation MPT International 5/2013

27

Ironmaking Depending on the raw mix recipe and the quality of the iron ores, the required raw materials in the respective ratios are extracted from the bins and dosed onto a conveyor belt. Modifications to the chemical composition of the sinter product are easily carried out by automatic adjustments of the dosing rates applying a sophisticated Level 2 Simetal Sinter Optimization System. The extracted raw materials are transferred to an in-

lective Waste-Gas Recirculation System (figure 4). With this solution the off-gas from selected wind boxes is returned to the sinter strand as opposed to other offgas systems in which a portion of the total off-gas quantity is recycled to the process. At DSC the wind boxes designated for off-gas recirculation were chosen primarily on the basis of the heat, CO and O2 contents of the off-gas. The CO content (1% – 2%) and heat energy of the

Figure 4. View of the sinter strand showing the ignition furnace and the waste-gas recirculation ducts and hood

Figure 5. High-quality cooled sinter product

tensive mixer (Eirich vertical shaft-type mixer) that allows high amounts of ultra-fine materials to be processed without adverse effects on the granulation process. This is achieved by means of high-speed mixing tools within the rotating shell of the mixer. The thoroughly homogenized material exiting the intensive mixer is transported to the granulator where agglomeration is carried out to attain the required permeability. Installation of the Intensive Mixing and Granulation System at DSC meant that blending yards could be dispensed with altogether – a major benefit for the company considering the limited space availability in the Taichung harbour area.

recirculated gas (augmented with hot off-air from the sinter cooler for oxygen repletion purposes) reduce the overall solid-fuel consumption for sintering by approximately 5 to 10%. Thanks to the recirculation of sinter off-gas to the sinter strand, the specific concentrations of dusts, combustion products, SOx, NOx, VOCs and heavy metals released to the environment through the stack are notably reduced. The off-gas volume passing through the stack is also significantly decreased

Off-gas recirculation. 30 to 40% of the sinter off-gas is recirculated to the sintering process with the well-proven Se

MPT International 5/2013

Link to the video showing Dragon Steel sinter plant No. 1 http://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=YMQ6ctHTBGc

meant that the dimensions of the downstream off-gas-cleaning facilities could be reduced with the benefit of lower installation and operational costs. Environmental protection. The sinter off-gas is first dedusted in an electrostatic precipitator. Hydrated lime is injected into the waste-gas stream to bind the SOx compounds. The gas that is directed to the stack is further cleaned in a bag filter system where the concentrations of dust and SOx are brought down to the prescribed levels. By means of a catalytic NOx system, NOx compounds are reduced to nitrogen and water. The sinter plant at DSC is exemplary with respect to its unique assembly of environmental protection systems and low emission values (table 1). Sinter cooler. The hot sinter is cooled in a circular dip-rail cooler. By means of a special mechanical construction of the charging chute, coarser sinter pieces are first deposited at the bottom of the cooler bed where there is a greater abundance of cooler air for cooling. The fine sinter fraction is then deposited onto the initial layer followed by charging of the mid-sized sinter fraction at the top of the sinter bed. By sandwiching the finest sinter fraction between the coarser lower layer and the mid-sized upper layer, dust emissions are reduced. Hot off-air from the sinter cooler is recovered and used for a variety of purposes that include replenishment of the oxygen content of the recirculated sinter off-gas, predrying and preheating of the sinter raw mix, and supply of combustion air in the ignition furnace to reduce the amount of coke-oven gas necessary for the ignition of the sinter bed, and, in the case of sinter plant No. 2, heat recovery. Figure 5 shows a view of the finished cooled sinter product on the sinter cooler strand. Process optimization. The latest generation of the Simetal Sinter Optimization System was installed in the sinter plant at DSC. This system covers typical Level 2 functionalities such as data exchange with the basic automation system; and data storage, recall, visualization and reporting. Various process models allow an ideal raw mixture to be calculated despite changing raw-material compositions in order to achieve a high-quality sinter product. A closed-loop expert system cyclically evaluates the sintering process and dis-

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BF Technology & Equipment cooling & lining concepts and systems, automation, top charging technology, special equipment.

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Recycling Technologies multiple hearth based technology: PRIMUSŽ, rotary hearth based technology: RedIron™, RedSmelt™.

Environmental Protection BF top gas cleaning, aspiration systems, hot blast stove heat recovery, coke oven gas treatment, sinterplant off-gas cleaning.

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Ironmaking plays the results in the form of process diagnoses. As soon as deviations from optimal process conditions are detected, the expert system generates counteractions that can be executed fully automatically without operator interaction. The expert system optimizes the sinter process with respect to longitudinal and transversal burn-through point control, the returnfines balance, basicity and SiO2 control, and coke-rate control. If changes in the recipe are required due to changed process conditions or a different chemical composition of the raw materials, the expert system automatically triggers a new calculation for the sinter raw mix recipe for the basic automation system.

covery turbine arrangement. Both furnaces have three tapholes, each with an independent taphole drill, mud gun and splash cover manipulator. The supply scope also comprised the installation of three electric axial blowers, a 100,000 m³ gasholder, and pulverized coal-grinding and injection facilities. The key design parameters of both blast furnaces are shown in table 2. Blower system. The blower system forces the cold blast air through the stoves where the air is heated to become

of a blower failure. The air is compressed in 14 stages to the required outlet pressure and is thereby preheated to approximately 250°C by the compression process. To prevent damage to the blower as a result of pressure surges, a blow-off valve is installed in combination with electronic anti-surge control. During stove pressurization, the blower control system is required to ensure delivery of a constant air flow rate to the blast furnace. During this period, the blower inlet vanes control the blast pressure rather than the cold blast flow.

Plant start-ups. Sinter plant No. 1 was started up on December 7, 2009. The sinter output was continually ramped up to 7,600 – 8,200 t/day of sinter (max. production record: 8,888 t/day) in accordance with production requirements. A total of approximately 7.5 million t of sinter were produced during the first three years of operation. Sinter plant No. 2 was started up September 28 – 29, 2012. Plant commissioning was according to plan and, within only a few weeks after start-up, the nominal sinter production capacity was reached. Figure 6. Blast furnace No. 1, Dragon Steel Corporation, Taiwan

Blast furnaces In May 2006, Siemens VAI received the contract from DSC for the supply of a new blast furnace (BF No. 1) with a hearth diameter of 12 m to enable an annual hot metal production capacity of 2.5 million t. Construction work was completed 3½ years later and the blast furnace was started up in February 2010 (figure 6). The order for a second blast furnace of similar design was received in August 2008 and the plant was started up in March 2013. The scope of both projects comprised engineering and supply in addition to supervision of the equipment installations required for a modern freestanding blast furnace. This included: - the provision of a bell-less top-charging system fed by belt conveyor, - a copper stave cooling system, - casthouse equipment integrated into a flat-floor arrangement, - three hot stoves with external combustion chambers, and - a gas-cleaning plant with a top gas re-

Production rate

7,143 t/d

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the hot blast air required by the blast furnace. Each furnace is supplied by a single 100% capacity blower with a common standby blower of the same capacity also provided. As part of the second phase installation a crossover line was provided to enable emergency protection in case

Link to the video showing Dragon Steel BF No. 1 http://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=-_fhx7S7WAI

When stove pressurization is completed, system control changes back to flow control. During the first year of operation of blast furnace No. 1, the blowers operated continuously within the specified range at a discharge rate of approximately 5,000 m³/min (stp). Stoves. The required hot blast parameters for each blast furnace are controlled via three external-combustionchamber stoves capable of providing hot blast temperatures of 1,250ºC. Space is reserved for the installation of an additional stove at a later date. The stoves are large steel enclosures lined with a refractory material and include an external steel-lined combustion chamber equipped with a ceramic burner. Both structures are linked by means of a crossover that is designed to cope with both axial and vertical expansion differences between the two chambers. Coal injection. A total of three coalgrinding streams were supplied for the MPT International 5/2013

31

Ironmaking 2011 was such that the average coal-injection rate (blend of low-volatile and high-volatile coal) was 148 kg/t hot metal with a maximum injection rate of 160 kg/t. Similar levels are now being achieved on blast furnace No. 2.

Figure 7. View of the tuyeres of blast furnace No. 1

two blast furnaces. Two streams were provided with blast furnace No. 1 and the third stream was supplied with blast furnace No. 2. Although this meant that there was an overcapacity of pulverized product coal when only the first furnace was in operation, the overall installation strategy represented the lowest-cost solution for the provision of this facility with consideration to options for redundancy and back-up. The furnaces were designed so that they can operate with and without the coal-injection system. The coal-grinding plants and injection facilities provide a dried product coal to the furnace at a design rate of 54 t/h (equivalent to 180 kg/t hot metal at the design production rate) with the possibility to increase this rate in the future. The injection system is comprised of lock vessels and dispensing vessels to enable separate coal feeds to the blast furnaces. Coal from the product stor-

age silo first fills the injector lock vessel. When the vessel is full, the inlet valve closes and seals. The pressure within is then increased to the pressure of the dispensing vessel, which is maintained at a constant pressure. When the pressures are balanced, coal falls into the dispensing vessel from where it is injected into the blast furnace through selected blast furnace tuyeres at a controlled coal flow rate. Potential explosions or fires resulting from an increase in the oxygen concentration are prevented using nitrogen to displace the oxygen present in the system. Temperature and carbon monoxide monitoring is also performed to indicate possible fires. Furthermore, tramp metals and other materials are removed from the raw coal, as these could provide the initiating spark for an explosion or fire. After the start-up of blast furnace No. 1, operation of the PCI plant in June

Furnace hearth. The furnace hearth is spray cooled using indirect water in an open-circuit cooling system. The returning water is collected in a furnace sump and is then pumped back to the customer’s water-treatment plant. Water for the underhearth cooling is taken from the closed-circuit system of the furnace. The underhearth cooling system is linked to the same cooling circuit as the tuyere nose system with the two being in series, i.e., boosted water to the noses then passes to the underhearth pipes before returning to the heat exchanger. Figure 7 shows the tuyere arrangement at blast furnace No. 1. The refractory lining strategy of Siemens VAI has the aim to enable a blast furnace campaign of 15 – 20 years. Figure 8 depicts hearth isotherms for the new and worn (equilibrium) conditions for the hearth refractory. The position of the 1,150°C isotherm (iron freeze line) in the worn condition shows that there is only minimal theoretical wear in the hearth walls and pad thus demonstrating that the proposed design would offer a long campaign stability as desired by the furnace operator. Start-up. Construction, installation and commissioning activities were carried out by Dragon Steel personnel under the guidance of a small group of Siemens specialists that included mechanical, electrical, instrument, software, piping and process engineers. Blow-in of blast furnace No. 1 took place

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32

MPT International 5/2013

Ironmaking on February 27, 2010, and the first tap was performed one day later. A conservative start-up system was adopted. Furnace production was initially ramped up to 5,000 t/day before being slowly increased to the design hot metal production rate of 7,143 t/day. The furnace was then operated above its nominal capacity and achieved a record daily production of 8,229 t (that is equivalent to a productivity level of 2.51 t/mÂł/day). A record monthly production rate of 235,993 t was attained in October 2012, which corresponds to an average of 7,612 t/day. As of January 4, 2013, a total

of 7,263,572 t of hot metal were tapped from blast furnace No. 1 since the start of production nearly three years earlier. On-site construction activities of blast furnace No. 2 began in early January 2010, with mechanical erection starting in September 2010. The warmup of the stoves commenced in January 2013, with blow in of the furnace taking place on March 6, 2013. The design production rate of 7,143 t/day was achieved within the first two weeks of operation and has been stabilized at this level, with a maximum production again over 8,000 t/day.

Conclusion Average production figures of the two sinter plants and two blast furnaces now in operation at DSC are well above the design rate. The timely completion of these projects and the excellent performance figures are a credit to the outstanding cooperation between the staff from DSC and the design teams from Siemens involved with these projects. The authors also wish to take this opportunity to thank Dragon Steel Corporation for the review and permission to publish this paper.

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MPT International 5/2013

33

Ironmaking

SAIL started up India’s largest blast furnace Danieli Corus has commissioned RFC EPCCLjCJB @J?QR DSPL?AC ,M @SGJR DMP 1 '* 1RCCJ SRFMPGRW MD 'LBG? *GKGRCB ?R RFCGP 0MSPICJ? -BGQF? 'LBG? QRCCJ NJ?LR 2FGQ @J?QR DSPL?AC U?Q @SGJR @W ? AMLQMPRGSK AMLQGQRGLE MD "?LGCJG !MPSQ ?LB 2?R? .PMHCARQ *GKGRCB ?LB GQ ASPPCLRJW 'LBG? Q J?PECQR @J?QR DSPL?AC 2FC jPQR FMR KCR?J U?Q R?NNCB ?DRCP FMSPQ

Danieli Corus B.V. '(KSGBCL ,CRFCPJ?LBQ !MLR?AR UUU B?LGCJG AMPSQ AMK # K?GJ GLDM B?LGCJG AMPSQ AMK

Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) is a vast steel company run by the government of India. It is the successor of the private company “Hindustan Steel Private Limited”, established in 1954, in which the President of India owned 100% of the shares on behalf of the country’s population. SAIL produced 13.5 million t of crude steel in 2012, making it the 24th largest steel producer in the world. The company operates integrated steel plants in Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela and Burnpur and is expected to produce 24.6 million t/year of crude steel after completion of the current expansion programme. Commissioning of the greenfield blast furnace No. 5 at the Rourkela site marked a major milestone of this expansion project. Having built the largest operating blast furnace of India is also a major achievement for Danieli Corus. The plant is named after the Hindu goddess Durga. Accordingly, a “pooja” was performed as part of the commissioning – according to Hindu tradition, coconuts were cracked and the contents sprinkled over the furnace’s shell to honour the goddess Durga. The blast furnace No. 5 was designed to European standards and based on European technology. It was built to produce around 8,000 t/day of hot metal for a twenty year campaign and is part of a 1.75 million euros expansion pro-

Figure 1. The “Durga” plant is currently the largest operating blast furnace in India

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MPT International 5/2013

gramme at the Rourkela steel plant. Engineering, supplies and construction of the new Rourkela blast furnace took five years. This is the fourth greenfield blast furnace project completed by Danieli Corus in India and based on the “Hoogovens” philosophy. Previously, three smaller blast furnaces had been built for private companies. Over the last few years, the one operated by Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. has been the country’s best performing blast furnace. In addition, Danieli Corus has executed substantial revamp and repair projects on the blast furnaces operated by Tata Steel at their Jamshedpur plant. In 2011, an order for a fifth greenfield project in India was received from the mining company NMDC, which has been diversifying into the steel industry and developing a new integrated plant at Nagarnar. Danieli Corus is currently building the blast furnace, which will be larger than the “Durga” blast furnace operating at Rourkela. The furnace at Nagarnar is expected to be commissioned in 2015. Given the country’s economic growth of 5.3% annually, steel demand in India is vast. Steel consumption per capita remains substantially lower than that in, for example, China. Infrastructural and urban development projects feed India’s hunger for steel and the country remains an important market for Danieli Corus, accounting for around 50% of the company’s turnover. Danieli Corus is an engineering and consulting company active in the global steel industry. Danieli Corus offers services for all aspects in iron and steel making, ranging from studies, greenfield and revamp projects to process optimization in existing plants. Danieli Corus is owned by the Italian plant manufacturer Danieli and Tata Steel Europe. Danieli Corus’ roots are in the Corus IJmuiden integrated steel works. The company now operates fully independently of the parent companies. Tata Projects has a solid track record in the construction of power plants and in the oil and gas industry. Since 2008, Tata Projects also serves the Indian steel industry in the turnkey supply of blast furnace plants in a consortium with Danieli Corus.

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Steelmaking

Siemens extends plant portfolio for hot-metal desulphurization Simetal HM KR Desulf adds a stirrer-based solution to the current Siemens portfolio of hot-metal desulphurization plants that run on the injection process. The process uses lime accumulated in the steel works as desulphurization agent, hence no magnesium or calcium carbide is required. The liquid steel bath is mixed by a simple mechanical stirrer. Batches of 150 t can be treated in about ten minutes.

“Simetal HM KR Desulf” is the name of a further plant type for hot-metal desulphurization – the new offer to operators of iron and steel works developed by Siemens Metals Technologies. Due to the use of sulphur-containing fuels in the blast-furnace process, hot metal always contains a certain amount of sulphur. Depending on the steel grade being produced, this amount has to be reduced to a defined level before the hot metal can be converted to high-quality steel in the converter (BOF: basic oxygen furnace). The necessary desulphurization agents can either be blown into the bath by a lance or poured onto the bath and distributed by a mechanical stirrer. Which alternative is more economical for a steel works operator depends on many different parameters, including the availability and quality of raw materials, the prices of desulphurization agents and also individual conditions in the works. Unlike in the injection process, the Simetal HM KR Desulf process involves placing the desulphurization agent in the hot-metal bath by a mechanical stirrer. The system is based on a robust and low-maintenance design and is particularly suitable for large batches. As from a batch weight of about 150 t, desulphurization takes around ten minutes and is

thus faster than in the injection process. Final sulphur content values of 0.002% can be achieved. Another advantage lies in process frugality with regard to the desulphurization agents used. Reproducibly good results are possible even with low-grade burnt lime, which is frequently used as a by-product in steel works. Expensive desulphurization agents, such as highgrade burnt lime or magnesium, or those that are difficult to handle, for example calcium carbide, no longer need to be procured separately. Simetal HM KR Desulf is equipped with an integrated measuring lance for measuring the bath temperature and taking samples semi-automatically. Online measurement of the bath level ensures optimum positioning of the stirrer. Other special technical features of the new desulphurization plant from Siemens are the compactness of the stirrer drive and the plant’s low-maintenance design. The transmission and material-conveying system to the screw feeder are designed in the shape of a Z, resulting in an extremely low mounting height. Special emphasis was also put on ease of access to important components, which facilitates maintenance and boosts occupational safety.

Siemens AG, Industry Sector, Metals Technologies Business Unit, Linz, Austria Contact: www.siemens.com/metals E-mail: rainer.schulze@siemens.com

36

MPT International 5/2013

Figure 1. 3D scheme of the new Simetal HM KR Desulf technology

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Steelmaking

Reduction of total energy consumption in EAF processes by way of reducing energy losses Total energy consumption in EAF processes comprises not only the direct process energy input – electrical and chemical – but also the energy for the back-up systems, such as the cooling water and re-cooler circuits. Numerous EAF plants provide best preconditions for implementing commercialgrade components to reduce the waste of energy. This technical survey deals with possibilities of upgrading existing equipment.

Peter Voss-Spilker, PVSService, Hamminkeln, Germany Contact: www.pvsservice.de E-mail: peter.voss-spilker@pvsservice.de

38

MPT International 5/2013

Introduction During the last few decades, the productivity of the EAF process has been increased mainly by way of the following key measures: - higher transformer capacity (higher voltage), - more chemical energy input, - improved process control. Ultra-high performance EAFs perform highly profitably when in full time operation [1, 2]. But what happens during times of low utilization? The following contribution is intended to build on proven measures aimed at improving existing EAFs. The EAF process is considered from a chemical engineer’s view as a high temperature chemical process [3]. The aim of what is referred to as chemical engineering, a term first applied in the chemical industry, is to have full control of the process, including all inputs and outputs. There are many similarities between metallurgical processes and high-temperature chemical processes [4]. On the input side of the EAF process there is good control of the media flow and the material flow, probably with the exception of anthracite and lime, as these are not always fed continuously. However, on the output side, production and handling of certain products, especially of reaction products (H2, CO, CO2) and heat is still not that well controlled. Efforts were undertaken in measuring electrical parameters of the arcs [5] and in online monitoring of the off-gas [6] – particularly its chemical analysis, volume flow and temperature – with different intentions, e.g. process control and/ or heat recovery [7]. These measures are to provide better control of the output energy. Online measurement of the offgas flow is always highly recommended, not only for online calculation of the offgas energy. If such information is available, it is a natural consequence to find out whether this may have influence on the (future) design of the equipment. Total energy consumption of EAF processes comprises not only the direct process energy input – electrical and chemi-

cal – but also the energy for the back-up systems (the cooling water and re-cooler circuits). Nevertheless, whenever discussing improvements achieved by way of (online) measurements of the relevant process parameters, the discussed measures can only serve as tools to support or stabilize the process. They cannot compensate any lack of knowledge about the metallurgical process.

EAF process reaction products CO and H2 An “adequate” free board has proven as an essential measure for CO combustion inside the furnace. Such a free board can only be achieved with an adequate shell height. The injection of pure oxygen – or air enriched with oxygen – into the furnace atmosphere is a highly recommended measure. On the contrary, injection of oxygen into the scrap column is not recommended [8], because the higher the scrap temperature the more scrap will be burnt (oxidized). Online measurement of CO content in the downstream off-gas duct, backed up by an intelligent process control unit, allows the precisely controlled injection of the reactant into the furnace when it is needed. Hydrogen as reaction product is only related to the burner operation. Even for the post-combustion of hydrogen, it is beneficial to have a free board above the scrap column. Also, hydrogen is of much higher reactivity than CO. The advantage of injecting air is the higher momentum of the injected medium [9]. Consequently, it achieves better mixing of the injected reactant with the furnace atmosphere. The major effect of the post-combustion of CO and hydrogen is the stabilization (reduction) of the heat load towards the off-gas duct and not a notable decrease in electrical energy.

Measures related to the offgas duct Another area relevant for the reduction of total energy is the off-gas duct.

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Dimension

Steelmaking If the volume flow is controlled within a narrow range by dedicated online measurement equipment like the Venturi tube, it is possible to determine and control, i.e. reduce, the amount of energy leaving the furnace. Additionally, in order to remove some heat load from the off-gas, CO combustion should always be initiated inside the furnace. Consequently, it is not necessary to have high cooling capacities for the off-gas duct. In addition, the total consumption of electrical energy, especially for the back-up systems, could be reduced by 50%, if heat recovery systems were used [10].

So, these processes have best pre-conditions for - the, at least partly, implementation of combined panels (ceramic plus water/ steam cooled panels) in the (upper) shell and roof and - initiating CO combustion in the furnace by adequate measures in order to reduce the heat load on the off-gas duct.

is worth to be taken into account. If the amount of circulating cooling water was able to be reduced by 50%, up to 20 kWh/ tls could be saved just by reducing the electrical power of the circulating pumps! Measures to realize such savings could be e.g. heat-resistant panels. Panels designed as a combination of water-cooled metallic parts and wear- and heat-resistant refractory parts have already been tested [4].

Special pre-conditions for improvements DRI charge. In some furnaces the shell and partly even the roof are equipped with steel/copper/steel panels – and in some EAFs even massive copper panels. The energy losses due to convection to the cooling water are very high, as explained above. When DRI is fed into the EAF more or less continuously, the melting process stabilizes with a high input of electrical energy but without burners. The same applies to the output of the reaction product CO. The mechanical load acting on the wall and roof is low. Due to the design parameters, namely minimum distances from the arc to the shell and roof, there is an almost perfect freeboard. Another positive effect is the steady generation of CO. Also, pure oxygen or oxygen-enriched air could be continuously injected into the process. Integrated scrap pre-heating. There are various integrated technologies available to feed pre-heated scrap into the furnace (COSS, Quantum, S-EAF, Consteel, CRV etc.). Although these systems use different solutions of how to have the off-gas penetrate the scrap for pre-heating, they all operate with the flat-bath EAF process [11]. All these processes have in common that the mechanical load acting on the upper shell is reduced because there is no scrap falling down into the furnace from an elevated basket. So, only the upper shell and the roof have to be heat protected. Also, due to integrated scrap pre-heating in the feeding zone, these EAFs usually need lower transformer capacity installed compared to conventional furnaces of similar heat size.

Figure 1. A conventional EAF is usually characterized by high mechanical loads on the shell and roof (picture courtesy by German Steel Federation)

Measures for conventional EAFs. In contrast to the above mentioned EAF with integrated scrap pre-heating, the conventional furnaces are usually characterized by high mechanical loads on the shell and roof. They need a high transformer capacity and hence a high heat load is applied to the shell and roof. So, rigid water-cooled parts had been developed, as mentioned above. One common answer to resist the high thermal load is to increase the specific amount of cooling water. While 25 years ago it was sufficient to have about 8 to 10 m³ water per tls capacity for cooling the upper shell and the roof with elbow, with energy losses to the cooling water ranging below 50 kWh/tls, today the appropriate layout figures for furnaces up to 150 t tapping weight range up to 15 m³ water per tls, with losses to the cooling water of up to 80 kWh/tls. For furnaces with more than 8 m shell diameter, the specific values decline as the distance between the shell and the arc increases. Considering that the necessary backup system for the process comprises huge pumps, valves, re-coolers etc., this aspect

References [1] Siemens VAI Metals Technology, WillstättLegelshurst: Brochure SIMETAL Ultimate, 2012-09 [2] T. Adachi et al.: The jumbo size 420 t EAF at Tokyo Steel, Japan; MPT International 2/2012, pp. 54-62 [3] P. Voss-Spilker: High-performance EAF scrap melting technologies, MPT International 5/2012, pp. 52-53 [4] B. Kleimt et al.: Erhöhung der Energie-und Materialeffizienz der Stahlerzeugung im Lichtbogenofen durch optimiertes Wärmemanagement und kontinuierliche dynamische Prozessführung. Berliner Recyclingund Rohstoffkonferenz, 26., 27.03.12, Berlin [5] D. Tieseler: The future in electrode control, electrics & automation, June 2011, pp. 38-41 [6] S. Mistry: EAF water detection results and operation benefits using EFSOP technology, MPT International 4/2012, pp. 46-50 [7] A. Hampel: Innovative Approach to the use of off-gas heat for high efficient Green Power Generation, AISTech 2011 [8] K.-H. Heinen: Elektrostahlerzeugung, Verlag Stahleisen, 1997, p. 494 ff. and 793 ff or related basic lectures on „Thermo-dynamics“ [9] Lectures on “Basic fluid dynamics” [10] C. Born et al.: Potential and difficulties of heat recovery in steel plants, MPT International 2/2013 pp. 50-60 [11] Proceedings of METEC 2011, Düsseldorf 2011 and/or 10th EEC, Graz, 25.-28.09.2012 MPT International 5/2013

41

Automation

Energy Advisor software provides transparency for plants and processes In order to withstand possible additional burdens and to be completely up-to-date as regards environmental technology, it is important for a production plant to keep RP?AI MD CLCPEW kMUQ ?LB optimize energy costs within the production process. SMS Siemag makes available its Energy Advisor software system as a management system for relevant energy data which can do more than mere monitoring. The Energy Advisor can be tailored directly to the respective plant following an analysis of the processes, interfaces and procedures.

The international steel industry is facing the challenge of reconciling ever greater flexibility and productivity with environmental protection and sustainability. One of the set aims here is to utilize resources efficiently while reducing CO2 emissions. First and foremost, there is the requirement of remaining competitive in this hard-fought environment; energy costs represent a major proportion of the total expenditures of steelworks here. Energy and cost efficiency can be achieved through energy data management systems such as Energy Advisor from SMS Siemag. These systems allow an overall, integrated examination and assessment of energy flows. The evaluation and optimization of energy consumption make it possible not only to cut down costs but also to ensure quality. An energy management system according to ISO 50001 may have a compensatory effect and reduce the high cost-pressure during the production process. It allows transparency with regard to energy flows and consumption during the entire production process. Authoritative knowledge can thus be obtained, which helps to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions. Empirical values show that if an energy monitoring information system has been correctly installed and the corresponding measures have been taken, savings of 5 to 20% are typical, with 8% being realistic. The payback time for these systems is generally between one and two years [1].

The overall energy situation at a glance The Energy Advisor is adapted individually to the respective plant and takes account of the respective production conditions. Besides electrical power, the system records other energy-related utilities, such as fuels, gases, compressed air, heat or water. This results in a holistic energy management (figure 1). Automatic aggregation of the measured values allows a clear and highly efficient representation of the energy situation, both for long periods of times and short intervals, in such a way that all analyses can be made directly in the system. The energy efficiency of the plant is displayed to the operator in screens by dial indicators or traffic lights and an easy overview of the energy situation is provided in this form. The evaluation of the installations using efficiency indicators allows comparison with values from previous periods or other areas. Different materials and types of energy can be compared, examined and evaluated within the process. Consumption data of the overall plant or individual plant sections is compiled in reports. Consumptions may be allocated in total or proportionally to the relevant cost centers for consumer-related cost-accounting. Controlling of the energy consumptions can thus also be performed in the Energy Advisor.

Dr. Jesper Mellenthin, SMS Siemag AG, DĂźsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-siemag.com E-mail: automation@sms-siemag.com

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MPT International 5/2013

Figure 1. Energy and utilities data are interlinked with the production and status information and can be evaluated in the Energy Advisor

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Automation Computation of characteristic NKPGU CPF EQGHƂEKGPVU “The absolute energy consumption data are not sufficient for an assessment of the energy situation in a steelworks. Characteristic lines and KPIs must additionally be specified in combination with the pro-

sumption and production and to express this by using KPIs. These values, calculated on the basis of various measured variables, enable comparisons to be made between different situations or plants. If KPIs depend on production data or production conditions which cannot, or must not, be introduced into the coeffi-

Figure 2. Example for determining a KPI and corresponding characteristic line for an EAF

Figure 3. Example for assessing the energy situation, using the characteristic line

duction conditions. Positive and negative limit values are able to be defined for coefficients, allowing the production process to be evaluated at a given moment,” explains Prof. Ingela Tietze from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. For example, the utilization of energy with a high calorific or electrical value and its effect within the process are decisive. To satisfy these requirements, the type of product and its quantities are also recorded in SMS Siemag’s energy data management system. This makes it possible to show a relationship between con44

MPT International 5/2013

cient as quantities for calculation of it, then use is made of characteristic lines. A characteristic line takes account of the fact that under certain circumstances the KPIs may assume differing values in the production process. For instance, at high capacity utilization, lower energy consumption per ton of the product may be achieved than during periods with low production rates. If the coefficient is plotted against the influencing variable, it is possible to compare equivalent circumstances and to evaluate the various plant conditions in a meaningful way.

Utilization in metallurgical plant and rolling mill technology Coefficients and characteristic lines can be illustrated by using the example of metallurgical plants (figures 2 and 3). The required energy for melting a heat is put into relation with the produced quantity. The result of this is the relative KPI of specific consumption in kWh/t. Under equal production conditions, this value is of significance and allows a quantitative comparison. If however the charge mix changes, for instance, the typical specific consumption values differ accordingly. These values can now be subsumed for a charge mix and plotted on the x-axis as a bunch. For each charge material mix, different limit values apply. To analyze the prevailing situation, the current charge material mix is defined and the corresponding limit values are used for the representation of the assessment. The yellow dot shown in figure 3 corresponds to an outlier which is just above the desired limit and hence in the yellow dial indicator range for the given charge mix. The same specific consumption would still have been within reasonable limits in a case of only charging cold DRI, represented with the indicator in the green dial indicator field. It is evident here how important it is to also consider the production conditions in order to achieve a reliable evaluation of the energy situation. Apart from a transparent representation of energy consumption values, the Energy Advisor can be used to provide concrete recommendations to the operating staff on how to proceed to ensure an optimized operating practice in terms of energy. This can be illustrated by the example of dedusting. During the dedusting process, the fans run at different speeds and correspondingly varying energy consumption values in different process phases. If ventilation is not reduced during tapping, a signal is displayed to the operating staff that the energy consumption requires action. A recommendation is issued as to the further control of the plant and any uncertainties of the operators are eliminated. These process optimizations, which are technically unproblematic and only require low investment, lead to significant energy savings.

Automation Future prospects: forecasting procedure SMS Siemag is also currently developing a mode of procedure for making forecasts. On the basis of the stored energy data already available, the production data and the future production schedule, use can be made of neuronal networks and other methods to create models which interpret the energy data on a self-learning basis. These models enable the energy consumption to be depicted and to be predicted for the future. A reliable forecast of the energy requirement helps the energy suppliers to re-

act to the fluctuating energy market and to do justice to this by means of more favourable tariffs. Alternatively, the information obtained can be utilized for an individual procurement strategy and the electrical power can be purchased directly on the energy market.

Ecoplants for saving energy and resources The Energy Advisor is a component of the SMS Siemag Ecoplants concept. The company has defined sustainability solutions under the “Ecoplants” la-

bel. These are characterized by important reductions as regards raw material input, energy, operating materials and emissions as well as the improvement of the recycling rate. Thus also the Energy Advisor whereby, for example, the saving on energy in the processes results in fewer emissions. By means of energy saving concepts and the accompanying systems such as the Energy Advisor, ecology and economy can be reconciled in a meaningful manner.

Reference [1] Hundrieser, J., Seifert, O.: Energiemonitoring als Prozess unterstützt Kosteneinsparung. In: Stahl und Eisen 129 (2009) 7

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Environmental protection

'OKUUKQP VTCFG PQ INQDCN NGXGN RNC[KPI ƂGNF HQT the steel industry The European Union’s emission trading scheme for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a very unique construct worldwide. The affected industry sectors there suffer additional costs which can create competitive disadvantages. The question is: will emission trading systems increasingly be created internationally, resulting in comparable competitive conditions? A recent study by German economists of IW Consult at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research examines the development of emission trading systems by PCEGML ?LB RFCGP QGELGjA?LAC DMP the steel industries in important steel producing nations.

The steel industry in Europe will continue to face differing international climate policy conditions next year. This would remain the case even if, as currently planned, CO2 emission trading systems were introduced in individual countries and regions outside the European Union. This is the conclusion of a study carried out by IW Consult at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research and commissioned by the German Steel Federation and the German Industrial Union of Metalworkers. The study examines developments regarding emission trading systems and their significance for the steel industry in important competing countries. Together with the European Union, the countries considered – China, India, Japan, Russia, Australia, South Korea and the USA – account for 87% of world steel production. Only Australia and South Korea plan to introduce compulsory nationwide emission trading systems – with free-of-charge allocation of CO2 certificates for their steel industries and considerably lower reduction targets than in the EU. Regional initiatives in the USA do not involve the steel industry. Participation is voluntary in Japan. In other countries, such as Russia, there are no signs of any developments regarding emission trading systems. Pilot projects in China and Brazil are still in their initial phases.

European Union

Hubert Bardt, Roman Bertenrath, Cologne +PUVKVWVG HQT 'EQPQOKE 4GUGCTEJ +9 , Cologne, Germany; German Steel Federation, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.iwkoeln.de/en www.stahl-online.de

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MPT International 5/2013

In the European CO2 emission trading system certificates are allocated free-ofcharge to energy-intensive sectors that face international competition, but free allocation is based on ambitious benchmarks. Certificates are free in order to prevent the relocation of production and jobs being triggered by one-sided cost increases not incurred by countries outside the European Union. The list of affected sectors, the so-called Carbon Leakage List, is to be reexamined by 31 December 2014 and redefined for a period of five years. The EU Commission recently started a consultation on this matter. The Ger-

man Steel Federation and the German Union of Metalworkers demand that the EU Commission uses this consultation to recognize that international conditions regarding climate protection have not changed in recent years, and that the steel sector still requires allocation that is free-of-charge. “The study proves that free allocation based on technically feasible benchmarks remains necessary in Europe,” Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, president of the Düsseldorf-based German Steel Federation, comments on the results. “Otherwise the steel industry risks losing its competitiveness against rivals facing no costs resulting from emission trading and CO2. We are still very far from identical international competitive conditions regarding climate protection.” “The global climate would not be helped if emission trading led to a relocation of steel production abroad and jobs in Germany would be threatened,” worries Hannelore Elze, manager of the Düsseldorf branch of the Industrial Union of Metalworkers. “Employees in the steel sector are also working to reduce CO2 emissions, and are committed to worldwide uniform climate protection regulations.”

USA A law intended to create a nationwide CO2 trading system (the Clean Energy and American Power Act) failed to pass political hurdles in 2010. This legislative proposal described the principles of an emission trading system and precisely quantified the number of certificates that would have been made available. Companies in the American steel industry would also have been directly affected by such a system. On a regional level, however, CO2 trading systems have indeed been introduced, affecting several US states. The Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord (MGGRA) is an emission trading system currently in development that will cover states in both the USA and Canada. This CO2 trading system is expected to affect electricity gen-

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Environmental protection erating companies, though the steel industry would not be involved. No further progress that would indicate any rapid introduction of an emission trading system is currently discernible regarding the MGGRA. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was initiated in 2005 to reduce CO2 emissions resulting from electricity generation. The states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont were founding members of this initiative. Pennsylvania is observing the initiative and is considering joining, whereas New Jersey left it in 2013. It affects electricity producers or electricity generating plants that produce 25 MW or more per year from fossil fuels. The steel industry is not participating in this system. Trading of certificates takes place on a specially created trading platform. Demand for certificates has been low so far: the certificate price in March 2012 was EUR 1.44 per ton of CO2 and was thus only just above the defined minimum price of EUR 1.39 per ton of CO2. Participants in the RGGI may transfer certificates between the three-year trading periods, i.e. banking is permitted. In addition to these systems, California and the Canadian province of Quebec were among the first states within the Western Climate Initiative 2012 to establish an emission trading system which, however, is of little significance for the steel industry – because these regions have no appreciable steel industry.

Japan Two systems were introduced in Japan on a voluntary basis in order to gain experience with emission trading. There is also another emission trading system in the capital, Tokyo. Companies can opt to join the Japanese Voluntary Emissions Trading Scheme (JVETS), introduced in 2005. Because participation is voluntary, the companies were provided with subsidies until 2009 so that they had an incentive to join the system. The emissions target for each company is determined on the basis of the average amount of emissions during the last three years, whereby the allocation of certificates is free-of-charge. There are many ways in which the companies can achieve their reduction targets: for example by banking (i.e. the 48

MPT International 5/2013

transfer of emission certificates from another trading period) or by companies exploiting project credits from programmes such as Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Two per cent of companies that are currently participating in the trading system are from the steel industry. The second national emission trading system, the Integrated Domestic Market of Emissions Trading (IDMET), was introduced in 2008. One major difference to the JVETS is that companies can participate in this system as groups or even consolidated as a sector. In contrast to the JVETS, no subsidies are used as an incentive for the IDMET. Companies are given leeway in the definition of the emission targets in order to encourage them to participate in emission trading. Thus companies need not agree to absolute emission targets but can arrange relative ones, whereby they have greater room for adaptation, particularly if economic conditions change. The allocation of certificates is still free-ofcharge, though the type of reduction target selected determines when allocation takes place. One aspect that makes this system easier for companies compared to the JVETS is that they can not only bank certificates but also borrow certificates from future periods in order to meet their current targets. Japan’s first obligatory emission trading system was introduced in the capital Tokyo in 2010. Unlike the other two Japanese systems, the TMG ETS takes a downstream approach so that both buildings as well as industrial plants whose energy consumption exceeds 1,500 kilolitres of oil are included. As a result, a total of almost 1,300 buildings and factories are affected. The TMG ETS offers no incentives because participation is compulsory, though participants have options that reduce the system’s effects. Thus three years can be selected from the period between 2002 and 2007 on whose basis the cap is formed. Unlike the other emission trading systems, TMG ETS does not offer the possibility of exploiting project credits from Joint Implementation (JI) or the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). As a result, achieving the reduction targets is made more difficult despite the fact that allocation of certificates is free-of-charge. The TMG ETS has no effect on the Japanese steel industry because there is no steel production in this region. Beyond the above-mentioned emission trading

systems, an initiative of the economic umbrella organization has led to a commitment by Japanese business to reduce its CO2 emissions by 2020. The CO2 emissions of the Japanese steel industry fell by 8.4% between 1990 and 2011. Within the framework of voluntary commitments, the target for 2020 is to achieve a reduction of CO2 emissions in the production processes of the steel industry of a further 5 million tonnes in business-as-usual (BAU) terms. This corresponds to a reduction target of 2.7% compared to the level in 2011.

China China has announced that it will reduce its CO2 emissions by 40 to 45% per unit of GDP by 2020, compared to 2005. Given an average annual growth rate in economic performance of 8%, however, this would correspond to an absolute increase in CO2 emissions by almost 100%. In order to gain experience in the setting up and method of functioning of a CO2 trading system, the government has defined seven pilot regions and cities in which CO2 trading systems are to be set up. The regions involve the two provinces of Guangdong and Hubei as well as the cities of Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing. The varying industrial structures in these regions and the individual design of the regional emission trading systems are intended to permit an assessment of how different sectors react to emission trading. The individual systems differ with regard to which companies are included in CO2 trading. While emission limits of 10,000 or 20,000 tonnes of CO2 are set for works to be included in the trading systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong, the six most energy-intensive industries (including steel production) are included in Chongqing, and electricity producers and heavy industry (and thus also the steel industry) are included in Hubei. In order to increase the effectiveness of the systems, emission trading is also being considered between the provinces, on the basis of which a nationwide emission trading system could eventually be established. The city of Shenzhen will be the first pilot region to take up emission trading. The Shenzhen ETS will include, among others, industry, the logistics sector and energy generation.

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Environmental protection Major emitters in the electricity generating sector and processing industries will initially be allocated certificates at no cost and the quantity freely allocated is to be gradually reduced during subsequent years. The province of Guangdong and the capital Beijing will also introduce emission trading after the system has begun in Shenzhen.

India

tors and the targets may be made more restrictive. Overall, the climate-policy instruments applied by the Indian government are aimed towards increasing energy efficiency, with the indirect side-effect of reducting CO2 output. As a result of the country’s poor energy infrastructure, investments in energy efficiency are also aimed towards economic growth so that a direct comparison between the Indian measures and the climate related programmes of industrial nations is impractical.

South Korea A compulsory emission trading system is to be introduced in South Korea by 2015. This would include production units that emit more than 125,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and individual plants that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The economic sectors of industry, energy, construction, transport, agriculture and waste management will be included. The GHG/Energy Target Management System (TMS) includes all plants that emit more than 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per

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A trading system, the so-called Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) model, was introduced in 2012 in almost all regions of India in order to improve energy efficiency. The PAT scheme is compulsory for the eight most energy-intensive industries during the first trading periods. About 5% of energy consumption is to be cut by 2015 as part of PAT’s overall target. The industries involved in the first period of the trading system, including the steel industry, were responsible for 36% of India’s end-consumption of energy in 2009. The iron and steel industries together are responsible for about 28% of the energy consumption of all industries. The savings targets are oriented upon the energy efficiency

of the works. As a result, companies with outmoded plants must meet more stringent demands than companies with state-of-the-art production plants. The baseline is defined as the average energy consumption per production unit during the period from 2007 to 2010. The PAT scheme defines a sector-specific energy savings target for the iron and steel industry of an average of 5.86% during the first trading period by 2015. Whereby, however, the high catch-up potentials regarding the efficiency of energy and reducing agent consumption have to be considered. Leaning on the EU emission trading system, so-called Energy Saving Certificates (EsCerts) are traded between Indian companies in order to achieve the necessary savings in energy consumption as cost-efficiently as possible. These are allocated free-of-charge and can be traded bilaterally between companies or on one of the two new trading platforms, the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and the Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL), set up for this purpose. The EsCerts can be transferred to the system’s next trading period (i.e. banked), during which the trading system will also be extended to more industrial sec-

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Environmental protection year, whereby plants that emit between 15,000 and 25,000 tonnes of CO2 can decide for themselves whether they participate in emission trading. Sector-specific reduction targets will be defined for the individual plants from 2014, based on the emissions of the last three years. Whereby the first trading period lasts from 2015 to 2017 and the second until 2020. Thereafter each trading period will last five years. The allocation of certificates will take place free-of-charge during the first two periods. After these, all strongly energy dependent and export-oriented sectors (to which the South Korean steel industry belongs) will receive the certificates freeof-charge. 100% of the emission certificates will be allocated free-of-charge from 2015 to 2017 and 97% from 2018 to 2020. If one were to calculate the particular sector target for steel this would result in the assignment of a maximum reduction of 2.1% for 2015 and 9.3% in 2020. These could, however, work out considerably lower because the sector target is not to apply to individual companies and, furthermore, is calculated against a BAU scenario. In addition to the initial free-ofcharge allocation, companies will also be able to bank or borrow certificates, giving them additional leeway in achieving the target. Whereby banking is allowed between different fulfilment periods but borrowing is only permitted within a particular fulfilment period.

Australia The Australian government approved the Clean Energy Legislative Package in November 2011. This programme also contains the Carbon Price Mechanism (CPM), which is very similar to the capand-trade system of the EU emission trading scheme. The CPM includes all six of the gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol and was started in summer 2012. The system starts with a three-year test phase and a fixed price of EUR 18.9 per tonne of CO2. As a result of this fixing, the price during the starter phase is similar to a quantity tax. The price rises annually by 2.5% until 2015 and is then determined by the market. During this first trading period, the number of Carbon Units (CU) made available by the government is restricted by an upper limit. Companies will be given some CUs free-of-charge in order 52

MPT International 5/2013

to secure jobs and ensure competitiveness, as well as to simplify transition to the trading system. The remaining CUs will be auctioned. The CPM involves about 500 companies and thus includes about 60% of all Australian greenhouse gas emissions. The trading system will affect industry (including the steel industry), energy generators, air, ship and rail traffic, and other fuel consumers. Allocation benchmarks are determined on the basis of the average emissions of all plants. Allocation will decrease by about 1.3% from 2015. The CPM should be connected with other international emission trading systems in 2015. During the test phase with fixed prices, companies may not use any certificates from other emission trading systems to achieve their reduction targets. However Australian companies may already purchase certificates from the EU ETS during the current trading period and use them from 2015 in order to achieve 50% of their reduction commitments. The Australian government is committed to supporting the so-called emission-intensive trade exposed (EITE) industries, including iron and steel production, during the transition phase so that these are not disadvantaged compared to international competitors. This is also intended to prevent carbon leakage. In order to combat this, the Australian government introduced the Steel Transformation Plan (STP) in July 2012, which comes to a stop at the end of 2016. Until then the government is making the sum of USD 300 million available for the Australian steel industry for reducing CO2 emissions in this sector. The financial support goes to companies with expenditures eligible for subsidies – to help cover innovation, investment and production costs. In addition, an independent review mechanism has been introduced to monitor the effects of the CPM and other factors on the steel industry’s economic situation.

Brazil The Brazilian government enacted a law, the National Climate Change Policy (PNMC), in 2009 to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. Based on the PNMC, the region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest economic region after Sao Paulo, announced the introduction of an emission trading system in

early 2012: Bolsa Verde de Rio de Janeiro (BVRio) or the Green Exchange of Rio de Janeiro. The test period of the Bolsa Verde programme should run from 2013 to 2015, followed by one five-year and one ten-year period to 2030. After the target has been defined, companies will be provided with upper emission limits on the basis of CO2 credits. The programme should include the following industries: steel, cement, gas, chemicals, as well as the production and processing of oil. In addition to the CO2 credits, the Rios Green Exchange will make it possible to trade credits for forest reservations in rural areas. The government of Rio can then permit firms to fulfil their obligations through the purchase of forestry credits in the Acre region. This is part of the REDD programme (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) and is intended to lead to a CO2 reduction by preventing deforestation and forest degradation.

Conclusion In effect, of all the countries considered only Australia has a nationwide emission trading system of a compulsory character which, however, only represents 0.4% of world steel production. Allocation is free-of-charge for sectors affected by carbon leakage, with considerably lower reduction requirements than in the EU. Apart from Australia, South Korea has prepared the ground for a nationwide emission trading system, though this will not start until 2015. Here, too, allocation will be freeof-charge for the steel industry and the reduction requirements are lower than those of the EU. The other countries do not have any nationwide compulsory CO2 trading systems and their introduction is also rather unlikely in most of these countries in the near future. In Russia, even no emissions trading is in place or planned. Regional initiatives in the USA do not involve the steel industry. Participation in Japan is voluntary. Pilot projects in China and Brazil have not yet been designed in detail, and currently provide no information on the involvement of the steel industry. Despite new initiatives, there is thus no sign yet of any international emission trading structure that could lead to a level playing field for the steel industry.

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Environmental protection

Efforts to reduce cooling water consumption in a region with limited water supply The water treatment plant – typically referred to as an auxiliary plant – is essential for ensuring the continuity of production and plant operations in a steelmaking facility. If water resources are limited, a non-conventional approach is needed to design a water treatment plant with low water consumption. For a steel plant in a desert area cooling equipment with low water consumption and internal recycle of treated water drains has been adopted to reduce raw water consumption down to approximately only 120 m³/h on a daily average. This allowed to respect the limits imposed by the availability of water on site and to maintain a safety margin for an extension planned for the future.

Silvia Cattarino, Marco Colautti, Sandro Mansutti, Perteco srl, Tavagnacco, UD, Italy Contact: www.perteco.com E-mail: info@perteco.com

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MPT International 5/2013

Figure 1. 5KORNKƂGF RTQEGUU FKCITCO QH C VTCFKVKQPCN YCVGT VTGCVOGPV RNCPV

In a steel plant, the water resource is vital to the operations since water is used as cooling fluid for the equipment and the steel. Although referred to as “auxiliary equipment”, the water treatment plant is essential for ensuring the continuity of production. Even though water saving has become an increasingly felt need, usually no particular attention is paid to it in the design process for production facilities. A conventional water treatment plant uses open cooling circuits, with cooling towers and the resulting evaporative water loss (figure 1). Perteco, an engineering company based in Italy, dealt with a case in which the water shortage called for a non-traditional approach. An unconventional water treatment plant was required to serve a steelmaking facility under construction in a desert area. The extreme environmental conditions and the stringent water consumption limits made the study and the implementation of this project a real engineering challenge, which has meanwhile been successfully coped with. To comply with the required limits of water consumption, it was necessary to fully review the usual approach, studying ad hoc solutions, both with regards to process and equipment selection.

Cooling requirements For the project on hand, the demanded cooling water capacity is approximately 10,000 m³/h, for several users: - EAF (capacity: 170 t), - ladle furnace (capacity: 170 t), - six-strand continuous casting machine, - air separation plant, - fume treatment plant, - other users (compressed air station, SVC). The total water capacity is divided up into several circuits. The total amount of thermal power to be removed is in the order of 200 MW. The circuit dedicated to the cooling of the fume treatment plant distinguishes itself from the others in terms of the temperatures required. In particular, the input temperature is higher than the others (55°C instead of 35°C or 40°C). The capacity and thermal power of this circuit corresponds to approximately half of the total. Adverse factors for the design of the water treatment plant are the climatic conditions, scarcity of raw water and the margin required. The steelmaking plant was designed to produce 1,500,000 t/ year of billets and is placed in a desert area, characterized by an annual temperature range between -16°C and +45°C

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Environmental protection and very adverse climatic conditions. The maximum wet bulb temperature is 25°C and the maximum dry bulb temperature is 45°C (design values). These temperatures define the lower unreachable limit of water cooling by evaporation (traditional solution with evaporative cooling towers) and dry coolers (coolers with closed circuits) respectively. These temperatures have to be considered for the design of cooling equipment with an adequate margin, which is typically of 5°C. So it will not be possible to reach temperatures below 30°C and 50°C, adopting the traditional evaporative cooling towers or the dry coolers as alternative solution. The raw water available on site comes from an upstream civil waste-water treatment plant. Raw water consumption has been strictly limited to 180 m³/h (maximum value as average daily water flow). Additionally, a margin of 20% in raw water consumption has to be taken into account for future expansions planned for the steel site. So the maximum raw water consumption is below 180 m³/h. A reverse osmosis treatment is applied to treat the raw water and produce makeup water in the quantity and quality required to compensate water losses in the plant. Also chemicals have to be added to the make-up water to improve its characteristics and to avoid scale and corrosion problems inside the circuits. With the traditional solution, raw water consumption is estimated to amount to approximately 600 m³/h (worst day case).

Genius solution to a challenging task It is evident that the required consumption (below 180 m³/h) is much lower than that obtainable with a tradi-

Figure 2. Hybrid towers of a water treatment plant

tional approach, including reverse osmosis for the raw water treatment and chemicals addition to make-up water (approximately 600 m³/h). The target is to identify a configuration for the water treatment plant which: - respects the limits imposed on the available raw water, - ensures continuous and reliable operation, - provides an acceptable solution in terms of investment and management costs. The solution was found by acting on two fronts: First, appropriate equipment had to be chosen for water cooling. Second, discharges from the water treatment plant had to be recovered by way of an appropriate treatment to enable re-use within the same water treatment plant. Appropriate equipment. Dry coolers and hybrid-cooling towers (figure 2) represent viable alternatives to reduce water cooling consumption. In fact, the dry coolers cool the water circulating in a closed coil without leakage. Cooling

Figure 3. Closed circuit coolers and comparison with the traditional evaporative coolers

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MPT International 5/2013

occurs by heat exchange through forced flow of ambient air, with the use of fans included in the cooling equipment. The hybrid-cooling towers represent an intermediate solution between the traditional cooling towers and dry coolers and can operate in either wet or dry mode depending on climatic conditions. Even in such equipment the water intended for the cooling of the plants circulates in a closed coil. Cooling can be performed by spraying cooling water (wet) from the outside or by forced ventilation only (dry). For the purpose of comparisons between the different equipment, it was assumed that the same thermal power has to be removed and that there were no environmental limits for closed circuits coolers that would prevent their use. Information derived from data from different suppliers has been taken into account. Figure 3 indicates the results based on data from different suppliers. It seems that the dry solution is the best option. In reality, the type of equipment used has to take into consideration the site

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Answers for industry.

Environmental protection

Figure 4. Selected equipment with closed circuit for low water consumption

Figure 5. DR-WTP included in a water treatment plant

conditions. According to the climatic conditions and the required inlet temperature at the various consumption points, it was not possible to install the dry coolers in all circuits. Their application turned out to be ideal only for cooling the circuit for the fume treatment plant, due the high temperature accepted here. The equipment to be adopted was therefore selected as shown in figure 4: dry coolers for the FTP circuit and hybrid towers for all other circuits. With the adoption of the above-mentioned equipment, the estimated consumption of raw water, also considering the osmosis process for its initial treat58

MPT International 5/2013

ment, was still not within limits. In fact the estimated daily average consumption was approximately 160 m続/h and the adequate safety margin was not met. In order to achieve additional saving of raw water, a recovery facility of the drains (drains recovery water treatment plant: DR-WTP) was adopted, using the experience gained by Perteco technicians during the provision of a similar facility serving a direct reduction plant also located in a desert territory. Drain recovery. Figure 5 shows the simplified process diagram with reference to the circuits cooled with hybrid

coolers and the adoption of a plant for the recovery of drains. The design flow rate for all drains treated by the DR-WTP is 63 m続/h, as maximum capacity. This capacity includes the drains from the various hybrid cooling towers and the concentrate discharged from the reverse osmosis that treats the raw water. Much more than 50% of the discharges can be recovered from the recovery system through adequate pre-treatment and dedicated reverse osmosis, obtaining approximately 40 m続/h as average daily water with quality similar to raw water. This recovered flow rate corresponds to the raw water saved by adopting the DR-WTP. The DR-WTP was integrated in the water treatment plant process flow diagram, achieving a consumption of raw water of approximately 120 m続/h as a daily average. It was considered as the final solution to the challenging task (table 1).

Comparison with traditional solutions The final comparison between the solution adopted and the traditional one is summarized in table 2, giving advantages and disadvantages. Although electrical energy consumption will increase by approximately 25%, evaluated as yearly average, resulting in additional energy costs compared to the traditional solution, it is interesting to note that both in the traditional and in the adopted solution the main part, namely more than

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Environmental protection Estimated raw water consumption Peak value Daily average Remarks Design limit

250 mÂł/h

180 mÂł/h

Reference case: evaporative cooling towers

670 mÂł/h

600 mÂł/h

Limit not met

Hybrid and dry coolers

180 mÂł/h

160 mÂł/h

Limit met, but without reserve

Hybrid and dry coolers PLUS drain recovery WTP

130 mÂł/h

120 mÂł/h

Adequate solution

Table 1. Water consumption of a traditional solution (reference case) in comparison to the developed solution

Reference case

Hybrid and dry cooler + DR-WTP

Effect

Raw water consumption (average)

600 mÂł/h

120 mÂł/h

- 80%

Advantage

Make-up water feed (average)

430 mÂł/h

160 mÂł/h

- 65%

Advantage

WTP footprint

4,050 m²

9,300 m²

+ 130%

Disadvantage

Volume of concrete tanks

6,885 mÂł

4,590 mÂł

- 35%

Advantage

Electrical power installed

6,280 kW

7,999 kW

+ 25%

Disadvantage

Consumption of chemicals

12.5 kg/h

5 kg/h

- 60%

Advantage

Table 2. Comparison between adopted solution and traditional solution (advantages and disadvantages)

60%, of the installed electrical power in a water treatment plant is accounted for by the installed water pumps. However, the adopted solution provides considerable savings of water and associated chemicals with an important impact on operating costs. Considering an estimated cost of 0.40 – 0.65 US$/m³ for chemicals to be added to the treated water, 8,000 h/year of operation and savings amounting to 270 m³/h (430 m³/h – 160 m³/h) of make-up water (allowed by the solution adopted), it is es-

timated that the savings on the cost of chemicals may reach values in the order of 1.4 million US$/year.

Acknowledgement

Conclusion The solution adopted differs from traditional approaches due to the following aspects: - use of equipment with low or negligible water consumption (hybrid-cooling towers and dry coolers),

- study and application of a plant for the treatment and recovery of the drains (drain recovery water treatment plant – WTP). With this solution in place, it will be possible to obtain a raw water consumption of only approximately 120 m³/h as daily average, while respecting the limits imposed by the availability of water on site and maintaining a safety margin for the planned expansion of the steelmaking facilities. In respect of the higher investment cost needed to adopt the solution identified, the savings of water and chemicals are particularly advantageous in economic terms. For this case, it is estimated that these savings will outweigh the higher costs of investment in less than five years, making the validity of the solution adopted sustainable and convincing. The efforts adopted to satisfy the requirement of low water consumption at the described site have made it possible to highlight a non-traditional approach that could be applied and provide an economically viable solution for other plants of the steelmaking route, like direct reduction plants, hot rolling mills or other industrial facilities.

The authors wish to thank Mr. Stefano Fareri, Area Manager Italia, DECSA srl, for the technical support provided during the development of the solution.

References [1] Robert H. Perry, Don Green: Perry’ Chemical Engineering Book. 7th edition, McGraw Hill, 1999. Section 12: Psychrometry, Evaporative Cooling, and Solids Drying; pag.12-17

Steel making – Hot rolling

South Steel commissions new meltshop with associated rolling mill in Saudi Arabia The new EAF steelworks in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, will produce up to one million t of billets per year, the rolling mill up to 500,000 t of rebar. The NJ?LR Q?RGQjCQ FGEF BCK?LBQ ML CDjAGCLAW kCVG@GJGRW ?LB productivity.

SMS Meer GmbH, MĂśnchengladbach, Germany; SMS Concast AG, Zurich, Switzerland Contact: www.sms-meer.com www.sms-concast.com

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MPT International 5/2013

with up to 100 per cent HBI. The electrode control and process automation of the steelworks meet very high demands, allowing a homogeneous process with considerable flexibility and high productivity. For secondary metallurgy, a ladle furnace is used. The continuous caster comprises five strands and can produce one million t of billets in the formats 130 mm square and 150 mm square. Half of the cast billets are sold on the regional market, the other half is further processed while still hot in the adjacent rebar mill. Provided by SMS Meer, this rolling mill is equipped with a walking-beam furnace with several heating zones. The ratio of fuel to air is monitored separately in each zone, enabling the fuel consumption to be significantly reduced. The furnace can be operated flexibly, irrespective of the production volume. The fully automated rolling mill consists of 16 housingless stands followed downline by a finishing block with six stands. The compact design of the housingless (HL) roll stands in conjunction with a finishing block ensure compliance with close tolerances. Thanks to Figure 1. 5WEEGUUHWN Ć‚TUV ECUV CV VJG UVTCPF EQPVKPWQWU casting machine of South Steel the HSDÂŽ high-speed delivery system, final rolling speeds of up to 41 m/s are possible. The plant can thereHighly productive for small fore reach a high production rate per dimensions hour even for small dimensions. The electric arc furnace from SMS “We are very pleased about the sucConcast is equipped with eccentric bot- cessful cooperation with South Steel,â€? tom tapping (EBT) and a full platform says Stefan Rutishauser from SMS Conand is designed for 24 charges per day. cast. “Thanks to the high capacity of the The raw material mix has been com- components, the performance and proposed of 80 per cent hot-briquetted ductivity of the minimill is impressive, iron (HBI) and 20 per cent scrap. How- exactly as South Steel had expected it ever, the furnace can also be charged to be.â€? The South Steel minimill is regarded as a major milestone in setting up a steel cluster in Saudi Arabia. Jizan Economic City is one of six newly constructed sites with which the Kingdom aims to make the Saudi economy less dependent on the export of crude oil by 2030. Here, South Steel has recently commissioned a minimill from SMS Meer and SMS Concast. The steelworks can produce up to one million t of billets per year, the rolling mill up to 500,000 t of rebar. The plant satisfies high demands on efficiency, flexibility and productivity.

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5KFGTĂ–TIKEC 0CEKQPCN VQ DWKNF C EQORNGVGN[ PGY UVGGNYQTMU YKVJ FQYPUVTGCO TQNNKPI OKNNU SiderĂşrgica Nacional (SN) in Venezuela has ordered a new plant complex for the production and processing of QRCCJ 'L RFC jPQR NF?QC RFC project will comprise an electric QRCCJ NJ?LR ? AMLRGLSMSQ slab caster and a heavy-plate mill. In the second stage of AMLQRPSARGML ? J?BJC BCE?QQGLE plant and a Steckel mill for the production of hot strip will complete the plant complex.

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MPT International 5/2013

Siderúrgica Nacional – a state-owned company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – has started a greenfield project for a new EAF based minimill. The overall capacity of the new plant complex will amount to 1.55 million tons of liquid steel, from which heavy plate and hot strip will be produced in the downstream production facilities. The new plant complex will be located in Ciudad Piar in Bolívar State. Siderúrgica Nacional will realize the construction of the overall plant together with the Brazilian company Construtora Andrade Gutierrez S.A. on the basis of an EPC contract (engineering, procurement and construction). The scope of supply for SMS Siemag includes the complete technological equipment, commissioning and comprehensive training for the customer’s personnel. The UVGGN RNCPV will consist of an ARCCESSŽ EAF with a capacity of 200 t and a rating of 220 MVA. It will be equipped with an SIS oxygen injection system. A ladle furnace provides for the exact adjustment of the chemical composition and temperature of the liquid steel. Furthermore, SMS Siemag will deliver the additives supply system and a gas cleaning system.

The single-strand continuous caster will be designed for the production of slabs with thicknesses of 180 and 250 mm and widths of 800 to 2,100 mm. It will be a vertical bending plant with a radius of 9.5 m and a metallurgical length of 31.5 m. The 3.8-m JGCX[ RNCVG OKNN will be designed for an annual production of 356,000 t and produce plates with a maximum width of 3,400 mm and thicknesses between 8 and 100 mm. In the second phase, the rolling mill will be extended by a twin-stand Steckel mill for the production of 844,000 t of hot strip per year. SMS Siemag will supply the entire electrical and automation systems for the new plant complex. The X-PactŽ automation package will include the process automation (level 1) and the technological process models (level 2). The automation system will be tested beforehand using the Plug & Work method developed by SMS Siemag. This ensures set-up of the systems for faultless sequences and perfect operability prior to installation. A consortium of European banks provides a buyer’s credit secured by Hermes for the financing of the SMS Siemag supply share.

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Continuous casting

Coating technology to increase life time of slab mould plates Worn mould plates are usually repaired by milling to remove the cracks created during casting. However, the plates become thinner and thinner each time they are refurbished. Recently, an electroplating technology was developed that compensates the wall thickness decrease of the mould plate caused during refurbishing. As a result, life time of the mould NJ?RCQ GLAPC?QCQ QGELGjA?LRJW ?LB associated costs are reduced. This newly developed copperto-copper plating solution for slab mould plates has already been successfully used in German and North American continuous casting plants.

Refurbishing continuous casting moulds (figure 1) made of silver-alloyed copper or chromium-zirconium-alloyed copper by coating, preferably with nickel, is state-of-the-art technology today. This technique not only improves the surface quality of the cast slabs but – what may be even more important – also reduces the running costs for moulds as a result of the extended mould life. However, this technique has not been there for ever. Actually, Evertz was the first company in the world to succeed in electroplating nickel onto copper plates,

in the downstream hot mill had become obsolete. Additionally, it was soon recognized that electroplating also resulted in a significant increase in the working life of the mould plates. Initially, manufacturers (OEMs) of copper mould plates had massively opposed the new coating technology since they feared losing revenues and market shares. But this resistance turned out to be unsustainable. Steel mill operators soon recognized that galvanic plating of copper mould plates provided extremely positive and beneficial effects.

Figure 1. Refurbishing of continuous casting moulds by coating with nickel layers has become common practice now

Figure 2. Bending specimen: copper substrate covered with a Ni-layer forms the everlasting mould

Egon Evertz KG, Solingen, Germany Contact: www.evertz-group.com E-mail: info@evertz-group.com

66

MPT International 5/2013

initially for the mould of a single-strand circular-arc slab caster in Germany, back in the mid-1970s. This measure led to a significant improvement in the surface quality of the continuously cast slabs. So-called star cracks, which previously had occurred in certain steel grades, became a thing of the past. Removal of these cracks – usually in a major flame scarfing effort – prior to rolling the slabs

In the early 1980s, following the initial success, Evertz developed a onepiece mould made up of electrodeposited layers, mainly for use in billet casters. The mould is either made entirely of copper or has an additional inner nickel coating, which increases the mould life by reducing damage caused by the dummy bar. The respective European Patent No. 0125509 was applied for

Continuous casting on April 13, 1984, published on November 21, 1984 and finally granted on September 9, 1987. This is just one of over 30 patents held by the Evertz Group for inventions associated with continuous casting technology, primarily casting moulds. Since, Evertz has established two refurbishing centres for copper moulds, one in Langenfeld, Germany, and one in Middletown, Ohio, USA. The latter is operated by Evertz Technology Service – a subsidiary of the Evertz Group. It is equipped with three ten-axes Klopp CNC milling machines and has recently made another technological breakthrough: After intermediate machining (repair) in the mechanical workshop, a full face nickel re-coated mould was put back into service, reaching a record service life of 544 heats in the thin slab

caster of the Flat Roll Division of Steel Dynamics, Inc. in Butler, Indiana, USA. Furthermore, a new service life record of 627 heats has been reached by using a coated mould in a thin slab caster at Nucor Crawfordsville, Indiana. Previously, mould plates used to be repaired mechanically on milling machines several times during their life time to remove the cracks created during casting. Each time during this procedure, copper material is being removed, leading to the plate becoming thinner and thinner. The procedure can be repeated several times, but only until a critical thickness of the mould has been reached. At that point, the plate must be scrapped. A few years ago, Evertz further developed the above described technology of electrodepositing coating layers onto a

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wind gusts. Rotor blades turn 20 times per minute, which is translated into 2000 rpm in the generator. A generator shaft will handle approximately 15 billion rotations. This enables clean, future-proof energy to be obtained from the wind on a sustainable, long-term basis.

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one-piece tube mould and used it for copper-onto-copper electroplating of base plates for slab moulds. This technique fully compensates the thickness reduction of the plate resulting from machining, leading to a significant increase in plate life time and the associated cost reductions. The mould plate lives much longer before the plate finally has to be scrapped. Actually, the plate is potentially everlasting. Hence, in theory, the everlasting mould was born. This newly developed copper-to-copper coating solution for slab mould plates has already been successfully used in German and North American continuous casting plants. Figure 2 shows a sample of a bending test of such an electroplated copper layer including a nickel coating as the basis for the everlasting mould.

Figure 1. Walking beam furnace No. 5 at California Steel

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68

MPT International 5/2013

California Steel Industries, Inc. produces hot rolled, cold rolled, pickled and oiled, and galvanized steel products and electric resistance welded pipe. The manufacturing process begins in the hot strip mill, where thick steel slabs are heated in large furnaces and then hot rolled to produce steel coils. The existing steel rolling capacity of the hot strip mill is approximately 400 short tons per hour (363 t/h). California Steel is manufacturing approximately 1,640,000 short tons of steel products annually (approx. 1.5 million metric t/year). In 2007, California Steel Industries proposed to revise its Title V permit by installing a new reheat furnace (D202) and a new selective catalytic reduction unit (C209) in its facility in Fontana, CA, USA. California Steel also requested a condition to limit the combined fuel usages for existing furnace No. 4 (D133) and proposed reheat furnace No. 5 (D202) in order to minimize the emission increases at the facility due to the addition of reheat furnace No. 5 accord-

ing to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements. Tenova Core designed the new reheat furnace No. 5 (figure 1) for California Steel.

Technologies assessment The challenge that Tenova Core faced was to select the most suitable combustion technology for this scenario. The fundamental question about the choice of the technology for a new reheating furnace configuration is “Which is the best solution?� or “Which are the best candidates targeting to the best solu1J?@ RFGAILCQQ

l KK

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l KK

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1J?@ UCGEFR

K?V R

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R F

Table 1. Nominal design data of the walking beam furnace No. 5

Reheating

Figure 2. Combustion scheme

tion?� Best solution means the most profitable production in terms of high target product quality, consuming the minimum amount of energy, while complying with the environmental regulations, and also achieving minimum CAPEX. Minimum energy consumption is normally synonymous with minimum OPEX. The technology candidates are basically three: conventional recuperative furnace, regenerative furnace, oxy-fuel furnace [1]. Hybrid solutions by zones are also possible with intermediate performances. Many comparisons among these technologies have been carried out, both for new furnaces and for furnace revamps [2]. Traditional furnace is often meant to be an arrangement with cold air instead of hot air recovered by means of a central recuperator [3]. Each solution has pros and cons. The comparison among the technologies must be carried out using different targets. One of them related to the specific consumption is the available heat defined as the total thermal input (i.e. heating value of the fuel plus the contribution of the air and/or fuel preheating) less the energy carried out by the hot exhaust gases. The available heat of a furnace can be used as the basis for a simple assessment of technologies from a thermal point of view.

Design of the new walking beam furnace For the new walking beam furnace No. 5 of California Steel, Tenova Core selected a hybrid solution featuring flame-

less regenerative burners and flameless traditional burners (with recuperation) in order to optimize energy consumption and minimize NOx emission [4]. The new walking beam furnace is designed to reheat a range of steel products (i.e. low carbon and low alloy steel) from ambient to a discharge temperature suitable for hot rolling. Production data are listed in table 1. The furnace is top- and bottom-fired. It is end-charged by means of a charging machine and end-discharged by an extractor. The furnace material handling system includes roller tables in front of the furnace. The movement of the walking beams, lifting of charging/ discharging machines and lifting of charging/discharging doors are carried out by means of hydraulics. The furnace is equipped with a metallic recuperator to recover heat from the furnace flue gases by heating combustion air. The recuperator is made up of sets of alloy tube bundles located in the waste gas flue leading to the selective catalytic reduction unit and finally to the stack. Regenerative burners are used in heat I and II zones (figure 2) to improve efficiency taking advantage of the high waste gas temperature in these zones to obtain the maximum preheat allowing these zones to operate in a highly efficient manner. TRGX regenerative flameless burners developed by Tenova preheat combustion air above 980°C through the ceramic ball regenerators and can work both in flame mode (for cold ignition) or flameless mode (to reach the best performance in terms of NOx emissions).

Selective catalytic reduction is used to reduce NOx in the waste gas stream that was formed during the combustion process before the waste gases are discharged into the atmosphere. A waste heat boiler is used to recover some of the available heat from the waste gases after passing through the recuperator and before passing into the stack. A fully integrated process control system monitors and controls all of the process functions of the furnace according to the typical architecture with Level 0 (field mounted apparatus), Level 1 (PLC for the control functions of the combustion and mechanical equipment) and Level 2 (supervisory computer-based system to determine steel temperature using an on-line real time mathematical model of heat transfer). The combustion system is designed to provide sufficient heat input to maintain the design production rate based upon the reference piece as previously stated with 90% skid pipe lining. The furnace is fired using the latest in lowNOx technology – flameless and regenerative burners (figure 3). Heat zones. The furnace is divided into four main zones: preheat, heat I, heat II and soak zones. All of these zones are then further divided, top and bottom, as well as the soak zone being divided east and west, to give a total of ten temperature control zones. The products of combustion from the flameless hot air burners and the remaining 20% from the regenerative burners exit the furnace through the charge end uptake flue, and pass through a recuperator, which is used MPT International 5/2013

Reheating to preheat the combustion air. The regenerative burners exhaust 80% of their own products of combustion, with the aid of an exhaust fan, through a media box, which also preheats the combustion air for the regenerative burners. The now cooler regenerative exhaust joins the products of combustion exiting the recuperator and together they enter a selective catalytic reduction unit, waste heat boiler, and a furnace pressure damper before exiting to the atmosphere by means of an exhaust fan.

nace. The burner capacity is greater than the theoretical capacity required in order to allow for the normal operating upsets encountered in mill operation. Table 2 summarizes the data of burners installed in the different zones of the walking beam furnace. The total connected fuel capacity is 529.4 MMBtu/h. The total connected fuel capacity is sized to achieve the design production rate including the safety margin in each zone. The amount of NOx produced by the burners operating

Figure 3. 6GPQXC TGIGPGTCVKXG ĆƒCOGNGUU DWTPGTU

Zone

Burner type

Firing pattern

Burner input ++ RS F

No. of burners

Zone input ++ RS F

bottom soak zones. After the pilots have been lit and pilot flames verified in the bottom heat and soak zones, the main burners can be lit. Once any other zone temperature has exceeded the auto ignition temperature, the main burners in that zone can be lit. Cascade control. Combustion control is carried out by means of cascading control which is a system whereby the burners are progressively shut off beginning with those closest to the charge end as a percentage of turndown or flow. In essence this lengthens the unfired section of the furnace while maximizing the performance and efficiency of the burners that remain firing. This method of combustion control will be used for the preheat zone. As furnace production rate decreases and heat demand in these zones decreases, burners are shut off in steps starting from the charge end of the furnace in order to heat as late as possible. This effectively lengthens the unfired section of the furnace at low production rates, saving fuel and creating less scale than a conventionally fired furnace zone. Also, by reducing the number of burners firing in the zone at turndown conditions, each of the burners that are left firing has a higher flowrate than if the whole group of burners were turned down. This gives improved flame geometry and heat distribution across the furnace at the turned down conditions.

Table 2. Technical data of the recuperative burners

Recuperator. In order to preheat the combustion air for the preheat and soak zones a convection type recuperator is located in the waste gas duct. The recuperator heat exchange surface is comprised of tube bundles arranged in a two-pass, airside, cross waste gas flow configuration. The tubes are arranged vertically with the combustion products flowing in a direction perpendicular to the tube body. Combustion air is preheated up to 560°C in the nominal condition.

The burners used in the preheat and soak zones are the flameless type, which provide even temperature distribution and very low NOx levels. The burners in the heat I and heat II zones are regenerative. The flameless burners are designed specifically for the application. The main burners are used to reheat the slabs as they pass through the fur-

Fans. Three combustion air fans are dedicated to the recuperative burners and three additional combustion air fans are dedicated to the regenerative burners. A dilution air fan is installed to protect the recuperator. A hot exhaust fan pulls the product of combustion through the regenerative media boxes. There is also a main stack fan through which all combustion gases are evacuated.

.PCFC?R RMN

0CASNCP?RGTC

1GBC

6

.PCFC?R @MRRMK

0CASNCP?RGTC

1GBC

6

111

Heat I top

Regenerative

1GBC

20/pair

8

80

&C?R ' @MRRMK

Regenerative

1GBC

20/pair

8

80

Heat II top

Regenerative

1GBC

11/pair

8

44

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1GBC

11/pair

8

44

1M?I C?QR RMN

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80

529.4

total

70

MPT International 5/2013

at the design condition is: - recuperative burners: 31.8 g/MMBtu (0.07 lbs/MMBtu) - regenerative burners: 54.4 g/MMBtu (0.12 lbs/MMBtu). Pilot burners. The main burners are lit using electrically ignited pilots in the bottom heat I, bottom heat II and

Reheating Combustion air system. The combustion air required for the operation of the walking beam furnace is supplied by dedicated fans. In addition all necessary equipment such as manual, flow control and on/off valves, stainless steel bellow-type expansion joints, flexible connections and metering devices needed to complete the system are installed. Each temperature control zone has an independent stainless steel concentric orifice Criteria

Emission factor Max. hourly

damper is arranged to pivot on a vertical axis and the damper bearings do not require water-cooling. The damper is driven by an electric actuator. The damper works in tandem with the variable frequency drive-controlled main stack fan. Furnace pressure is controlled to provide a slightly positive pressure at the furnace hearth. This minimizes air infiltration into the furnace, which would decrease fuel efficiency and increase NOx emissions. Max. daily Max. monthly IE

IE KKAD

IE

IE

,-x

E ++ RS

IE

IE

PM10

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IE

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IE

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Table 3. Emission criteria of the walking beam furnace No. 5

Fuel systems. The fuel used by the furnace is natural gas. The main system header includes a pressure reducing station with manual by-pass and a three valve block and bleed. The main block and bleed automatically closes and the vent valve opens in the event a critical situation develops concerning one or more of the following systems: loss of electrical power, high or low gas pressure, low combustion air pressure, cooling water flow, zone temperatures, recuperator temperatures, and low compressed air pressure. Each fuel/air ratio control zone has a manual isolation valve and automatic shutoff valve, an adjustable port-type flow control valve with actuator and a stainless steel orifice plate. Each burner drop will contain an FM lubricated plug valve for isolation and automatic shutoff valves as required for cascading. Furnace pressure damper. The furnace pressure control damper is constructed from stainless steel and is designed to withstand the temperatures encountered in a reheat furnace application. The 72

MPT International 5/2013

Table 3 summarizes some data relevant to the furnace emissions from the walking beam furnace No. 5. The furnace has an operating schedule of 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, and 50 weeks/ year. The furnace is inactive for 16 hours/week for “hot maintenance�.

Conclusions

Max. yearly

!-

plate and high temperature wafer-style butterfly flow control valve. Burners that turn on/off that part of the cascading control have wafer style butterfly valves with rack and pinion-type pneumatic actuators with spring return. Those burners that do not have actuated valves have a manual butterfly valve with locking handle. For the regenerative burners, each line, except for the first stage air on non-piloted burners, going into the burners has a cycle valve, which is controlled automatically with a solenoid or electrically operated.

Operational results

Selective catalytic control. In order to further reduce the NOx beyond the level achievable with the state-of-theart flameless technology a selective catalytic reduction system has been installed in the waste gas duct system. It is completely contained within a “spool piece� that fits into the duct between the recuperator outlet and the waste heat boiler. The main system components are: forwarding system, delivery system and catalyst. The forwarding system accepts, stores, and transfers ammonia to the injection pumps. The forwarding system consists of a 37,850 l tank with a hatch, a drain, a camlock fill connection, and a vent. The tank contains two level transmitters, pressure relief valve, vacuum relief and leak detection. The delivery system takes the 19% aqueous ammonia and delivers controlled amounts of it to the injection nozzles based on feedback from the NOx analyzer. The delivery system consists of two injection pumps (one operating and one standby), aqueous ammonia flow metering and flow control valve header, instrument air header, two ammonia dilution air fans. The fans draw waste gas from the waste gas duct after the catalyst for mixing with the aqueous ammonia solution before injection into the waste gas duct upstream of the catalyst. The catalyst is the entire section of waste gas duct that contains the catalyst and other necessary components including catalyst and internally lined section of duct with test ports. A perforated plate insures even distribution of the waste gas into the catalyst.

Many well-known potential drawbacks (cost, complexity, control, impact on the product quality, emissions, etc.) which previously limited a widespread implementation of regenerative burner technology are being overcome by Tenova with specific technological solutions, such as the coupling with the flameless technology, the proper choice of the materials and the internal design of the burner (air baffle, gas lances), the control strategy, and the complete design of the furnace. This know-how is derived from more than forty years of experience gained in the design of reheating furnaces installed all over the world and from the continuous R&D efforts to improve combustion technologies and designs. Tenova regenerative flameless burners combine the advantages of the flameless combustion, which allows the lowest NOx emissions level, with the high temperature combustion air preheating, which allows an important energy saving, thus meeting the latest demands from the steel industry.

Acknowledgements 2FC ?SRFMPQ UMSJB JGIC RM RF?LI &?PPW JJGL #VCASRGTC 4GAC .PCQGBCLR -NCP?RGMLQ ?LB "ML ?PX?L -NCP?RGMLQ .J?LLCP &MR 1RPGN +GJJ MD !?JGDMPLG? 1RCCJ 'LBSQRPGCQ DMP RFC QSNNMPR RFCW NPMTGBCB DMP RFGQ N?NCP

References 9 ; # +?JD? + $?LRSXXG f0 " ?LB ?NNJGA?RGML MD FGEF CDDGAGCLAW AMK@SQRGML QWQRCKQt '+ !MLDCPCLAC f#LCPEW CDDGAGCLAW ?LB 'LLMT?RGMLt CPE?KM 'R?JW 9 ; ( )?SDK?L ( +?PGLM f0CECLCP?RGTC @SPLCPQ MP -VW $SCJ SPLCPQ DMP WMSP $SPL?AC 3NEP?BC t (SLC 'LBSQRPG?J &C?RGLE 9 ; , )PGQFL?KSPRFW 5 J?QG?I *SELCR f"CTCJMNKCLR MD &GEF 2CKNCP?RSPC GP ?LB -VW $SCJ AMK@SQRGML RCAFLMJMEGCQ DMP KGLGKGXCB !-2 ?LB ,-x CKGQQGMLQ GL 'LBSQRPG?J &C?RGLEt 2FC (MGLR 'LRCPL?RGML?J !MLDCPCLAC ML f1SQR?GL?@JC #LCPEW ?LB #LTGPMLKCLR 1## t "CACK@CP &S? &GL 2F?GJ?LB 9 ; # +?JD? CR ?J f+GLGKGXGLE ,-x #KGQQGMLQ DPMK 0CFC?RGLE $SPL?ACQt RF '$0$ +CK@CP AMLDCPCLAC (SLC .GQ? 'R?JW

Figure 1. 2CTCNNGN ĆƒCPIG beams produced in a 1.0 million t/year Danieli heavy-section mill

In-line heat treatment for thermo-mechanical production of high-quality beams 2M DSJjJ RFC CTCP KMPC CV?ARGLE BCK?LBQ MD RMB?W Q K?PICR QRCCJ NPMBSACPQ ?PC AMLQR?LRJW QRPGTGLE RM AMK@GLC RFC PMJJGLE NPMACQQ ?LB RFC jL?J FC?R RPC?RKCLR 'L JGLC FC?R RPC?RKCLRQ DMJJMU RFGQ BGPCARGML ?Q RFCW ?JJMU PC?AFGLE RFC FGEFCQR OS?JGRW ?R KGLGKSK NPMBSARGML AMQRQ 2FC ?NNJGA?RGML MD RFGQ RCAFLMJMEW RM BGDDCPCLR RWNCQ MD JMLE NPMBSARQ F?Q JCB RM QNCAGjA RCAFLMJMEGA?J QMJSRGMLQ ?LB J?WMSR AMLACNRQ "?LGCJG Q PCQNMLQC RM RFC QRCCJ NPMBSACPQ PCOSGPCKCLRQ F?Q K?BC GR NMQQG@JC RM GLRPMBSAC QGELGjA?LR GLLMT?RGMLQ DMP FGEF OS?JGRW @C?K NPMBSARGML

The market demand for ever better quality is a constant incentive for the steel producers to match the targets of process optimization and cost reduction. Quality is the first objective and most of the work in steelmaking is dedicated to controlling the entire production cycle from the scrap or raw material to the final product. All these efforts contribute to cost savings as they reduce quality-induced losses and allow sale margins to increase. A further step towards reducing total production costs is to obtain a material that does not require any further heat treatment for the final production stage or its actual use. With all these concepts in mind, Danieli’s Medium & Heavy Section Mills department has developed proprietary know-how that improves the manufacturing processes.

Mechanical properties of steel sections

0MJ?LBM .?MJMLC LBPC? 1N?B?AAGLG Danieli MorgĂĽrdshammar SRRPGM 'R?JW !MLR?AR UUU B?LGCJG AMK #K?GJ P N?MJMLC B?LGCJG GR

74

MPT International 5/2013

Sections and beams are mostly applied in the structural steel market for a wide range of applications such as buildings, bridges or structures. The main mechanical properties of structural steel grades, namely tensile and impact properties, are nowadays standardized by various international standards (i.e.: EN10025, ASTM A6/A6M, GOST 27772-88, etc.). Yield strength is the basic property used in the design stage of a structure, while tensile strength is also of impor-

tance for ultimate limit states; the ratio between these properties is of fundamental importance for the design of constructions in seismic zones. A minimum Charpy V impact toughness is required to guarantee a resistance to fracture at room or low temperature, in accordance to conditions of utilization. Another property to be considered is weldability, because this determines the economy of structural assembly work. Weldability requires a maximum value of carbon equivalent (Ceq). It is important to understand how the different alloying elements affect the hardness of the steel weld. Consequently, it is not allowed to significantly increase the C and Mn contents in steel, since they are the main alloying elements used to increase yield and tensile strength. This is valid in particular for thicker products. By conventional rolling there are no possibilities of increasing mechanical properties of the material other than through enriching the chemical composition with standard alloying elements or microalloying. Nevertheless, the cost of these elements has forced producers to look for different and more economic approaches in order to obtain better properties in the final products. Thus, during the last few decades, various new processes have been developed to obtain finer microstructures as required by the market without increasing production costs through the addition of alloying elements.

Hot rolling Controlled temperature rolling Controlled temperature rolling (CTR) includes different rolling process routes, in accordance with the final rolling temperature. In fact, a differentiation is made between - normalizing rolling (NR), - thermomechanical rolling (TMR) and - low temperature rolling (LTR). In these cases, final rolling reduction is performed at specific temperatures: just above the no-recrystallization temperature (TNR), or below TNR but above the ferrite-to-austenite transformation end temperature upon heating (Ac3), or in a temperature range where austenite to ferrite + perlite transformation occurs. These ranges depend on the chemical composition since chemical elements added shift the phase start and finish temperatures. With controlled temperature rolling, the beam is rolled to a certain point in the final pass schedule and then held in air to cool. During the holding period, the beam is kept moving on the roller table before the finishing mill or the finish rolling/sizing passes. This avoids excessive cooling of those zones of the beam that are constantly in contact with the rollers. At the chosen temperature, the beam is rolled in the finishing mill as usually. In this process the austenite grain size, refined at high temperatures during roughing, is then deformed in the lower austenite region where a small amount of recrystallization takes place. This also largely limits the final coarse grain

growth after the last pass, which is detrimental to the mechanical properties. This process is particularly efficient for low carbon structural steels in which the presence of microalloyed elements (V, Nb, Ti) promotes the increase of TNR, significantly enlarging the zones in which recrystallization is retarded or inhibited. The main metallurgical benefits of this process are a finer ferritic microstructure in the final section. The finer microstructure achieves higher values of tensile properties (both, higher tensile strength and higher yield strength) and of impact properties at low temperature (in combination with low contents of carbon and microalloying elements). All these benefits (figure 2) are obtained without any additional equipment needed. Moreover, since all the bars are forced to be finish rolled at the same surface temperature, a better repeatability of the process is reached guaranteeing a more stable quality output. It is unavoidable that lower rolling temperatures result in higher stand loads and the necessity of having a waiting time before the last passes may cause a drop in the productivity of the rolling mill. Consequently, this process should be applicable to all the section dimensions for which the increase in stand loads and the decrease in rolling mill productivity can be accepted.

Fillet cooling During rolling of H- or I-sections, the top part of the beam is colder since it is constantly cooled by circulating new fresh air and par-

Figure 2. Improvements achieved using controlled temperature rolling: microstructure after the last rolling pass

tially affected by roll cooling. Consequently, the bottom zone and in particular the lower radius are the hottest zones due to the contact with the roller table (figure 3). This results in different thermal contraction during cooling of the flanges and the web and of the bottom and top, causing distortion (outof-squareness and web concavity/thermobuckling). The aim of fillet cooling equipment is to decrease the temperature difference between the hottest point (lower radius – junction between flange and web) and the web in order to: - avoid or limit straightening problems, due to out-of-squareness, after the cooling bed, - avoid or drastically reduce the occurrence of thermobuckling (concavity of the web) on cooling bed. This is performed by spraying water at high pressure from a short distance onto the lower radius of the beam in order to guarantee a high cooling rate. The spray nozzles are mounted on the entry and exit guides of ultra-flexible reversing stands (of pre-finishing and finishingsizing mills) and regulated by means of automatic on/off valves as required during the rolling process (cooling time is longer with thicker flanges). Since the cooling jets are directed exclusively towards the lower internal web-flange junction and there is no possibility for the sprayed water to rest on the web, the average temperature of the bar remains practically unchanged. Consequently, there is no conceivable increase in rolling loads or roll wear. Fillet cooling is applicable to all Hbeam dimensions. However, it is highly recommended for flange thicknesses

Figure 3. 1RGTCVKPI UEJGOG QH Ć‚NNGV EQQNKPI MPT International 5/2013

75

Hot rolling greater than 25 mm. Results obtained during normal operations clearly show that the process is effective in reducing out-of-squareness of thicker flanges and drastically limiting the web concavity caused by thermobuckling (table 1).

ultra-flexible reversing stands on each side and, in order to enlarge the cooling length for higher productivities, in a linear arrangement at the entry and exit of the ultra-flexible reversing stand group; the nozzles point to the middle of the external side of the flange in the

Section

Parameter

Requirements (accord. standard)

With fillet cooling

Without fillet cooling

UC356x406x340 R KK

Out of QOS?PCLCQQ

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creased in terms of average values of yield strength and tensile strength but also the standard deviation inside a production lot is improved. This makes for better quality control and higher reproducibility of the results. Another main benefit of the selective flange cooling process is the fact that the increase in the values of the mechanical properties in the web-flange junction area minimizes internal stresses inside the section, reducing damages occurring during straightening. As an unavoidable disadvantage it may be necessary to accept that the actual rolling speed is below the nominal one in order to guarantee that the beam is given the required cooling time.

Quench and self-tempering

Figure 4. /KETQUVTWEVWTG QH URGEKOGPU RTQFWEGF YKVJ CPF YKVJQWV UGNGEVKXG ĆƒCPIG EQQNKPI

5GNGEVKXG ĆƒCPIG EQQNKPI The shape of H-beams does not permit having uniform natural air cooling in all zones of the section. In fact, during and towards the end of the rolling process the flanges and the web are subjected to a significantly higher cooling rate due to reduced thickness with respect to the web-flange junction area. This leads to a finer microstructure in the flanges and the web and to a coarser one in the web-flange junction area, consequently creating heterogeneous metallurgical and mechanical properties in the beam. With selective flange cooling, during ultra-flexible reversing rolling the webflange junction areas of the beam are cooled by means of water spray modules which perform direct cooling of the web-flange junction areas. Nozzle rows are located at the entry and exit of the 76

MPT International 5/2013

web-flange junction area. For each entry/exit side of the stand, an automatic on/off valve regulates the flow rate to the nozzles and permits to control, according to the product type and dimensions, if selective flange cooling has to be activated. Selective flange cooling can be coupled with fillet cooling in order to prevent dimensional problems due to inhomogeneous beam cooling during and after rolling. This process is for all Hbeams dimensions but it is particularly recommended to apply it to beams with a minimum flange thickness of 15 mm (0.6�) (e.g. HE 260B, IPE 500), as they are more likely to be subjected to distortion after rolling. The selective flange cooling process provides a more even temperature and a more uniform grain size across the entire section (figure 4). As a consequence, mechanical properties are not only in-

The quench and self-tempering process has been developed in order to enhance the mechanical properties of H-beams after rolling. Intense water cooling is applied onto the surface of the beam in order to achieve superficial quenching. Cooling is interrupted before the core is quenched and the outer layers are self-tempered by the flow of heat from the core to the surface. Quenching of the beam is performed in a dedicated quenching box positioned at the exit of the ultra-flexible mill stand in which high-pressure water sprays hard-cool the beam on all sides (inner upper and lower flanges, outer flanges and upper and lower web). Dedicated valves allow regulating the flow rate according to the position inside the beam surface. Quenching start temperatures are typically around 850 – 900°C and, after cooling over the entire surface of the section, a self-tempering temperature greater than or equal to 600°C is aimed at. A prerequisite for a uniform quench and self-tempering treatment is a homogeneous temperature profile of the beam section and this condition can be fulfilled by applying selective flange cooling during rolling. This process is recommended for beams with a minimum flange thickness of 15 mm. The main benefit of the quench and self-tempering process is that it considerably increases yield, tensile strength and UTS/Ys ratio (required for increasing the plastic behaviour, for example of constructions in seismic zones) of the beam without the necessity of add-

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Hot rolling In metallurgical terms, during quenching, the transformation between austenite to martensite is achieved in the surface layer. In the internal layers, the cooling rate is not sufficient to achieve this transformation. Consequently, there is a mixed structure of bainite and ferrite + perlite (figure 5). Due to elevated thermal inertia, in the core of the beam the cooling rate achieved allows the formation of fine grained ferriteperlite. After self-tempering, the beam surface is tempered by the heat released from the hot inner layers and a typical tempered martensite is evident. Due to the necessity of long cooling times, especially for sections with very thick flanges, it may be necessary to reduce the rolling speed below the nominal speed. Figure 5. Microstructure in different position after the qunench and self-tempering process (beam W360x818 - ASTM A6/A6M-09)

Conclusion ing alloys during steel production. This enhancement of properties guarantees a low carbon equivalent value, in comparison with conventional hot-rolled low-carbon structural grades, and consequently significantly improved weldability, ductility and impact properties at low temperatures, which are essential characteristics for offshore structures. Cost reductions are achieved for both the steel producer, due to the lower lev-

el of alloys added, and the user, due to the weight-saving effect, because a steel structure designed for a certain load may have less weight. During the past decade, this weight reduction effect increasingly demanded by construction engineers has led to new international specifications or revisions of existing standards to adjust them to the new requirements (e.g. ASTM A913-07, JIS G 3106:2004, EN 10025-4:2004, etc.).

Processes like controlled temperature rolling, fillet cooling, and quenching and self-tempering have been developed in order to refine the microstructure and increase tensile strength properties of structural steel H-beams, drastically reducing the need for adding ferroalloys to the molten steel. The latest equipment and process solutions have been developed in order to guarantee the perfect inline heat treatment for beams.

Innovation in Quality Assurance For more information contact us at: +49 (2405) 47 999 40 www.quinlogic.com 78

MPT International 5/2013

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ULTRA3 LOW NOx™ SMALL CAPACITY REGENERATIVE BURNER 1150 ULTRA3 LOW NOx™ REGENERATIVE BURNER

BLOOM ENGINEERING (EUROPA) GMBH Phone: +49(0)211 500 91-0 info@bloomeng.de www.bloomeng.de

CAN-ENG FURNACES

Continuous Tube, Bar and Plate Heat Treatment Systems QUENCH AND TEMPER, ANNEALING / NORMALIZING FOR TUBE, BAR AND PLATE Contact us to ďŹ nd out why many of the world’s largest steel companies choose to work with CAN-ENG FURNACES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED. To learn more about Can-Eng Furnaces’ engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities visit www.can-eng.com or e-mail Michael Klauck at mklauck@can-eng.com, or visit Can-Eng at Metal Expo, November 12-15, 2013 in Moscow. 3 2 %R[ 1LDJDUD )DOOV 1HZ <RUN _ ZZZ FDQ HQJ FRP _ ƍƞDŽ _ Ć­ĆšÇƒÇŠ

MPT International 5/2013

Hot rolling

Ring-rolling mill for Electrostal metallurgical plant Siempelkamp expands its product range with ring-rolling KGJJQ 2FC jPQR PGLE PMJJGLE mill designed and built by Siempelkamp has passed its crucial test at its initial startup at the Krefeld plant. In July, Siempelkamp manufactured RFC jPQR PGLEQ K?BC MD QRCCJ with the rolling mill which will be commissioned at the Russian JSC Metallurgical Plant Electrostal. The plant was designed for the manufacture of rings with a diameter of up to 2,500 mm.

Figure 1. The new ring-rolling mill has a length of 22 m

The first ring-rolling mill from Siempelkamp with maximum radial and axial pressing forces of 6,300 kN each enables the precise manufacturing of rings with an external diameter of up to 2,500 mm and a height of up to 600 mm. Siempelkamp not only completely manufac-

Figure 2. The rings are made of billets manufactured on another Siempelkamp press at Electrostal

Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH, Krefeld, Germany Contact: www.siempelkamp.com E-mail: metal@siempelkamp.com

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tured the rolling mill at the Krefeld location but also assembled and started it up there as well as extensively tested the hot rolling process. The startup in Krefeld has proven that the plant not only meets the customer’s desired specifications but even exceeds them in some areas. The ring-rolling mill is forecasted to be installed in Russia at the end of this year and will start operation in 2014.

The first Siempelkamp plant of this type manufactures rings made of steel and special materials such as nickelbased, titanium and aluminum alloys. The rings with rectangular or profiled cross-sections made of these extremely rigid yet lightweight special materials are mainly used as mechanically and thermally stressed components in the aerospace industry. With the ring-rolling mill, Siempelkamp once again demonstrates its competence as a systems supplier and provider of complete solutions which designs and builds presses for all stages of metal forming. This ring-rolling mill is the second plant which Siempelkamp supplies to the Russian customer JSC Metallurgical Plant Electrostal: the Russian company also operates a 20,000ton precision closed-die forging press made by Siempelkamp which, among other products, provides the feedstock for the ring-rolling mill. JSC Metallurgical Plant Electrostal carries out the entire production process of rings made of high-alloyed steel in its own plant and thus raises the depth of value added to its own production. With a variety of design details, Siempelkamp achieves exceptionally high precision during ring rolling. For example, the diameter of the rings during ring rolling is precisely measured via laser measurement systems. High process

the leading technical journal for the global iron & steel industry

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Hot rolling accuracy is also guaranteed by the SicoRoll control which Siempelkamp specially developed for ring rolling. This programme package supports the user during process planning. With an advance simulation, which is taking into account the threshold values of the machine, all relevant rolling parameters are determined. The programme uses a database which stores the tool and material data. Furthermore, it contains the common rolling curves and strategies as the basis for the planning process. According to the customer’s requirement, the system can be expanded. The calculated rolling parameters are transmitted to the machine control

which ensures the optimal ring rolling process and keeps the rolling parameters synchronized with the process. The rolling process can be completely documented and archived. Next to the rolling mill, the scope of supply includes the complete hydraulic system, the automation of the roll as well as the SicoRoll control – the kernel of which gives the dimensions of the blanks for the closed-die forging press. By using design principles that have proven themselves in other Siempelkamp presses, the equipment achieves a long operating life. Extensive FEM calculations are the guarantee for the high fatigue strength of the me-

chanical structural components. This is further supported by the fact that the housings for the tapered rolls, which experience high mechanical stresses, are designed as one-piece castings without weld seams. Similarly, all bearings are designed with a long operating life in mind. During the design process, the Siempelkamp design engineers placed great importance in using many standard components especially for highly stressed component parts, such as the gears. For customers this translates into cost savings because maintenance and spare parts are easily procured.

JASPER

Setting The Standards For Highest Efficiency In Thermal Processing

JASPER EcoMelter©, 105t per day, content 35t PulsReg® Medusa Regenerator

Gesellschaft für Energiewirtschaft und Kybernetik mbH D-59590 Geseke / Germany / www.jasper-gmbh.de Tel.: +49 2942 9747 0 / info@jasper-gmbh.de

MPT International 5/2013

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Strip processing

A new paradigm for strip guiding in furnace atmospheres “EMG-Vivaldi®” is a new sensor technology for strip guiding in annealing furnaces on the international market. The sensor itself is mounted outside of the hot furnace atmosphere on the outside wall of the furnace. Each contact to the inside furnace is avoided, even unforeseen strip movements cannot damage the sensors anymore. Thanks to the Ultra Wideband Radar technology the furnace wall becomes transparent in the trues sense of the word. The guiding of the strip depends on reliable absolute values of the position of the strip.

“I spy with my little eye” is a popular children’s game. The desire to be able to see through walls, however, is not only a childhood dream, but also a challenge for all engineers. Imagine a totally enclosed system, in which the interior reaches temperatures in excess of 1,100°C and in which a thin steel strip moves at several 100 m/min. The position of this strip now needs to be measured online with high accuracy and the result is to be used to control the plant, i.e. the strip guiding system for continuous furnaces in modern steel production plants. This application has been realized successfully for many years in the industry thanks to inductive sensors. There is one problem, however, that all previous developments have been unable to solve. The necessary sensors are installed inside the hot furnace atmosphere, making them subject to natural wear, in need of expensive cooling procedures and at risk of damage due to unforeseen strip movements in the event of an emergency. A new paradigm was therefore required: to no longer conduct measurements inside, but outside the furnace. This would only require being able to see through the furnace wall. One problem in this regard is that optical technology is unsuitable for the harsh environmental conditions and temperatures present, meaning that other wavelengths would need to be used for measuring. In contrast to other radar-based measuring systems, EMG-Vivaldi® relies on the principle of so-called Vivaldi antenna technology. The system consists of two pairs of antennas with ultra wideband characteristics, each of which is positioned on a side wall of the furnace. One antenna serves as a transmitter,

while the other functions as a receiver in this setup. The antennas transmit and receive linearly polarized electromagnetic waves in a frequency range between 0.8 and 4 GHz. These waves are reflected by the strip edge and they transmit the edge position by means of an optimized digital runtime measurement (via direct signal measurement) to the signal analysis system. The furnace wall is covered in a nonmetallic insulating material, which exhibits a low absorption rate of electromagnetic waves in the Vivaldi frequency range and is provided with a gas-tight seal. No sensor element is located within the furnace atmosphere and both the electronics and the antennas on the outside of the furnace wall can be cooled with air (or water) if required. The thickness of the insulation is specifically adapted to the particular type of furnace. The operating principle and sensor structure are shown in figure 1. The benefits and advantages are obvious: - measurement through the insulation/ isolation and with a closed gas-tight plate at the furnace wall, - no deformation of the antennas inside the furnace possible, - no damage of sensor by the strip. Neither cleaning of antennas nor cooling of sensors inside the furnace is necessary any more. Antennas or sensor electronics can be exchanged without line stop. There is only one common sensor type for all strips in use, because the sensor is independent from strip width, temperature and material grade. Hence, less spare parts are requested, that in turn further reduces the total costs of ownership.

EMG Automation GmbH, Wenden, Germany Contact: www.emg-automation.com E-Mail: Nicol.Otterbach@emg-automation.com

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Figure 1. Functional principle of the electromagnetic sensors (transmitters)

1.2 Mill. t/a 72,000 t/a 11 €

STEEL LOWER CO2 EMISSIONS COST SAVINGS PER TON

ecoplants

SMS Concast, SMS Elotherm, SMS Meer and the customer Tung Ho Steel jointly developed the innovative CMT™ minimill. The concept focuses on short paths and induction heating. In this way, Tung Ho Steel saves 72,000 t CO2 per year and in parallel lowers the operating costs. The system that was set up in Taiwan received the ecoplants mark as an especially sustainable solution from SMS.

www.sms-concast.ch

Quality unites – a fact that our customers and we discover time and again with every new project. Together we develop solutions that give our partners the competitive edge in their business. Thanks to this good cooperation, SMS Meer is a leading international company in heavy machinery and plant engineering.

www.sms-elotherm.com

www.sms-meer.com

www.sms-ecoplants.com

Technical innovations

Technology for sustainable syngas production ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION A research cooperation plans to develop an innovative technology for environmentally sustainable syngas production from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. BASF, Linde and ThyssenKrupp aim to employ innovative process technology to use carbon dioxide as a raw material, with positive effects on climate protection. Together with BASF’s subsidiary hte AG and scientific partners VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut, DĂźsseldorf, and TU Dortmund University, the companies are developing a two-stage process. In the first step, an innovative high-temperature technology will process natural gas to obtain hydrogen and carbon. Compared to other processes, this technology produces very little CO2. The hydrogen is then reacted with large volumes of CO2, also from other industrial processes, to give syngas. A mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, syngas is a key raw material for the chemical industry and is also suitable for producing fuels. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is subsidizing the project within its “Technologies for Sustainability and Climate Protection – Chemical Processes and Use of CO2â€? scheme. The project started on July 1, 2013, and is expected to last three years. The project partners aim to develop a technology that will open up innovative ways of producing the basic key chemicals hydrogen and syngas on an industrial scale from natural gas, a resource that will be available for the long term. The project’s approach has several advantages:

- Natural gas is a plentiful resource with a more favourable content of hydrogen and carbon than biomass, for example. - Natural gas decomposition is achieved thermally only, without any addition of oxygen or water. This enables the production of hydrogen and solid carbon; the latter may potentially be used to replace hard coal in the coke and steel industries. - In an additional innovative catalytic process step, carbon dioxide is combined with the hydrogen obtained from natural gas decomposition to produce syngas. - With the process operating at very high temperatures, the innovative reactor design ensures that the correspondingly large amounts of waste heat are recycled immediately into the process. - The technology is suitable for industrial production. BASF coordinates the joint project and, in cooperation with hte AG, carries out the experimental research activities on gas decomposition and the catalyst development for the production of syngas. Based on this, the partners intend to develop a pilot plant design and a concept for integrating the innovative technology into existing chemical and steel-producing sites. The engineering responsibility lies with Linde and ThyssenKrupp Uhde. Investigating the carbon from natural gas reforming for possible use in the steel industry will be handled by ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG and its subsidiary Kokereibetriebsgesellschaft Schwelgern (KBS). Contact: www.thyssenkrupp.com

Problems with the Handling of Coke Breeze? The Solution: Pelleting.

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MPT International 5/2013

Corrosion protection through passivation and special greases SURFACE TREATMENT Passivation converts metal surfaces into a protective corrosionpreventing film that improves corrosion protection and exhibits excellent compatibility with paints and adhesives and good lubrication properties. Quaker has recently expanded its product offering in the steel industry with the addition of Primecoat™ surface treatments for passivation processes. Quaker has also added Quakertek™ specialty greases to its portfolio. They include a range of aluminium complex, lithium complex, poly-

urea and calcium sulfonate thickened greases that can be used for bearing, sliding surface, crane, cable winch, fifth wheel, king pin and hightemperature applications. These greases withstand extreme temperatures and have excellent resistance to water washout, water resistance, superior rust and corrosion protection, extreme pressure lubrication, protection against shock loading and excellent film strength.

Contact:www.quakerchem.com

Technical innovations

Time and cost-saving software for spectrometers ANALYTICAL EQUIPMENT Laboratory operators using optical emission (OE) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers can save time and money, thanks to new software that eliminates the need for certified reference materials. The Thermo 5EKGPVKƂE OXSAS 2.0 software enables XRF users to accurately measure up to 79 elements in an unknown sample without the need for specific calibration, effectively eliminating the need for certified reference materials. This software is especially helpful for users in materi-

als science, contract and research laboratories, metals, and minerals. OXSAS 2.0 software also offers unlimited results database size, a powerful new search engine that quickly searches years of analytical data, and ease-of-use improvements, including easier data transfer to external computers, mainframes or laboratory information management systems (LIMS) for both optical emission and XRF spectrometers. The software can be pre-installed on any new OE or XRF spectrometer ordered from Thermo Fisher.

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Green technology seminar in China ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY Conserving energy and protecting the environment are important issues for the People’s Republic of China. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, it has become possible for the metallurgical industry to reconcile environmental and financial concerns. This was the most important conclusion reached at a conference held in Beijing by the SMS group and an organization comprising various Chinese ministries. The SMS group set out how ecoplant-oriented solutions can improve the running of metallurgical plants in both environmental and financial terms. What makes these solutions particularly attractive is the fact that they both lower operating costs and emissions at the same time. Solutions covering the entire metallurgical process chain, from pig iron production through to the manufacture of finished metal sheets, strips and pipes were presented. Continuous mill technology (CMT), for example, is extremely energy-efficient. By linking the steel works directly to the rolling mill, the SMS group’s specialists have developed a process which coordinates continuous casting and rolling more efficiently.

Contact: www.sms-group.com MPT International 5/2013

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Technical innovations

Transformation of steel mill off-gases into bioethanol

Pre-commercial gas fermentation plant at Baosteel (copyright: LanzaTech)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Off-gases from the production of iron and steel contain significant amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Up to now, these gases

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have been flared or used to create process heat and electrical energy within the plant. Within the framework of a ten-year cooperation agreement, Siemens Metals Technologies and LanzaTech will develop and market integrated environmental solutions, utilizing the fermentation technology developed by LanzaTech transforming carbon-rich off-gases generated by the steel industry into low carbon bioethanol and other platform chemicals. LanzaTech’s innovative technology re-uses the off-gases from converter, coking plant or blast furnace processes as nutrients and a source of energy. The patented biological fermentation process allows steel plant operators to make use of the chemical energy contained in off-gases in the form of CO, CO2 and hydrogen for the eco-friendly production of bioethanol or other basic chemicals such as acetic acid, acetone, isopropanol, n-butanol or 2,3-butanediol. Unlike the bioethanol produced through agriculture, LanzaTech’s fermentation process does not compete with food production. Another major benefit of this technology is that the carbon footprint is between 50 to 70% lower than petroleum-based fuels and around one-third lower than when steel plant off-gases are converted into electricity. LanzaTech has been operating a pilot plant in Auckland, New Zealand since 2008 utilizing raw steel mill gases. In 2012, LanzaTech scaled gas fermentation technology to a pre-commercial level, developing and successfully operating two facilities converting flue gas from Baosteel and Shougang steel plants into ethanol. Siemens and LanzaTech will work together on process integration and optimization, and on the marketing and realization of customer projects.

Contact: www.siemens.com www.lanzatech.com

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ThyssenKrupp Uhde Engineering Services

Technical innovations

5CJBGLE MD BGDjASJR RM HMGL EP?BCQ GL ? pickling line/tandem cold mill STRIP PROCESSING Since the end of March 2013, an X-ProÂŽ laser welder has been in operation at the Hyundai Hysco Dangjin works in South Korea. The machine, supplied by SMS Siemag, is used to join higher strength steel strips at the entry into the pickling line/tandem cold mill, forming an endless strip that runs continuously and safely through the pickling line and the rolling mill. During the first months from commissioning, more than 3,000 welded connections were made. None of them showed any cracks during pickling or cold rolling. The material range also included grades difficult to weld. For example, a series of MS-W1200 strips were joined and then rolled with a reduction of 45%. Also strips with a silicon content of 1.2% were welded and rolled. The X-ProÂŽ laser welder developed by SMS Siemag incorporates numerous innovative features that permit safe and fast welding of materials that are challenging to weld. For example, the welding parameters are automatically adapted to new material combinations by means of a cast analysis. In case of difficult material combinations, the welding process is supported by a patented inductive heat treatment of the weld. The weld seam is inspected fully automatically before, during and after welding by an integrated weld assessment system. The laser welder for Hysco has been designed for welding strips in widths between 800 and 1,650 mm and gauges between 1.5 and 5.0 mm. The difference in thickness between two strips to be welded together may be

Laser welder in operation

a maximum of 1 mm. The product range comprises the steel grades CQ, DQ, DDQ, EDDQ, SEDDQ, MA, DP, TRIP and CP. Contact: www.sms-siemag.com

MPT International 5/2013

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Technical innovations

!MLkGARGLE 31 ?LB #3 PSJGLEQ GL ?LRGBSKNGLE circumvention case on electrodes INTERNATIONAL TRADE On August 30, 2013, the U.S. Court of International Trade held that small diameter graphite electrodes manufactured by U.K. Carbon & Graphite (UKCG) in the UK from Chinese rod are products of China for purposes of U.S. antidumping law. This is contrary to rulings by UK au-

thorities, which found them to be of UK origin. This case did not involve electrodes over 406 mm (16�) in diameter. The appeal was due to a conflict between the law in the UK (and the EU) and how the law is being interpreted in the United States. UKCG had argued that rods had been excluded from the case, and that the U.S. Commerce Department had made various errors in calculating the value added in the UK, inMaking any of its decisions FAIM first and foremost thinks of the future and innovations. FAIM activity is focused on cluding refusing to use optimization and leadership in iron and steel industry caused with real passion to steel industry and supported with actual costs of UKCG continuously developing and effective technical know-how. Design, construction, installation, commissioning and putting into but rather using “suroperation, after-market support are all those stage directed to reach clearly specified goals in close operation with customer, rogate� costs. extensively and effectively. We cover full range of services for fabrication, from raw materials to final goods. The U.S. Court of A concrete example of the above is the innovative rolling plant successfully started in SIDEGUA. International Trade ruled that the ComAt its site in Escuintla, in the Guatemala province of Masagua now has an installed annual production capacity of 250.000,00 merce Department ton of profiles. The Rolling Mill features equipment of the latest “State of the Art�, designed to produce high quality profiles. has broad discretion The technological feature of the rolling mill include “Last Generation Horizontal, Vertical and Convertible Stands�, Multi-strand to make its decision Straightener Unit, Flying Shear Cutting to Length, new Stacker for Profiles and Bar Counting Systems (FAIM patent). FAIM and that the court Supply Complete Equipment with Electrical Design, Installation and Commissioning from the MV/LV Power Management up to would not go into the the Rolling Mill Cascade and Loop’s Control with the Hot Cutting managements fully Automated in Level 2, sophisticated High details of the agenspeed data logger for troubleshooting, dedicated HMI Scada Video-Graphic Supervision for Maintenance and Production cy decision. As a remanagement, fully Automatic Commercial Cold Cutting and Packaging Area, AC/DC Drive and Motors. sult, the small diameIn addition to the Rolling Mill, FAIM also supplied the Water Treatment Plant. ter graphite electrodes must be declared to be products of the UK for the purpose of country of origin marking in the United States and in other countries (or be in violation of UK and U.S. origin rulings), but also must be declared as Chinese for the purpose of the U.S. dumping case. The case will not result in UKCG having to pay any additional duties or penalties but will result in UKCG having to declare certain products as subject to the U.S. dumping order if it were to import such products into the U.S.

FAIM Propensity for Innovation – Performance Orientation

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Contact: www.uk-cg.com

Technical innovations

1N?AC Q?TGLE ESLLGLE GLQR?JJ?RGML STEELMAKING For situations in which due to a lack of space no conventional gunning robot can be installed near the EAF, Velco has developed a special gunning manipulator. The gunning installation consists of a gunning manipulator, type Pneutop, and a feeding gunning machine. The manipulator is lifted by means of the hall crane out of its parking frame and low-

Gunning manipulator in operating position

ered into the middle of the furnace through the open furnace roof. It is balanced and stabilized by weights. Robust compressed air motors are used as drive units. The gunning head is insulated with ceramic fibres and cooled by compressed air. The gunning lance allows rotating through +/- 190° and lifting through +/- 45°. Gunning rates of 100 – 150 kg/min

can be achieved. The complete gunning installation can be operated by a single person via remote radio control. Due to its compact and space saving design and easy handling, this gunning manipulator offers a cost efficient and effective alternative to conventional gunning manipulators. Contact: www.velco.de

Tracked boom feeder MATERIALS HANDLING Equipped with a 15-meter folding boom and featuring a huge radial range for stockpiling at +/- 65 degrees, the tracked BF40415T boom feeder recently launched by Samson Materials Handling is an evolution of the wheeled Stormajor® principle. The compact design enables the feeder to be deployed and operational on site in a matter of minutes. The new design gives it unrivalled manoeuvrability, deliver-

ing a cost effective solution for stockpiling, barge loading, ship loading and rail wagon loading at densities of up to 1.6 t/m3 and at a capacity of up to 625 m3/h. The advanced, track-mounted BF0415T offers greater efficiency with fewer moves and a maximum stockpile value 3,130 m3. Contact:

www.aumund.com

RHI – A World Market Leader in the Refractories Technology

For over 175 years, we have been the leading producer of ceramic refractory products for industrial high-temperature processes. Leading steel, glass, cement and nonferrous metal producers worldwide appreciate and trust in the quality of the products and services of RHI.

EXCELLENCE IN REFRACTORIES

www.rhi-ag.com

Technical innovations

-# QNCARPMKCRCP ?Q ?L ?JRCPL?RGTC RM KGAPMscopic testing ANALYTICAL EQUIPMENT In steel production, monitoring the concentrations of the alloying components is not sufficient in many cases, as it may be just as important to obtain information about the type, size and distribution of inclusions as quickly as possible. For this, Spectro Analytical Instruments offers the Spectrolab stationary metal analyzer and Single Spark Evaluation (SSE) as an alternative to the microscopic determination of inclusions in steel. Conventional microscopic testing for inclusions provides accurate results but the samples must be extensively ground and polished before they can be examined. Us-

ing a high-performance optical emission (OE) spectrometer, such as the Spectrolab, is a practical alternative which at the same time provides the possibility of exactly determining the concentrations in alloys and to draw possible conclusions about correlations among the elements. With Single Spark Evaluation, a sample is bombarded with single sparks in a “mapping� measurement. Most of the sparks hit the normal metal matrix, which results in a picture of the alloy composition. However, when a spark hits an inclusion, the measured values are different. From this deviation in measured values, it is possible to determine the presence

Adsorption of DIOXINES by injection of activated coke with the help of ESCHSORB

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and chemical composition of an inclusion and to even calculate its size. In this way, OES-SSE technology is able

to quickly deliver qualitative and semi-quantitative results. Contact: www.spectro.com

Waste gas with DIOXINES Sinter plant or EAF

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Technical innovations

Proactive production supervision system

Threshold setting by virtual sliders

sectors from the pay-off reel through to the recoiler. Rules are defined for each sector, for example, the maximum allowable deviations from speed curves, temperature profiles or a specified number of surface defects per unit of area. The rules can be modified at any time. This requires no special IT knowledge. The limits between “approved� and “blocked� are set by means of virtual sliding buttons. For each strip in production, PPS captures the measured strip data that are already present in the process control system and analyzes these data according to the rules. Contact: www.quinlogic.de

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QUALITY ASSURANCE Processes in the steel industry have become so complex that it is no longer possible to permanently observe every single measured value. In the event of deviations from the specified quality, the new PPS Proactive Production Supervision system from QuinLogic makes it possible to instantly – during running production – take quality decisions and intervene in the production process by appropriate corrective action. The new system triggers an alarm as soon as one or several rules are not complied with, for example, when during galvanizing or annealing the temperature curve is not as specified or when unexpected incidents have a negative impact on the production. In doing so, the system uses data which in the past have only been latently present in the process control data bases and which due to the immense quantities of measured data have been largely unnoticed. The system intervenes in the production process at a very early stage. This is why it is called “proactive�. This prevents the successive production of several out-of spec coils, having an immediate positive effect on the operating result. PPS maps the entire production chain by subdividing it into several sectors that are relevant for the assessment of the quality. In case of a hot-dip galvanizing line, there are typically five

“This is our brand new, fully integrated holistic automation system with panoramic screen in OLED technology. It UJQYU QPNKPG CNN RTQEGUU UVCVGU HTQO TCY OCVGTKCN RTQEWTGOGPV VJTQWIJ VQ VJG UJKROGPV QH VJG Ć‚PKUJGF RTQFWEVU complete with the yield, return on investment, stock market price, current CEO in charge, and the rats in the hydraulic rooms in the basement.â€?

MPT International 5/2013

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Literature service

%QORCP[ RTQÆ‚NG 30 pages, English, German A company brochure featuring &5& 5VGGN )TQWR, which was founded in 2004 by medium-sized companies active in steel construction and maintenance. Main activity fields include engineering and construction of steel structures, bridges, industrial plants, cranes and mechanical engineering, industrial pipeline construction, etc. %QPVCEV YYY FUF UVGGN EQO ' OCKN KPHQ"FUF UVGGN EQO

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24 pages, English, German A brochure providing information on mass flow controllers of the flox[on] series offered by (% 6GEJPKM for applications in the steel industry. It includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of the systems. Examples of application are converter and EAF bottom purging, secondary metallurgy, tundish gas control systems, etc.

%QPVCEV YYY HE VGEJPKM EJ ' OCKN KPHQ"HE VGEJPKM EJ

*KIJ VGEJ CPF MPQY JQY HQT TQNNKPI OKNN VGEJPQNQI[ 2TQFWEV ƃ[GTU 'PINKUJ )GTOCP 4WUUKCP A selection of product flyers highlighting different aspects of rolling mill technology from * - +PFWUVTKGCPNCIGP, for example rolling stands, handling equipment, cutting, sawing and shearing machines, cooling beds or straightening lines. %QPVCEV YYY MQEJ JM EQO ' OCKN KPHQ"MQEJ JM EQO

5WTHCEG KPURGEVKQP 6 pages, English A product detailing technical and performance features of the Surface Master surface inspection system offered by Isra Vision Parsytec. Covered are aspects such as inspection performance, multi-stage classification, reporting and analyzing tools, and additional functionalities. Contact: www.isravision.com; www.parsytec.com ' OCKN KPHQ"KUTC RCTU[VGE EQO

5CHGV[ EQWRNKPIU 16 pages, English A technical brochure providing information on safety couplings manufactured by / # 6 /CNOGFKG #PVTKGDUVGEJPKM. Technical data, functional descriptions and drawings showing the coupling types and sizes, safety elements and key connections. %QPVCEV YYY OCNOGFKG EQO ' OCKN KPHQ"OCNOGFKG FG

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MPT International 5/2013

Literature service

+PFWUVTKCN %%68 U[UVGO UQNWVKQPU 6 pages, English, German A brochure summarizing the key features of special CCTV cameras offered by Pieper for use in high-temperature areas. Presented are combustion chamber cameras, lenses and probes, control and media cabinets, add-on boxes and modules, retraction devices and protective housing solutions. Contact: www.pieper-video.de ' OCKN KPHQ"RKGRGT XKFGQ FG

5NCI EQPFKVKQPGT 4 pages, English, German A concise product brochure outlining the characteristics of the Repromat slag conditioning product offered by 4GHTCVGEJPKM %CUVKPI. Information provided includes the physical properties, the chemical composition and the key advantages of this slag conditioning agent. %QPVCEV YYY TGHTC EQO ' OCKN ECUVKPI"TGHTC EQO

+PFWEVKQP JGCVKPI 28 pages, English A comprehensive brochure outlining the ForgeLineTM furnace series developed by 5/5 'NQVJGTO. All furnaces feature a modular architecture, which can be quickly and efficiently configured to meet individual requirements such as specific applications, throughput rates or product dimensions. %QPVCEV YYY UOU GNQVJGTO EQO ' OCKN KPHQ"UOU GNQVJGTO EQO

2TQEGUUKPI QH TGHTCEVQT[ OCVGTKCNU 8 pages, English, German A brochure presenting machines supplied by 7GN\GPGT for the processing of refractory materials, for example pressure vessel mixing and conveying units, a dry spraying machine for EAF and runner maintenance, a converter gunning unit and a continuous mixer for pre-mixed mortar. %QPVCEV YYY WGN\GPGT WOU FG ' OCKN EQPVCEV"WGN\GPGT WOU FG

+PUWNCVKPI OCVGTKCNU Data sheets, English, German, French, Spanish A folder containing data sheets about insulation materials offered by XJK. The insulation products include ceramic fibre board and blankets, vacuum-shaped ceramic fibre material, ceramic fibre wool, ceramic fibre paper, mineral fibre plates and calcium silicate block insulation. %QPVCEV YYY XJK IODJ EQO ' OCKN QHĆ‚EG"XJK IODJ EQO

MPT International 5/2013

97

In the next issue‌ Ironmaking Wind power from the blast furnace German flat steel producer Salzgitter Flachstahl has made a further contribution to energy-efficient ironmaking by installing a top-gas pressure recovery turbine at its blast furnace B, which was successfully put back into operation after a complete modernization implemented during only 20 months. The turbine continuously recovers eight to nine MW of electrical energy right from the pressure gradient at the top gas of the blast furnace.

Steelmaking – Automation Electrical system upgrade of ladle furnace at Votorantim Barra Mansa, Brazil Votorantim has replaced and commissioned the control system of a 50 t ladle furnace at the meltshop in their Barra Mansa plant. During the 15-day commissioning period, field equipment and communications tests were performed. Engineers and operators completed an intensive training programme to familiarize with the new control system.

Continuous casting Enhanced vertical continuous casting technology for flat and long products The vertical caster concept allows the casting of almost any steel grade, particularly of those steels which can definitely not be cast on a bow-type machine. The only restrictions are in connection with the availability of suitable casting powders. Nevertheless, these special steel grades require a good deal of flexibility from the caster proper. Through continuous improvement and consistent upgrading with modern technological packages, the applicability of vertical casting could be extended to even more steel grades and section sizes, resulting in enhanced quality and productivity.

Hot rolling Combined plate mill and finishing line for aluminium products Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co. Ltd. is going to build a 1+5 hot rolling mill, i.e. a plate mill and a five-stand finishing line. It will be integrated into a new works located to the west of Yantai in the province of Shandong, China. With this mill line, Nanshan’s annual capacity for flat rolled products will rise by 300,000 t in the first stage of construction. The new line will produce can stock for the beverage industry and sheets and plates for the automotive and aircraft industries. This preview may be subject to change.

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® registered trademark of SGL Group companies

SERVICE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Reducing electrode consumption, shorter tap-to-tap times and high arc stability enable an efficient melting process. Our graphite electrodes come with a comprehensive service package and various options to optimize your operations. Everything around the graphite electrode, and more.

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Individual performance analysis Online monitoring of electric arc furnace

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Tailor-made data analysis

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Electrical measurements ·

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Customized reporting CEDIS® - EAF performance monitoring system

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