MPT International 4/2014 (Sep)

Metallurgical Plant and Technology G 25074

ISSN 0935-7254

New secondary metallurgical centre at DEW Witten works

September 2014

Latest improvements in quality and process control of bar-in-coil lines

Controlled heating – controlled cooling.

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Phone: +49 211 881-0 Fax: +49 211 881-4902

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EDITORIAL

‹‹‹

Adding value to steel The editorial topics in this issue of MPT International have two process technological focuses: steelmaking and hot rolling. In both topical fields, our authors report about interesting modernization projects and important technological developments. Siemens Metals Technologies, for example, has developed a heat recovery system that generates steam from electric arc furnace off-gases. The technology is expected to reduce conversion costs and the consumption of fossil fuels. Another article features the new secondary metallurgy centre of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke in Germany. The new complex of sophisticated metallurgical plants forms a central core area of the specialty steel production route at the Witten works. Also a new dedusting concept and new water management facilities have been implemented here. Further, we report about the steelmaking facilities of the new works of PT Krakatau-Posco Co. in Indonesia. There the implemented converter-vessel changing technology enables the huge 300 t change-vessel converter to be picked up by a car and exchanged with a second, freshly relined vessel. With this technical solution, downtimes are markedly reduced. In the field of hot rolling, the articles feature some of the latest developments in plant design and automation. A special software tool for the design of descaling headers helps optimize hydro-mechanical slab descaling systems. Through complementary measurements, the nozzles can be arranged with much more accuracy. Authors from Danieli introduce the latest improvement in quality and process control for new bar-in-coil lines. The latest generation of garret lines and associated process control systems have been designed to fulfill the increasingly exacting requirements of barin-coil producers, namely high output capacity, products with defect-free surfaces, homogeneous material characteristics along the whole coil and compact coils made up of evenly distributed bar loops. Another article features state-of-the-art finishing block technologies for 1- and 2-strand rolling of rebar and wire rod. The finishing blocks can be customized to different production capacities, product qualities and specific product mixes. Finally, a case study describes how Stahlwerk Thüringen monitors the energy efficiency of the hydraulic unit in the hot rolling mill. The precise simultaneous analysis of energy consumption and production data allows to optimize the efficiency of the hydraulic plant. The other articles in this issue complete the broad variety of examples of how value can be added in the various process stages along the production chain in the iron and steel industry.

Dipl.-Ing. Arnt Hannewald

MPT International 4 / 2014

››› CONTENTS

International industry news 30

Successful “Steel Safety Day” initiative to continue as a global annual event worldsteel announces the outcome of the industry-wide “Steel Safety Day” held on 28 April

Company profile 32 5 /5 ITQWR VQ VCTIGV VJG ITQYVJ ƂGNFU of modernization, service and green technology

Cover photo: LOESCHE grinding mill LM 23.2 D type for the production of pulverized coal Loesche GmbH Contact: www.loesche.com E-Mail: loesche@loesche.com

Sales and order intake increased, while results declined in business year 2013

Steelmaking 34

Generating steam from off-gases of electric arc furnaces

Steam recovered from off-gases can be either directly used or as power to generate electrical energy

Ladle furnace optimization using a dedicated automation system at a steel plant in Tunisia

New secondary metallurgical centre at the Witten works of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke The new plants form a central core area of the specialty steel production route

The fully dynamic electrode control system contributes to more efficient energy use and hence to lower production costs

Converter-vessel changing technology at PT Krakatau-Posco Co., Indonesia A changing car moves the converter vessel from the blowing stand to the demolition and relining stand

Modernization

Continuous casting

ThyssenKrupp Steel to modernize slab casting plant and the converter steel plant

Dynamic width change during slab casting Delta Speed Adjustment technology ensures reliable process control for width changes

New cooling technology will be installed to further improve slab quality

Hot rolling 48

Enhanced accuracy of descaling nozzle arrangements through complementary measurement methods

A wide range of finishing blocks has been designed and can be tailored to the product mix and the technical know-how of the operators

Hydro-mechanical descaling systems need to be designed in such way that the typically high safety margins resulting in excessive spray overlaps are eliminated

68 52

Finishing block technologies for 1- and 2-strand rolling of rebar and wire rod

Latest improvements in quality and process control of new bar-in-coil lines

Stahlwerk Thüringen monitors energy GHƂEKGPE[ QH VJG J[FTCWNKE WPKV KP VJG JQV rolling mill

A new generation of garret lines and associated process control systems were designed in full compliance with the requirements of the bar-in-coil market

Due to a precise simultaneous analysis of energy consumption and production data, the efficiency of production plants can be optimized

MPT International 4 / 2014

Columns 8

International industry news

Literature service

Technical innovations

In the next issue

Cartoon

Imprint

Advertisers’ index ABB AB 35 AMETEK Inc. 25 Automazioni Industriali Capitano srl 51 Bloom Engineering (Europa) GmbH 13 Braun Maschinenfabrik Gesellschaft m.b.H. 77 Castellini Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. 49 Dango & Dienenthal Maschinenbau GmbH 15 Danieli S.P.A. 6, 7 Danieli Automation Spa 71 Eredin Scabini Srl 57 FC Technik AG 18 F.I.M.I. Fabrica Impianti Macchine Industriali SpA 73 Getriebebau NORD GmbH & Co. KG DRIVESYSTEMS 27 GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH 28

Hydrowatt AG 19 IMS Messsysteme GmbH 75, 76 INTECO special melting technologies GmbH 74 Jasper Ges. für Energiewirtschaft & Kybernetik mbH 33 Maschinenfabrik Köppern GmbH & Co.KG 26 KSK Kuhlmann-SystemKühltechnik GmbH 61 Lechler GmbH 67 Loesche GmbH 65 Messe Düsseldorf GmbH 24 Metal-Expo, JSC 83 MICRO-EPSILON MESSTECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG 23 Pert srl 39 Reed Exhibitions (Deutschland) GmbH 16

REFRATECHNIK Steel GmbH 31 Saar-Metallwerke GmbH 10 SGL CARBON GmbH O.B.C. Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH 9 Siempelkamp Maschinen -und Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG 59 SMS Logistiksysteme GmbH 29 SMS Siemag AG I.F.C. Spraying Systems Deutschland GmbH 47 STEIN INJECTION TECHNOLOGY GmbH 41 ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG 55 TMEIC 17 TML Technik GmbH 37 Verlag Stahleisen GmbH 81 PAUL WURTH S. A. 11, 12 Z & J Technologies GmbH 21, 22 Zumbach Electronic AG 14

MPT International 4 / 2014

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS News in brief

Africa

OAO Severstal has received a class “A” mining license for the mining of iron ore in the Putu Mountain Range. The license was granted to Putu Iron Ore Mining Company, a 100% subsidiary of OAO Severstal.

South Africa

NDC Technologies, Belgium, will relocate its centre of excellence for metals product development to a new facility in Loncin. The new facility will also serve as the European demonstration facility for all NDC products including IR sensors, web systems, and laser speed and ultrasonic systems. Hydro Aluminium, Germany, has placed an order with BWG for the supply of an annealing line for high-performance aluminium sheet for automotive applications. This project will increase Hydro’s production capacity from 50,000 to 200,000 t. BHP Billiton, Australia, recently celebrated the shipment of its one billionth tonne of iron ore to Japan with representatives of its joint venture partners Itochu and Mitsui. NLMK La Louvière, Belgium, has brought back on stream its pickling line No. 1, which had been destroyed in a fire a year ago. Tata Steel, Germany, recently unveiled the new slitting line at its steel service centre in Gelsenkirchen. The new line has been specially designed to process advanced and ultra high-strength steels used to manufacture demanding automotive applications. Koch Industrieanlagen, Germany, purchased from FLSmidth, Denmark the exclusive IP (intellectual property) license for the stamp charging technology used in cokemaking.

MPT International 4 / 2014

Kalagadi Manganese signs service contract. Outotec has concluded a three-year operation and maintenance contract with Kalagadi Manganese for the new manganese sinter plant located in Hotazel in the Northern Cape province. The operation and maintenance contract follows Outotec‘s earlier delivery of the manganese sinter plant. Once fully operational, the plant is designed to produce 2.4 million t/year of sinter.

The Americas Brazil Samarco places orders for shutdown services. Outotec has been awarded two contracts for the management and execution of shut-down services at Samarco‘s four iron ore pellet plants. These contracts, to be carried out together with Samarco‘s own personnel, will last until the end of 2016. Samarco has four pellet plants at its manufacturing facility in Ubú, in the state of Espírito Santo. Outotec has designed, supplied and installed the two newest indurating furnaces at the facility, both of which incorporate the use of Outotec core technology. The fourth indurating furnace was successfully commissioned in March 2014 and it is currently undergoing ramp-up of production with Outotec‘s operational support.

Canada Janco Steel to install cut-tolength line and stretch leveller. Janco Steel, Stoney Creek Ontario, has purchased a new cut-to-length line with stretcher leveller. The equipment will be designed for up to 19-mm-thick and 2,440-mm-wide strip. The line incorporates Herr-Voss Stamco’s roller

leveller technology including a newly designed precision leveller. The line will be able to process 36 t coils as well as output the complete coil into a 36 t pack. The line incorporates a stretcher leveller which is being provided by Butech Bliss. It will be designed to process hot-rolled carbon steel, hot-rolled pickled and oiled steel as well as coldrolled steel coils up to 690 N/mm² yield strength at a stretching force of 3,000 t. The new equipment will enhance Janco Steel’s capabilities by producing stress-free material with superior shape characteristics. The equipment will be installed and commissioned by the end of summer 2014.

Mexico Frisa to build special steel plant. Frisa, producers of rolled rings and open die forgings, awarded Inteco the order to supply a special steel plant. The new plant will consist of a 50 t electric arc furnace, a 50 t ladle furnace, a 50 t vacuum degassing plant, a material handling system and an ingot casting area. Both the EAF and the ladle furnace will be operated with the ISEC electrode control from Inteco Atec Automation. Startup of the new steel plant is scheduled to take place in early 2016.

USA Big River Steel to start building the new steel mill. Big River Steel is building a new scrap-based sheet steel production facility. The total project costs for the construction of the facility in Osceola, Arkansas, come to USD 1.6 billion. The mill will be designed to produce 1.6 million t/ year of high-quality steel. The core components, including an electric arc furnace, a CSP® thin-slab plant, a cold strip mill and other steel processing equipment, will be supplied by SMS Siemag. The high-grade steels to be produced by Big River Steel, including multi-phase steels, will be sold to companies in the automotive, pipe and energy sectors.

E10001-M1-Z50-V1-7600

“Others are experimenting. We are producing. In endless mode.” Giovanni Arvedi, inventor of the Arvedi ESP process, trains the next ESP operators in his plant that's operated successfully since start-up in 2009 – implemented with Siemens VAI. siemens-vai.com

Evolution of the ESP process 1992 – Start-up of ISP plant 2004 – ISP caster upgrade by Siemens VAI 2006 – Order for first ESP plant to Siemens VAI 2009 – Start-up of first ESP

After five successful years of operation at the patented ESP plant in Cremona, Italy, the Arvedi ESP technology rollout starts now with the next two installations in China. At these new plants the operators will undergo comprehensive training at the plant in Italy, and Arvedi experts will support a smooth ramp-up to high-quality production in the first year of operation.

Highlights since 2009: t Certified API X70 production t Attested 131.6 kWh/t energy consumption t Only five breakouts per year t 0.1% cobble rate t 98% yield from liquid steel to coil t Thin strip down to 0.8 mm at full width and productivity 2013 – Order for next two ESP plants from Chinese customer

Answers for industry.

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief Quaker Chemical has acquired the remaining 49% ownership interest in its Australian affiliate, Quaker Chemical (Australasia) from its joint venture partner, Nuplex Industries. QCA sells Quaker products to the metalworking, steel, tube & pipe and mining industries in Australia. Quaker had been a joint venture partner in QCA for 50 years. Böllinghaus Steel, Portugal, organizes the ISSF (International Stainless Steel Forum) exhibition “100 years of stainless steel” in Vieira de Leiria. This year, the German parent company Böllinghaus Steel celebrates the 125th anniversary of its foundation. Posco Specialty Steel, South Korea, has successfully commissioned a peeling machine with an integrated polishing unit supplied by SMS Meer.

Mexico Altos Hornos de Mexico orders RH plant. Siemens Metals Technologies has won an order from Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) to supply a 150 t, twin RH vacuum degassing plant with mechanical vacuum pumps for converter steel works No. 2 in Monclova. It will be able to handle 50 charges per day, the equivalent of about 2 million t/year liquid steel. The new plant will allow AHMSA to produce steels with very low hydrogen content, required for applications in the oil and gas industries. The new RH plant is scheduled for commissioning in October 2015. Siemens will supply the vessel, mechanical vacuum pumps, the structural steel work and a vessel ladle lifting system.

USA Main Steel orders levelling equipment. Herr-Voss Stamco has received an order from Main Steel, lo-

cated in Harmony, Pennsylvania, for a new precision leveler®. The new unit is an addition to an existing cut-tolength line and was purchased to improve product quality and meet today’s flatness requirements. It will also allow the Harmony plant to expand their gauge range.

USA U. S. Steel idles two tubular facilities. United States Steel has idled two tubular manufacturing facilities in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and Bellville, Texas, as a result of business conditions which are influenced by unfairly traded tubular products imported into the United States. The indefinite idling of these loss-making operations will enable the company to operate more profitably as it repositions to meet future customer demand. U. S. Steel will continue to produce and finish tubular products at its facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio and Texas. U. S. Steel, along with other NorthAmerican pro-

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MPT International 4 / 2014

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ducers, has filed an anti-dumping action with the U.S. Department of Commerce to halt the unfair trading and dumping of foreign Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) into the American market.

Asia China NSSMC expands cold heading wire capacity. In December 2013, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) established a new company in order to expand the capacity and production equipment of Nippon Steel Bar & CH Wire (Suzhou) (NBC China), a production/sales company for cold heading wire. The new company, named Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cold Heading Wire (Suzhou), will receive pickling and coating facilities, two heat-treatment furnaces with three wire drawing machines added to two existing ones. Production capacity will amount to 42,000 t/year.

China Bengang to install hot-dip galvanizing line. Bengang Steel Plates awarded SMS Siemag the order for the supply of a continuous hot-dip galvanizing line. The line will feature a radiant tube furnace from Drever International and an air-knife system from Foen Engineering, both companies of the SMS group. With this investment, Bengang is advancing into the market for high-quality hot-dip galvanized automotive grades for unexposed and exposed vehicle parts. The line, which will be part of the new cold-rolling mill No. 3 built in the northern Chinese province of Liaoning, is scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 2015. It will be rated for an annual production of approximately 500,000 t, including deep-drawing steels and high-strength DP and TRIP grades. The strips will be galvanized or galvanneal-coated. Besides the design of the mechanical equipment and the manufacture of high-quality core components, SMS Siemag’s supply scope includes the supervision of the local production and of the line installation and commissioning.

‹‹‹

News in brief VAMA, China, has officially opened its new cold mill complex in Loudi, Hunan province. VAMA is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Hunan Iron & Steel. The new plant will produce high-strength automotive steels, which currently have to be imported. Outokumpu, Sweden, has completed the investment project at the quarto plate mill in Degerfors. The investment programme entailed upgrades to the whole production process in Degerfors and increased the mill’s capacity by 30% to 155,000 t. Newly installed equipment includes a new walking hearth furnace, cold leveller, heat treatment batch furnaces and associated quencher as well as an updated transfer bed.

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief Izhorsky Trubny Zavod (ITZ), Russia, has commissioned a new gap closing press supplied by SMS Meer. The machine was integrated into the existing large-diameter pipe mill. With this new gap closing press, ITZ, a company of the Severstal Group, will for the first time be able to produce pipes with small diameters and large wall thicknesses. Tata Steel UK successfully completed the final performance tests on a cut-to-length line supplied by Fimi. The line, installed at the Llanwern plant, is capable of processing heavy gauge ultra-highstrength material up to 1,600 MPa. It is capable of handling material in thicknesses from 3 mm up to 25 mm in a single line with one pre-leveller and two special-designed levellers.

China Panzhihua to add slab sizing press to hot mill. PIETC Panzhihua has awarded SMS Siemag the contract for expanding the roughing mill of its hot strip mill in Xichang City by adding a slab sizing press. The aim of the revamp is to make the production process more flexible. With an edging force of up to 22,000 kN, the slab sizing press will reduce the slab width to the required dimension, by up to 350 mm in one pass. By casting slabs with a higher average width and a reduced number of casting sizes, Xichang Steel will be able to increase the throughput rate of its continuous casting machine. The slab sizing press will also provide more flexibility in scheduling the rolling programmes.

sign, supply and commission electrical and automation equipment for the continuous annealing line of the new Fangchenggang site in the Guangxi province. Due to commence production in early 2016, the new plant’s core product is planned to be high-quality steel strips for the high-end Chinese car industry. GE will provide an electrical and automation system that includes level 1 and level 2 automation, low-voltage equipment and instrumentation for the plant’s continuous annealing line that will produce high-quality mild steel and high-strength steel strips with thicknesses between 0.4 and 2.5 mm and widths between 1,000 to 1,880 mm.

India China Wisco orders electrical and automation equipment. Wuhan Iron Steel (Wisco) has turned to GE’s Power Conversion business to support, de-

JSPL orders rebar mill. Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) has placed an order with SMS Meer for the supply of a rebar mill. The new mill will be installed at JSPL’s Angul works in the state of Odisha. The mill will have an annual capacity of 1.4 million t. The reheating furnace will be designed for heat-

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ing 245 t/h of billets, which will be rolled into bars with diameters from 8 to 40 mm. The scope of supply will include a rolling mill made up of 14 housingless (HL) rolling stands of three different designs: vertical, horizontal and convertible. JSPL will also be supplied two eight-stand finishing blocks and a HSD® high-speed delivery system, enabling JSPL to roll material at speeds of 45 m/s.

India JSW Steel to revamp CSP® plant. JSW Steel has placed an order with SMS Siemag for a comprehensive revamp of one of the CSP® plants at the company’s Dolvi location in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The caster was supplied by SMS Siemag in 1998. To achieve the aim of producing 3.3 million t/year in an economically efficient process, various modifications will be made to the continuous caster and to the rolling mill‘s electrical and automation systems. The capacity increase will be achieved by a new strand guiding system and by the

extension of casting strand No. 1 from the current 6,970 mm to 9,420 mm. In addition, casting floor No. 1 will be raised up to the level of casting floor No. 2. Further measures will include replacing the electromechanical oscillation system in caster No. 1 by a hydraulic oscillator of the same design and with the same functions as that in caster No. 2. The new strand guiding system will be equipped with liquid core reduction. The modernization of the electrical and automation systems comprises adaptations and additions to the control systems as well as integration of the technological X-Pact® systems. In the CSP® rolling mill, the existing electrical and automation systems will be completely renewed. The modernization work, which will commence with the descaler and then continue with the six finishing stands and the cooling section through to the two downcoilers including the coil conveyor system, will be carried out during a downtime of only 23 days. SMS Siemag will also replace the main drive control system while retaining the existing power sections. Commissioning is scheduled for the spring of 2015.

‹‹‹

News in brief Compania Siderurgica Nacional (CSN), Brazil, recently went live with the newly integrated casting and hot mill scheduling solutions installed by Broner Metals Solutions at the Volta Redonda steelmaking site. The objective of this project was to enable CSN’s multiple casters, hot mill and steelmaking processes to generate synchronized schedules. Timken, USA, has successfully commissioned the laser-based precision measuring system supplied by SMS Meer. The MEERgauge® system displays the complete product cross-section on the basis of the light-section method. With the new measurement technology, Timken can reduce tolerance deviations fully automatically during the rolling process on SBQ bars with diameters from 25 to 127 mm.

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief Ziehwerk Plettenberg, Germany, has successfully commissioned a bright steel centre supplied by SMS Meer. The main part of the plant is a rigid, low-vibration rotary peeling machine with minimal chip removal. The bright steel centre also includes a two-roll straightening and polishing machine. Durgapur Steel Plant, India, a SAIL company, successfully commissioned the new gas cleaning plant at their blast furnace No. 3. The Paul Wurth Group revamped and modified the existing gas cleaning plant within a shutdown period of 60 days. In order to appreciate the timely and successful completion of the activities, SAIL – DSP issued the preliminary acceptance certificate to Paul Wurth, before blow-in of the blast furnace.

Indonesia PT Krakatau-Posco implements converter-vessel changing system. PT Krakatau-Posco and SMS have successfully put into operation the converter-vessel changing concept involving a 300 ton change-vessel converter, a changing car and environmental technology for the converter shop of the new integrated steel plant in Cilegon, West Java. SMS Siemag developed the converter-vessel changing concept for PTKP and supplied the tilting gear unit for the converter, the changing car, which has a working load of 1,200 t, and the complete X-Pact® electrical and automation package. The converter-vessel changing concept provides for two blowing stands with permanently installed trunnion rings, three exchangeable converter vessels, a vessel changing car, a demolition and relining stand, a stand-by depositing station and a connecting trackway. Converter changing takes ten hours, i.e. it is accomplished during a regular maintenance shift. In the new PTKP plant, the latest gener-

ation of SMS Siemag‘s dry-type converter-gas dedusting technology has been deployed for the first time. This technology includes a gas conditioning tower and a dry-type electrostatic precipitator.

Taiwan CSC to install intensive plate cooling system. China Steel Corporation (CSC) has ordered a Mulpic (multi-purpose interrupted cooling) system from Siemens Metals Technologies. The intensive cooling line will be installed in the company‘s existing plate rolling mill in Kaohsiung and is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2015. This will widen CSC‘s product mix which, in future, will include highly wear-resistant plates for offshore, shipbuilding and pressure vessel applications. Siemens will also supply the electrical and automation equipment for the system. Mulpic intensive cooling allows not only faster cooling during thermo-mechanical rolling, but also

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS direct quenching of the plates. Advanced actuators are an integral part of the machine. These ensure uniform properties along the plate length and across the plate width, and minimize the need for further processing.

able Thai Steel to more than double its capacities.

News in brief The assets of Ascometal, France, will go to a French consortium. The commercial court of Nanterre made the decision regarding the bid in favour of the consortium, of which Ovako is a member.

Europe Austria

Thailand Thai Steel to increase rebar production. Siemens Metals Technologies has received an order from Thai Steel Profile to supply a new bar rolling mill for the plant in Rayong. The rolling mill will produce around 500,000 t/year of reinforcing steel with diameters ranging from 9 to 40 mm. Diameters up to 14 mm will be rolled in multi-slit mode. Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2015. Siemens modernized that plant starting from 2010 in multiple stages, including a hardening system, precise bar counting, new bar-in-coil equipment and upgrade to produce sections, squares and flats. The new bar rolling mill now ordered will en-

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Voestalpine Schienen to install new furnace plant. Andritz Maerz will supply to Voestalpine Schienen a turnkey furnace plant with an output of 185 t/h. The supplies will include the steel structure, refractory lining, transport system, combustion system, instrumentation and control system, mathematical furnace model, buffer bed with separating systems, feed conveyor with automatic billet identification, and a complete hot water cooling plant. In order to make best possible use of the residual heat from the waste gases, a heat recovery plant is planned to supply the district heating system. Startup of the furnace plant is scheduled for the beginning of 2016.

Böllinghaus Steel, Portugal, has expanded its production facilities in Vieira de Leiria. In addition to expanding the workshop space, Böllinghaus will complement the equipment by a roller straightener and a drawing bench. Tata IJmuiden, Netherlands, has completed the final acceptance tests on a special inspection line supplied by Fimi. The line includes numerous fully integrated functions focused on the quality and traceability of material for automotive applications.

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ArcelorMittal Ghent orders robot for casting platform. ArcelorMittal Ghent has ordered a LiquiRob casting platform robot from Siemens Metals Technologies to be installed on continuous slab caster CC2. The robot will automatically perform a number of potentially dangerous tasks, including taking samples, measuring temperatures and hydrogen levels at the tundish, as well as ladle lancing. In future, the ladle shroud will also be manipulated with the aid of the LiquiRob. The new casting platform robot is due to go on stream by September 2014. The CC2 casting plant has an annual production capacity of 3 million t. It produces slabs with a thickness of 220 mm in widths ranging from 950 to 2,000 mm.

Czech Republic ArcelorMittal Ostrava is to build new boiler. Through ArcelorMittal Energy, a contract has been signed with Finland’s Valmet to install a fluidized bed boiler at ArcelorMittal Ostrava. The new boiler is part of the overall modernization of Ostrava’s power plant. The new boiler, which is more energy efficient, will significantly reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust. All coal-fired boilers at the Ostrava power plant are being either replaced or overhauled: the new boiler (K14) will replace the four oldest ones. It is planned to be ready for commissioning in the middle of 2016.

Germany Salzgitter to reline blast furnace. After the production of more than 20 million t of hot metal, Salzgitter AG plans to refurbish blast furnace B in 2015. As a part of the refurbishment they will install a new refractory lining in the blast furnace. Based on their experience with the performance of UCAR hot-pressed bricks over the last 10 years, Salzgitter has awarded Graftech International the order to install a complete UCAR hearth lining, including hearth pad, hearth walls, tuyere band and lower bosh. The delivery of the graphite, MPT International 4 / 2014

carbon and hot-pressed carbon bricks is scheduled for the end of 2014 and installation will take place in 2015.

Germany SZGF to revamp converter and continuous caster. Salzgitter Flachstahl (SZGF) has contracted SMS Siemag to revamp converter C in its Salzgitter steelworks. Through optimal use of the existing installation space, the specific volume of converter C will be increased by approximately 18 percent, making for a more stable and more efficient production process. The new converter vessel will be arranged in the trunnion ring by the lamella suspension system, which ensures an unrestrained arrangement of the vessel. The latest generation of the lamella suspension system and the specifically adapted clearance between the vessel and the trunnion ring allow optimum natural cooling and hence the thermal expansion of the vessel in both the axial and radial directions. No extra cooling by air or water is required. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2015. At the same location, SMS Siemag will also revamp the head of the casting machine of continuous caster No. 2. SMS Siemag will supply a new mould, a hydraulic resonance oscillator and the first segment, and will modify the existing cooling chamber, the hydraulic equipment, the utilities supply as well as the electrical and automation systems. SMS Siemag is implementing its newly developed Delta Speed Adjustment process, by way of which the taper of the narrow faces is adjusted simultaneously with the width change itself. This saves time and shortens the transition length. For the adjustment process, the casting speed does not have to be reduced. Installation and commissioning will take place during a planned plant shutdown in September 2015.

Germany Saarstahl to modernize rolling mills. The most recent of a series of major investment projects at Saarstahl was the building of the secondary metallurgy facilities in the steelmaking plant. Saarstahl is continuing its modernization programme with further investments in

the rolling mills in Völklingen and Burbach. At the Völklingen site ( Nauweiler), the existing blooming stand in the rolling mill will be replaced by a continuous rolling mill (7 rolling stands connected in series). The construction work will take place in summer 2015. With the aid of a bypass roller table, it will be possible to keep production running during the construction and commissioning phase. The new continuous rolling mill is scheduled to go into operation in the winter of 2015/2016. In the wire mill in Burbach, the existing four rolling stands in the one-strand roughing rolling mill will be extended by further two stands and a shear. In addition, as part of this investment, the electrical drive technology of the roughing mill will be completely renewed. Start of operations of the new equipment in Burbach is scheduled for summer 2016.

Hungary Wuppermann to build new strip processing plant. The Wuppermann group is building a combined pickling and hot-dip galvanizing plant at a site in the Hungarian port of Györ-Gönyü. The hot-wide-strip pickling and hot-dip galvanizing line, including the mechanical equipment, process engineering, and electrical and automation systems, will be supplied by SMS Siemag. The new line will process some 500,000 t/year of steel. The strip widths will vary between 400 and 1,650 mm, and the strip gauges between 1.0 and 6.0 mm. Installation and commissioning support are also included in SMS Siemag‘s scope of supply. The so-called “heat-to-coat” process is characterized by its high profitability, as all processes take place in a single facility. The integrated induction furnace will be designed by SMS Elotherm. A Foen airknife system will ensure precise adjustment of the zinc layer thickness. The aerodynamically optimized nozzle-module design minimizes strip vibration while maintaining high cooling capacity in the Drever cooling section. Duma-Bandzink will provide the electrostatic oiler. EMG is supplying the strip flow control system. The new plant in Hungary will also serve the Austrian sites of Wuppermann in Altmünster and Judenburg, as the galvanizing plant at the Wuppermann site in Linz, Austria, will have to be closed due to ex-

piring leasing and supply contracts with Voestalpine Stahl at the end of 2016. Production at the new plant in Hungary is scheduled to start in mid-2016.

Netherlands Tata Steel to commission heavygauge decoiler. Tata Steel’s service centre in Maastricht is to commission a large heavy-gauge decoiler by the end of 2014. The decoiler will be able to decoil and cut-to-length hot-rolled coil up to 25 mm thick, 2,600 mm wide and in premium grades, including the Ympress® high-strength low-alloy range.

Russia NLMK starts hot testing of turbine generator. At its Lipetsk production site, NLMK has begun hot testing of a new turbine generator which will enable the company to increase electricity generation by 11%, or 370 million kWh. It will reduce electricity expenses by 2.1% and increase the installed capacity of the facility’s power station by 50 MW to 482 MW. The new turbine generator was manufactured at the Kaluga Turbine Works.

Slovenia Acroni to build heat treatment line and revamp annealing/pickling line. Acroni has placed an order with SMS Siemag to supply a heat treatment line and revamp a stainless-steel annealing and pickling line. For the new line, SMS Siemag will supply a roller-hearth furnace for hardening and normalizing, a quench and a roller-hearth furnace for tempering, as well as all auxiliary facilities. The quench of the MultiFlex design features a multiple nozzle systems allowing for an extremely wide range of cooling rates, from abrupt water quenching right down to gentle cooling. The aim of the modernization of the annealing and pickling line is to reduce the burden on the environment during the manufacture of strips made of non-grain oriented silicon grades up to 2.4 % Si content, carbon steels and ferritic special steels. To achieve this, the chemical pickling line will be replaced

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

by a purely mechanical descaling system in combination with a brushing section. The revamp of the annealing and pickling line will also comprise a new automation system, new drives and the installation of strip centring control equipment, deflector rolls and supporting rollers. Commissioning is planned for 2016.

Sweden Uddeholm to build new ESR plant. Inteco has signed a contract with Uddeholm for the supply of a 30 t ESR plant. The ESR furnace will be operated at a max. pressure of 3 bars and will be capable of remelting ingots with a max. diameter of 1,250 mm and a weight of approx. 30 t. Additionally, it will come with features such as protective gas operation, a full coaxial high current line and a new control system.

United Kingdom Tata Steel to restructure strip products business. Tata Steel has announced restructuring proposals to im-

prove the competitiveness of its South Wales steelmaking business. The proposed changes would enable the UK strip products business to compete in Europe’s lower market demand era by reducing costs equivalent to the loss of about 400 jobs in Port Talbot. Tata Steel has invested more than £250 million over the last two years in state-of-the-art steelmaking technology in the strip products business. In addition, the company is currently investing in the hot strip mill in Port Talbot and has upgraded the galvanizing line in Llanwern. But as steel demand and prices are likely to be under pressure for some years, the proposed changes are considered vital for building a competitive future for the strip products business in the UK.

Companies Paul Wurth takes over coke oven machine technology from Schalke. Paul Wurth Italia and Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik have signed an asset purchase agreement regarding the transfer of Schalke’s coke oven machine segment to the Paul Wurth group. Paul Wurth takes over the patents, references, drawings, li-

cences, brand name and know-how of the Bochum, Germany, based company. With this transaction, Paul Wurth will expand its expertise in coke making technology. The newly acquired coke oven machine technology includes charging cars, pusher machines, coke transfer cars, quenching cars, crane systems, maintenance and service cars as well as automation and emission control systems.

Spectris acquires Claisse. Spectris has acquired the business and assets of the Canadian company La Corporation Scientifique Claisse. Claisse designs, manufactures and sells consumables and instruments used to prepare consistent and comparable samples for spectroscopic analysis in mining, pharmaceutical, academic research and industrial applications. Claisse will become part of Spectris’ Materials Analysis segment and, combining two specialists in fusion and x-ray fluorescence analysis, it will be integrated into PANalytical.

Outokumpu renews operational model. Outokumpu is going

STAHL 2014 – Perspectives with Steel 6 November 2014 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Steel Institute VDEh and the German Steel Federation www.stahl-online.de; www.stahl2014.de This year’s motto of the international annual event, “Perspectives with Steel”, refers to the challenges as well as the oportunities for the material. Steel has major innovative potentials and offers solutions for the megatrends of urbanization and mobility, as well as sustainability. Like last year, the event is concentrated into one day. Eight conference sessions, “Talks about Steel”, form the basis of STAHL 2014. These will examine specialist topics in detail as following: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Steels for the energy technology of the future Innovative personnel work as an engine for modern Europe Efficient hot metal and steel production in Europe Plant capability and flexibility of rolling mills – response to customer demands The future begins with intelligent plants High-strength steels with improved toughness – potentials for lightweight construction Perspectives of industrial value networks Emission trading and climate policy: Setting the course for the climate summit in 2015?

The topics will be discussed against the background of political decisions made in Germany and Europe and the resulting challenges and opportunities for steel. The traditional “Steel get-together” will close the event.

MPT International 4 / 2014

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS to change its operational model and leadership team to increase customer and market orientation, drive business performance and increase speed and accountability. From 1 September 2014, Outokumpu will consist of five business areas with sales, production, and profit responsibility: Coil EMEA, Coil Americas, APAC, Quarto Plate and Long Products. Quarto Plate and Long Products have formerly been business lines within the Specialty Stainless business area. Mika Seitovirta will continue to be CEO.

Vanadium production and consumption statistics. Vanitec, a technical and scientific committee comprised of representatives of companies and organizations involved in the mining, processing, manufacture, research and use of vanadium and vanadium-containing products, has released the vanadium production and consumption statistics for 2013. The data shows that worldwide consumption was at 79,300 t and production at 79,534 t of vanadium. In 2012, production was at 71,289 t. More details about vanadium production and consumption statistics are available on the Vanitec website at http://vanitec. org/vanadium-production-consumption-statistics/.

Commercial Metals Company purchases Newell assets. Commercial Metals Company has entered into a definitive agreement for the purchase of assets of Newell Recycling in San Antonio, Texas. Newell Limited will retain the media plant operation located at the site as well as the shredder operations of Newell Recycling in Eagle Pass, Texas. This acquisition of the assets of Newell Recycling continues the vertical integration of CMC by providing raw materials for its CMC Steel Texas location.

Outokumpu wins ISSF sustainability award. A long-term study by Outokumpu’s chief medical officer Markku Huvinen received the ISSF (International Stainless Steel Forum) sus-

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tainability award. The study assesses the risk of cancer, especially cancers of the lung and nose, among the employees in Kemi and Tornio since the start of the production in 1967 until 2011. Results show that the overall cancer incidence of Outokumpu employees was similar to that of the general population, and the lung cancer rates were actually lower.

Alliance between Tenova, Danieli and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering. Tenova HYL and Danieli have entered into an agreement with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering allowing the three parties to combine research and development activities with their respective expertise in Energiron direct reduction, blast furnace and syngas technologies. The two key areas of combined know-how involve the integration of the Energiron direct reduction technology with the blast furnace as well as the areas of interface between existing and future syngas technologies with the Energiron process.

NLMK announces environmental programme 2020. The NLMK Group has announced the launch of the third stage of its environmental programme, covering the period up to 2020. Most of the investments will go to NLMK’s Lipetsk production site. The programme will provide compliance with environmental standards, reduction in specific emissions, zero waste water discharge and increase in waste recycling from 5% to 25%.

Tenaris extends NKKTubes joint venture. Tenaris has renegotiated its joint venture agreement with JFE Steel Corporation concerning the Japanese seamless steel pipe manufacturer NKKTubes. Tenaris holds a 51% interest in the company, while JFE Steel Corporation holds the remaining 49%. The joint venture agreement, which was due to expire on 31 July 2015, will now run through 31 July 2030. JFE Steel CorMPT International 4 / 2014

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poration will continue to supply steel billets and other essential input materials and services to NKKTubes under existing supply agreements.

PSI signs master agreement with ArcelorMittal. PSI Metals has signed a master agreement with ArcelorMittal, defining the governance of the close collaboration with respect to production management solutions. The main aim of the contract is to standardize the terms of license and maintenance for current and future PSImetals solutions across the ArcelorMittal group and to support the standardization process for production management solutions, in order to reduce the total cost of ownership at ArcelorMittal.

Herr-Voss Stamco partners with Rockwell Automation. In order to meet the growing demand for customized safety solutions, Herr-Voss Stamco has reached an agreement with safety system provider Rockwell Automation to perform safety related functions associated with Herr-Voss Stamco coil processing equipment. Rockwell has the expertise and global resources to service safety-related needs associated with installed Herr-Voss Stamco coil processing equipment.

Aumund acquires spare parts service from Besta & Meyer. Aumund Fördertechnik has taken over the spare parts services of Maschinenfabrik Besta & Meyer. With this acquisition, Aumund is pooling the know-how of the companies Besta & Meyer, Louise and WTW, and expanding its own after sales and inspection services to the international raw and bulk materials industry.

Cooperation between Inteco and Xibao. Inteco and Henan Xibao Metallurgy Materials have entered into a cooperation agreement. Tectrade, a company of the Inteco group, will assume responsibility for the exclusive distribution of ESR slag and selected products in Europe for Xibao. Xibao will offer technical sales support for the “Smart ESR” plant designed specifically for the Chinese market by Inteco and its subsidiary in Dalian.

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

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Personalities New AIST president. Glenn A. Pushis, vice president and general manager, Steel Dynamics, Flat Rolled division, has been appointed president of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) for the 2014 – 2015 term. He succeeds past president, Terry G. Fedor II, executive vice president, U.S. Iron Ore Operations, Cliffs Natural Resources.

Management and board changes at Timken. Richard G. Kyle has been named as president and chief executive officer of The Timken Company. Kyle replaces James W. Griffith, who is retiring from the company. Ward J. „Tim“ Timken, Jr., who had been executive chairman since 2005, will serve as chairman, chief executive officer and president of the new TimkenSteel Corporation, and will remain a director on the Timken board.

Alacero appoints new general director. The board of directors of the Latin American Steel Association, Alacero, appointed Rafael Rubio as the new general director of the institution. He replaces Guillermo Moreno, who will remain close to Alacero in the role of senior consultant.

New Eurofer president. Robrecht Himpe, executive vice president of ArcelorMittal Europe, has been elected as the new Eurofer president, following Wolfgang Eder, CEO Voestalpine, after his almost five-year tenure.

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Executive changes at Voestalpine. The supervisory board of Voestalpine AG has appointed former head of group research, Peter Schwab, to become a member of the management board of Voestalpine AG. Peter Schwab will become the head of the metal forming division. The former head of that division, Herbert MPT International 4 / 2014

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS Eibensteiner, will become head of the steel division. From October 2014, when these changes will become effective, the management board will consist of six, rather than five members.

Management change at ThyssenKrupp CSA. Walter Medeiros has taken over as chief executive officer of ThyssenKrupp Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA). He has been a member of the management team of ThyssenKrupp Metalúrgica Campo Limpo in Sao Paulo since 2004. In his last position, he was chief operating officer of the entire forged & machined components business unit at ThyssenKrupp.

ISSF’s new office bearers. The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) elected new office bearers during the organization’s 18th Annual Conference. Philippe Darmayan, chief executive officer of Aperam, will continue to be the ISSF chairman until May 2015. Bernardo Velázquez of Acerinox, and In-Hwan Chang of Posco have been elected as vice chairmen.

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U. S. Steel vice president and controller to retire. U. S. Steel’s vice president and controller Gregory A. Zovko has retired after 31 years with the company. He began his career with U. S. Steel in 1983 as an accounting and finance management associate. During his tenure with the company, Zovko held progressively more responsible audit, accounting and financial staff positions.

In the metallurgical industry we briquette e. g. steel mill

Nucor appoints executives. Chad Utermark, vice president and general manager of Nucor-Yamato Steel, has been promoted to executive vice president of beam and plate products. Leon Topalian, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Kankakee, will become vice president and general manager of Nucor-Yamato Steel.

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MPT International 4 / 2014

Executive promotions at AK Steel. The board of directors of AK Steel has approved promotions of executive officers, including David C. Horn who now is executive vice president, chief legal and administrative officer, and secretary, and Kirk W. Reich, who has been named senior vice president, manufacturing.

SGL Carbon SE appoints new CFO. The supervisory board of SGL Carbon SE has appointed Michael Majerus as chief financial of-

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ficer for a three-year term. By mutual agreement, previous CFO Jürgen Muth will step down from the board of management.

Changes to Schaeffler boards. Klaus Rosenfeld has been appointed as chief executive officer of Schaeffler AG for a five-year term. Deputy chief executive officer is Peter Gutzmer, whose contract has been extended by five years. Siegfried Wolf, chairman of the board of directors of Russian Machines OJSC, will succeed Eckhard Cordes as member of the supervisory board.

Robust, long-life geared motors Gear Unit Q Special Unicase housings Q Robust housing material GG20, optionally GGG40 Q Quadralip sealing with material VITON to suit high ambient temperatures Q Optional labyrinth seal for increased protection

New HR officer at ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein. Heinz Pafferath, who has been chief human resources officer at ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein in Andernach, Germany, since 2005, will retire this September. Carsten Laakmann, currently chief human resources officer at ThyssenKrupp System Engineering in Heilbronn, has been appointed as Pafferath’s successor.

New CEO of EMA Indutec. Matthias Barz is the new chief executive officer of EMA Indutec in Meckesheim, Germany. The previous CEO, Philip Bartzsch, will continue to advise the company and his successor for a transitional period.

LAP appoints new CEO. Guido Jung has retired from his position as chief executive officer of LAP GmbH Laser Applikationen. He will be succeeded by Uwe Bernhard Wache.

Change on Rautaruukki corporate executive board. Tommi Matomäki, executive vice president, Ruukki Building Systems, and a member of Rautaruukki’s corporate executive board, has chosen to leave the company. Until further notice, president and CEO of Rautaruukki Corporation, Sakari Tamminen, will be the acting executive vice president of Ruukki Building Systems.

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Events › 21 – 25 October 2014

Hanover, Germany Organizers: Mack Brooks Exhibitions www.euroblech.com

Euroblech. The 23rd edition of this international sheet metal working technology exhibition will once again present the entire technology chain, including sheet metal, semi-finished and finished products, handling, separation, forming, joining, welding and surface treatment, hybrid structures, tools, quality control and R&D.

› 28 – 30 October 2014

Mumbai, India Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.metallurgy-india.com

Metallurgy India 2014. Under the topical umbrella of the “bright world of metals”, the 5th edition of the international exhibition and conference on metallurgical technology,

processes, material handling and services will take place concurrently with Tube India, Welding and Cutting India, Wire and Cable India, and the International ThermProcess Summit Asia.

› 9 – 11 November 2014

Mexico City, Mexico Organizers: Latin American Steel Association – Alacero www.alacero.org

Alacero-55. The 55th annual congress of the Latin American Steel Association will cover a wide range of topics and issues for discussion, for example: the global economy in 2015 and potential structural changes in the markets; how will the new economic policy in China affect Latin America; global steel – overcapacity, energy and economic growth.

›

28 November – 1 December 2014 Tehran, Iran Organizers: Nama Negar International www.iranmetafo.com

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MPT International 4 / 2014

GSM up to 350 t capacity

Iran Metafo 2014. This international trade show for the metallurgy industry combines seven exhibitions with different focuses under one roof. The exhibitions will cover steelmaking, mining, casting, non-ferrous metals and furnace technology as well as refractories, valves and related projects.

› 10 – 13 January 2015

Dubai, UAE Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.metalmiddleeast.com

Metal Middle East. This new international trade fair for metallurgical technology, thermo process technology, foundry machinery and metal working has been established by Messe Düsseldorf. Being a unique event in the ME region, it will be staged concurrently with the 5th Tube Arabia, international trade fair for the tube and pipe industries, and the 2nd Welding & Cutting Arabia, international trade fair for joining, cutting and surfacing.

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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

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Successful “Steel Safety Day” initiative to continue as a global annual event The World Steel Association (worldsteel) announces the outcome of the industry-wide “Steel Safety Day” held on 28 April. worldsteel and its members commit to make the global steel safety day an annual event and to continue work together with all involved in the industry to create a safer work environment in the steel industry. More than 480,000 people from 373 Edwin Basson, director general of safety system from administration to sites from all over the world participat- worldsteel said: “This audit recon- prevention. Therefore, we urge all steel ed in the first industry-wide safety au- firmed that many steel companies producers and related organisations to dit on 28 April this year including 39 have excellent safety programmes in plan for the Steel Safety Day in their member companies, representing 53% place and implement rigorous practic- annual business plan for 2015 and to of worldsteel members’ procontinue this crucial initiative in the following years.” duction. Participating comA safer steel industry: panies carried out a safety auHenk Reimink, direcOUR SAFETY SYSTEM dit across the entire employee tor for safety, technologroup from CEOs to engigy and environment at neers to managers, operators worldsteel stated: “What and service providers. The auwe have learned from this Identify industry-wide campaign dit focused on identifying the the hazards Audit Assess hazards for the main causes is invaluable. The core asto improve the risks of safety incidents within the pects of successful safety steel industry and setting up programmes are proactive engagement of all employaction plans to manage the hazards and risks for each site. ees and contractors, strong Install Train leadership and direct inThe audit revealed that 75% prevention people to measures and audit use measures volvement from manageof safety hazards have mitigation plans for the five main ment, and sharing of information and experience causes of serious safety incidents, including within the industry. We believe that the steel indus▪ moving machinery, try is capable of produc▪ fall from height, Each site and plant identifies and registers all hazards. Then evaluates to eliminate or control the risks. ing steel without injuries ▪ falling objects, Everyone, employees and service all of the time. If you can ▪ gassing and asphyxiation, providers must be involved. and produce it injury-free for a shift or a week, month or ▪ operations with cranes. The initiative not only providyear, then why not always? ed the companies with an opThe goal is zero: an injuportunity to review their exry-free and healthy workisting safety measures but also place.” Help keep the steel industry safe. Get involved in this steel safety day. make plans for new hazard sitThe World Steel Associuations found as a result of the Worldsteel safety system infographics ation (worldsteel) is one audits, reducing further safeof the largest and most dyty risks. es on a daily basis. But when it comes namic industry associations in the to safety, we believe anything less than world. worldsteel represents approxi100% is not enough, and we have to mately 170 steel producers (including make sure every company and related 9 of the world’s 10 largest steel compaorganisation in the steel industry has nies), national and regional steel inWorld Steel Association (worldsteel), effective and adequate safety meas- dustry associations, and steel research Brussels, Belgium ures in place. The audit experience institutes. worldsteel members repreContact: www.worldsteel.org again showed clearly that strong lead- sent around 85% of world steel producE-mail: info@worldsteel.org ership is the key element to shift the tion. 쐍

safetyDay

MPT International 4 / 2014

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş COMPANY PROFILE

SMS group to target the growth Ć&#x201A;GNFU QH OQFGTPK\CVKQP UGTXKEG CPF ITGGP VGEJPQNQI[ 606 JURXS VLJQLĆ&#x201A;HV D ODFN RI RUGHU YROXPH +RZHYHU VDOHV DQG RUGHU LQWDNH LQFUHDVHG DIWHU LQFOXVLRQ RI 3DXO :XUWK LQWR WKH 606 JURXS ZKLOH UHVXOWV GHFOLQHG LQ EXVLQHVV \HDU &RVW FXWWLQJ VWHSV KDYH EHHQ WDNHQ Germany based SMS group is a group of global players in machinery and plant construction in steel and nonferrous metals processing. The SMS group generated an order intake in business year 2013, taking into account Paul Wurth for the first time, of EUR 3.309 billion (2012: EUR 2.835 billion). Sales reached EUR 3.495 billion (2012: EUR 3.237 billion). That produced a pre-tax profit of EUR 178 million (2012: EUR 258 million), 31 percent below the previous yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s level. Business area SMS Siemag including Paul Wurth increased its order intake by EUR 525 million to EUR 2.044 billion (EUR 1.708 billion without Paul Wurth / 2012: EUR 1.519 billion). Business area SMS Meer recorded a 4 percent reduction in orders to EUR 1.104 billion (2012: EUR 1.152 billion). Finally, the Elexis group contributed EUR 181 million (2012: EUR 180 million) to the order intake of the SMS group. The order intake breakdown according to global regions is as following: â&#x2013;Ş 29% from Europe (including Russia and Ukraine) (2012: 32%), â&#x2013;Ş 45% from Asia (2012: 43%), â&#x2013;Ş 25% from the Americas (2012: 23%), â&#x2013;Ş 1% from Africa (2012: 2%). The order backlog totals EUR 4.997 billion (2012: EUR 5.377 billion). In 2013, the year-average number of employees including apprentices in the group worldwide was 13,856 (2012: 11,822). Instrumental in bringing about this increase is the first inclusion of Paul Wurth.

Despite the cost-reduction programmes, the SMS group will uphold its commitment to training young talents. It faces up to its responsibility in this vital social area, as it has done in the past. Furthermore, in the face of demographic change, this is the only way to ensure that the group can draw on a pool of sufficiently qualified skilled employees in the future.

Future prospects Burkhard Dahmen, spokesman of the managing board of SMS Holding GmbH: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As recently as the beginning of this year, we expected a boost to our business due to our customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hopes that the steel market had bottomed out. However, due to full capacity utilization, the global industry is still struggling with over-capacities, and the situation has only improved slightly. This in turn depresses the willingness of our customers to invest. Moreover, political uncertainty in our major sales markets Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela is also disrupting our activities there. Due to these factors, we expect a slight decrease in order intake in the current business year compared to the previous year. We are responding to this by adjusting our capacities. That includes implementing an extensive cost-cutting programme with even more process improvements. However, we will continue to expand our growth fields

SMS Siemag

of modernization, electrics and automation, service, and energy and green technology. Looking at sales, we expect to achieve a level similar to 2013 by working through our satisfactory order backlog.â&#x20AC;? The market situation in the metallurgical industry has not changed for the better over the last year. Unlike in earlier crises, there has been no separate development of individual growth markets or special product fields which could have balanced out the downturn. Positive dynamics came mainly from Asian developing countries and above all related to plants for the production of nonferrous products. Once again in 2013, China was the largest market for metallurgical plants. Market activity in Europe and South America remained subdued apart from a few projects.

Below-capacity operation expected in some areas The general uncertainty about future economic development is influencing the willingness of customers to invest. Although the engineering and production capacities in the main business areas of the SMS group are fully booked into the third quarter of 2014, the management anticipates under-utilization of capacity in some areas. For the next few years, the business area SMS Siemag in particular expects

SMS Meer

SMS group

(incl. Paul Wurth)

SMS group, DĂźsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: thomas.isajiw@sms-group.com

Sales revenues

2,168 million â&#x201A;Ź

1,158 million â&#x201A;Ź

3,495 million â&#x201A;Ź

Order intake

2,044 million â&#x201A;Ź

1,104 million â&#x201A;Ź

3,309 million â&#x201A;Ź

Results before tax

(n. a.)

178 million â&#x201A;Ź

Employees

9,150

3,647

13,856

Figures of the SMS group in the business year 2013 MPT International 4 / 2014

COMPANY PROFILE a lower business volume than in recent years. That’s why the company is adjusting its administration, engineering, and production capacities to the future market volume. Details are currently under discussion with the employees’ representatives to make job losses as socially acceptable as possible. This, together with other cost-cutting measures, is how the SMS group plans to remain competitive and responsive to market demands in the coming years. That will give it the necessary scope for investments that will benefit the group in the future. In the business area SMS Meer, demand remains stable, with orders at the same level as in the previous year. However, competition for orders has also sharpened significantly in this area. This puts pressure on profits.

Securing quality – cutting costs To ensure high quality, SMS remains committed to producing selected components of its machinery and plants in Germany. That’s why the company invested heavily over recent years in upgrading its facilities in Hilchenbach and Mönchengladbach. Yet, parallel to these measures, it also expanded its production capacity in China. The focus here is on providing better customer services locally and the construction of machines specifically designed for the Chinese market. It is a similar picture on the Indian market, where a new workshop is currently under construction and scheduled to start operations in the second half of 2014. Overall, the company is working on reducing costs across the board. This

‹‹‹

involves relying on designs that optimize manufacturing as well as on higher efficiency in engineering, production, and logistics.

Incorporation of Paul Wurth has created synergies Paul Wurth was successfully incorporated into the business area SMS Siemag. The identification of common technological and sales synergies further expands the SMS group’s range as a supplier of equipment for the entire process chain in metallurgical plant and machinery construction. That includes, for example, the conclusion of a licensing contract with Kobe Steel Ltd. of Japan in early 2014 for the construction of Midrex direct reduction plants 쐍 (DRI).

Setting The Standards For Highest Efficiency In Thermal Processing

October, 07.-09. Düsseldorf, Stand 10C11

MultiMelter©, total burner capacity: 11MW, 240t per day, content: 85t PulsReg® Medusa Regenerator

MPT International 4 / 2014

››› STEELMAKING

Generating steam from off-gases of electric arc furnaces Steam recovered from off-gases can either be directly used or as power to generate electrical energy. Anyway, it reduces conversion costs and consumption of fossil fuels. A modular structure facilitates the modernization of existing plants Siemens Metals Technologies has developed a system for recovering heat from the hot off-gases of electric arc furnaces. The thermal energy that was previously discharged unused to the environment is now used to generate steam. The steam can be put to good use in other processes in the steel works or in the generation of electricity. The system has a modular structure and can be dimensioned for the amount of heat to be recovered and integrated into the existing exhaust gas cooling system. To maximize the amount of steam obtained, it can substitute the complete conventional off-gas cooling system in the electric steel plant. A possible saving of 22.5 kilowatt hours (kWh) per ton of steel in the specific use of energy was proven in a Turkish steel mill. If the generated steam is used to preheat the feed water in the plant’s in-house power station, the annual savings potential amounts to 45,000 t of coal.

High potential of thermal energy In order to cut running costs or to fulfil environmental regulations, more and more operators of electric steel mills are banking on improving the energy efficiency of their plants. Although the electric steel production route based on scrap recycling has a much lower specific energy requirement than steel production from iron ore, it is nevertheless an energy-intensive process. Depending on the method of operation, up to one-third of the energy used by an electric arc furnace is lost through off-gases. The sensible heat of the exhaust gas-

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

MPT International 4 / 2014

Heat recovery system (green) installed at the water-cooled off-gas duct (red/grey)

es is usually discharged unused to the environment through the water and air cooling systems. Temperatures of up to 1,800°C prevail in the exhaust gas stream. To make these considerable amounts of energy suitable for use, Siemens has developed a steam generation system that can be integrated into the existing offgas cooling system of the arc furnace or can replace it entirely. The system consists of a boiler including steam drum, piping, water tanks, pump groups for feed and boiler water, and the associated sensors. A group of feed water pumps supplies the boiler with the necessary water and ensures the required pressure. To increase its recovery performance, the system can be equipped with a feed water preheating process called an “economizer”. This economizer heats the water almost to the boiling point before feeding it into the steam drum on the boiler. To separate the heat from the off-gas of the electric arc furnace as efficiently as possible, the new Siemens system has diverse nested radiation and convection heating surfaces. The water is fed to the heating surfaces through

distribution pipes with the aid of recirculation pump groups. The amount of water fed depends on the different pipe geometries and the heat load of the respective sections. A correspondingly adapted recirculation ratio ensures safe, reliable and cost-effective operation of the boiler system. A certain amount of the boiler water evaporates during every circulation cycle between the steam drum and the heated surfaces. The resulting steam bubbles are then separated from the water inside the steam drum. A buffer storage can be optionally installed to balance out steam production, which is uneven due to the production process.

Designed for a harsh environment The heat recovery system from Siemens was specially conceived for the tough ambient conditions in the steel mill. Large amounts of dust and corrosive components in the exhaust gas must be dealt with as well as changing temperatures and amounts of the offgas. Moreover, the system is equipped with the required safety facilities to

STEELMAKING comply with the Pressure Equipment Directive. It has a modular structure and can be adapted to differing requirements in each plant, thus facilitating the modernization of existing systems. Plant operators can choose between using the energy recovered in the form of steam directly or, for example, to generate electrical energy in steam turbines.

Installation of an energy recovery system in the exhaust gas system of an electric arc furnace with a tapping weight of 190 t was analyzed within the scope of a feasibility study in a Turkish steel mill. The system was conceived for feed water preheating in the plant’s own coal-fired power station. The continuous 50 bar(a) high-pressure steam

‹‹‹

production enables an annual saving of about 45,000 t of coal in the power station. A power output of five megawatts (electrical) could be achieved if the steam were used directly to generate electricity. This corresponds to a reduction in the specific energy requirement of 22.5 kilowatt hours per metric 쐍 ton of liquid steel.

Millmate Thickness Gauge. Lab accuracy in the mill.

With more than 150 installations worldwide the MTG has shown its reliability and exceeded our customers’ expectations. The green PEC measurement technology is environmentally-friendly, providing personal safety and totally eliminating the hazardous drawbacks of systems based on isotope or X-ray sources. MTG works impeccably in the toughest of environments and there is no need for calibration and alloy compensation inherent in older technologies. MTG is more than a thickness gauge and has several extra features including reliable clad measurement and a unique on-line measurement of electrical resistivity. www.abb.com/pressductor

ABB AB Force Measurement Phone: +46 21 32 50 00

MPT International 4 / 2014

The LF in working conditions

Ladle furnace optimization using a dedicated automation system at a steel plant in Tunisia The electrode control system developed by Sime – Sime ECS – is a fully dynamic system allowing the complete automatic regulation of electrodes and real-time diagnostics for both electric arc furnaces and ladle furnaces. The software can be customized for each plant and separated or integrated into any existing automation and control software HQYLURQPHQW 7KH V\VWHP FRQWULEXWHV WR PRUH HIƂFLHQW HQHUJ\ XVH DQG KHQFH WR ORZHU production costs in electric steelmaking. In 2011, Tunisian steel manufacturer El Fouladh (Société Tunisienne de Sidérurgie El Fouladh) – the state owned steel

Maria Elena Fabiani, Adriano Totis, Simone Nazzi; Sime S.r.l., Tarcento (UD), Italy Contact: www.simeautomation.com E-mail: mefabiani@simeautomation.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

company located in Menzel Bourguiba – awarded Sime through an Italian main contractor the order to provide electrical equipment and a control system to optimize the ladle furnace (LF). Sime is an Italian systems integrator operating worldwide in the iron and steel sector since 1970; the company supplies the engineering, manufacturing and commissioning of electrical and control equipment as well as the automation and process control systems.

The core of the job for El Fouladh was the electrode control system developed by Sime and named Sime ECS. The system is based on long-term field experience in several applications worldwide. Sime ECS is a completely digital automatic system, however, it also allows the operator to manually act on the system at any time. The system is divided into three identical and independent parts, each one controlling a single electrode. The

STEELMAKING – AUTOMATION

Panel screen for the ladle furnace operator

function of each regulator is to maintain constant the “electric” working point which has been pre-selected on the characteristic curves of the transformer-furnace system. In other words, by acting on the speed and thus on the electrode position, the regulator maintains the electrode current and voltage (arc impedance) as constant as possible and as closest as possible to their reference values, I0 and V0 (Z0). This control strategy is fully dynamic allowing a continuous matching between process and preset values. The main functions of Sime ECS are as follows: ▪ digital control for electrode handling, ▪ arc impedance control by measuring electrodes current and voltage using Rms/DC converters, ▪ arc current control, ▪ presetting of electrode current and voltage reference values and other setup values, such as gains (current gain, GI; voltage gain, GV), ▪ interface with the automation and supervision software of the furnace.

‹‹‹

Control unit of the hydraulic system for the LF electrodes

All relevant parameters necessary for clear and real-time monitoring of the process are visualized on the operator panel, which was also included in the project supply. The most important data and values displayed are those related to the primary (e.g. current, voltage, active and reactive power, cos ρ) and to the electrodes (e.g. current, voltage, impedance, power, speed, irradiation), as well as the alarms.

*KIJ GPGTI[ GHƂEKGPE[ CPF cost saving Like all other energy-intensive industries, steel meltshops nowadays pursue the objectives of energy efficiency in the design and management of the plant and of the lowest possible production costs. Sime ECS contributes to reaching these aims. The following main technological, energetic and environmental advantages as well as cost saving effects were achieved in the here described LF project:

▪ improved furnace performance, ▪ reduction of energy factors , ▪ highest production output, thus highest quality, ▪ technological advantages, such as uniform radiation, less electrodes wear, less furnace damage, ▪ reduction of operative costs, e.g. through less maintenance, ▪ short pay-back period. Last but not least, reduction of energy use also means the reduction of pollutant with the consequent possibility of access to government incentives. All these goals can be generally transferred to other plant types. In particular for EAFs, further important aims achievable include shorter tap-to-tap times and less energy consumed per unit of product with the cost savings resulting from these achievements. In conclusion, Sime ECS contributes to the optimization of the melting process through an increase in the 쐍 efficiency of energy use.

WORKING SOLUTIONS FOR EXTREME CONDITIONS

TML Technik GmbH | A Company of the E-Mail: info@tml-technik.com | www.tml-technik.com

ENGINEERING | PRODUCTION | SERVICE

MPT International 4 / 2014

››› STEELMAKING

Inside view of the new secondary metallurgy centre

Inauguration of the new secondary metallurgical centre at the Witten works of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke During a period of three years, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke completely modernized the secondary metallurgical facilities at its Witten location. Also a new dedusting concept and new water management facilities were implemented. The new plants form a central core area of the specialty steel production route because this is where the steel is treated to obtain all the desired quality determining properties. Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH – a company of the Schmolz + Bickenbach group – is a leading manufacturer of high-grade long special steel products. With around 4,000 employees, the company operates five manufactur-

Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH, Witten, Germany Contact: www.dew-stahl.com E-mail: melanie.biskup@dew-stahl.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

ing facilities, namely in Witten (headquarters), Krefeld, Siegen, Hagen and Hattingen (all Germany). The range of products includes tool steel and highspeed steel, stainless, acid- and heat-resistant steels, high-grade construction and ball bearing steels as well as special materials. The product dimensions range from drawn steel of 0.8 mm diameter to forged products with 1,100 mm in diameter. The customers of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke benefit from the fact that the complete production chain from manufacture and preworking to finishing with heat and

surface treatments is provided from a single source.

Comprehensive upgrading and modernization project at the Witten steelworks A few years ago, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke decided to start the most important investment project in its recent history: the modernization of the secondary metallurgy centre at the Witten works. In early 2011, the Austrian steel plant manufacturer Inteco received the order for the construction of a com-

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REDUCE OPERATING COSTS

9 5% energy consumption decrease 9 Possibility of using rings instead of common rolls, starting from roughing mill 9 Reduced consumption of lubricants 9 Easy maintenance

REDUCE SPARE PARTS

9 No spindles, no spindle holder, no chocks, no container unit, no on-board piping 9 Bearings working life min. 50’000 hours

REDUCE PLANT DOWNTIMES

9 Stand changing operations fully automated

EASY MANAGEMENT OF THE MILL

9 9 9 9

HIGH QUALITY FOR THE FINISHED PRODUCT

9 BS Stands are extremely stiff, reaction surface is 5 times greater than housingless 9 Shorter stress path compared to housingless and cantilever stands 9 Eccentric gap regulation allows gap settings starting from 5 μm

FAST ERECTION

9 BS Stands are supplied complete with steel supporting frame 9 Cabling and testing are made in workshop before shipping 9 Reduced height of the vertical stands (BS650 is only 4.6 m, BS420 is only 3.6 m)

No water and scale infiltration on moving parts or gearbox New and patented rest bar design Reduced workshop operations No special tools (hydraulic or heating tools) for rings replacement

Via Palladio, 17 / 33010 Tavagnacco / Udine (ITALY) T. +39 0432 570899 / F. +39 0432 575252 www.pertengineering.com

â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş STEELMAKING

pletely new secondary metallurgy centre consisting of: â&#x2013;Ş a ladle furnace, â&#x2013;Ş a VD/VOD plant, â&#x2013;Ş level 2 automation system and â&#x2013;Ş an alloy addition system, all configured for a maximum heat size of 130 t. (This is the nominal tapping weight of the 130 t UHP electric arc furnace.) Furthermore, Inteco also received the order to modernize the existing ladle furnace, VD/VOD plant, alloy addition system and rinsing unit. The project was successfully carried out during a period of three years. The first part of this large-scale project, which was completed in the middle of 2012, comprised the revamping of the existing secondary metallurgy line. In January 2014, the first heat was processed in the new secondary metallurgical centre of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Witten. The treatment process in the new ladle furnace and VD/VOD plant took place without major difficulties and delays. This was the first important milestone of the start-up phase, which took place according to schedule. In July 2014, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke celebrated the grand opening of the new facilities. During a tour of the new secondary metallurgy centre, roughly 80 guests had the opportunity to experience the secondary metallurgy treatment facilities at first hand. Clemens Iller, since April 2014 CEO of Schmolz + Bickenbach AG, the parent company under which Deutsche Edel-

stahlwerke has been operating since 2007, is convinced that all the organizational effort undertaken to continue operating during the construction phase and the investment totalling 50 million euros have paid off: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The new secondary metallurgy centre will have a lasting positive effect on the future of the location and the whole company.â&#x20AC;?

The new secondary metallurgy centre â&#x20AC;&#x201C; qualityimproving, safer, more energy GHĆ&#x201A;EKGPV CPF GEQ HTKGPFNKGT It took three years to complete the modification of the secondary metallurgy centre where crude steel is treated to achieve the desired properties. For the new production line, a 35-m-high hall with 2,800 square meters of floor space was specially built. It houses all the secondary metallurgy units including: â&#x2013;Ş a new ladle furnace, â&#x2013;Ş a new alloy plant with 28 day hoppers and automatic filling, â&#x2013;Ş a cleaning unit and â&#x2013;Ş a state-of-the-art VD/VOD vacuum treatment plant with a hopper for alloy addition under vacuum and mobile oxygen lance where undesired carbon is almost completely removed from the heat and a very high purity degree is achieved under vacuum. The ladle furnace and vacuum plant are connected by a ladle car, which

reduces ladle transport time from previously 20 minutes to roughly 90 seconds. This makes the production process safer and much more energy efficient because thanks to the shorter transport the heat loss is much lower. Together these units form a central core area of the specialty steel production route because this is where the steel is treated to obtain all the desired properties with the aid of alloying elements and various quality-improving finishing treatments. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The special plant design enables quality improvements in all our product groups, such as ball bearing steel, duplex and super duplex grades for offshore applications, high-quality gear steel or plastic mould steel. And it allows us to meet our customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; constantly growing and increasingly specialized requirements,â&#x20AC;? says Dr. Martin LĂśwendick, chairman of the management board of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke. In addition, the steelworks employees directly benefit from these extensive modification measures. Occupational safety is increased as transportation by crane is reduced and numerous operations at the open heat are automated. The ergonomically designed pulpit from which all systems are controlled is positioned in the centre of a hall level together with the production units. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since occupational safety and health protection are an integral part of Deutsche Edelstahlwerkeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s corporate objectives, these aspects were, of

Scrap yard

Vacuum treatment plant No. 2

130 t electric arc furnace

Ingot casting pit

Deslagging stand

Gas-stirring stand

Ladle furnace No. 1

Ladle preparation stand

Ladle furnace No. 3

Continuous casting machine

Vacuum treatment plant No. 3

Off-gas treatment plant

Layout scheme of the new secondary metallurgical centre MPT International 4 / 2014

STEELMAKING

‹‹‹

course, taken into account in all conceptual plans,” Löwendick adds. The same is true for environmental protection. For example, the modernization measures also included the installation of a completely new dedusting concept which covers all secondary metallurgy treatment units as well as the steelworks with the electric arc furnace. Two new fabric filter units double the dedusting capacity compared to the old electrostatic filter unit to roughly 1 million m3/s, enabling Deutsche Edelstahlwerke to undercut the legal limit values for dust emissions more clearly than ever since the second filter was commissioned in August 2013. Furthermore, resource-efficient treatment of process water from the vacuum plants is ensured by a water management system modernized with state-of-the-art filter technology. Afterwards, the purified water is re-fed into the closed process-water circulation system. 쐍

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alloying without refractory lance

• Desulphurisation technology for Steel & Pig Iron • Complete Service from design to start-up • Long lifetime = less maintenance = higher productivity

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i.e. flexible ceramic lined hose

MPT International 4 / 2014

››› STEELMAKING

Converter-vessel changing technology successfully implemented at PT KrakatauPosco Co., Indonesia A converter-vessel changing car picks up the worn converter at the blowing stand and takes it to the demolition and relining stand. The worn converter is substituted by a second vessel available at the depositing stand. From there, the changing car takes it to the blowing stand where steelmaking can proceed. PT Krakatau-Posco Co. is a joint venture between Pohang Iron & Steel Company (Posco), South Korea, and PT Krakatau Steel, Indonesia. The company is investing in a new integrated steel plant in Cilegon, West Java, the most heavily industrialized province in Indonesia. The steel plant’s annual production amounts to three million tons of steel. A second phase is planned to increase the production to six million tons. PT Krakatau-Posco Company (PTKP), Indonesia, and SMS Siemag, Germany, have successfully put into operation the efficient converter-vessel changing concept involving a 300t change-vessel converter, a changing car as well as highly effective environmental technology for the converter shop. SMS Siemag developed the concept for the converter-vessel changing technology for PTKP and delivered the tilting gear unit for the converter, the changing car, which has a working load of 1,200 tons, and the complete X-Pact® electrical and automation package.

SMS Siemag AG, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-siemag.com E-mail: communications@sms-group.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

STEELMAKING Lee Jung-Bae, project manager of the steelmaking plant at PTKP, is highly pleased with the new plant: “Using SMS Siemag’s vessel-changing concept was the right choice. It is the most economical solution.” The converter-vessel changing concept provides for two blowing stands with permanently installed trunnion rings,

three exchangeable converter vessels, a vessel- changing car, a demolition and relining stand, a stand-by depositing station and a connecting trackway. The converter-vessel changing car picks the worn converter up at the blowing stand and takes it to the demolition and relining stand. From there, the changing car moves to the depositing stand and collects the second converter vessel, which has already been relined, and takes it to the blowing stand. Converter changing takes ten hours, i. e. it is accomplished within a regular maintenance shift at the steelworks. In its lower part, the changing car is equipped with a special lifting and turning manipulator, which enables the car to be turned through 90 degrees in order to reach the respective locations.

Dedusting system with highly effective environmental technology In the new PTKP plant, the latest generation of SMS Siemag’s dry-type converter-gas dedusting technology has been deployed for the first time. This technology includes a gas conditioning tower and a dry-type electrostatic precipitator.

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The dust-laden flammable gas arising during the converter process is exhausted by the primary dust-collecting system above the converter mouth. The gas is cooled in the conditioning tower before cleaning is performed in the drytype electrostatic precipitator. Here, the dust particles are efficiently separated. The electrostatic precipitators achieve a degree of separation of well over 99.8%. In the downstream spray-cooling tower, the cleaned gas is cooled in order to reduce its volume. Depending on the operating phase of the converter, the gas is either conducted to the flare or sent to the gas holder for intermediate storage. The gas-flow switch ensures reliable change-over. From the gas holder, the converter gas is fed to other consumption points in the works via a pressure-boosting station. The dry-type electrostatic precipitator, with its low pressure loss, maintenance-friendly design and long service life, stands for low operating costs. Thanks to the high dust-extraction capacity, low residual dust contents can be attained and demanding environmental standards complied with. Both energy costs and CO2 emissions are significantly reduced, as the energy obtained from the flammable converter gas serves as a replacement for other energy sources. 쐍

The converter vessel-changing car from SMS Siemag has a working load of 1,200 t

Dry-type converter-gas dedusting system

MPT International 4 / 2014

A special strand cooling system will be installed to widen the range of products and improve slab quality

ThyssenKrupp Steel to modernize slab casting plant and the converter steel plant in Duisburg, Germany ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe is investing 90 million euros in modernization of the continuous slab caster No. 1 in Duisburg-Beeckerwerth. In the framework of a complete revamp, modern cooling technology will be installed to further improve slab quality. At the same time, the converter steelmaking plant is undergoing a modernization at the Duisburg-Bruckhausen works which involves an investment of around 21 million euros. In parallel to the current reline of blast furnace No. 2 in Duisburg-Schwelgern, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe has taken the opportunity to modernize a further key manufacturing facility, while minimizing potential production loss. Work has started on revamping one of the continuous slab casters in DuisburgBeecker werth with the aim to improve slab quality and widen the product range. The plant is scheduled to go back into operation in just under eight weeks.

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg, Germany Contact: www.thyssenkrupp-steel-europe.com E-mail: communications@thyssenkrupp.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

The modernization will involve costs of around 90 million euros. “This is further evidence that despite all the burdens being imposed on us, for example in terms of energy prices, we continue to put our faith in the Duisburg site and are investing in its sustainability,” says Dr. Herbert Eichelkraut, chief operating officer at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe. “This is an important signal for our employees, but also for our customers and suppliers.”

New gentler, more accurate air-water cooling system for the CCM Continuous caster No. 1 is designed for steel slabs with widths between 1,000 and 2,150 mm and a thickness of up to 257 mm. The rebuild of the twostrand, bow-type caster includes the replacement of the casting machine it-

self and also auxiliary equipment as following: ▪ a new ladle turret, ▪ an 80-ton tundish, ▪ a new tundish car and ▪ the installation of new measuring systems. A key element of the modernization is a new cooling system. Previously slabs were sprayed with water across their full width. A new air-water cooling technology will permit gentler, more accurate cooling of the hot strand. In the future it will be possible to switch individual nozzles on and off, so allowing targeted cooling of defined zones across the width of the strand. “Thanks to air-water cooling we will have next to no edge defects in slabs anymore,” explains Dr. Arnd Köfler, head of crude steel at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe. “This will significantly improve the surface quality of the

MODERNIZATION steel products, particularly the highstrength grades our customers are increasingly requesting.” The caster is being revamped not just technically but visually as well. The colour design of continuous caster No. 1 is based on the production flow, similar to the orange-red design of blast furnace No. 8, which has become a landmark of Duisburg-Hamborn. The striking colors have a positive impact on working atmosphere and also on safety, drawing attention to hand rails on stairways for example.

process reliability,” says Arnd Köfler. “It will further enhance the quality of our products and ultimately benefit our customers.” Around 1,000 specialists are working on two job sites to ensure a smooth rebuild. Arnd Köfler continues: “Planning and organizing the whole operation including health and safety measures has been a huge challenge.” The new converter vessel is one of the biggest of its kind worldwide, with a height of eleven meters and a width of 15 meters. Including bearing stands, converter platform, etc., the total weight

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under a contract from SMS Siemag. Project management is the responsibility of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe’s “Technical services and energy” unit, which is coordinating work on the site in close cooperation with the production and maintenance departments.

Special crane lifts boiler segments over shop roof Directly above the work on the converter floor, four segments of the waste-heat boiler system are also being replaced. The over 50 meter long sys-

Continuous caster No. 1 has been producing slabs for 40 years Continuous caster 1 was built in 1974 and has been modernized twice since. The revamp is therefore essential. Alongside this unit there is a second continuous caster at the same location, i.e. Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, and another one at the Duisburg-Bruckhausen works. The capacity of continuous caster No. 1 is around 2.3 million tons per year. Since it began operation 40 years ago it has produced more than 80 million tons of steel, enough to build almost 1,100 copies of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. The two continuous casters in Duisburg-Beeckerwerth provide roughly 170 jobs. They produce high-quality slabs for special steels, mainly for the automotive industry, as well as tinplate for the packaging industry, high-strength steels, skelp and quarto plate.

Modernization of the BOF steelmaking plant At the same time another modernization project is carried out at the Duisburg-Bruckhausen site. Whereas the first of two converters in the oxygen steelmaking plant was replaced over a year ago, now it is the turn of converter No. 2. The converter vessel and the associated waste-heat boiler system are substituted while production in the neighbouring other converter continues. The modernization work, under way since the beginning of June this year, involves an investment of around 21 million euros. “This project will improve energy efficiency and increase

Rice hulls are thrown into the tundish to keep the steel at the right temperature during continuous casting

of the steel structure is around 600 tons. Thanks to a new method of construction the new converter vessel will be significantly wider. With an unchanged charge weight of up to 400 tons, the inner volume of the converter has been increased by almost a fifth. The additional capacity will provide greater process reliability, as the steel bath will be at a lower level in the converter, reducing the possibility of steel spilling out of the mouth. Also, thanks to the larger reaction volume, more oxygen can be injected during the top-blowing process. As a result, the escaping converter gas will have a higher carbon content, meaning that more process energy can be recovered in further process steps. Engineering and fabrication of the new converter have been carried out by Düsseldorf-based SMS Siemag. Dismantling and installation were handled by ThyssenKrupp Mill Services & Systems

tem of water pipes cools the converter off-gas from up to 1,800°C down to roughly 500°C, ready for dust removal. The cooled converter gas is cleaned and fuels the reheating furnaces in the adjacent hot strip mill, benefiting functionality, energy efficiency and the environment. The new boiler segments were made by the Essen-based equipment manufacturer Oschatz. They are 3.5 meters in diameter. The heaviest element weighs 50 tons, and together the four weigh 150 tons. As the waste-heat boiler had to be positioned roughly 20 meters above the converter opening, three of the four boiler segments were lifted over the 70 meter high shop roof into the converter shop on the hook of a special crawler-mounted Wagenborg crane with a 140 meter jib positioned on the south side of the Duisburg-Bruckhausen melt shop. 쐍 MPT International 4 / 2014

A reduction of slab width of 200 mm – from 1,300 mm to 1,100 mm over a length of 6.3 meters (LC)

Dynamic width change during slab casting SMS Siemag has developed the Delta Speed Adjustment technology to ensure reliable process control for width changes in continuous casters. This dynamic width change technology minimizes the length of the transition pieces. No reduction of casting speed is required during the adjustment procedure. This technology is suited for crack-sensitive steel grades and reduces the risk of break-outs. To enable slab widths to be adjusted in an efficient and highly flexible manner during continuous casting, SMS Siemag has developed the “Delta Speed Adjustment” technology. It

Ronald Wilmes, SMS Siemag AG, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-siemag.com E-mail: ronald.wilmes@sms-siemag.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

generates very short transition pieces when adjusting the slab width. At the same time, this procedure is suitable for steel grades with crack susceptibility. The technology enhances the flexibility of the slab caster in several respects. High caster plant availability and high yield are further benefits. Delta Speed Adjustment not only denotes the fast speed when the mould narrow faces change their position but also the mathematical algorithm which controls the adjustment in the CCM. The taper of the

narrow faces is adjusted simultaneously with the width change itself. This saves time and shortens the transition length. Furthermore, the casting speed does not have to be reduced for the adjustment process, and the planned production is hence not impaired. The adjustment algorithm is based purely on length. The casting speed can be altered as and when required during the width change, and the speed of the actuators for narrow-face adjustment is adapted automatically.

CONTINUOUS CASTING

Delta Speed Adjustment can DG TGVTQĆ&#x201A;VVGF KP GZKUVKPI casters and can also be utilized with circular-arc moulds SMS Siemag will implement the Delta Speed Adjustment technology at the continuous slab caster No. 2 at Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, Germany. Within the framework of a modernization project, SMS Siemag will

Width, mm

Absolute taper, mm

A gentle transition is important above all for crack-sensitive steel grades. Delta Speed Adjustment minimizes the stresses in the strand shell and improves the support during adjustment. Break-outs can thus be avoided. Even width adjustments of, for example, 400 mm are now unreservedly possible. This procedure safeguards both product quality and reliable plant operation on a lasting basis.

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Transition length, mm

Absolute taper and slab width vs. transition length during width decrease from 1,300 mm to 1,100 mm

replace the mould, the hydraulic resonance oscillator and the first segment. The existing cooling chamber, the hydraulic equipment, the utilities supply as well as the electrical and automation

systems will be adapted as part of the customized modernization concept. Installation and commissioning will take place during a scheduled plant shutdown in September 2015. ě??

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DESCALING SOLUTION

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DESIGN It all starts with the nozzle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and no one has as much experience in this area as we do. All of our descaling nozzles are designed to: sĂ?Ă?-INIMIZEĂ?WATERĂ?ANDĂ?PRESSUREĂ?USEĂ?WITHOUTĂ?COMPROMISINGĂ?IMPACT sĂ?-INIMIZEĂ?TURBULENCE sĂ?-AXIMIZEĂ?EFFECTIVEĂ?COVERAGEĂ?AREA DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 5NDERSTANDINGĂ?NOZZLEĂ?PERFORMANCEĂ?ISĂ?KEYĂ?TOĂ?ACHIEVINGĂ?OPTIMALĂ?DESCALING Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Our approach includes: sĂ?Ă?5SINGĂ?THEORETICALĂ?CALCULATIONSĂ?OFĂ?IMPACTĂ?ANDĂ?COVERAGEĂ?ASĂ?AĂ?BASELINE sĂ?Ă?#ONDUCTINGĂ?COVERAGEĂ?ANDĂ?IMPACTĂ?TESTINGĂ?INĂ?OURĂ?SPRAYĂ?LABSĂ? USINGĂ?AĂ?PROPRIETARYĂ?IMPACTĂ?TESTERĂ?TOĂ?VALIDATEĂ?PERFORMANCEĂ? sĂ?Ă?5SINGĂ?COMPUTATIONALĂ?FLUIDĂ?DYNAMICSĂ? #&$ Ă?TOĂ?DETERMINEĂ?SPRAYĂ?PERFORMANCEĂ?INĂ? complex applications sĂ?Ă?5SINGĂ?THISĂ?DATAĂ?TOĂ?DESIGNĂ?HEADERSĂ?ANDĂ?OPTIMIZEĂ?SPRAYĂ?LAYOUTSĂ? for our customers

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Enhanced accuracy of descaling nozzle arrangements through complementary measurement methods Hydro-mechanical descaling systems need to be designed in such way that the typically high safety margins resulting in excessive spray overlaps are eliminated. Latest technologies have been applied to new measurements of all the variables that form the basis for the new edition of the DESCALE 7.5 software, which is an indispensable tool for the design of descaling headers.

Nozzle simulation with DESCALE 7.5

Impact measurement protocol, 270 bar and 119 mm spray height

Descaling system revamps are often driven by the need to improve the surface quality of the rolled products. Not only in these cases, but also for newly designed systems, the optimization of the spray nozzle arrangement is always in the focus of the designer. Here the impact and in particular the spray width values play a major role, and are now required with a much higher accuracy than ever before. With spray depths now ranging between only 3 and 5 mm at spray heights often below 100 mm and descaling nozzles sizes becoming smaller and smaller, a 1-mm-diameter sensor (force transducers) has been chosen to

,Ă&#x2DC;TIGP (TKEM .GEJNGT )OD* /GV\KPIGP )GTOCP[ %QPVCEV YYY NGEJNGT FG ' OCKN HTLW"NGEJNGT FG

MPT International 4 / 2014

provide the required resolution. Without this new high resolution technology (Lechler HiRes) and its much higher accuracy, the development of the latest Lechler Scalemaster HP SuperiorÂŽ descaling nozzle generation would not have been possible. When performing a measurement the sensor is moved under the spray at a specified spray height and scans the entire spray foot print along the scan path in one operation. The sum of all the maximum impact value peaks on the centre line of the spray foot print and the quantity of peak impulses are required to calculate the average maximum impact; this is an important value to describe the effectiveness of a descaling nozzle.

Latest release of nozzle EQPĆ&#x201A;IWTCVKQP UQHVYCTG Soon after its first release in 1992, the PC based Lechler DESCALE soft-

ware has without doubt become the most widely used tool in the design of thousands of descaling headers. It was to be expected that the impact, the spray width and the spray depth values of a certain nozzle type at given spray conditions and measured with the conventional method would differ significantly from the values measured with the new HiRes technology. In parallel with the development of Lechlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new descaling nozzle generation Scalemaster HP SuperiorÂŽ, all previous descaling nozzle types from Lechler had to be re-measured and new equations describing the impact characteristics had to be developed. With these data, a new DESCALE software programme was created allowing a comparison of all spray parameters of all nozzles acquired with the new HiRes method. Much higher prediction accuracy especially with respect to the spray overlaps was the result. In general, the impact values

››› HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

from the HiRes method are higher than those measured with the conventional method. Spray widths values at spray heights below 150 mm tend to be smaller and at spray heights above 150 mm they tend to be wider than before. Moreover, for the first time descaling rings for rounds can be now configured; also the impact values for the utilization of the water stop valve from Lechler can be calculated with the new software. The nozzle simulation, which has been selected as the benchmark, resulted in a calculated effective spray width of 71 mm at a spray height of 119 mm, at 15° inclination angle and an offset angle of 15°. The values derived using the DESCALE 7.5 simulation had to be confirmed by an actual HiRes impact measurement. The measured spray width was 73.9 mm (74 mm) which results in an effective spray width of 71.4 mm with an offset angle of 15°.

#NWOKPKWO GTQUKQP VGUV The aluminium erosion test method represents one method to verify in particular the spray width and the spray depth. For this purpose the spray from a descaling nozzle is impacting onto an aluminium plate for a certain amount of time and at a given water pressure. The crater length which the high pressure water has eroded in the flat surface can easily be measured manually. The spray time was 15 s at 270 bar water pressure and the effective spray width at a 15° offset angle was 72.5 mm for a verification of the calculation. However, in order to perform the aluminium erosion tests, it is necessary to have either relatively high water pres-

Nondescaled steel sample MPT International 4 / 2014

Erosion crater seen from top with ruler

sures around and above 200 bar or spraying times of 15 min and beyond for lower water pressures and smaller nozzles.

*QV FGUECNKPI VGUV Being aware of the fact that neither the HiRes impact measurement and the subsequent simulation with the DESCALE 7.5, nor the aluminium erosion test method represent the real operation conditions in a hot rolling process, the need for a more realistic method became apparent. Ideal working conditions can be found at the Swinden Technology Centre of Tata Steel. Here not only a competent team of highly experienced researchers is available, but also a revamped facility for hot descaling tests including a high pressure pump, a furnace and the possibility to set up reproducible test conditions. A particularly difficult to descale electrical steel grade (SiMn alloyed steel) was chosen for the hot descaling verification test. The primary scale which was formed in the furnace at 1,200°C was mainly wustite.

Descaled steel sample

Descaling took place with the same nozzle that had been utilized for the above mentioned tests and under identical conditions; the speed was 0.25 m/s. The descaled area is visible as a broad, red band. The nondescaled edge areas can be clearly distinguished from the descaled stripe. The descaled stripe width was measured in cold condition with a ruler and was found to be approximately 69 mm wide.

%QPENWUKQP CPF QWVNQQM With a predicted spray width of 70.5 mm and a real descaled width of 69 mm it has been proved that the software DESCALE 7.5 from Lechler provides the user with a very high accuracy of data. The difference of 1.5 mm was due to the rather indefinite and difficult-to-measure interface between the descaled and nondescaled areas. The accuracy was verified using the HiRes impact measurement method, which resulted in an effective spray width of 71.4 mm. With the aluminium erosion test the effective spray width was 72.5 mm.

HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

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It is important to note that both values are beyond the prediction of 70.5 mm, so that a certain safety margin is included even when narrow overlaps below 5 mm are being chosen. Header configurations with a reduced number of nozzles and fewer water flows are now possible, especially when utilizing Scalemaster HP Superior®. This is one more step on the way to reducing energy consumption. Additional research activities are being targeted towards the investigation of the spray energy and to optimizing the overlap area. Descaled stripe of 69 mm width in cold condition

쐍

Typical bar-in-coil line layout

Latest improvements in quality and process control of new barin-coil lines 0RGHUQ VSHFLDO VWHHO EDU LQ FRLO OLQHV PXVW IXOƂO VRPH IXQGDPHQWDO UHTXLUHPHQWV high output capacity, products with defect-free surfaces, homogeneous technological characteristics along the whole coil, compact coils made up of evenly distributed bar loops for easier storage and transport and for safe and easy uncoiling. The latest generation of Danieli-Morgårdshammar garret lines and associated process control systems were GHVLJQHG LQ IXOO FRPSOLDQFH ZLWK WKHVH UHTXLUHPHQWV RI WKH EDU LQ FRLO PDUNHW The increasing quality demand for bar-in-coil (BIC) has highlighted the fabrication routes and improved the process requirements of such kind of products. Not only has plant capacity rapidly increased in the last decades.

Maicol Cimolino, Claudio Fabbro, #PFTGC 6CWTKPQ &CPKGNK % 1HƂEKPG Meccaniche SpA, Buttrio, Udine, Italy Contact: www.danieli.com Email: info.dmhb@danieli.it

MPT International 4 / 2014

Also the specifications regarding the general delivering quality have become more restrictive. This has made producers optimize their bar-in-coil production and optimize all possible weak points to obtain a proper process and a suitable product. Nevertheless the uncertain market conditions have forced the coils producers to differentiate the material offered, both in terms of different steel grades (common quality carbon/special steel/ stainless steel) and in terms of types of shapes coiled: rounds, squares, hexagons, small flats or rebar.

The installation of a bar-in-coil line in a rolling mill enhances the versatility and flexibility of the whole rolling plant. The integration of this device, which is usually installed in a straight bar line, and, increasingly often, together with a wire rod line, permits to satisfy almost all customer requests and needs, as it makes it possible, for example, to customize many product qualities: ▪ coil characteristics in terms of coil weight and size for easier storage and transport, ▪ material characteristics in relation to the downstream facilities,

HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION ▪ material properties, considering customization for every single user, and preliminary heat treatment to satisfy different needs. This is possible thanks to the machine’s design and the advanced process control system which enables the control and management of the fundamental parameters affecting the coil quality. To sum up, the task of the equipment is to provide coil producers with the proper technology and equipment to fulfil the above-mentioned needs. The latest generation of the DanieliMorgårdshammar garret line design and the associated process control are the right answers to fully comply with present bar-in-coil market requirements.

Coil of hexagon bar

The bar-in-coil devices are installed downstream the last working stand; commonly one or more water boxes and a shear are installed before the coilers. The function of the water boxes is to control coiling temperature, which is a fundamental parameter both for correct coil formation and for secondary scale reduction. The water boxes work with pressurized water nozzles which cool the bar surface, enhancing homogeneity and temperature regulation. Equalization spaces, located in between the water boxes, equalize the surface temperature to prevent exceeding of the critical value, thus avoiding phase transformations and an uneven bar surface. Generally, the water boxes are multi-strand to allow quick changes from one product to another, avoiding manual replacement of internal elements, and guarantee the proper ratio between the bar size and the cooling element dimension. The correct channel is selected automatically from the main pulpit. The proper temperature control is performed by temperature loop control management; a specific cycle is implemented in the PLC for the feedback and feed forward control, adopting the pyrometers installed along the line. Both controls are used to obtain the correct coiling temperature and to reduce any temperature difference between the head and tail of the starting billet. The main function of the

Surface micrograph of 0.05 mm defect depth in 26-mm-dia material

shear is to make head/tail cutting (including length cutting optimization), stock chopping (cobble cutting) and, if required, also sample cutting.

Plant automation General layout

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The automation control is a central aspect of coil formation. Without an appropriate control it is not possible to obtain high quality coils, in terms of dimensions/density and material quality (surface defects). Forming coils up to 3.5 t implies the choice of a coiler with drum dimensions adequate to wind a coil large enough to ensure good stability during handling operations; this is particularly important for non-tied coils. Therefore, it is necessary to use the proper oscillation cycles to fully exploit the physical space available for coil formation. As a consequence, coiling parameters such as over-speed and un-

der-speed and the oscillation periods (to guide the bar and increase or decrease coil density) become absolutely essential. The possibility to vary the basic oscillation parameters ensures that the same type of coil shape is obtained even if the steel grade changes. As a matter of fact, if specific parameters are adopted for low-carbon steel, some corrections must be made for alloyed steel in order to obtain the same shape and controlled mechanical properties. The difference is even more pronounced when comparing carbon steel with stainless steel bar coiling. As a result, to make sure the desired cycles are actually carried out, it is essential to choose the right equipment. The recording clearly demonstrates how the required speed can be perfectly maintained up until the end of the coiling phase, even when a 3 t mass is revolving.

Typical conveying trough with rolls MPT International 4 / 2014

››› HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

Process control The Danieli long-products properties predictor software (DLPP®) is designed for off-line prediction of temperature, microstructure and final mechanical properties of hot rolled wire rods and bars. The DLPP® enables temperatures of long products to be calculated dur-

into the secondary structures followed by a graph that shows the interaction with the hybrid cooling decomposition diagram and by a non-isothermal cooling curve. This analysis permits to calculate the characteristic properties, such as microstructure composition, hardness, tensile strength and

HiNSPECT installation

Device interface and real time material analysis

ing rolling and final cooling for various steel grades: carbon steels, high alloyed tool steels, stainless steels, nickel alloys, titanium alloys. The evolution of the microstructure during rolling and the final mechanical properties can be calculated for a wide range of carbon steels. The metallurgical calculations are performed considering that all the rolling passes are completed in the austenitic range. The DLPP® is a suitable instrument to develop both specific studies for existing plants (e.g. revamping projects, steel grade upgrading), and complete dimensioning of totally new plants. By describing the specific layout and the main process and rolling parameters, i.e. chemical composition, initial slab properties, rolling parameters, reductions, speeds, heat transfer conditions of each device installed, etc., it is possible to handle the main metallurgical and thermal aspects. Recrystallization, deformed austenite grain size and precipitation hardening conditions are analyzed during the computation by the software . The main output of the software is a diagram of austenite decomposition

yield stress of the specific rolled size and chemical composition of the material [1].

MPT International 4 / 2014

Quality parameter: coil shape Another quality aspect, not strictly linked to the material performance but related to customer needs, is the shape of the coil. Two main aspects are crucial: the shape of the coil itself (height and relative density) and the formation/position of the rings within the coil. Coil dimensions are mainly guaranteed by the synergic combination of mechanics and automation. Moreover, adopting two spiral feeding pipes (one for small and one for big products) makes it possible to obtain more compact coils; this is achieved by guiding the material very close to the forming layers. In addition, coils with different densities can be obtained by an appropriate modification of the coiling parameters. This guarantees that different shapes of coils satisfy the requirements of the various downstream processes. It should be noted that even when starting from a 20-mm-dia bar,

a coil density of more than 3,500 kg/ m³ can be obtained, resulting in high coil compactness. This gives bar-incoil producers the possibility to supply the market with ultra-heavy coils (weighing up to 3.5 t), which are compact in size and easy to transport and handle in the downstream process-

ing plants. The latest generation coilers have solved the long term “empty-coil” problem. In some installations a laser control is linked to the automation, permitting to calibrate the feeding speed and elevation of the spiral pipe in order to guarantee optimal filling characteristics. The laser can also be a safety device to control the height of the coil during coiling, and if for any reason an uncontrolled formation is performed, the emergency sequence is triggered. For specially shaped bars (e.g. hexagons, squares, flats) the formation inside the drum must be perfectly controlled considering the following downstream facilities. One characteristic example is the need to have sideedge or side-face hexagon formation, depending on the available drawing technology. To this purpose, a special device is installed at the entry side of the spiral pipe; such equipment guarantees the precise control of the bar inclination and the feeding position, given also by the automatic synchronization with the feeding pinch roll. The typical hexagon dimensions are from 13.0 mm up to 52.5 mm. For flats/

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››› HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

rectangular products the rolled sizes are (51.5–61.5) mm x (8–9–11) mm up to 72 mm x 16 mm.

Quality parameter: scratchfree During the rolling process, surface defects in rolled hot bar represent one of the most critical problems to be solved to guarantee product quality. If the surface defect is present in the rolled product, it can easily result in a serious manufacturing defect during the secondary forming process (in particular during drawing). It is necessary to minimize this kind of defect and, moreover, (as we will see below) it is necessary to detect its formation in an early stage. It is not always easy to detect the genesis of this phenomenon which could have been generated in the rolling mill or could already have been present in the starting billet (e.g. edge cracks, inhomogeneity of metallurgical formation along the section or even chemical composition). At any rate, these phenomena cannot be completely avoided in the bar-in-coil process, but they can be strongly limited [2]. The European standard specifying the requirements for the surface quality of hot rolled round bars and rods is EN 10221:1995. Upon agreement between the manufacturer and the purchaser, this standard may be applied

Schematic illustration of fan cooling

also to the production of squares, hexagons and octagons. Even if this standard is typically applied to engineering steels, it can be also used for other purposes like general structural steels or tool steels [3]. A specific technology has been developed to control, limit and in some cases avoid these defects. Specific equipment has been introduced along the crucial points of the rolling and coiling machines to avoid defect formation. Even between all conveying troughs as well as inside the water boxes, the bar is always supported by rollers in order to prevent it from sliding and getting scratched. This can also prevent cooling nozzles from wear, which is a critical aspect for the cooling efficiency itself. The supporting rollers inside the wa-

ter boxes can center the bar inside the cooler, thus obtaining uniform cooling throughout the bar section. Also the feeding pipe has been designed to avoid any friction between the coiled material and the static parts of the machine.

Surface inspection HiNSPECT analyzes the surface of small profiles and rounds during hot rolling, searching for any surface unevenness. The entire surface is inspected, making use of hi-power solid state lighting and a hi-resolution acquisition system. Proprietary image recognition algorithms identify any surface defect. This technology enhances the identification of surface defects, both lo-

Steel grades

Tasks

Means

Low carbon steels

Improvement in mechanical properties

Fans

Medium/high carbon steels

Improvement in mechanical properties Minimize pro-eutectoid ferrite or cementite

Fans

Bearing steels

Improvement in mechanical properties Minimize pro-eutectoid ferrite or cementite Prepare material for offline spherodizing treatment

Fans

Free cutting steels

Improvement in mechanical properties Minimize pro-eutectoid ferrite

Fans

Cold heading steels

Minimize UTS, YS and hardness, maximize workability and formability, prepare microstructure for short offline annealing, decrease internal stresses

Hoods

Case hardening steels, nitriding steels

Minimize UTS, YS and hardness, maximize workability, prepare microstructure for short offline annealing, decrease internal stresses

Hoods

Heat treatment steels

Minimize UTS, YS and hardness, maximize workability, prepare microstructure for short offline annealing, decrease internal stresses

Hoods

High carbon steels, spring steels

Maximize workability, prepare microstructure for short offline annealing, decrease internal stresses

Hoods

Possible improvements in material characteristics by slow cooling MPT International 4 / 2014

››› HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

calized and diffused such as seams, laps, slivers, scabs, cracks and periodic marks. The main feature of this instrument is its in-line installation allowing an inspection of 100% of the material surface. The optical testing system is installed in a protective environment, where an internal forcedair flux guarantees a cleaning procedure that permits dust and scale to be eliminated. The implementation of this device can lead to a significant improvement in terms of product quality, overall plant productivity and manpower saving, since the off-line inspection is no longer required. This technique is suitable for fast moving targets, at the same time providing a conventional 2D image (available for immediate verification) and the possibility to get some 3D information; this information is also stored with the complete rod/bar data for off-line analysis.

today. Final users and steel producers have made a lot of efforts trying to reduce or avoid energy waste. Heat treatment of the material after rolling is a crucial field where it is possible to implement this philosophy and where some efforts can still be made. Typical installations downstream the coilers are fans, hoods, water tanks, rotating furnaces. The main advantages of these installations are a high finished-product quality (reducing or avoiding off-line treatments), less handling of the finished coils, cost reduction thanks to the fact that the products do not have to be moved from one cycle to another and thanks to time and energy saving. The reduction in consumptions permits obtaining a semi product of higher quality and with lower production costs [5]. The cooling of the coils with fans is not aimed at directly modifying the physical and mechanical properties

Water tank for direct solubilization treatment

Rotary hearth furnace

For the range of 10 – 60 mm dia analyzable bars with speeds up to 20 m/s and the bar range of 30 – 110 mm dia with speeds up to 10 m/s, the minimum detectable defect is 0.2 mm (transversal side) by 0.2 to 0.7 mm (longitudinal side) [4].

Energy-sensitive downstream treatment For both economic and environmental reasons, energy conservation is a high priority in manufacturing MPT International 4 / 2014

ments. The scale control in terms of both thickness and adherence is fundamental for the downstream treatments. As a matter of fact, the proper scale can drastically reduce the time required for the descaling processes, i.e. mechanical or chemical descaling of the bar surface. Thanks to the more uniform temperature distribution along the coil, an increasing homogeneity is reached, which has a very positive effect on the dispersion of the tensile and hardness properties. The most important aspect is to adopt fans to cool coils and reduce the coil temperature (and consequently, time and space) in order to reach a suitable temperature for the tying and compacting machine. Installation of telescopic hoods or removable insulating covers may be sufficient to prepare the material for an offline annealing treatment or even for straightening. However, it is to be emphasized that slow cooling under hoods is not sufficient to achieve mechanical properties like those reached after an annealing treatment in off-line furnaces, where the coil temperature can be strictly controlled by the burners. The main target to use slow cooling technology is to guarantee a more uniform surface hardness in all the parts of the coil; without this technology, the outer layer of the coil would be subjected to a higher cooling rate, thus achieving a higher hardness level. Through slow cooling, the coil obtains better formability (lower hardness) and shows lower internal residual stresses, compared with conventional air cooling systems.

of the rolled material (only a small contribution if compared with calm air cooling, it is not possible to do air patenting) but mainly at controlling the formation of scale and the development of the microstructure (limiting or avoiding coarsening structures). The main task of cooling the coils with fans is to control the scale formation avoiding the development of undesirable oxide layers; such detrimental scale may indeed lead to increased yield loss, decreased equipment life and higher maintenance require-

The water tank installed immediately after the coilers allows the coil to be cooled in water immediately after forming. By applying this process, it is possible to treat mainly austenitic stainless steel grades. The sensitization phenomenon that affects these grades is related to the Cr diffusion to the grain boundary (formation of chromium carbide) that creates a Cr-reduction in the zones near the grain boundary; in that area the chromium content becomes much less than the 12%, meaning that the corrosion resistance is no longer guaranteed. The final microstructure is austenite with a big amount of Cr-carbides

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to the grain boundary (the material is sensitized) and a selective corrosion (in the zones near the grain boundary) appears when the material is in contact with corrosive media. To avoid this phenomenon a heat treatment of solution annealing is commonly performed. This heat treatment consists of heating the material up to a temperature above 1,050°C and holding it long enough to allow the carbides, which are precipitated in the grain boundaries, to dissolve into the surrounding matrix. After this, the material is quickly cooled, (normally by submersing into water) [6]. Coiling at temperatures of 1,000 – 1,100°C and then dipping the material directly into water may avoid the reheating cycle. This results in a marked reduction of the production costs as the off-line solubilization treatment is eliminated. It is to be emphasized that for the most critical grades this treatment cannot guarantee the same values of corrosion resistance as obtainable with the off-line routes; anyhow, it is suitable for material which does not have to comply with stringent quality requirements. For example, the yield point is a little higher than that of the grades heat-treated in an annealing furnace and ductility and corrosions resistance decrease slightly. Solution annealing can also be performed on duplex (two-phase) stainless steel, in particular rebar, as defined for instance in BS 6744:2001, “Stainless steel bars for reinforcement of and use in concrete-requirements and test methods” (e.g. a common grade is X2CrMnNiN21-5-1) [7]. These rebars can be easily produced in coils adopting a garret machine, with typical dimensions from 14 up to 40 mm, thus fully satisfying the market requirements [8].

ing of austenitic stainless grades. Due to their low carbon content, some alloys do not need solution annealing, but may anyway benefit from the

than the nominal ones can affect the overall productivity only if a drastic heat treatment cycle (in terms of temperature profile) is required. Other-

Swivelling elevator

Rotary hearth furnace A swivelling elevator is installed after the garret machines; its purpose is to feed the inline rotary hearth furnace with hot coils. This furnace mainly performs soft annealing (softens the material or makes it easier to be machined) or solution annealing. A wide range of steel grades can be heat treated: common steel, special steel and, mainly, stainless steel grades. At the furnace exit side, there is a multi-step water tank for fast quenchMPT International 4 / 2014

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treatment to achieve maximum corrosion resistance. The rotary furnace was first installed due to the needs of a high-productivity stainless steel plant, where all storage operations between production and delivery had to be reduced as much as possible. Considering the size of the furnace, it is clear that production lots smaller

wise, such difference in heat treatment can be easily handled by proper control of the single sections. The main process target is to obtain a uniform structure with a suitable grain size (typically close to ASTM 5) for the following drawing and cold heading processes. A wide temperature regulation range from 700 to 1,180°C makes

HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION it possible to also heat treat ferritic and most of the martensitic grades. In this way recrystallization annealing and isothermal annealing can be performed in line without any intermediate storage of coils. It is possible to obtain the absolutely highest properties achievable with offline heat treatments, while saving the thermal capacity of the material treated for hot coils. Another possible solution for the heat treatment of coils is the in line tunnel furnace. In this case, the coils are directly transported to the gas fired furnace, whose thermal conditions and residence time for the coils are regulated in order to ensure the attainment of the proper final microstructure, according to steel grade requirements. After the tunnel furnace, a fast water cooling system can be used to cool the coils. The philosophy and the equipment for the rotating furnace and the in line tunnel are the same. Only the material flow changes: in the one case, it is circular; in the other, it is straight. The technology choice usually depends on the space available for installation and the required plant productivity.

Conclusions The innovative key technologies for latest bar-in-coil lines offer a wide

range of outstanding advantages in comparison with conventional solutions. This article cannot provide an exhaustive description of the latest technologies developed for bar-in-coil production, but aims at highlighting key technologies and giving a general overview of the new perspectives in the production of bar-in-coil steel. The target of many plant investment programmes is to increase both the quality and the production output simultaneously, while substantially improving the cost structure. The above described aspects are a consequence of a very keen competition between steel producers all around the world. All the most renowned special steel producers aim to reduce production cost and increase material quality. Application of the state-of-the-art garret lines will lead to significant and tangible reductions in process time and production costs, while providing significant environmental benefits. The strategy to integrate as many process routes as possible into a single line, opens new perspectives for the production of bar-in-coil steel. The innovative equipment and fully integrated process control applied to the bar-in-coil technology can lead to a higher standard quality and material performances, as Danieli-Morgårdshammar’s latest references confirmed. 쐍

‹‹‹

References [1] M. Cimolino, F. Toschi, P. Simecek: New Process Simulation Tool for Long Product rolling the DLPP software; AISTech2009 [2] Hyuck-Cheol Kwon, Ho-Won Lee, HakYoung Kim, Young-Taek Im, Hae-Doo Park, Duk-Lak Lee: Surface wrinkle defect of carbon steel in hot bar rolling process; Journal of Material Processing technology 209 (2009) [3] EN 10221:1995 - Surface quality classes for hot-rolled bars and rods - Technical delivery conditions [4] R. Ferrari, M. Appio, V. Moroli: Enhanced surface inspection of long products with pseudo-3D technique, AISTech2014 [5] F. Alzetta: Il “direct casting & rolling” plant di ABS “LUNA”: sviluppi e risultati, dall’avviamento fino all’anno 2006; La Metallurgia Italiana 02/2007. [6] Hiroyuki Kokawa, Masayuki Shimada, Yutaka S. Sato: Grain-boundary structure and precipitation in sensitized austenitic stainless steel; JOM 2000, Volume 52, Issue 7, pp 34-37 [7] BS 6744:2001 + A2:2009 Requirements and test methods [8] J.F. McGurn: Stainless steel reinforcing bars in concrete; Nickel Development Institute (NiDI)

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MPT International 4 / 2014

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Finishing block technologies for 1- and 2-strand rolling of rebar and wire rod $ ZLGH UDQJH RI Ć&#x201A;QLVKLQJ EORFNV KDV EHHQ GHVLJQHG IRU WKH SURGXFWLRQ RI ERWK UHEDU DQG ZLUH URG Ĺ? FRPSRVHG RI WKUHH GLIIHUHQW EORFNV DPRXQWLQJ WR D WRWDO RI HLJKW YDULHWLHV IRU GLIIHUHQW SODQW FDSDFLWLHV DQG Ć&#x201A;QLVKHG SURGXFW TXDOLWLHV 7KH\ FDQ DOVR EH WDLORUHG WR WKH SURGXFW PL[ DQG WKH WHFKQLFDO NQRZ KRZ RI WKH RSHUDWRUV speed wire rod rolling, the suggested finishing block is the same; in fact the finishing block for wire rod is dimensioned for speeds up to 120 m/s, but it can also be used at lower speeds, i.e. for the production of rebar or wire rod. It is evident that this is not a winning solution from the viewpoint of cost management, since the equipment is quite often over-dimensioned in case of rebar or low speed wire rod production. The range of blocks from Pert is composed of the: â&#x2013;Ş intermediate block, â&#x2013;Ş rebar block, â&#x2013;Ş wire rod block, â&#x2013;Ş 2xTechnologyâ&#x201E;˘ â&#x2013;Ş 2xTechnologyâ&#x201E;˘ convertible, â&#x2013;Ş 2xTechnologyâ&#x201E;˘ TwistFree.

Pert rebar block

Nowadays, the conditions of the steel market require manufacturers to reduce above all the production costs to remain competitive. This is valid for both producers in developing countries, where the steel demand is strong but management costs of the plants are often too high to have a good profit margin, and for producers in industrialized countries who must compete with the products produced in the aforementioned group of countries where especially labour and electricity costs are far lower. Hence, it is es-

Matteo Tomba, Nicola Tomba, Massimiliano Zuccato, Andrea Fontanini; Pert srl, Tavagnacco (UD), Italy Contact: www.pertengineering.com E-mail: info@pertengineering.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

sential for plant suppliers to also study and propose really innovative processes and equipment side by side with tailor-made solutions. Pert accepted this challenge and designed a wide range of finishing blocks for both rebar and wire rod, allowing the use of really innovative and tailor-made solutions and plants, for low production capacities (approx. 100,000 t/year) as well as for very high production capacities (1,500,000 t/ year). The range consists of three different blocks, configurable in eight varieties, for different plant capacities and finished product qualities. They can also be tailored to the technical know-how of the operators as well as to the product mix. Taking into consideration the solutions presently suggested by suppliers of long product rolling mills, it can be noticed that for rebar, low-speed or high-

This block with cantilevered rolling rings has been designed for highspeed rebar production and is installed in plants of small and medium capacity (up to 350,000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 400,000 t/year). Its main features are the following: â&#x2013;Ş max. rolling speed: 35 m/s, â&#x2013;Ş one-strand design, â&#x2013;Ş roller bearings, â&#x2013;Ş H/V configuration, â&#x2013;Ş nominal rolling ring diameter: 250 mm, â&#x2013;Ş centre-to-centre distance of the stands : 635 mm, â&#x2013;Ş possibility to mount rolling rings made of carbide, cast iron or steel. All on-board piping is incorporated and protected in the steel frame and can be easily inspected or accessed for maintenance through the removal of simple panels. The maintenance requirements have been drastically reduced as well as the times required for changing the rolling rings, thanks to the FLURâ&#x201E;˘ system.

HOT ROLLING The distinctive trait of this block is that it uses roller bearings instead of oil film bearings, which is possible due to the relatively low maximum working speed (35 m/s). Roller bearings imply the great advantage of using a standard and simple lubrication unit, instead of a complicated lubrication unit, and a related station for separating water from oil, which would be necessary when using oil film bearings. Therefore also the use of high-viscosity lubrication oil is avoided (high-priced and difficult to dispose of). Instead, the same lubricant as for the gear boxes of the rest of the mill is used for block lubrication. The configuration is 90° providing maximum accessibility to operators having to replace the rolling rings, which are all placed in the front position; in a block configured at 45°, this would be much more complicated, since there would be right and left modules and, what is more, these modules would be arranged in an inclined position. The first stand is in the vertical position in order to have a horizontal one as the last stand. This is to maintain axial stability of the ring holder shafts and consequently maintain the groove in

a correct position in order to avoid the displacement of one of the two shafts due to the axial rolling load. Having the first stand in a vertical position ensures that all ovals are upright, so significant temperature reductions due to contact with the cooling water of the rolling rings are avoided, since the contact surface is much smaller and there are no effects due to settling water. Moreover, transitions with the upright oval give more stability to the rolled bar lowering its inter-stand flexion. In addition to rebar production, this block is also used as a pre-finishing block in wire rod mills before the high-speed finishing block, so as to avoid the use of cantilevered stands which imply a bigger lubrication unit, equal to the ones used for high-speed blocks since both use oil film bearings. Moreover, in cantilevered stands the replacement of rolling rings is more complicated and needs dedicated hydraulic tools. The Pert rebar block, like all other Pert blocks, uses a patented fast rolling-ring changing system, called FLUR™ system, which allows rolling rings to be exchanged in about one minute, without using any hydraulic equipment.

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Pert wire rod block This finishing block can be supplied in two configurations, at 90° up to the speed of 80 m/s and at 45° for higher speeds up to 120 m/s. It is installed in one-strand wire rod mills with a production capacity from 150,000 to 600,000 t/year. Its main features are: ▪ max. rolling speed: 120 m/s, ▪ one-strand design, ▪ oil film bearings, ▪ FLUR™ system, ▪ H/V configuration (90° or 45°), ▪ nominal rolling ring diameter: 200/160 mm, ▪ centre-to-centre distance of the stands : 700 mm. All on-board piping is incorporated and protected in the steel frame, and can be easily inspected or accessed for maintenance through the removal of simple panels. Maintenance requirements have been reduced. The 90° configuration is suitable for speeds of up to 80 m/s so as to provide good accessibility of the rolling rings also in this case, speeding up and simplifying their replacement. For higher speeds, a 45° solution is necessary, not so much for vibration problems, but to have a better gravity condition in order

Pert 2xTechnology™ block MPT International 4 / 2014

››› HOT ROLLING

to promote as much as possible the dis- ▪ centre-to-centre distance of the The operating costs of this block are charge of the lubrication oil of the oil stands : 950 mm, really minimal as spare parts are alfilm bearings . ▪ possibility to mount rolling rings most eliminated, since there are no Another important characteristic made of carbide, cast iron or steel, cardanic spindles, chocks, container is that the centre-to-centre distance ▪ no on-board piping. unit, etc., which are typical of combetween the stands is limited to only The ease of use and maintenance mon housingless stands. Moreover, the 700 mm, thus implying less vibration makes this block the optimum solu- lubrication unit is standard and utiliztion for rebar mills of small to medium es the same lubrication oil as the stands of the rolls and the block itself. Less vibration and an excellent bal- capacity (up to 350,000 t/year), above of the rolling mill. Since there are no spindles, up to ance of the gears involve an improve- all in countries with scarcity of skilled ment of the quality of the finished prod- labour or for customers who are for the 5% of electricity can be saved; in fact uct, in fact in a block where vibrations first time investing in a steel making the gear couplings used instead of the are nearly non-existent, it is easier to plant. spindles never work in an inclined pomaintain the stringent final tolerances, sition, but are always aligned to the plus there will also be less noise, which axes of the ring holder shafts, is reduced to minimum levels, avoidso the transmission efficiening annoying and deafcy from the gear box to the ening whistles while rolling rings is nearly the block is working. equal to 1. Given its high Besides the operatworking speed, the ing costs, also the inPert wire rod block has vestment costs are been designed so as cut; the foundations for the 2xTechnoloto minimize damages caused by possible malgy™ block are very functions or emergensimple and compact. cies such as cobbles, moAlso the required tor failures etc. In fact, space is markedly rethanks to reducing to a duced: the height of minimum the inertia of the block, including the gears in the block, it the basement, is less stops in minimal time. than 0.9 m. The diameter of the Also the flexibility of this block is very rolling rings can be of 200 mm in the first stands and 160 important. In fact, the producmm in the last ones, detivity of an installed plant can 3D view of the 2xTechnology™ TwistFree mandrel units be easily increased without sigpending on the need, to nificant interventions. Given a provide an adequate and reduced relation between the rolling The main characteristic of this block maximum achievable speed of 35 m/s ring and the finished product’s dia- is that it can simultaneously roll two per strand, for example can be prometer, so as to have very tight toler- strands of the smallest diameters. Thus duced more than 80 t/h of 8 mm rebar. ances and achieve a high quality. In it is possible to use the full furnace proaddition, the shaft length is reduced ductivity even when rolling at relative2xTechnology™ convertible to have less cantilever “length” and ly low speed. therefore reduce vibrations. Compared to one-strand rolling, The 2xTechnology™ convertible rolling two strands allows cutting the block has essentially the same characproduction speed in half, while using teristics as the 2xTechnology™ block, 2xTechnology™ block the same output per hour of the fur- but in addition it provides the possiDerived from the Pert bi-support nace. This speed reduction may be bility to use a H-H/V configuration, stand, this block is made up by four helpful for less experienced operators. i.e. even stands can be arranged both Stand replacement is completely au- horizontally and vertically. This alor six stands, controlled by only one motor and mounted on only one base- tomatic, since no cardan spindles are lows rolling the smallest diameters in used and the stands have no on-board the H/H configuration in the 2-strand ment. Its main features are: ▪ max. rolling speed: 35 m/s per strand, piping. With one stand as a spare, re- mode so as to exploit the full capaci▪ one or two strands, placement time is reduced to less than ty of the reheating furnace, and largten minutes for all the stands of the er diameters in the H/V configuration ▪ air/oil lubrication, block. Due to the double support of the so as to avoid torsion of the rolled bar. ▪ FLUR™ system, ring holder shafts and to the gap reg- The convertible stands can be driven ▪ H/H configuration, ▪ bi-support stands (double support), ulation by an eccentric system, stand either from the top or from the bottom. The technology has proved to be ▪ nominal rolling ring diameter: 265 rigidity is high, providing high qualiparticularly suitable for small to mety of the finished product. mm, MPT International 4 / 2014

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Example of a PPM™ Pert Pocket Mill layout for a small-capacity rolling mill

dium plants (up to 350,000 t/year) producing bars and wire rod. When wire rod is produced, the 2xTechnology™ convertible block is configured horizontally and vertically and therefore the bar does not twist during rolling, thus obtaining excellent wire rod quality, since all rolling is torsion-free. Given the high rigidity of the stands, a further application for this block is that as a sizing block in H-V-H configuration for the production of special steel bars – round, square or hexagonal – in a range from 16 mm up to 40 mm. The use of carbide mono-groove rolling rings increases the rigidity of the stand even further, which guarantees tolerances up to 1/4 DIN on the finished product.

Intermediate block This block has the same characteristics as the 2xTechnolgy™: Its main features are: ▪ one-strand design, ▪ four stands, ▪ H/H configuration, ▪ possibility to mount carbide or special steel rolling rings. Four rolling units are controlled by a single motor and installed on a common basement. The nominal diameter of the rolling rings in the stands is 420 or 340 mm. Therefore the block is suitable to be used in the intermediate position or before the rebar block.

The employment of innovative steel rolling rings, whose lifetime is comparable to that of carbide rolling rings, allows the use of only one motor for all four stands, since groove consumption is far less and more uniform compared to cast iron rings. With the Pert intermediate block low-capacity plants can be more effectively arranged, while drastically reducing the installation space, investment costs and spare parts.

2xTechnology™ TwistFree This block represents a revolutionary innovation for long-product rolling mills and it is the first block in the world capable of rolling two strands simultaneously, in a horizontal/vertical configuration and at speed of up to 100 m/s. Its main features are: ▪ max. rolling speed: 100 m/s for wire rod (50 m/s for rebar), ▪ FLUR™ system, ▪ reduced maintenance, ▪ two strands, ▪ cantilevered, H/V configuration (90° or 45°), ▪ oil film bearings, ▪ nominal rolling ring diameters: 200 mm and/or 160 mm. The 2xTechnology™ TwistFree block has been designed for high-capacity plants (up to 1,000,000 t/year) for the production of rebar in 90° configuration and wire rod in 45° configuration.

Example of a Pert Giga Mill layout for the production of 300 t/h of rebar MPT International 4 / 2014

This block provides numerous advantages: it substitutes plants using 3, 4 or 5-strand multislitting technology (higher number of guides, higher possibility of cobbles, low finished product quality, H/H sequence, operating complications, higher specific operating costs for smaller diameters, higher number of short bars) and plants using two finishing blocks with high-speed 2-strand slitting (greater space requirements, longer plants, more civil work, an additional block, two extra quenching lines, an extra shear…). With this new technology, one single block is sufficient. Noticeable savings on equipment and civil work are also obtained in 2-strand wire rod mills, which all have that one block less and require a smaller working platform. Since the 2xTechnology™ TwistFree block is also equipped with a rapid FLUR™ rolling ring locking/unlocking system, the whole block can be set up in less than 20 min, using a team of only four workers. So downtime is reduced and plant productivity increased.

Layout example for a lowcapacity mill As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the wide range of finishing blocks allows adopting plant layout solutions which perfectly adapt to the real needs of the customer, starting

HOT ROLLING from low-production plants (100,000 t/year) up to plants with a high production capacity (1,500,000 t/year). For low-capacity plants for rebar production, the concept of the Pert Pocket Mill (PPM™) has been introduced. Its aim is to reduce above all the initial investment costs, operating costs, plant dimensions and spare parts. The Pert Pocket Mill is composed of a pusher furnace, one 3-high stand, two intermediate blocks, one rebar block, cooling bed and finishing facilities. From the viewpoint of the initial investment, it is clear that thanks to the really moderate plant dimensions the investment costs are reduced to a minimum. Spare parts are drastically reduced, both for the mechanical part and for the electrical part. The motors of the 3-high stand and the rebar block are identical, as are the two motors of the intermediate blocks, i.e. four main motors with only two different power ratings.

Besides the spare parts of the 3-high stand, the rest of the rolling train does not have the spare parts required for the housingless stands presently available on the market, since there are no cardan spindles, container units, chocks or on board piping at risk of damage. Neither the Pert intermediate block nor the Pert rebar block needs these spare parts. The absence of the spindles also leads to net energy savings of 5%. This lay-out solution may come in several variants, depending on the production volume (between 100,000 and 300,000 t/year), as a continuous roughing configuration (6 Pert bi-support stands) or as a configuration with 2xTechnology™ in the finishing mill, using 2-strand slitting.

Layout example for a highcapacity mill The 2xTechnolgoy™ Twist Free represents most advanced technology for

‹‹‹

high-capacity plants. The Pert Giga Mill for rebar production at a capacity exceeding 300 t/h can be suitable for installation in large integrated plants, particularly in rapidly developing countries such as India or China, in order to drastically reduce production costs, not only through the technological layout of the plant itself, but also by exploiting the economies of scale resulting from such high production volumes at a single site. The simultaneous use of two 2xTechnolgoy™ Twist Free blocks allows high-speed rolling for rebars (up to 50 m/s) with diameters from 8 mm to 16 mm in four strands (with peaks of 300 t/hour) and for rebars in diameters from 18 to 32 mm in two strands. The same configuration can be used for wire rod plants guaranteeing an output of 5.5 mm wire rod at 100 m/s, corresponding 쐍 to 250 t/h.

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Stahlwerk ThÃ¼ringen monitors GPGTI[ GHÆ&#x201A;EKGPE[ QH VJG J[FTCWNKE WPKV KP VJG JQV TQNNKPI OKNN Only with a precise simultaneous analysis of energy consumption and production data FDQ WKH HIÆ&#x201A;FLHQF\ RI SURGXFWLRQ SODQWV EH RSWLPL]HG $W LWV KRW UROOLQJ PLOO 6WDKOZHUN 7KÂ¾ULQJHQ PRQLWRUV WKH HQHUJ\ HIÆ&#x201A;FLHQF\ RI WKH K\GUDXOLF XQLW IRU WKH UROO VWDQGV E\ PHDQV RI D PHDVXULQJ V\VWHP IURP ,ED $* 7KH ,ED V\VWHP FRYHUV YDULRXV HTXLSPHQW DQG PDFKLQHV DFURVV WKH SODQW $V LW DOVR FDSWXUHV SURGXFWLRQ GDWD LW LV SRVVLEOH WR FRQGXFW FRPSUHKHQVLYH VRXUFH VWXGLHV

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Dr. Ulrich Lettau, Iba AG, FÃ¼rth, Germany Contact: www.iba-ag.com E-mail: iba@iba-ag.com

MPT International 4 / 2014

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; has been a traditional iron and steel production site of the region. Today, Stahlwerk ThÃ¼ringen GmbH (SWT) belongs to the Brazilian Companhia SiderÃºrgica Nacional (CSN) group. The production complex includes an electric steel plant with an electric arc furnace, a continuous casting plant and the 3-stand reversing hot rolling mill

for sections. A total of more than 200 sections are manufactured â&#x20AC;&#x201C; predominantly IPE and HE beams, channels and UPE beams as well as steel sleepers. Intelligent measurement systems for capturing the electrical energy are the basis for optimizing energy efficiency. Stahlwerk ThÃ¼ringen uses the Iba AG measurement system for deter-

HOT ROLLING â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AUTOMATION

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mining the energy efficiency at the roll gy than they would need for the spe- gy consumption values can be deterstands of the 4-high section mill. The cific process. mined by approximation at intervals Iba technology is implemented in alFor the monthly billing with the of 15 minutes. Uwe Sontag comments: most all processes of the rolling mill. energy supplier, the steel works needs â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can determine how the quarSince 2011, different components of data about the power input and the ter-hourly value is composed.â&#x20AC;? The the Iba system have been installed for power consumption broken down on ibaPADU-8 acts as a meter for the curmonitoring energy-relevant data of the a quarter-hourly basis. These values are rent and the voltage with a sampling hydraulic system in order to measure the energy consumption of the hydraulic pumps. With the measurement system, the energy consumption measured at the hydraulic unit can be viewed and set into relation with machine, process, material and quality data. The issue of energy efficiency hence became part of condition monitoring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in other words, continuous plant monitoring on the basis of uniform limit values, in this case limit values regarding energy consumption. 9KVJ KDC32CPGN EQPFKVKQP DCUGF KPHQTOCVKQP KU FKURNC[GF KP TGCN VKOG

Determining the energy requirements for the hydraulic system of the section rolling mill In order for the hydraulic unit to operate properly in a continuous operation, SWT uses hydraulically actuated pumps which only switch from the idle into the active mode when the hydraulic pressure decreases as a result of the screw down movement during rolling. Without these controls, the pumps would send the excess pressure via overpressure valves to the reservoir, which would be an energetically inefficient method. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The situation that each pump is actuated separately made it increasingly difficult to assess the energy consumption of the hydraulic unit as it was hard to identify which pumps were operating in which working area. Whether energy consumption was optimal in that respective working area was also difficult to tell,â&#x20AC;? explains Uwe Sontag, specialist for power electronics and drives at SWT. With the Iba measurement technology it became possible to identify and monitor any excess consumption in order to prevent that the pumps were using more ener-

determined using an energy meter specially calibrated for this purpose. This procedure has become established in industrial companies for measuring and billing the active energy, but for optimizing energy use it is not sufficient. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the conventional energy meter, we measure our daily average consumption of energy. But we do not determine where the energy was consumed,â&#x20AC;? says Uwe Sontag. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the quarter-hourly values of the energy meter, we cannot tell which ones of the various pumps consumed the energy.â&#x20AC;? Only with the Iba system can SWT monitor the energy consumption in such a way that the sudden or gradual exceeding of limit values by the pumps can be identified in a timely manner. For the measurement of the input value, SWT uses the ibaPADU-8 parallel-analogue digital converter, which meters the current of the pump via a current transducer. With the PADU-8, the user has eight analogue and eight digital input channels at hand, which are electrically isolated. Via the measurement of a stator current and the respective voltage, the instantaneous power of the pump as well as the ener-

rate of 1 ms in order to calculate an effective power from the sinusoidal currents. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The PADU features a high temporal resolution. This is decisive for obtaining exact time profiles of the electrical values and for further processing and assessing these time profiles,â&#x20AC;? the expert explains. The data are transferred via fibre-optic cable to the ibaPDA measurement data acquisition system. With ibaPDA, the actual pump power is calculated from the measured current and voltage values in order to obtain the energy consumption, i.e. the power over time, as the final value. ibaPDA is used for transferring a binary signal to the central control centre whenever a limit value is exceeded. There, the variable is transferred to a third party system and displayed in plain text on a screen. In order to be able to monitor all processes, hardware and software from Iba are implemented throughout the complete rolling mill. Based on the good experience made with Iba products in the rolling mill, the steel works also uses Iba components for process analysis. For recording and analyzing the values, the steel works emMPT International 4 / 2014

››› HOT ROLLING – AUTOMATION

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ploys a further software component, the ibaHD-server. With this software component, measurement values can be recorded without file boundaries and the measured data or graphs can be displayed over time periods of several months or years. ibaQPanel is another software add-on which allows the display of condition-related information in real time. Quality data and measured values are displayed in a live presentation and set into relation to each other. The database export is done using the individually configurable ibaDatCoordinator, which automates the processing of the measurement files in the ibaAnalyzer. Aggregated data like minimum and maximum values are calculated from raw values and stored in an open database structure. “In the database, the values are now available in a concentrated form – thus no longer in the form of signals acquired at a sampling rate of one millisecond, which corresponds to 1,000 measured values per second, but as a time unit of one quarter hour. Hence there is only one value per time unit,” Uwe Sontag explains. In this way, also older values can be accessed during an analysis and compared with the current graphs. MPT International 4 / 2014

Plant-wide analysis of energy GHƂEKGPE[ Long-time analysis of the hydraulic energy values as well as the integration of machine and plant data that go beyond those concerning energy efficiency form the basis for the specification of a ‘good’ value. This value indicates in which state the hydraulic unit runs in an energetically optimal way. “It would have been easiest to determine the ‘good’ condition of the hydraulic unit during its initial commissioning,” Uwe Sontag says. “However, when the Iba measurement system was implemented, the hydraulic unit had already been in use for nine years. By means of our analyses and the respective maintenance measures, we are able to constantly improve the optimal energy efficiency value.” For example after a repair, the consumption of the pumps and hence also the optimal energy efficiency value could be reduced by five percent, and with it the new ‘good’ value. Compared to common energy measurement systems, the Iba system offers further advantages. The analysis of the data is not only done in the quarter-hourly rhythm. “When an electrical problem occurs on a pump, like e.g. a short-circuit, we have this event

available as raw data and can analyze it together with the energy data. In case of a pure energy measurement, this information would be missing,” explains Uwe Sontag. As Stahlwerk Thüringen implemented the Iba system plantwide, the measurement results from all processes in the steel plant and in the hot rolling mill can be set into relation to one another. All relationships are completely visible in one single system. “We see where a problem with an impact on the roll stands and hence the hydraulic pumps has its roots,” Sontag adds. Thanks to Iba, machine and plant-wide analyses are possible, as the system also takes into account information from the production planning system. The operators can see exactly what happens when a certain product is being rolled. “Currently, we are fitting the hydraulics of the finishing facilities with a corresponding measurement system. Here, the energy demand of the hydraulic equipment varies tremendously depending on the product. Consequently, also the limit values are very different. Analyzing these complex interdependences is no problem with the Iba system,” confirms Uwe Sontag . “Thanks to Iba, we can achieve a great deal with a decent 쐍 investment.”

QUALITY PRODUCT

ENDLESS INNOVATION

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES

LOW MAINTENANCE

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

Q-Robot is a family of solutions based on anthropomorphic robots created to help the operators to work better and safer. Q-Robots can be successfully adopted in dangerous production areas or where a repetitive and wearing tasks have to be performed. Where the human presence is still necessary, Q-Robot can work closely and safely together with the operator, relocating him in safer working area. We know how.

info@dca.it - www.dca.it

Q-ROBOT

››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Automatic sample preparation by milling and deburring in a single process step MATERIAL TESTING A wide and varied range of samples of materials occurring in the steel industry, from soft metals through to the hardest pig iron, can be handled by the sample processing machine HS-F 3000 launched by Herzog Maschinenfabrik. The machine makes a major contribution to cost cutting in the sample lab as processing times are short and operation is fully automatic throughout the entire processing cycle. Herzog’s HS-F 3000 3-axis milling machine comes with an entirely new design for use in automated laboratories. A key feature of the machine is that it automatically deburs the samples after milling. With process sequences optimized, the machine can mill one sample in just about 30 seconds. It is therefore able to achieve throughput rates of up to 800 samples per day. The extremely sturdy spindle, which is supported in five bearings, ensures that even the hardest of materials can be processed with high precision and reproducibility. The HS-F 3000 machine can process oval, square, round and double thickness samples. The entire process cycle from feeding of the sample – by a robot or a human operator – via milling and deburring through to the removal of the samples takes place automatically. Milling chips are collected in a container and may be used for spectral analysis. The automatic tool changing system, which has a magazine for up to six different tools, guarantees highly flexible sample processing. The control system selects the optimal milling cutter for the specific properties of each sample and places it into the spindle. Thus, the machine operates

The samples can be fed and removed by a robot

autonomously without any human intervention over long periods of time, even if samples of different materials need to be processed. The integrated Simatic S7 PLC controller guarantees error-free processing of the most varied of samples. Up to 18 parameter-defined programmes can be stored. Consequently, the samples are always milled with optimal cutting speeds and material removal rates. The control system also monitors the service times of the individual tools, indicating necessary tool changes and other due maintenance work on the touch panel. Contact: www.herzog-maschinenfabrik.de

Laser sensor designed for conditions in the steel industry MEASURING EQUIPMENT Conceived for length and width measurement as well as position control of products at the exit of reheat furnaces, Delta’s Dilas FT4200 non-contact distance laser measurement sensor features a number of technical highlights. Mounted in a cast aluminium housing (IP66), equipped with an air jet facility in order to protect the optics, and with a cooling plate for water cooling, the sensor has been created for the harsh conditions of the steel industry. It is suitable for measurements of up to 500 m and on all non-shiny surfaces. It can handle hot products up to 1,350 °C, which may be stationary or moving. The visible laser pointer for alignment and the possibility to configure the sensor by a PC software running under Windows provide an easy and quick setup on site. Contact: www.deltasensor.eu MPT International 4 / 2014

Rugged sensor unit

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

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Cut-to-length line for stainless steel and aluminium FINISHING LINES The processing of stainless steel and aluminium has been combined in one line, the “hybrid” cut-tolength line concept, developed by Georg. To meet the requirements for a combined line to cut aluminium and stainless steel, this cut-to-length line is provided with special technical characteristics. A paper unwinder is positioned at the decoiler and a paper rewinder in front of the cut-to-length shear. The line installed at Sauter Edelstahl, Switzerland, for production of stainless steel and aluminium is designed for strip widths up to 2,000 mm and thicknesses up to 5 mm. Coils with a weight of 25 t can be processed at a speed of 60 m/min. Cutting-to-length is performed by a continuous eccentric cutting shear. No additional loop pit is needed. The change procedure for the automatic levelling cassettes takes only about 15 minutes without using the hall crane. For stacking the sensitive plates a vacuum stacker with two combinable stacking positions is installed. The levelling unit consists of three levelling cassettes which are stored on a change car for automatic exchange. With this equipment the special material properties and the huge thickness range can be covered. Alfun has ordered a cut-to-length line for aluminium and stainless steel strips for its site in Bruntal, Czech Republic. The Georg finishing lines division will supply a line designed for strip widths from 300 to 2,050 mm and thicknesses between

Eccentric shear unit for combined production of aluminium and stainless steel sheet

0.4 and 3 mm. Besides a paper and foil unwinder in front of the cut-to-length shear, a high-precision leveller in change-cassette design will be provided. Two change cassettes will be available. For depositing the sensitive non-standard sheets, a vacuum belt stacker with two combinable stacking positions will be provided. Contact: www.georg.com

F.I.M.I. Fabbrica Impianti Macchine Industriali Spa

METAL STRIPS AND SHEETS CUTTING LINES Cut to length, Slitting and Recoiling Lines suitable for high productivity, flexibility and wide thickness range 0,2-25 mm.

Medium Gauge Slitting Line for Carbon Steel THYSSENKRUPP, Germany.

Dual Phase High Strength Steel Cut to Lenght Line suitable for plasma laser cutting quality - SSAB, Sweden.

Y E A RS

F.I.M.I. - Fabbrica Impianti Macchine Industriali S.p.A. Via Dell’Industria 15 I-23897 Viganò B.za (Lecco) - Italy Tel +39.03992141 - Fax +39.0399272090 - info@fimimachinery.com

OF PARTNERSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY

www.fimimachinery.com

visit us at: Stand E52 Hall 16

THE

Edition 1/1

TECHNOLOGIST CONTINUOUS CASTING

INTECO TBR offers continuous casting machines for long products as well as special solutions for the production of special steels. Our portfoOLR FRYHUV FRPSOHWH JUHHQ ÂżHOG SURMHFWV DQG UHYDPSV RI H[LVWLQJ FDVWHUV %DVHG RQ RXU ORQJ WHUP H[SHULHQFH LQ HQJLQHHULQJ DQG GHVLJQ RI LQGLYLdual bloom casters, we offer tailor-made solutions for all kinds of steel producers. Bloom and Billet Casters The continuous casting of blooms has become a well-established technology for the production of semis for high-quality applications. Similarly, continuous casting of billets is the basis for highly productive steelmaking. INTECO TBR supplies robust continuous casting machines with higKHVW TXDOLW\ RI WKH ÂżQDO SURGXFW ORZ PDLQWHQDQFH UHTXLUHPHQWV DQG KLJK operator friendliness. Design Criteria â&#x20AC;˘ Bow-type or vertical-bending machines â&#x20AC;˘ Modular design with the provisions for upgrading features of the caster at a later stage Â&#x2021; 2SHUDWRU IULHQGO\ FDVWLQJ Ă&#x20AC;RRU â&#x20AC;˘ Advanced mould level control solution â&#x20AC;˘ Quick change of mould and segments â&#x20AC;˘ High-precision, robust mould oscillator Â&#x2021; 0RXOG DQG ÂżQDO VWLUUHU â&#x20AC;˘ Dynamic secondary cooling (water and air-mist) Â&#x2021; &XVWRPL]HG UXQ RXW DUHD FRQÂżJXUDWLRQ â&#x20AC;˘ Rigid cooling bed â&#x20AC;˘ Performance assurance by integrated automation system Â&#x2021; +LJKHVW ÂżQDO SURGXFW TXDOLW\ E\ TXDOLW\ PRGXOHV RI WKH /HYHO automation Special Casting Applications Continuous casting machines for special techniques, such as horizonWDO RU YHUWLFDO FDVWLQJ URXQG XS WKH SURGXFW SRUWIROLR LQ WKH ÂżHOG RI WKH SURGXFWLRQ RI VSHFLDO VWHHOV $ Ă&#x20AC;H[LEOH DQG LQWHOOLJHQW GHVLJQ DQG WKH implementation of customer demands emphasize our competence in this product segment.

/Ed K d Z Ä?Ä&#x201A;Ć?Ć&#x;ĹśĹ? Ć&#x161;Ä&#x17E;Ä?Ĺ&#x161;ĹśĹ˝ĹŻĹ˝Ĺ?Ĺ?Ä&#x17E;Ć? 'ĹľÄ?, WĆ&#x152;Ä&#x17E;ĆŠÄ&#x201A;Ä?Ĺ&#x161;Ć?Ć&#x161;Ć&#x152;Ä&#x201A;Ć&#x2DC;Ä&#x17E; ĎąĎ Ď´ĎłĎŹĎŹ >Ä&#x17E;Ĺ˝Ä?Ä&#x17E;Ĺś ĆľĆ?Ć&#x161;Ć&#x152;Ĺ?Ä&#x201A; WĹ&#x161;Ĺ˝ĹśÄ&#x17E;Í&#x2014; Đ˝Ď°ĎŻ ÍžĎŹÍż ĎŻĎ´Ď°ĎŽ ĎŽĎąĎ´ĎŻĎ˛Í˛ĎŹ &Ä&#x201A;Ç&#x2020;Í&#x2014; Đ˝Ď°ĎŻ ÍžĎŹÍż ĎŻĎ´Ď°ĎŽ ĎŽĎąĎ´ĎŻĎ˛Í˛ĎĎ˛ Ĺ˝Ä¸Ä?Ä&#x17E;Î&#x203A;Ć&#x161;Ä?Ć&#x152;Í˛Ä?Ä&#x201A;Ć?Ć&#x;ĹśĹ?Í&#x2DC;Ä?Ĺ˝Ĺľ Ç Ç Ç Í&#x2DC;Ć&#x161;Ä?Ć&#x152;Í˛Ä?Ä&#x201A;Ć?Ć&#x;ĹśĹ?Í&#x2DC;Ä?Ĺ˝Ĺľ

Tube marking solutions LONG PRODUCTS Robust solutions for the inner and outer marking of pipes are indispensible for the rapid identification and traceability in pipemaking operations. Rea Jet develops and manufactures solutions for marking with inks, laser and paints, including the increasingly common marking with DataMatrix codes. The Rea Jet large character inkjet DOD and spray mark technology systems process the data received from the production master computer and convert it in real-time into serialized readable text and 2D codes. Each marking is unique and each tube is traceable as one of a kind. In addition to the marking of the outer surfaces of pipes, the DOD is also suitable for inner marking of pipes starting from 200 mm inner diameter. For this, a compact-built 32 nozzle print head mounted to a special mounting device is driven into the tube. The contact-free marking takes place while the tube is rotating. The time-consuming and error-prone method of using stencils is no longer required. Spray mark technology solutions are also suitable for marking weld lines and coloured rings onto pipes as well as for longitudinal marking of wire cables. These markings support the identification, quality inspection and the correct installation of the respective products. Spray mark technology systems are also used to apply paint to prepare the pipe for inner tube marking. After that, a Rea Jet CL CO2 laser system removes the paint and leaves a very well legible and sharp-edged marking. For high-resolution, contact-free marking of metal or plastic surfaces Rea has the inkjet printer Rea Jet HR in its range. The available inks convince by excellent adhesion and short drying time. Rea recently introduced the new Rea Jet FL fibre laser for captive marking of metal, plastics and other materials. The high quality and energy density of the laser beam ensures short marking times and excellent marking quality even with very filigree marking content. This fibre laser is suited to meet the growing demand of direct part marking (DPM) of metal surfaces. Contact: www.rea-jet.de Traceable DataMatrix code on steel tube

Inner marking of tubes

Your measurement tasks – our measurement technology

Improve your product quality! High precision x-ray, isotope and optical measuring systems from IMS contribute greatly to increased production efficiency in the steel, aluminum and metals industries.

Your measurement task is our specialisation!

IMS measuring systems are designed for online, non-contact operation in the measurements of: • Thickness and thickness profile • Wedge and crown • Edge drop • Flatness and levelness • Width and position of material • Dimension and geometry • Edge defects and holes • Internal strip defects • Tube wall thickness and eccentricity • Tube diameter and ovality • Coat thickness and coat profile • Temperature and cross-sectional temperature profile • Speed and length • Strip and web tension

IMS Messsysteme GmbH Dieselstraße 55 42579 Heiligenhaus / Germany

Phone: + 49 (0) 2056 975-0 Fax: + 49 (0) 2056 975-140

info@ims-gmbh.de www.ims-gmbh.de

Stand 11K61 Düsseldorf 07. – 09.10.2014

Our contribution to your success!

Thickness

IMS – Specialist in professional and collaborative partnerships

Flatness (TopPlan)

We guarantee economic production with outstanding results when using IMS measuring systems. We offer: • Individual advice and consultation • Engineering • Installation and commissioning

Width

• Training • All-round service • Long-term customer support

Tube

Worldwide coverage in Europe, America and Asia all ensure we are able to work with you throughout the world, offering the benefit of excellent communications and local support for international projects.

IMS, your partner in the application of innovative measurement technology.

Coating

Dimension

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

‹‹‹

TSNL@SHB OQNÖKD LD@RTQDLDMS NE FKNVHMF wires, bar steel and tubes QUALITY ASSURANCE In times of increasing competitive pressure in the steel industry, maximum production efficiency is required. For this, many manufacturers are migrating to measuring wires, steel bars and tubes not only at the end of the production process but also after each production step. Using the RDMS profile measurement system from LAP, plant operators can now completely automatically measure the contours of glowing wires, bar steel and tubes in the production process. From the furnace to the cooling bed, the user can install the system after each production step, also in existing lines where space is limited. The system can measure common bar steel geometries, including rounds, squares, flats and hexagons. During the rolling process, stationary sensors not only measure diameters of wire, bar steel and tubes, but they also provide precise measured values about roll offset and breakout, eccentricity, ovality and tension and pressure influences. Up to six measuring systems can be integrated into the round measuring frame. Each one consists of a transmitter and receiver. The laser beam of a diode laser in the transmitter falls onto a rotating polygon mirror. A precision lens converts the deflected laser beam into a parallel running beam which cyclically passes through the measuring range. The glowing steel shades the opposite receiver when it passes

Higher product quality with new mould CONTINUOUS CASTING Empresa Siderúrgica Del Perú (Siderperú), a company of the Gerdau Group, has revamped its continuous casting machine in Chimbote, Peru. The new mould equipment supplied by SMS Concast casts sections in 224 mm square format. The rectangular stirrer installed is the first of its kind worldwide and takes up far less space compared with conventional solutions. The machine was specially designed to fit into the very narrow space within the oscillator. The mould tubes feature Convex® technology and a mould stirrer system for each of the four strands of the existing 7.8 m continuous casting machine. Within the framework of two follow-up orders, SMS Concast will also supply new equipment to cast sections in the sizes 180 mm and 130 mm square. Both production lines will be equipped with the Conseal IV mould seal.

Schematic illustration of the measuring frame

through the maximum 500-mm-wide measuring field. The time interval can be converted to dimension values. The LAP software evaluates the measurements and warns in real-time about imminent tolerance infringements even before the product quality suffers. As a standard feature, various movement modes can be selected using the software: stationary, constantly swivelling or cyclically swivelling operating modes. Software enhancements are available specially for ribbed steel and for products rolled using triple plate technology. The RDMS profile measurement system is also suitable for integration into existing process control systems and material tracking systems using standard interfaces and Ethernet. Contact: www.lap-laser.com

BRAUN Innovations vations for Steel Technology at the cutting edge

BRAUN high-performance abrasive cut-off machine

Bar end quality after cutting

Ground billet surfaces

BRAUN high-pressure grinding machines

• High-performance abrasive cut-off machines (up to 2000 mm cutting wheel diameter and above) • High-pressure grinding machines

Contact: www.sms-concast.ch

• Flexible and innovative solutions for fully-automated turn-key-facilities • Consulting engineering and life cycle service support

Mould of the type installed at Siderperú

MASCHINENFABRIK

www.braun.at

A-4840 Vöcklabruck, Austria, Tel. +43(0)7672-72463, E-mail: office@braun.at

MPT International 4 / 2014

››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Eddy current inspection in hot rolling mills QUALITY ASSURANCE Eddy current inspection methods are designed to detect surface defects on conductive materials. However, these inspection methods are very sensitive to environmental conditions. The working conditions in hot rolling mills require that testing solutions have to be prepared to cope with for any factor that may affect the measurement. The problem with traditional control systems was that up to one hour was needed to return to a normal situation because alternative inspection methods could only be used after the products had cooled down. With the HOTdiscover solution, developed by Isend, testing can be effectively carried out at high temperatures and very high speeds. Isend has also developed software applications that enable users to get information from the coil located on the production line. Weekly off-line validation with calibrated test pieces is done to ensure accurate operation of the testing equipment. The coils are tested after each use to validate their performance and reliability. Various common incidents can be predicted before they result

in a false measurement. These may be problems due to wear components, signal instability or temperature increases related to cooling flow loss. The system is also able to automatically detect other factors that may cause problems, such as accumulated scrap in the production lines, lack of air pressure or use of wrong coil diameters. All these problems are recorded and alarm devices may warn quality control staff, if necessary. Other studies are related to the frequency distribution of the defects, which informs about their position and their most possible causes. Periodic defects like roll marks caused by broken or damaged rollers are detected as well as random defects like pittings, cracks, scabs or overlaps in billets and finished wire rod. Isend offers all tools required for a total quality control. The system works autonomously and does not need continuous monitoring or highly qualified inspection personnel. Contact: www.isend.es

Eddy current testing in a hot rolling mill

Vehicles for tube and pipe handling in warehouses LOGISTICS The National Distribution Centre of BSS Industrial stocks the equivalent of over 500 km of tube and pipe in its warehouse in Coventry, England, to supply its network of 62 branches across the country. Four Combilift electric powered C4000 EST stand-on models are central to efficient handling and storage procedures of the more than 600 product lines which come in lengths of 3 and 6 m. The Combilifts work round the clock to move around 56 t of metal, stainless steel, galvanized steel and plastic tubes, rod and rail on a daily basis. The Combilift ST range has a very narrow cab, with stand-on or seated options, and its ability to operate in much narrower aisles than the original C series makes it ideal for steel and pipe stockholding facilities. The 4 t capacity ESTs work in aisle widths of 1.8 m and are fitted with guide rollers for guided aisle operaMPT International 4 / 2014

tion. This makes for faster travel down the aisles and reduces the risk of product damage. Together with a lift height of 9.5 m to access the 13 storage levels, maximum use of all available space has been achieved to accommodate more than 2,300 picking locations. Incoming deliveries from manufacturers across Europe and the UK are offloaded and taken inside with two gas-powered C series Combilifts. The ESTs take over from this point, putting the bundles which weigh from around 500 kg to 2 t into locations and picking them. An in-cab camera monitor ensures a good view of the load when accessing the high top beam, and hydraulic fork positioners make it quick and easy to adjust the fork width to accord to the varying sizes of product. Contact: www.combilift.com

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

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Hydraulic cylinders for potentially explosive atmospheres SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Atex certified hydraulic cylinders increase the safety of working environments by preventing and providing protection against explosions, according to Atex directive 94/9/EC. The cylinders are the ideal solution for the exacting safety requirements of off-shore platforms, foundry, chemical plant, woodworking machines, plastic processing machines and, in general, the process industry with potential presence of explosive atmospheres. Hydraulic cylinders of the CKA type manufactured by Atos feature special solutions to avoid overheating of the cylinder surface and the generation of electrostatic discharge. These cylinders are strictly derived from Atos standard cylinders to ISO 6020/2, thus ensuring high reliability and offering a wide range of dimensions, mounting styles and configurations. The protection mode Ex II 2 GD ck IIC T6 (T85Â°C) allows CKA cylinders to be installed inside zones 1, 2 for gases and 21, 22 for dusts, classified in compliance with Atex directive 1999/92/EC. CKA cylinders are also available in servocylinder design with ex-proof rod position transducer.

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Contact: www.atos.com

ÂŠ Utz Peter Greis, DĂźsseldorf

Cartoon

+P GEQPQOKEU VJG UQ ECNNGF pRQTM E[ENGq KU C ENCUUKECN GZCORNG QH VJG GEQPQOKE WRU CPF FQYPU ECWUGF D[ Ć&#x192;WEVWCVKQPU KP UWRRN[ CPF demand. However, a few years ago, some economic experts declared the pork cycle to be a phenomenon of the past and predicted long-term, uninterrupted growth. But now the pork cycle is back â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as lively as ever. MPT International 4 / 2014

››› LITERATURE SERVICE Induction furnace technology 4 pages, English, German This brochure provides an overview of steel melting technology designed and supplied by ABP Induction Systems. It covers aspects such as the use of new modern medium frequency converter technology and the advantages of installing an induction-based steel melt shop. Contact: E-mail:

www.abpinduction.com info@abpinduction.com

%QORCP[ RTQƂNG 24 pages, English, Italian A company brochure describing the range of activities of C.M.P. Officine Meccaniche, manufacturers of plant and equipment for the steel industry, the metalworking sector and mechanical engineering in general. The products range from ladle cars, ladle inert gas coupling devices via lances and manipulators through to shears and straighteners. Costruzione Macchine Progetti Machinery Construction Projects and Engineering

Contact: E-mail:

www.cmpofficinemeccaniche.it info@cmpofficinemeccaniche.it

Pre-assembled foundation blocks 8 pages, English This brochure describes the approach adopted by Ferretti to minimize shutdown times during plant revamps by pre-assembling foundation blocks. Key steps described include the engineering and planning, off-site pre-assembly, controlled demolition of existing foundations and installation of the new ones. Contact: E-mail:

www.ferretti-group.com engineering@ferretti-group.com

Non-contact length and speed measurements 8 pages, English A brochure featuring Polytec’s line of LSV laser length and speed sensors. It summarizes the technical data of the systems and provides an overview of typical applications. From casting to finishing, the sensor line offers a comprehensive range of systems and accessories. Contact: E-mail:

www.polytec.com info@polytec.de

Strip thickness measurement 8 pages, English This brochure outlines the range of strip thickness measurement systems offered by Vollmer, which include optical, radiometric and contact measuring systems. The brochure also presents the company’s new series of laser measurement systems, outlining their design and performance features. Contact: E-mail:

MPT International 4 / 2014

www.vollmergmbh.de contact@vollmergmbh.de

Metallurgical Plant and Technology

Metalurgia, Processos e Tecnologias

also Metalürji Prosesleri ve Tesisleri

10 years P PQF® technology: international symposium m on tube and pipe production technology g

MPT International the leading technical journal for the global iron & steel industry

Please contact us for further information MPT Headquarters Advertising Manager: Sigrid Klinge Phone: +49 211 69936-125 Chief Editor: Arnt Hannewald Phone: +49 211 69936-120 E-Mail: mpt@stahleisen.de

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Steelmaking Data-driven prediction model for the BOF process – application of data mining at Dillinger Hüttenwerke, Germany Industry 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution – stands for complex interlinking of manufacturing processes. Self-learning capabilities represent the starting point of a new development in automation control, also in the steel industry. In steelmaking, the saving of charge materials and energy is a very important issue. Against this background, any technological development capable of improving sustainability and efficiency of steel production in the long run meets with great interest among steelmakers. The methods of Industry 4.0 are not only designed to indicate alternative paths but can also make proven processes more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The interlinking of machinery and data digitalization play key roles in this approach. Dry-compressing screw vacuum pumps as enabler for demanding steel degassing processes The increasing demand for higher-quality steels calls for innovative and efficient forms of steel degassing. Currently available dry-compressing screw vacuum pump technology is robust and optimized in terms of energy, and it can support operators of steelworks in their efforts to minimize operating costs and emissions to the environment. In view of these advantages, mechanical vacuum pump systems will take over from existing installed steam ejector systems in the medium term.

Heat treatment Enhanced process security in quenching and tempering of wheels for high-speed trains A mathematical model has been developed to calculate the optimum quenching parameters for hardening wheel rims. The model was implemented to control a fully automated quenching and tempering line installed in 2013. Operation over a period of one and a half years has confirmed that the model renders previously required time-consuming tests in the pre-production and start-up phases following product changes unnecessary. In addition, the plant was equipped with newly developed, automated wheel hardening machines which adapt flexibly to different wheel geometries and allow operation without any interruptions to production, even with frequent batch changes.

Tubemaking – Material testing New flux leakage test technology for OCTG tube and pipe Flux leakage technology is well suited for inspecting heavy-wall carbon steel pipe used in the oil and gas industry. A new transverse/longitudinal flux leakage test system has been developed, capable of inspecting 500 mm (19.6”) tubes. A testing plant to be used in a new tube mill at a major OCTG producer in Russia recently completed and successfully passed pre-acceptance.

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MPT International 4 / 2014

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