MPT International 4/2017 (Sep)

Metallurgical Plant and Technology G 25074

4

ISSN 0935-7254

MMK Metalurji implements MES at its steel production sites

September 2017

Liberty Speciality Steels starts production of VIM steel grades

LEADING PARTNER IN THE WORLD OF METALS SMS group is your leading partner in the world of metals. As a family-owned business headquartered in Germany, quality and innovation are in our DNA. Fast and flexible, we develop individual and modular solutions – whether it’s the design of a new plant, Modernization, Digitalization, or Life Cycle Services. In close Collaboration with you, we help you ensure your success. Let’s add value along the entire value chain, together.

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www.sms-group.com

EDITORIAL

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Plant automation in the light of the Internet of Things In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a central topic for both R&D and business management. This new era provides great potential also for the steel industry.

Steel companies are seeking cutting-edge solutions for achieving excellence in manufacturing and data transparency from the shop floor to the management level. For example, Turkish steelmaker MMK Metalurji has implemented a sophisticated manufacturing execution system that integrates both its production sites, the integrated minimill and the cold strip complex. The company now attains full support for optimization and tracking of production, quality and storage, all of which are vital elements of an efficient management of business and operations.

Newly developed machine intelligence not only increases traceability and reduces the risk of mistakes in production. It also increases safety and reduces the manpower needed in accident-prone areas. Digitalizing information shared with the existing automation landscape and implementing an efficient and user-friendly interface can even boost productivity. Italian BM Automation – a company of BM group – has developed an integrated concept of automation and robotics that can be implemented in meltshops in order to increase safety in hazardous areas.

Dipl.-Ing. Arnt Hannewald

All leading metallurgical plant manufacturers are aware that today’s hot topics in business are Industry 4.0, digitalization, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing. Burkhard Dahmen, chairman and CEO of SMS group stated recently: “The focus for plant owners is on the ‘Learning Steel Mill’ as a solution that enables intelligent and largely autonomous steel production. This involves the interconnection and collaboration of humans and machines in dynamic production processes that adjust to optimum parameters in real time.

A smart steel plant auto-adaptively optimizes its production processes from the raw material right through to the final product. Crucial here is an integrated supply chain with physical and data-based models.” Burkhard Dahmen particularly referred to the startup SMS digital GmbH, founded in 2016. Building on the here concentrated expertise, SMS group is developing new strategies for digitalization in the steel industry.

Our readers will know that MPT International regularly covers the topic of innovative plant automation and manufacturing execution solutions. But this time we have made it a special focus of our editorial coverage.

MPT International 4 / 2017

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PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

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››› CONTENTS

Company profile 28 $ CEMGF D[ UVCDNG DWUKPGUU Æ‚IWTGU 5/5 ITQWR KU HQEWUKPI QP EJCPIKPI TGSWGUVU QH C OGVCNU industry in transition

Raw materials 32 ) KCPV TCFKCN ƃQY HCPU KPUVCNNGF CV %JKPCoU NCTIGUV UKPVGT RNCPV For Baosteel’s new sinter plant the old induced draught fans were too small to generate the negative pressure necessary for the sinter bed. Baosteel modernized the plant using two new induced draught fans that are among the largest of its kind in the world

Environmental protection

Coverphoto: Unloading of graphite electrodes from the graphitization furnace SGL GE GmbH, Meitingen, Germany Contact: www.sglgroup.com/graphiteelectrodes E-mail: info-ge@sglgroup.com

34 9 QTNFoU DKIIGUV HCDTKE ƂNVGT HQT YCUVG ICUGU HTQO UKPVGT RTQFWEVKQP UVCTVU QRGTCVKQP at thyssenkrupp The start-up of the world’s biggest and most advanced fabric filter for sinter production is a big step forward for the environment in the city of Duisburg. thyssenkrupp’s steel division has invested 46 million euros in this project alone

Automation

Company profile

38 / /- /GVCNWTLK 6WTMG[ KORNGOGPVU /'5 at steel production sites

48 .KDGTV[ 5RGEKCNKV[ 5VGGNU CEEGNGTCVGU production of ultra-clean speciality steels YKVJ PGY XCEWWO KPFWEVKQP OGNVKPI HWTPCEG

Turkish steelmaker MMK Metalurji has implemented a state-of-the-art manufacturing execution system (MES) solution at the integrated minimill in Iskenderum and the cold strip complex in Istanbul

42 + ORTQXGF UCHGV[ KP OGNVUJQRU VJCPMU VQ OCEJKPG KPVGNNKIGPEG Digitization of information shared with the existing automation landscape and an efficient and userfriendly interface for the machine management allow productivity to be increased and human presence outside the control pulpit to be reduced

Steelmaking 46 # 1& EQPXGTVGT CPF FGFWUVKPI U[UVGO DTQWIJV KPVQ QRGTCVKQP HQT 5+, #ETQPK 5NQXGPKC An additional secondary metallurgy route increases production capacity by over 20 percent. The savings on alloying elements help to significantly reduce production costs

MPT International 4 / 2017

At its Stocksbridge, Sheffield site (South Yorkshire, UK), newly formed Liberty Speciality Steels is improving its specialist alloy manufacturing facilities by increasing production levels at the VIM X-eed® vacuum induction melting furnace supplied by SMS Mevac

52 + PVGTXKGY $CEMITQWPF KPHQTOCVKQP CDQWV 8+/ KPXGUVOGPV RTQLGEV

Tube making 54 8 CNNQWTGE KPCWIWTCVGU PGY EWVVKPI GFIG ETQUU TQNNKPI OKNN KP )GTOCP[ International tube producer Vallourec puts a new high-performance cross rolling mill into operation at its Düsseldorf-Rath, Germany tube plant. This cutting-edge equipment provided by Danieli Centro Tube is considered among the most modern in the world and guarantees increased productivity and reduced energy consumption

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Special equipment

Strip processing

56 # NVGTPCVKXGU VQ OKPGTCN QKN DCUGF J[FTCWNKE ƃWKFU KP UVGGN RTQFWEVKQP

60 * QV FKR ICNXCPK\KPI QH CFXCPEGF CPF JKIJ UVTGPIVJ UVGGNU YKVJ JKIJ UKNKEQP CPF OCPICPGUG EQPVGPVU

Fire hazards are constantly present in the steel industry with operations involving heavy equipment and liquid or red hot steel, and when mineral oil based hydraulic fluids are being used. However, there are alternatives that can be utilized without jeopardizing the performance or productivity of the steel production line

Advanced steels contain alloying elements that form oxides during annealing. Such oxides cause wetting and adhesion problems during the subsequent galvanizing process. The new PrOBOx® technology from SMS group effectively counteracts these adhesion problems

Columns 8

+PVGTPCVKQPCN KPFWUVT[ PGYU

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Literature service

70 6GEJPKECN KPPQXCVKQPU

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In the next issue

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77 +ORTKPV

Cartoon

Advertisers’ index ABB AB Force Measurement AIC Automazioni Industriali Capitano Srl ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH BRAUN Maschinenfabrik GmbH Combilift Ltd. Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche SpA ExxonMobil framag Industrieanlagenbau GmbH FrigorTec GmbH Getriebebau NORD GmbH & Co. KG Glama Maschinenbau GmbH

59 45 47 71 23 45 9 17 69 15 31

GSB Group GmbH 73 iba AG 30 IMS Messsysteme GmbH 65, 66 INDUcoder Messtechnik GmbH 33 INTECO melting and casting technologies GmbH 27 JATO-Düsenbau AG 13 Keytroller, LLC 70 Metal-Expo JSC 63 MORGARDSHAMMAR AB 41 Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH 78

Schade Lagertechnik GmbH SHAPELINE AB Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH SMS group GmbH Verlag Stahleisen GmbH Vishay Precision Group WOKO Magnet- und Anlagenbau GmbH Paul Wurth S.A.

11 73 37 2 47 71 21 19, 20

MPT International 4 / 2017

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Africa Egypt Ezz Steel Rebar modernizes process control automation. Ezz Steel Rebar selected Danieli Automation for a revamping project to enhance performance and productivity of rolling mill No. 2, focusing only on the control system. The intervention did not involve any mechanical parts, just software and hardware. The original control system, based on S5 PLCs, has been replaced by the new S7 PLCs aligned with the newest Danieli Automation control system dedicated to rolling mills. The new process control system includes level 1 software functions for mill speed control and tracking, together with new HMI systems. Thanks to the new automatic process control, which includes the tracking function, recording and faults analysis, rolling mill productivity has increased by 5%, as well as the plant yield.

Egypt El Marakby to build new bar and wire rod mill. After the successful commissioning of the new meltshop and caster supplied by SMS group in 2012, El Marakby Steel has recently awarded SMS group the order to supply a new rolling mill for bar and wire rod. The new minimill will be designed to produce at a capacity of 400,000 t/year, taking advantage of the hot connection with the existing caster. It will be able to produce both rebars from 10 to 32 mm and wire rod coils from 5.5 to 12 mm. Commissioning of the new rolling mill is scheduled for December 2018.

The Americas

in Santa Fe, has a nominal capacity of about 650,000 t/year of 130 mm square billets in low and medium carbon steel.

For this greenfield project, Danieli supplied all the main technological and auxiliary equipment, including a 75 t FastArc™ AC electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace with inert-type roof, complete material handling system, three-strand continuous caster, complete fume and water treatment plants. The EAF melts scrap processed locally by an inclined scrap shear also supplied by Danieli.

Brazil CSN to modernize continuous slab casters. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) has awarded Primetals Technologies the order to modernize three continuous slab casters at its production site Volta Redonda in Rio de Janeiro state. The focus of this turnkey project lies on the revamp of the electric and basic (level 1) automation, including the implementation of a number of technological packages, the installation of new automation and drive technology as well as new auxiliary systems and construction of several control rooms. The aim of the modernization project is to improve product quality and reduce maintenance costs. Installation work is scheduled for the second half of 2018 during a regular shutdown, commissioning is planned for the third quarter of 2018.

Brazil Usiminas to restart idled blast furnace. Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais is going to bring back into operation its blast furnace No. 1 at the Ipatinga plant. The blast furnace has been idled since June 2015 due to the decrease in the demand for flat steel in the Brazilian market. The return to operation of the blast furnace will take place as of April 2018.

Argentina Gerdau produces first billets in new meltshop. Gerdau’s new greenfield meltshop supplied by Danieli has started production. The plant, located MPT International 4 / 2017

USA SDI modernizes galvanizing line with dual purpose drives.

TMEIC is supplying new dual purpose drive equipment to modernize a galvanizing line at Steel Dynamics’ (SDI) mill in Butler, Indiana. The new low voltage TMdrive-10e2 DP dual purpose drive is a variable frequency drive with special pulse width modulation software enabling it to control a DC machine. The SDI galvanizing line is the first application of the new the DP drives, which are replacing obsolete DC drives on the 21 larger DC motors. Two have been commissioned so far and the remainder will be commissioned in future planned shutdowns. 64 smaller DC motors have been replaced with AC motors driven

by TMdrive-10e2 variable frequency drives. The drive changeover can be implemented one motor at a time during scheduled short shutdowns. The complete line is now running; the total system currently consists of 64 AC motors and 21 DC motors.

USA Nucor to build galvanizing line at Kentucky sheet mill. Nucor Corporation is going to build a hot band galvanizing and pickling line at its sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky. The new galvanizing line will expand Nucor Steel Gallatin’s product capabilities and have an annual capacity of 500,000 t. The 1,800 mm galvanizing line will be the widest hot-rolled galvanizing line in North America. This new line will create synergies with Nucor’s other sheet mills and increase the company’s market share of coated steel in the Midwest. Once the necessary approvals are obtained, it is expected to take two years to construct the galvanizing line and begin operations. The addition of a hot band galvanizing line allows Nucor to move into segments of the automotive market the company currently does not serve.

USA ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor to build two walking beam furnaces.

Andritz has received an order from ArcelorMittal to supply two new top- and bottom-fired walking beam furnaces for its 2,000 mm hot strip mill in Burns Harbor,

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief Xining Special Steel, China, has successfully restarted its threestrand continuous caster after a comprehensive revamp by Danieli.

The casting machine produces 250 mm x 280 mm high-quality steel blooms.

Vallourec, Germany, has inaugurated new tube-piercing equipment at its Düsseldorf-Rath tube plant. Working alongside the plant’s rolling mill, the new piercer, supplied by Danieli, offers greater flexibility in terms of dimensions.

Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, Germany, has brought into operation a LiquiRob casting platform robot from Primetals Technologies in its Siegen plant. The robot handles the automatic lancing of the ladles on the continuous billet caster.

Nuclear Fuel Complex, India, has granted the final acceptance certificate to Danieli for the new “quarto cold pilger mill”. The new mill processes zirconium tubes and bars for nuclear applications.

ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada has inaugurated a new finishing line at its bar mill in Longueuil, Québec. This innovative equipment will increase the facility’s annual rolling capacity from 400,000 to 500,000 t.

Indiana. Start-up of the furnaces, which will replace existing pusher furnaces, is scheduled for 2020. The Andritz scope of supply includes the design, supply, supervision of erection, and commissioning of the new furnaces as well as comprehensive training of the operating and maintenance personnel. Each of the two furnaces will heat carbon steel slabs at a rate of 500 t/h. The furnaces will reduce overall fuel consumption as a result of their long unfired preheat zones, individual burner control, and improved insulation including efficient Andritz skid insulation.

USA Nucor-Yamato Steel to install robots for ladle furnace operations. Nucor-Yamato Steel has awarded Danieli the order for two Q-Robots for the ladle furnaces in operation at the Blytheville plant in Arkansas. The two new Q-Robot samplers are part of a project aimed at increasing automation of operations and keeping the operators at a safe distance from the liquid steel.

Q-Robots, which are part of the Danieli technological packages automatically perform the entire sampling cycle from the pick-up of the cartridges from specially designed distributors down to the delivery of the samples to a designated position. The robots are supplied by Danieli Telerobot Labs, a company fully-owned by Danieli Automation.

USA Outokumpu, Sweden, has enhanced the bar finishing facilities at its long products site in Degerfors.

The project comprised a new pit furnace, straightener, peeler as well as bar stock services. Outokumpu is now able to offer stainless heavy bar in a size range from 70 to 300 mm with peeled surfaces.

ArcelorMittal Galati, Romania, has commissioned and finalized the ramp-up of the new hot leveller serving heavy plate mill No. 2. The new leveller was supplied by Danieli.

MPT International 4 / 2017

Nucor Steel Marion orders walking beam furnace. Nucor Steel Marion has awarded SMS group with a purchase order for a walking beam furnace as part of the investment that the company is making to upgrade its bar mill in Marion, Ohio. The new reheating furnace represents the first and most important step of the broader modernization project, which will take approximately 18 months to complete.

The SMS group supply comprises a walking beam reheating furnace rated at 109 t/h of billets, and includes loading and unloading billet handling equipment as well as ancillary services such as electric & automation and a

dedicated water treatment plant. The new furnace will be split into several combustion zones, controlled independently and responding to the SMSPrometheus software for heating optimization and digitally controlled extra-low NOx burners. Nucor Steel Marion will be able to achieve improved temperature uniformity and, therefore, better rolling quality of the billets out of the new furnace.

USA Steel Dynamics to expand rebar production. Steel Dynamics’ Structural and Rail division, located in Columbia City, Indiana, is going to increase its production capability and diversify its product offerings. The project entails the addition of a rolling mill, supported by certain other equipment and infrastructure requirements. It provides for the annual production of 240,000 t of reinforcing bar in various sizes with product sales including coiled, custom cut-to-length and smooth bars. The project is scheduled to be completed during the fourth quarter 2018.

USA Charter Steel to enter SBQ straight bar market. Charter Steel has selected Primetals Technologies to supply the cooling bed, cold shear, abrasive saws, stackers, banders, bar bundling and banding machines necessary to support the steelmaker’s new cut-to-length, special bar quality (SBQ) line, part of a major expansion and upgrade for its steelmaking facilities in Cleveland, Ohio. Charter Steel intends to leverage its advanced carbon and alloy steelmaking capabilities in Cleveland to introduce an engineered bar product in sizes ranging from 19 to 83 mm in diameter and bar lengths from 3.7 to 15.3 m. The new straight-bar and upgraded coil capability will be operational in the second half of 2018.

USA Mill Steel builds new facility.

Mill Steel, distributors of flat-rolled car-

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS bon steel, has opened a new facility in Houston, Texas with plans to expand its manufacturing operations for structural products for cold-formed steel framing. Mill Steel’s new facility houses three production lines with the capability of slitting 22,500 kg master coils up to 1,525 mm wide and 0.38 – 6.35 mm thick. The company is currently installing roll forming lines to allow for full stud and accessory line manufacturing.

USA JSW Steel (USA) to modernize plate mill. JSW Steel (USA) has received preliminary board approval, contingent upon securing governmental financial support, to proceed with a full-scale modernization project expected to take approximately 20 months to complete. The new stateof-the-art discrete plate mill will significantly increase product offerings.

JSW (USA) has awarded this project to Danieli.

W E

USA ACC orders premium coupling threading machine. American Cap Company, producer of OCTG connections, has ordered a PCTM-13 premium coupling threading machine from Danieli. The new CNC machine will allow ACC to produce API, semi-premium and premium couplings ranging from 4”1/2 up to 13”3/8. Danieli’s central drive design allows simultaneous machining of both ends, automatic loading and unloading of the couplings, and requires fewer operators.

The innovative self-adapting design of the central headstock avoids OD turning of couplings.

USA Charter Steel orders continuous scrap preheating and feeding system. Tenova Inc. (USA) has recently been contracted by Charter Steel to design and supply a Consteel® system

C O N V E Y

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to integrate with their existing EAF at the Saukville, Wisconsin works. The continuous scrap preheating and feeding technology for Charter Steel will utilize a double-conveyor feed system to overcome the challenges of the existing melt shop layout. Installation of the Consteel® system is scheduled for the second half of 2018.

Asia Bangladesh BSRM to expand billet production. BSRM, producers of bars, deformed bars, structural sections, flat bars and billets has ordered a new ladle furnace and casting machine from Danieli. The equipment is going to be installed in a new building within the Mirsarai steelmaking complex, located in Chittagong.

The 55 t ladle furnace, equipped with two ladle transfer cars, will refine steel

Q U A L I T Y

Environmentally Safe Stockyard Solutions

SCHADE Lagertechnik GmbH • Bruchstraße 1 • 45883 Gelsenkirchen • Germany sales@schade-lagertechnik.com • www.schade-lagertechnik.com

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief ArcelorMittal Asturias, Spain, has started producing Magnelis®, ArceloMittal’s metallic coated steel, at its Avilés galvanizing line No. 2, which has been adapted accordingly. Commercial-scale production of Magnelis® in thicknesses from 0.5 to 2 mm started in May 2017.

SIJ Acroni, Slovenia, has brought into operation a 95 t AOD converter and a dedusting system from Primetals Technologies.

Nam Kim Steel, Vietnam, has successfully put into operation the new CCM® (compact cold mill), supplied by SMS group. With the CCM®, Nam Kim Steel is increasing its annual capacity by a further 435,000 t of high-grade cold strip in the final gauge range from 2.0 down to 0.2 mm.

ArcelorMittal Poland has officially inaugurated the completion of various investment projects at its Krakow facilities, including the relining of blast furnace No. 5, modernization of the basic oxygen furnace, capacity expansion of the hot rolling mill and a new galvanizing line.

Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), Germany, has given Primetals Technologies the final acceptance for the modernized LD (BOF) converter No. 2 in its Duisburg plant. The project involved equipping the converter plant with a new trunnion ring and new suspension. It was implemented in a consortium with Buchinger Anlagen-StahlRohrbau.

Severstal, Russia, has commissioned a new side trimmer supplied

by SMS group. The new twin-head side trimming unit operates in the continuous pickling line No. 3 in Cherepovets.

MPT International 4 / 2017

coming from two induction furnaces.

The three-strand, 8-m-radius caster, designed to produce 160 mm square billets, will be equipped with liftable ladle turret, liftable tundish car, electromechanical stopper rods, mould powder feeding system and mould electromagnetic stirrer. The electromechanical oscillation table will be designed for future installation of a hydraulic drive system. All key technological equipment will be supplied

by Danieli including electrics and level 1 and level 2 automation systems. Currently, BSRM is operating two ladle furnaces, two continuous casters and two rolling mills supplied by Danieli.

will be installed on the company´s hot strip mill HSM 1580 in Shanghai as part of Baosteel´s Intelligent Workshop pilot project. The aim is to improve the width performance of the mill. The width is typically controlled by vertical stands in the roughing mill (edger) and the relation of tensions and reductions in the finishing mill. The new technology package manipulates the width by tension control in the finishing mill.

Width deviations are measured before and after the finishing mill. The entry width deviation is compensated by a feed-forward width control. The new package will be commissioned and tuned during regular production until the end of 2017. No additional shutdowns will be required.

China Tangshan Fengnan orders charging and granulation equipment for new blast furnaces. Paul Wurth has signed two contracts for the engineering and supply of four sets of Central Feed Bell Less Top® charging systems as well as INBA® slag granulation and dewatering equipment for the four blast furnaces of the new ironmaking plant built by Hebei Zongheng Group Tangshan Fengnan Iron & Steel.

The BLT order comprises all the mechanical equipment (including material hoppers of 65 m3 volume), the cooling, hydraulic and lubrication systems, field mounted electrical and lubrication equipment as well as site supervision services for erection and commissioning. The tops feature some of Paul Wurth’s latest developments such as the pressurized cooling concept for the chute transmission gearbox. The INBA order covers eight dewatering drum units under hot water system, which is quite commonly adopted by local customers. All four blast furnaces are scheduled to be commissioned in the course of 2018.

China Baosteel to optimize width control with new technology package. Primetals Technologies has signed a contract with Baoshan Iron & Steel for the supply of the Dynamic Width Control technology package. The package

China Henan Zhongfu orders highspeed edge trimming line. Henan Zhongfu has contracted Danieli for the design, supply and supervision of installation of a new high-speed edge trimming line. This new Danieli Fröhling line will process around 200,000 t/year of aluminium coils with strip thicknesses from 0.1 up to 0.8 mm at a maximum speed of 1,500 m/min. Electrical components and the level 1/level 2 automation system for the entire line will be supplied by Danieli Automation. Plant start-up is expected to take place by the end of 2017.

China Baosteel to install finishing equipment for special steel.

Baoshan Iron & Steel has ordered a centerless turning machine from Danieli to enhance tolerances of bright bars for highly demanding applications. The newly designed Danieli Centro Maskin peeling machine PL125 will process bar diameters ranging from 50 to 125 mm. High plant utilization, even in case of small production lots, will be ensured by a system dedicated to minimizing change-over times. The new peeling machine incorporates features such as a tool re-adjustment system, under-load tool setup and a high-pressure tool cooling system.

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

China

China

Daye Special Steel to install ESR plant. Daye Special Steel, based in Huangshi City, Hubei province, has ordered a new ESR plant from Inteco.

The contract comprises the engineering and supply of a 20 t ESR plant featuring single electrode remelting in static moulds for a maximum ingot diameter of 1,200 mm. The plant will be based on Inteco’s recently developed furnace concept for static mould operation.

Shandong to relocate plate mill. Shandong Iron and Steel Group Rizhao has placed an order with Primetals Technologies for the relocation of its 4.3 m plate mill line from Jinan to Rizhao. The mill was supplied by Primetals Technologies in 2010. It will be part of the Shansteel Rizhao Quality Products Base, an initiative to concentrate and upgrade production facilities in order to improve competitiveness and end product quality. Primetals Technologies will be responsible for the basic and detail engineering of the relocation, supply of new equipment, installation supervision and commissioning. In addition to the relocation from Jinan to Rizhao, a level-2 performance upgrade will also be integrated. The relocation is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

China Baosteel orders straightening machine. Baosteel Special Metals Shaoguan has entrusted Fives with the design and supply of a Bronx straightening machine to process high-yield, heat-treated premium quality steel bars. The Bronx two-roll straightener is a fully automatic, motorized machine, complete with ancillary electrical and hydraulic control systems.

It will be designed to process steel bars up to 80 mm in diameter at operating speeds of up to 75 m/min.

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China

Erzhong to build ESR plant.

Erzhong has awarded INTECO the order to engineer and supply a 150 t ESR plant. The plant will consist of two furnace heads and melting stations, designed to produce ingots with a maximum diameter of 2,100 mm and 150 t weight. The first heat is scheduled to be processed in autumn 2018.

Masteel orders rolling mill equipment. Maanshan Iron & Steel has placed an order with Friedrich Kocks for a reducing & sizing block (RSB®) 370++/4 in 5.0 design with size control system (SCS®) and 4D EAGLE (light section measuring gauge) and for thermo-mechanical rolling (TMR).

The 3-roll RSB® with four stand positions will be installed as core equipment in the new 400,000 t/year SBQ mill, finishing straight bars for automotive, aerospace and mechanical engineering applications within a diameter range from 16 to 100 mm at a maximum speed of 18 m/s. It will be located behind a continuous roughing and intermediate mill consisting of 22 stands in H/V arrangement and be designed for temperature controlled rolling at low temperatures. Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2018.

China

China

Nantian orders ESR technology. INTECO has received an order from Nantian Tool and Mold Technology, located in Huangshi, for the engineering and supply of two ESR plants, one 8 t and one 16 t static mould unit.

The engineering is already well under way, as both plants are scheduled to be delivered within eight months’ time.

Baosteel orders portal reclaimers. Baosteel has placed an order with SCHADE, a company of Aumund group, for the supply of six combined reclaimers. These new machines will be installed this year and next year on the same site as two SCHADE semi-portal reclaimers supplied previously. The six new combined stacker-reclaimers will have an outer rail

China

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MPT International 4 / 2017

14

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief voestalpine’s direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA became fully operational on 1 April 2017, after a six-month runup phase. The plant will produce 2 million t of high-quality HBI annually.

BGH Freital, Germany, has awarded INTECO an order for another electroslag remelting (ESR) furnace. The new furnace will be of the same design as the INTECO plant installed at the German special steel producer’s facilities a few years ago.

VSMPO-AVISMA, Russia, has granted SMS group the FAC for the supplied ring rolling plant. The new plant produces jet engine rings made of titanium alloys. With the new ring rolling plant, consisting of a ring blank press, radial-axial ring rolling machine and two ring expanders, the company is extending its product portfolio for the aerospace industry.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), Russia, has commissioned the continuous hot-dip galvanizing unit No. 3 supplied

by SMS group. The new unit has a capacity 450,000 t/year, using the cold rolled strip produced in the No. 11 strip rolling plant.

NLMK Group, Russia, has started commissioning the pulverized coal injection (PCI) plants of blast furnaces No. 6 and No. 7 at Lipetsk.

Paul Wurth supplied the technology, engineering and main process equipment, whilst Lipetsk-based Gipromez acted as the general planner for the project.

Ferriera Valsabbia, Italy, has completed an upgrade of its sixstrand billet caster. Danieli provided new automation and a new billet discharging system, expanding the product range from 150 mm to 160 mm square billets of up to 12 m length.

MPT International 4 / 2017

span of 56 m and be designed to stack 3,600 t/h and reclaim up to 1,200 t/h.

India JSW Steel to upgrade blast furnace. JSW Steel has awarded Paul Wurth an order for the upgrade of its blast furnace No. 3, the biggest blast furnace at its Vijayanagar works in Toranagallu, Karnataka State. The scope of the contract includes engineering of the upgrade of the entire blast furnace and selected auxiliary plant units. The cooling and lining concept foresees new carbon blocks, copper and cast iron staves and a completely new shell. The existing Paul Wurth Bell Less Top® charging system will be fitted with new hoppers and a new weighing system. An additional new hot blast stove of Paul Wurth one-dome design will be supplied and two existing internal combustion chamber stoves will be relined. A new axial cyclone and the modification of the existing wet gas cleaning system will ensure top gas cleaning.

The modernized blast furnace 3 will have an inner volume of approximately 5,300 m3 (+32%), an increased hearth diameter (from 13.2 to 15 m) and 42 tuyeres instead of 36. These parameters will result in an average daily hot metal production of 12,676 t and a total yearly production of about 4.5 million t.

India Tata Steel places service contract.

Harsco Corporation has received a new contract to provide metal recovery and slag sales services at an all-new steel mill now underway in India. The multi-year contract calls on Harsco to support the new, state-of-the-art Tata Steel Kalinganagar works, a major integrated steel plant producing high-end flat products for domestic and export markets. Harsco will also be responsible for developing the commercialization of slag in the region.

India SAIL orders caster upgrade. SAIL has ordered a new 300 mm x 150 mm casting section for the four-strand bloom

caster supplied by Danieli in 2015 and in operation at the Durgapur steel plant.

The purpose of the upgrade is to fill the gap in the requirements of the medium structural mill. The new order comprises engineering of the section changeover equipment, supply, installation and commissioning on a turnkey basis.

Iran Conveyor for pelletizing plant.

An Aumund conveyor is to be installed in a new pellet production plant in the province of Khorasan Razavi. The order for the Sangan iron mine project was placed via a Chinese project institute. The conveyor is going to be placed at the final stage of the pellet cooler.

The product from the pellet cooler will be transported by the 41.6-metre-long conveyor to ongoing storage and further processing. The capacity will be 540 t/h of iron ore pellets. Aumund will supply a pan conveyor, which is a very reliable solution with no temperature problems, much lower maintenance and no downtimes for belt changing.

Japan NSSMC to reline coke oven. Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation has decided to reline the No. 5 East coke oven of Hokkai Iron & Coke Corporation, as part of its major initiative to enhance its manufacturing base in steelworks and other facilities. Hokkai Iron & Coke, a consolidated subsidiary of NSSMC, is engaged in pig iron processing. 45 coke oven chambers, processing approximately 2,800,000 t/year, will be relined. Operation is planned to be resumed in the first half of 2019.

Saudi Arabia SABIC Hadeed to upgrade finishing section of bar mill. Danieli Automation is going to modernize the main drives for the finishing section of bar mill No. 3 at Al Jubail. The turnkey project involves installing new 690 V drives on the existing footprint and interfacing these to the existing automa-

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS tion. The scope of supply will include new drive panels and motor controls for stands 12 – 18, shears No. 2 and 3, pendulum drive knives No. 1 and 2, and the pendulum drive unit for bar mill No. 3. This equipment will be supplied together with the necessary hardware and software modifications to quickly establish communication between the new drive panels and modules and the existing PLCs level 1 automation system. The revamp project will reduce maintenance requirements, while improving the availability of spare parts.

Pakistan Agha Steel Industries to build new rebar mill. Primetals Technologies has received an order from rebar steel producer Agha Steel Industries for the supply of a 300,000 t/ year rebar mill to Port Qasim near Karachi. Primetals Technologies will be responsible for engineering the plant and supply the process equipment from the billet induction furnace to the dispatching area, as well as the guides, lubrication and hydraulic systems, level 1 and level 2 automation, motors, drives and an uninterruptible power supply. The produced rebars will feature diameters ranging from 8 to 40 mm. The productivity of the plant is maximized by rolling

bars with dia meters of between 8 and 9.5 mm in four-slit mode, and diameters between 10 and 12.7 millimetres in two-slit mode. Hot commissioning is expected for mid-2018.

Pakistan ISL places cold mill order. International Steels Limited (ISL) has placed an order with SMS group for the fullline supply of a twin-stand CCM® (compact cold mill) in four-high design. Since 2011, the cold strip producer, located in Karachi, has been operating a reversing cold mill from SMS group. In 2015, the mill was extended into a twin-stand CCM®. The recently ordered second CCM® will be installed in a new building adjacent to the existing one. The current annual cold strip capacity of 450,000 t will be increased to 900,000 t in total.

The new mill will be designed for rolling carbon steel strips in widths of up to 1,250 mm with final gauges down to 0.15 mm. The strips will be rolled at speeds of up to 1,200 m/min using very thin work rolls, down to a diameter of 300 mm. SMS group will also supply the media systems including the emulsion plant, the high and low pressure hydraulic systems and the fume exhaust system. The mill is scheduled to go into production as early as in summer 2018.

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News in brief Changcheng Special Steel, China, has ordered a new bar-incoil line from Danieli. The new line will be installed along Changcheng’s SBQ line at Sichuan, producing martensitic stainless steel coils of 20 to 40 mm diameter bars wound at 13 m/s into coils weighing up to 2.1 t.

Acciaierie Bertoli Safau (ABS), Italy, has placed an order with Danieli for the supply of a new rotary dividing/cutting shear, new coilers and controlled cooling systems, as well as coil handling and vertical compacting/tying units to be integrated into the mill supplied by Danieli in 2000. The original product range of rounds will be expanded from 15 to 50 mm to 12.6 to 63 mm diameter.

Taiwan Walsin Lihwa orders peeling machine. Stainless steel bar producer Walsin Lihwa, based in Yenshui, has awarded SMS group a contract for the supply of a new high-performance peeling machine, type PM160, for stainless

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

steel bars. The new peeling machine, which is from SMS group’s most powerful peeling machine series, allows bright bars with finished diameters of up to 160 mm to be peeled at diameter tolerances up to IT9. SMS group’s scope of supply includes all bar handling equipment as well as a special bar end chamfering/facing machine. With this new investment, Walsin Lihwa will significantly increase its capacity and expand the diameter range for peeled stainless bars from currently 80 mm to up to 160 mm. Commissioning of the new equipment is scheduled for January 2018.

Taiwan China Steel Corporation to modernize slab production. Primetals Technologies received an order from Taiwanese steel producer China Steel Corporation (CSC) to upgrade the continuous slab caster S6 at the company’s Kaohsiung plant. The project includes the replacement of obsolete or redundant features via the modernization of the mold and the installation of proven technology packages. The aim is to increase flexibility and product quality and to minimize breakouts. The upgrade will also consider possible additional enhancement features in future.

Start-up of the modernized caster is expected in mid-2018.

Vietnam Pomina 2 Steel to build cold rolling complex. Pomina 2 Steel Corporation has awarded Tenova the order for the supply of a new cold rolling mill complex to be built in Ba Ria Vung Tau province. The project includes a pushpull pickling line with acid regeneration plant, a six-high cold reversing mill, a roll grinder, a hot-dip galvanizing line and a color coating line. Total production is envisaged to amount to 375,000 t/year of high-quality pre-painted galvanized and cold rolled coils, with the provision of future expansion to almost double the capacity. The plant will be fully operational by the end of 2018. It will allow Pomina 2 to enter the domestic and international flat products markets.

MPT International 4 / 2017

Vietnam Hoa Phat Group to build two new converter shops. The company has placed an order for the supply of two new steelmaking shops – comprising two converters per shop – with a consortium of WISDRI Engineering & Research Incorporation Ltd. and SMS group. In total, the new converter shop is to produce four million tons of liquid steel per year. The SMS group scope of supply will comprise four converters, each of them with a capacity of 120 tons. All converters will be equipped with dry electrostatic precipitator (ESP) primary dust collecting systems. Commissioning of the first two converters is scheduled for 2018, while converters three and four are planned to be commissioned in 2019.

Europe

vacuum induction melting and subsequent inert gas atomization. The plant is currently in the commissioning phase.

Generative production processes are currently undergoing the transformation from rapid prototyping to series production. In addition to working towards manufacturing proven materials as powder, VDM Metals and its partners also develop new powder alloys.

Germany Risse + Wilke orders cold rolling mill. Andritz has received an order from Risse + Wilke Kaltband, Iserlohn, manufacturers of cold-rolled steel strip, to deliver a new cold rolling mill, including electrical and automation equipment. The 4-high cold rolling mill will be designed for widths of 750 mm and thicknesses of up to 5 mm. Startup of the mill is scheduled for the third quarter of 2018.

Austria voestalpine to invest in new continuous caster and research centre. voestalpine Group is to invest more than EUR 100 million in two projects at its Donawitz site. One of the projects is to set up a new continuous casting line for producing extremely pure steels as a sophisticated pre-material for premium rails, quality rolled wire, and high-tech seamless tubes. The highly automated production line with an annual capacity of up to 950,000 t is scheduled to start up operation in 2019. The second project is to set up a completely new research centre on company grounds that is dedicated to developing even lighter, more corrosion-resistant and stronger steel grades.

Russia Severstal to refurbish blast furnace. Severstal has signed contracts with Danieli Corus and Paul Wurth for the engineering and supply of equipment for the refurbishment of blast furnace No. 5 at the metallurgical plant in Cherepovets. Danieli Corus will provide the furnace casing and the cooling system equipment including the copper coolers. From Paul Wurth, Severstal has ordered a new charging system and a chute transmission gearbox. The reline is scheduled to commence in early 2020.

Russia Germany VDM Metals puts plant for powder production into operation at its Unna site. A vacuum inert gas atomization plant (VIGA) forms the core of the powder manufacturing facility, comprising a vacuum induction melting furnace and an atomization unit, in which the highly pure powder is also produced under vacuum conditions via

Raw materials supply contract between NLMK and Eurocement.

NLMK has signed a five-year contract for the supply of raw materials to the production facilities of Eurocement, a leading manufacturer of construction materials in Russia. The contract covers an annual supply of up to 5 million t of raw materials to seven Eurocement group companies. The raw materials that will be supplied include iron-con-

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS taining additives and granulated slag from NLMK Lipetsk, chalk and clay from Stoilensky in the Belgorod region and limestone screenings from Stagdok in the Lipetsk region.

tion project, two old wet gas purification systems were replaced with modern dry gas purifiers. The total volume of the area cleaned by the gas purifiers will be 1.32 million m³/h. The Capex for this project amounted to approx. 20 million euros.

Russia MMK invests in environmental projects. Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has completed two major environmental protection projects: construction of aspiration systems for casting beds at blast furnaces No. 9 and No. 10, and reconstruction of gas purifying plants at the mill’s electric-furnace melting shop. The electric filter of the aspiration system has a productivity level of 800,000 m³/h and a 95% purification efficiency. The filters were engineered by the KondorEco-SFNIIOGAZ group. This project involved a Capex of approx. 15 million euros.

Over the course of the gas purifica-

Turkey Tosyali enters into metal recovery and slag sales JV. Harsco Corporation and flat steel and steel pipe producer Tosyali Holding have entered into an exclusive joint venture relationship for metal recovery services and slag sales at the Toscelik Osmaniye flat steel production plant, one of the steelmaking facilities owned and operated by Tosyali. This agreement marks Harsco’s first entry into Turkey’s steelmaking sector. It is anticipated that 1.2 million t of slag waste will be handled annually.

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News in brief Jiangsu Lihuai Iron & Steel, China, has ordered a two-roll straightener from Danieli Centro Maskin. The straightener will process 20 to 80 mm diameter high-strength steel bars for automotive applications.

OneSteel, Australia, has successfully started operations with a MORE injection system on their 90 t OBT EAF. Since 2000, the EAF has been operating with a complete MORE sidewall injection system. To add pneumatic dololime injection, OneSteel had ordered a new set of M-ONE sidewall injectors (combined oxygen/carbon injection) and a dedicated pneumatic dololime injection system.

framag Industrieanlagenbau GmbH Neukirchner Straße 9 4873 Frankenburg, Austria Tel.: +43 (0) 7683 5040-0 E-Mail: sales-ht@framag.com www.framag.com

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Companies ArcelorMittal led consortium reaches agreement regarding Ilva. As announced by ArcelorMittal and Marcegaglia, AM Investco Italy has concluded the exclusive negotiation phase and reached a binding agreement concerning the lease and obligation to purchase Ilva S.p.A and its subsidiaries with the Italian government. Ilva’s assets will be initially leased by AM Investco. Start of lease is expected around year-end 2017, subject to regulatory authorizations. The agreed investment programme focuses on blast furnaces, steel shops and finishing lines, improving Ilva’s environmental performance in areas including air emissions and water treatment and introducing low-carbon technologies in the future, and commitment to use DRI when there are the conditions of economic sustainability coherent with the industrial plan.

Finished steel shipments are to systematically increase to 9.5 million t by 2023, while crude steel production is to be limited to 6 million t/year until environmental provisions are complied with. Once achieved, blast furnace No. 5 is to be restarted and crude steel production increased to 8 million t/year. This is to be supplemented by imported slabs and hot rolled coil, in order to maximize utilization of Ilva’s finishing facilities. The actual sale, and payment of the full purchase price, is subject to the lifting of seizures against certain Ilva assets by the Court of Taranto. Transaction closing is also subject to EU merger control approval.

Enhancement of Mitsubishi Steel Muroran joint venture. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC), together with Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co., Ltd. (MSM), established Mitsubishi Steel Muroran Inc. (MSR) in 1992 and has jointly operated it as a joint venture manufacturing specialty steel in Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan. With respect to this joint venture, NSSMC has recently reached an agreement with MSM that both companies will change and enMPT International 4 / 2017

hance the joint venture with the aim of further optimizing their respective manufacturing structures in Muroran. NSSMC is to increase the volume in outsourced manufacturing of steel billets to MSR. NSSMC will increase its shareholding ratio in MSR from 20% to 30%.

3tn and GIPA under one roof.

By taking over GIPA – Gesellschaft für Industrie- und Prozessautomation, 3tn has added crane automation to its product portfolio. With this transaction, both companies have consolidated their long-standing partnership. Numerous 3tn TWMS/metals projects in the steel industry implemented with crane automation systems from GIPA at any automation level testify to the long-standing partnership between the two companies.

Now they can offer efficient warehouse management solutions for the metals industry from a single source.

3tn customers will benefit from the new situation in various ways: TWMS/ metals systems and the underlying basic automation will be even better harmonized, resulting in smoother interfaces, easier coordination during the project phase and a shorter supply chain. GIPA will offer the same product and service portfolio as before and continue to serve customers separate from 3tn.

Collaboration between Tenova and Microsoft. Microsoft and Tenova have launched an integrated system enabled by industry 4.0 technologies to promote digital transformation in the iron and steel industry and increase competitiveness. The new system is based on three key elements – sensors/actuators, decentralized intelligence, and supplier-customer interaction – with the objective to improve business productivity in the steel and manufacturing sectors. The system will be realized thanks to three factors: the possibility to connect the plant machines (involved in each productivity phase) to Azure cloud platform; the high computational power; and the application of provisional algorithms – based on machine learning

technologies – available on the cloud platform.

Strategic cooperation between Georg and Güdel Group. Heinrich Georg Maschinenfabrik and Güdel Group have concluded a cooperation agreement about the collaborative development of lines for automatic stacking of transformer cores.

Georg brings in the plant engineering know-how and Güdel expertise in robotic technology for automatic lamination stacking. The laminations cut

by Georg lines and interim stored are picked up and stacked fully automatically by the Güdel robots. The robots achieve highest accuracies and accelerate the core stacking process significantly. The direct data transfer from the cutting line to the robot unit makes time-consuming manual processes redundant. By this data coupling, the new systems can be easily integrated into digitally networked environments and thus prepare the ground for industry 4.0/IoT.

CMC to sell CMC Cometals division. Commercial Metals Company (CMC) plans to exit its International Marketing and Distribution segment.

As an initial step in this plan, the company and its wholly owned subsidiary, CMC Cometals International Sarl, signed a definitive agreement to sell its raw materials trading division, CMC Cometals, to Traxys North America L.L.C. and Traxys Europe S.A., which are affiliates of The Carlyle Group. CMC Cometals markets, distributes and processes metal, ores, concentrates, industrial minerals, ferroalloys, chemicals and industrial products worldwide.

In addition, the company plans to pursue a sale of its CMC Cometals Steel division located in Irving, Texas, which markets steel products, as well as a restructuring and sale of the remaining trading operations located in Asia and Australia.

Andritz acquires majority stake in Powerlase Photonics. Andritz has acquired a 50.1% stake in the Brit-

Focused on maximising the benefits for plant operators Paul Wurth is offering state-of-the-art control and automation solutions covering the complete technological ironmaking process. These systems combine the best available process know-how with the most extensive expertise in plant design and ironmaking equipment: -

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Paul Wurth, the Paul Wurth Logo, SinterXpert, PelletXpert, Supracokk and BFXpert are trademarks of Paul Wurth S.A. and may be registered in your jurisdiction.

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

Auxiliary Plants hot blast stoves & energy recovery, stockhouse, pulverised coal injection, gas cleaning, top gas energy recovery, slag granulation and dewatering.

Cokemaking Plants complete plants and batteries, coke oven machines, coke quenching, coke oven gas treatment, plant automation.

Agglomeration Plants engineering & construction of complete sintering and pelletising plants, revamps and modernisations.

Direct Reduction Plants engineering & construction of Midrex® direct reduction plants.

Recycling Technologies PRIMUS® process, RedIron™, RedSmelt™, i-Meltor®, PLD deoiling, CIROVAL™ BF sludge treatment.

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Paul Wurth, the Paul Wurth Logo, PRIMUS, RedIron, RedSmelt, i-Meltor, CIROVAL are trademarks of Paul Wurth S.A. and may be registered in your jurisdiction. Midrex is a registered trademark of Kobe Steel, Ltd and used under licence.

Blast Furnace Plants engineering & construction of complete blast furnace plants, modernisations, rebuilds and relines.

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ish laser company Powerlase Photonics Ltd. Powerlase specializes in the manufacture of picosecond and nanosecond high-energy, diode-pumped, solid-state lasers. The high-tech company, with headquarters in Crawley, UK, and a subsidiary in Orlando, USA, supplies international customers from the photovoltaic, microelectronics, automotive, and aerospace industries. This acquisition complements the product portfolio of the Andritz Metals business area.

Sandvik Materials Technology to divest welding and stainless wire businesses. In order to further consolidate the product portfolio and improve its long term performance, Sandvik Materials Technology intends to divest the welding and stainless parts of its wire operations.

Kanthal wire for industrial heating etc. will remain within Sandvik Materials Technology. The divestment of the welding and stainless wire businesses will make Sandvik Materials Technology more focused on its core operations, advanced stainless steels and special alloys for the most demanding industries.

Saarland’s steel industry launches the ESTA energy efficiency network. “500 new energy efficiency networks by 2020� - that was the goal set by Germany’s federal government in December 2014 in an agreement with industry and trade associations including the German Steel Federation. With the founding of the ESTA (Energieeffizienz mit STAhl) energy efficiency network on 1 June 2017, the steel industry of the German state of Saarland is actively supporting this government initiative.

One example here is the blast furnace gas power plant operated at the Dillingen site by Dillinger, ROGESA and Zentralkokerei Saar, which converts excess blast furnace gases into electricity, avoiding a considerable amount of electricity production by conventional powerplants. At Saarstahl in Burbach, a steam turbine on the walking beam furnace has been retrofitted with an electrical generator that converts excess steam from furnace cooling into

electricity, reducing electricity requirements at that site.

voestalpine reports increase in revenue and strong earnings performance. The business year 2016/17 was again successful for the voestalpine Group. In a year-to-year comparison the company increased its revenue by 2.0%, from EUR 11.1 billion to EUR 11.3 billion.

As expected, the upward trend already perceptible in the preceding quarters came to a highly satisfactory conclusion with an excellent fourth quarter. voestalpine recorded the best quarterly performance of the business year during the fourth quarter of 2016/17. In a year-to-year comparison the adjusted EBITDA margin rose from 13.1% to 13.6%, falling just short of the group’s long-term 14% target for 2020/21. Adjusted EBIT improved by 3.1% in a year-to-year comparison, from EUR 814 million to EUR 840 million. Without adjusting for non-recurring effects, during the past business year the group’s operating result (EBITDA) fell by 2.7% compared to 2015/16, from EUR 1.58 billion to EUR 1.54 billion.

The unadjusted profit from operations (EBIT) amounted to EUR 823 million, coming in at 7.4% below the figure of EUR 889 million for the previous year.

Demand in many customer segments at the beginning of the new business year is much more positive than it was a year ago. Over the course of 2017/18, a whole series of recent major investments made by the voestalpine Group, such as the direct reduction plant in Texas, the new wire mill in Leoben, Donawitz, in Austria, and several downstream investments in Europe, the USA, and China, will be reflected in revenue and earnings for the first time. Steel and steel processing are running at nearly full capacity and are expected to continue to do so through to the end of the business year.

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Alaceroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s semi-annual meeting. At its semi-annual meeting held in BogotĂĄ, Colombia, Alacero dealt among others with the global and regional economic and steelmaking scenario. For Latin America, the estimated growth of steel demand is 2.5% for 2017 and 3.9% for 2018, underpinned by a better eco-

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

nomic performance of the countries of the region. The problem of overcapacity and the role of China in this context were discussed, as these issues remain the main challenge facing the industry. In summary, the global and regional economic scenario has been improving and there are strong indicators for the years 2017 and 2018 to provide more growth than the previous ones.

Paul Wurth expands into biomass/waste-to-energy plants business. In line with Paul Wurth’s strategy to gain a foothold in the field of decentralized energy production, a new unit – Paul Wurth Energy S.r.l – was founded in March 2017. This new unit integrates the main technological assets and proven proprietary technology, complete know-how, references and 21 staff members taken over from Energy Recuperator SpA, located in Carpenedolo in northern Italy and active in the field of waste-to-energy and biomass-to-energy plants.

Through this acquisition, Paul Wurth’s portfolio will henceforth include small to medium-scale plants based on grate incineration of municipal solid waste, special wastes and biomass. The technological assets also include anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas/ biomethane from organic waste and biomass. Besides its engineering capabilities, Paul Wurth Energy manages EPC projects and provides after-sales support for plant maintenance.

Rebranding of Essar Steel Algoma. After a decade known as Essar Steel Algoma, the historic steel manufacturer has launched its new brand: Algoma. The rebranding harkens back to variations of the company’s name since it opened in 1901. While the company will be officially doing business as Algoma, the company remains Essar Steel Algoma Inc. for legal and financial purposes for the duration of the restructuring process.

SSAB receives steel research funding. SSAB has received funding approaching EUR 2 million for product MPT International 4 / 2017

and process development from Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation. The funding will be used to develop automotive steels and steels suitable for Arctic conditions. SSAB’s works in Raahe and Hämeenlinna and tube mills in Finland are involved in the research projects.

Arrium Australia and Whyalla to be sold to GFG Alliance. KordaMentha Restructuring as deed administrators of the Arrium group companies has signed a binding agreement for the sale of the Arrium Manufacturing, Distribution and Recycling, Wyalla steelworks and Mining division to GFG Alliance, which is owned by the British Gupta family.

Hitachi High-Technologies purchases Oxford Instruments subsidiaries. Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation has completed the purchase of the stock of subsidiaries of Oxford Instruments plc, UK, and the acquisition of business from Oxford Instruments subsidiaries engaged in atomic spectroscopy product businesses. The latter include X-ray fluorescence analyzers, magnetic induction measurement instruments, laser induced breakdown spectrometers and optical emission spectrometers. The purchase adds five former Oxford Instruments subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Finland, China and the United States to the Hitachi High-Tech Group and targeted businesses in Singapore and India have been transferred to two companies in the Hitachi HighTech Group.

Roskill acquires Heinz H. Pariser Market Research. The Roskill group has acquired the business of Heinz H. Pariser Alloy Metals and Steel Market Research. Over the last 30 years, Pariser has established itself as a leading source of information on market trends and forecasts, statistics and in-depth consulting work in the chromium, nickel, stainless and special steel markets. Combining Roskill and Pariser will add cover-

age of raw materials including nickel, chromium, vananadium, etc. The new business, to be known as Roskill Pariser, will continue to operate out of Xanten, Germany.

Liberty House acquires pipe and bar mills in UK. International industrials and metals group, Liberty House, has signed a provisional agreement with Tata Steel UK to acquire Britain’s largest steel pipe mills, based at Hartlepool. Liberty will now conclude discussions with a range of stakeholders on a support package that will help facilitate the rescue of the remaining 140 jobs at the mills and the recruitment of more staff. This transaction follows closely behind Liberty’s acquisition from Tata Steel of the Speciality Steels business employing more than 1,700 people in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the West Midlands, and its purchase from the administrators of Caparo Industries of the country’s largest merchant bar mills based at Scunthorpe.

2016 world DRI statistics. Worldwide production of direct reduced iron (DRI) was 72.76 million t in 2016, according to data collected by Midrex Technologies and audited by World Steel Dynamics. This is slightly greater than the 2015 figure, which in light of recent revisions was raised to 72.64 million t. Considering the slowdown of the world steel industry in late 2015 and early 2016, the fact that the production of DRI held constant was positive for the DR industry.

Timken to acquire ABC Bearings. Timken India Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ABC Bearings Ltd., a manufacturer of tapered, cylindrical and spherical roller bearings, and slewing rings in India.

The transaction is structured as a merger of ABC Bearings Ltd. into Timken India Ltd., whereby shareholders of ABC Bearings will receive shares of Timken India as consideration. The transaction is subject to receipt of various approvals in India.

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS U. S. Steel Canada sold to Bedrock Industries. United States Steel Corporation has finalized an agreement with Bedrock Industries Group LLC for the sale and transition of ownership of U. S. Steel Canada, Inc. (USSC) to Bedrock. As part of the transition in ownership, U. S. Steel will continue to provide certain transition services to USSC and entered an agreement to supply USSC with all of its requirements for iron ore pellets through 31 January 2022.

TMEIC acquires process control system solution business. Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) has acquired the process control system solution business of engineering and consulting company Real Time Consultants (Aust) Pty Ltd (RTC), headquartered in Victoria, Australia. The two companies have an established working relationship spanning more than 20 years. RTC provides technology solutions for industrial applications, in-

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cluding process models for metal rolling mills, PLC and HMI development, as well as training and support to companies worldwide. The new entity will remain locally managed and staffed in Melbourne by the RTC team.

Siemens Mechanical Drives unit to become Flender GmbH. Starting 1 October 2017, the Siemens Mechanical Drives unit (MD) will be operating in the market as Flender GmbH, a Siemens company. Branches will also take on the new name worldwide. Flender has been a Siemens brand with a tradition more than a century old. The business with gearboxes for wind turbines will also be part of Flender GmbH and will continue to operate under the Winergy brand.

Primetals Technologies and Kappa to cooperate on dedusting systems. In future, Primetals Technologies

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23

and Kappa Filter Systems (Kappa), Steyr, Austria, will be cooperating on the sales and marketing of dedusting systems for the iron and steel industry, as well as on their research and further development.

The key feature of the plants that will be jointly offered in future is the internationally patented Zeron large fabric filter system developed by Kappa. The solid concrete panel structure allows all the functional areas to be integrated compactly into one filter building. Zeron is already in successful use for dedusting in a number of industrial plants. The cooperation between Kappa and Primetals Technologies will initially focus on dedusting systems for electric arc furnaces, minimills and secondary dedusting systems.

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall form joint venture company for fossil-free steel. Last spring, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall launched an initiative to solve the carbon dioxide issue in the Swedish steel industry. By re-

24

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

placing today’s blast furnace process that uses coal and coke with a process based on hydrogen gas, the aim is to develop a process that emits water rather than carbon dioxide. Now the three companies have formed a joint venture company to continue to drive the HYBRIT initiative. Since its launch, the initiative has received various support from the Swedish Energy Agency, including funding towards a four-year research project. The initiative is divided into three phases: a preliminary study up to the end of 2017, followed by research and pilot plant trials up to 2024.

Finally, up to 2035 the plan is to perform trials in a full-scale demonstration facility.

La Farga and Danieli combine expertise for advanced copper rod production. Spanish producer La Farga and Danieli have entered into a new agreement about the joint execution of projects in the copper long-product sector. La Farga will bring exclusive copper processing knowledge to Danieli’s experience in casting and rolling technology. This combination of skills and expertise will result in most advanced installations in terms of overall product quality, productivity, transformation costs and ecology. New installations will feature advanced scrap selection systems, melting units for ETP (electrolytic tough pitch copper) and FRHC (fire refined high conductivity), and endless continuous casting rolling process.

Personalities New member on Ovako’s board of directors. Ingalill Östman has joined the board of directors of Ovako Group AB. Ingalill Östman has long industry experience: she was a member of SKF’s group management for seven

Ingalill Östman

MPT International 4 / 2017

years and has held several leading positions within ABB. Today, Ingalill works as director corporate communications at Castellum AB.

New roles for executive leaders at U. S. Steel. New roles and responsibilities have been announced for operations-focused members of U. S. Steel’s executive leadership team. Mario Longhi has stepped down as CEO, but he will remain on the board of directors and serve as an employee of the company, providing transitional support, until his retirement. David B. Burritt, currently president and COO, was elected by the board of directors to assume the position of president and CEO as well as become a member of the board. Pipasu Soni will serve as interim chief financial officer in the role vacated by David B. Burritt. Barry Melnkovic, a recent addition to the U. S. Steel team, has been named vice president and chief human resources officer with responsibility for all facets of the company’s human resources division as well as labour relations.

David B. Burritt

Heinrich Weiss turns 75. Heinrich Weiss, chairman of the shareholders’ committee of SMS group, turned 75 on 5 June 2017. Born in the Siegerland region of Germany, Heinrich Weiss belongs to the founding family of the company. Representing the fourth generation, he took over operative management for 42 years – from 1971 to 2013.

Then, in 2013, he became chairman of

Heinrich Weiss

the supervisory board of SMS group, and since 2016 he has served as chairman of the shareholders’ committee.

ISSF elects new office bearers. The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) has elected new office bearers during the 21st annual conference in Tokyo. Hitoshi Ito, representative director and president of NSSC, has been elected chairman of ISSF. New vice chairmen are Bernardo Velázquez, CEO of Acerinox Group, Tim Di Maulo, CEO of Aperam Group, Oh In-Hwan, head of Posco’s Steel Division, and Roeland Baan, CEO of Outokumpu.

Clemens Iller of Schmolz+Bickenbach has been elected as treasurer.

New executive vice president of Nucor. Leon Topalian, vice president and general manager of Nucor-Yamato Steel Company, has been promoted to executive vice president. Leon Topalian began his career with Nucor as a project engineer at Nucor Steel Berkeley in 1996 and was promoted to cold mill production supervisor in 1998. He has held various leadership positions throughout his Nucor career in Australia, at Nucor Steel South Carolina and Nucor Steel Kankakee.

Appointment of AIST president.

Randy C. Skagen, vice president and general manager, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc., Tuscaloosa, Ala., USA, has been appointed president of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) for 2017 – 2018. Randy succeeds Wendell L. Carter, vice president and general manager, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, East Chicago, Ind., USA.

Changes on the management board of Vallourec Deutschland.

On the management board of Vallourec Deutschland GmbH, Grit Heller is now responsible for finance, controlling, risk management und compliance. Heller is succeeding Norbert Keusen, who has retired. Dirk Bissel has been appointed the new director of sales. He succeeds Nicolas Moreau, who will take on a new role in

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS Industrial Solutions business area. Stefan Gesing, currently acting CEO of Industrial Solutions, will now focus fully again on his duties as CFO.

Grit Heller

Dirk Bissel

the Vallourec Group’s central department development & innovation. Dirk Bissel is also responsible for legal affairs and communications. At group level, Heller is head of controlling and Bissel head of sales in Europe and Africa.

Vallourec appoints chief digital officer. Vallourec has appointed Barthélémy Longueville to the position of chief digital officer. As the group puts its transformation plan into action, the chief digital officer’s task will be to steer Vallourec’s digital strategy, alongside Philippe Crouzet, chairman of the management board.

Severstal appoints chief information officer. Sergey Dunaev has been appointed as chief information officer of AO Severstal management and chief executive officer of OAO Severstal Infocom. In this role he will be responsible for developing and driving the company’s IT strategy, and for consolidating the company’s IT management systems in line with international best practices to further strengthen Severstal’s competitive advantages.

thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions appoints new CEO. Peter Feldhaus, currently CEO of Marine Systems, is to be the new CEO of the

New technical managing director of SCHADE Lagertechnik.

Klaus Paul has been appointed as technical managing director of SCHADE Lagertechnik. His appointment is in response to the impending retirement of Karl-Heinz Fiegenbaum, who has been managing director of the company responsible for sales and commercial activities. He will be replaced by Christoph Seifert, who moves across to this position after having started with SCHADE as technical managing director in February 2015.

New BHP chairman elected. Ken MacKenzie has been elected to succeed Jac Nasser as chairman of BHP. Ken MacKenzie will assume the role of chairman effective 1 September 2017, following Jac Nasser’s retirement as both chairman and a non-executive director.

TimkenSteel names leaders for commercial, manufacturing operations. At TimkenSteel, there have been various leadership changes in commercial and manufacturing operations following Shawn Seanor’s announcement to retire as executive vice president of sales and business development. Tom Moline is assuming the role of executive vice president of commercial operations and Bill Bryan has been named executive vice president of manufacturing and supply chain.

CMC names new president and chief executive officer. Barbara Smith will assume the role of president and chief executive officer of Commercial Metals Company and become a member of the board of directors. Barbara Smith has been the company’s president and chief operating officer since January 2017. She succeeds Joe Alvarado who will continue to serve

‹‹‹

25

as chairman of the board through the company’s annual meeting of stockholders to be held in January 2018.

Bluescope appoints company secretary. BlueScope Steel has appointed Debra Counsell as company secretary. Michael Barron and Darren Mackenzie have resigned from their positions of company secretary.

NLMK strengthens IT and R&D practices. NLMK group has announced changes to its IT and R&D management team, which are both key vectors of the group’s forthcoming Strategy 2022. Bruno Charles De Cooman has been appointed to the newly created role of vice president for research and development. Elena Demyanova, director of NLMK Information Technologies since 2004, has been appointed NLMK group vice president for information system development, with responsibility for the implementation, development and support of corporate information systems and technological process automation at NLMK’s production sites in seven countries worldwide. Andzhey Arshavskiy has been appointed to the newly created role of director for data analysis and modelling. Arshavskiy will be responsible for implementing mathematical methods of data analysis and mathematical modelling to enhance operational and business process efficiency.

Events ›

19 – 21 September 2017 Bangkok, Thailand Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.wire-southeastasia.com; www.tube-southeastasia.com

wire and Tube Southeast Asia 2017. Held biennially, these co-staged trade fairs connect key local and global manufacturers, suppliers and service providers for the wire, cable, spring-making and fastener industries with stakeholders in tube, pipe, pumps and valves industries.

MPT International 4 / 2017

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›

››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS 21 – 23 September 2017 Beijing, China Organizers: Beijing Hiven Exhibitions www.bcime.com

CIMIE 2017. The China International Metallurgy Industry Exhibition will showcase latest metallurgical technology in three exhibition areas: steel and non-ferrous metals, innovative metallurgical technologies and equipment, and new metal materials and processing techniques. The 3rd Advanced Metallurgical Technology Conference will be held on the first day of the event.

›

27 – 29 September 2017 Dresden, Germany Organizers: German Society of Materials Science (DGM) and Steel Institute VDEh www.werkstoffwoche.de

WW 2017. After the very successful first edition in 2015, WW WerkstoffWoche (Materials Week) will be staged again in 2017. Under the motto “Materials of the future”, this congress with integrated trade show will provide a forum for all and any questions concerning materials as wide ranging as steel, non-ferrous metals, ceramics, polymers and glass. New product and process developments will be present-

ed and discussed by experts from industry and science.

›

3 – 5 October 2017 São Paulo, Brazil Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.wire-south-america.com; www.tubotech-online.com

wire South America and TUBOTECH. The international wire and cable trade fair will feature machines and processes for the manufacturing and finishing of wire, innovations in process engineering, measurement and testing technology. It will be co-located with TUBOTECH, the international trade fair for pipes, valves, pumps, fittings and components.

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4 – 6 October 2017 Porto Alegre, Brazil Organizers: Senafor www.senafor.com

Senafor Conference. The 36th Senafor Conference will combine the 21st International Sheet Metal Forming Conference and the 22nd International Forging Conference. The focus of the conferences will be on innovations, new processes and energy reduction.

›

18 – 19 October 2017 Aachen, Germany Organizers: European Centre for Refractories www.ecref.eu

60th International Colloquium on Refractories. Alternating annually between the topics “Suppliers Industries Enabling Refractories” and “Refractories Enabling High Temperature Technologies”, this event attracts up to 600 attendees. The congress is accompanied by a trade show with approximately 30 worldwide operating exhibitors.

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6 – 8 November 2017 Cancun, Mexico Organizers: Latin American Steel Association – Alacero www.alacero.org

Alacero-58. While the steel industry of Latin America is going through a period of challenges and uncertainty, Alacero-58 aims to contribute to the discussion on strategies for overcoming the current crisis and sustainably strengthen the industry, companies and region in this new world economic order.

Contemporaneously with ExpoAlacero 2017, this most important regional networking event of the steel industry and its value chain features outstanding speakers and delegates from the sector.

STAHL 2017 – Overcoming Barriers 9 November 2017 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Steel Institute VDEh and the German Steel Federation www.stahl-online.de · www.stahl2017.de The motto of STAHL 2017, Overcoming Barriers, refers to the industry’s present situation. Current challenges must be met in order to permit the development of future prospects. One “Talk about steel” discusses, among other things, the risks and opportunities of steel-based value-creation chains in the trial of the critical examination of globalization, while another examines the development of a holistic European industrial policy as a prerequisite for steel having a strong future in Germany. The topics of sustainable value creation, material developments for automotive construction, and efficiency during production are intended to highlight steel’s contribution to an innovative economy. Innovations are made by people so, for the first time, participants are invited to attend a discussion with up-and-coming youngsters in the steel industry. Students and graduates will be given the opportunity of exchanging views on career prospects with representatives from the steel sector.

Six “Talks about steel” form the focus of the STAHL 2017 event. The event traditionally closes with the “Steel get-together”, beginning at 6.00 p.m.

MPT International 4 / 2017

Segment S egment C Casting asting SEGMENT CASTING A rising star in INTECO’s casting product portfolio is the Segment Caster, a vertical casting process applied for the batch-wise or continuous production of medium and high-alloyed steel grades. This casting process bridges the gap between conventional Ingot Casting and Continuous Casting for larger dimensions and is especially applicable for the production of medium and high-alloyed steel grades. Due to increase in demand for continuously cast semi-finished products made from steel with large format cross sections over the last few years, Segment Casting has been developed by INTECO combining available plant designs with novel technologies (patents pending) in order to improve product quality, reduce operation costs and investment and improve process and operator safety. There are two types of Segment Casters – the Continuous (VCC) and Semi-Continuous Segment (SC) Caster – that have already been contracted by INTECO with customers in Europe, America and Asia.

Continuous Segment Casting (VCC) Features: • Continuous vertical casting process at ultra-low casting speeds • Combination of advantages of conventional Ingot Casting with Continuous Casting • Steel grades that cannot be cast on a conventional bow-type caster Typical fields of application: • Sequence casting • ~15-70t ladle size • Round, slab, square, etc. (~140sq-Ø700) • Alloyed and special steels, super alloys • Bloom length: 1.5-4.0m

Semi-Continuous Segment Casting (SC) Features: • Semi-continuous vertical casting process • Combination of advantages of conventional Ingot Casting with Continuous Casting • Steel grades that cannot be cast on a conventional bow-type caster Typical fields of application: • Single heat casting • ~15-100t ladle size • ~ Ø400 ÷ Ø1600mm round, slab, etc.

• Alloyed and special steels, super alloys • Bloom length: max. 13m

INTECO melting and casting technologies GmbH Wiener Strasse 25 • 8600 Bruck/Mur • AUSTRIA Phone: +43 3862 53 110-0 • inteco.austria@inteco.at www.inteco.at

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

Backed by stable business Ć&#x201A;IWTGU 5/5 ITQWR KU HQEWUKPI QP EJCPIKPI TGSWGUVU QH C OGVCNU KPFWUVT[ KP VTCPUKVKQP In 2016 order intake and sales of SMS group stabilized at previous yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s level. Also, cost-cutting measures have taken effect. The group shall return to moderate growth in the medium term and expects improved results in 2017. Areas for further business H[SDQVLRQ DUH WDUJHWLQJ WKH JURZWK Ć&#x201A;HOGV GLJLWDOL]DWLRQ PRGHUQL]DWLRQ VHUYLFH HOHFWULFDO and automation systems, energy and green technology.

SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. The sole owner of the holding company SMS GmbH is the Familie Weiss Foundation.

Order intake by SMS group in business year 2016 dropped slightly to EUR 2.680 billion (2015: EUR 2.758 billion). Sales reached EUR 3.052 billion (2015: EUR 3.310 billion). The net operating result of SMS group increased marginally to EUR 14 million (2015: EUR 7 million).

Parallel with the generally weak market, there were further expenses for restructuring that depressed the result for 2016.

The company generated orders for metallurgical plant and machinery construction totaling EUR 2.432 billion (2015: EUR 2.476 billion). While plant business decreased to EUR 1.815 billion (2015: EUR 1.882 billion), service business grew to EUR 617 million (2015: EUR 594 million).

As a result of project postponements, the elexis group experienced a downturn in order intake to EUR 184 million

Modern control room of a hot strip mill â&#x20AC;&#x201C; working practices change due to digitalization and the Internet of Things

MPT International 4 / 2017

EUR (2015: EUR 214 million). At Elotherm, order intake contracted from EUR 81 million to EUR 66 million due to a decline in demand in the metallurgy industry. Following a resolution of the general meeting on 28 June 2016, SMS GmbH acquired all the minority shareholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shares in a squeeze-out to fully take over elexis AG. This is how sales, totaling EUR 3.052 billion, broke down according to regions: â&#x2013;Ş Europe 30 percent (2015: 33 percent), â&#x2013;Ş Russia 6 percent (2015: 3 percent),

COMPANY PROFILE â&#x2013;Ş Asia 34 percent (2015: 33 percent), â&#x2013;Ş the Americas 28 percent (2016: 29 percent), â&#x2013;Ş Africa 2 percent (2015: 2 percent).

Given that the order intake was below sales, orders in hand, at EUR 3.566 billion, declined even more (2015: EUR 4.018 billion).

The number of employees in SMS group on the reporting date of 31 December 2016 decreased by 788 to 13,423 (2015: 14,211). Personnel adjustment will continue according to plan until the end of 2017. The scheduled expansion of the service business included an increase in staff from 2,601 to 2,657 employees who support customers on site, especially in the foreign service companies. There are plans to recruit another 1,000 employees in the foreign service companies over the current business year.

Supplier for the entire metallurgical process chain To enhance its profile, SMS group conducted an in-depth survey of customers and staff in 2016. Out of this came the insight that customers would like SMS group to continue to be their â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leading Partner in the World of Metalsâ&#x20AC;?. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to advise and support customers with a focus on their requirements in metallurgical plant construction plus electrical and automation systems as well as service. This will pay special attention to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rapid changes in working practices in connection with digitalization and Industry 4.0.

Entry into new business Ć&#x201A;GNFU The two subsidiaries operating in logistics, CTI Systems S.A., Luxembourg, and SMS Logistiksysteme GmbH, Germany, pooled their market presence in 2016. Now, under the umbrella name AMOVA, they are boosting their business in the growing market of logistics applications for the cargo industry, including air cargo.

Especially for business on the nonferrous metals market, SMS group teamed

5/5 ITQWR &Ă&#x2DC;UUGNFQTH )GTOCP[ Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: thomas.isajiw@sms-group.com

â&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;š

29

up with Austrian company Mettop to found the joint venture PolyMet Solutions. One core objective is systematic expansion of the product portfolio for copper production and processing.

Also new since 2016 is a cooperation with UrbanGold GmbH for electrical scrap recycling, which is set to attract a lot of customers.

Furthermore, SMS group branched out into the innovative technology of additive manufacturing and is actively involved in its further development.

This move was launched with a pilot plant currently under construction at the MĂśnchengladbach location. It will produce metal powder â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the basic material for additive manufacturing.

Digital solutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning Steel Millâ&#x20AC;?

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hot topics in business are Industry 4.0, digitalization, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing. Various projects in this vein have been realized by the service department and the startup SMS digital GmbH, founded in 2016. The expertise gained here has enabled SMS group to draw up strategies for digitalization in the steel industry.

Working on this basis, it is developing further groundbreaking solutions. Additionally, SMS group can draw on experience and already implemented solutions such as its successes with virtual technologies (virtual reality and augmented reality) or â&#x20AC;&#x153;Plug & Workâ&#x20AC;?.

However, digitalization is not an end in itself. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basically about answering the question: Where can digitalization help us in concrete terms to: â&#x2013;Ş ensure steel as a versatile material remains future proof and competitive, â&#x2013;Ş boost efficiency with even leaner processes and cost structures while saving resources, â&#x2013;Ş maximize plant service life at reduced maintenance costs and even lower capital tie-up, â&#x2013;Ş achieve more flexible production planning with fluctuating and partly small batch sizes while adhering to tight deadlines.

The focus for plant owners is on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning Steel Millâ&#x20AC;? as a solution that enables intelligent and largely autonomous steel production. This involves the interconnection and collaboration of humans and machines in dynam-

SMS group draws up strategies for digitalization in the steel industry

ic production processes that adjust to optimum parameters in real time. A smart steel plant auto-adaptively optimizes its production processes from the raw material right through to the final product. Crucial here is an integrated supply chain with physical and data-based models.

Teaming up with its U.S. customer Big River Steel, SMS group has launched a pilot project for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning Steel Millâ&#x20AC;? at the complex in Arkansas, USA, which went on stream at the end of 2016.

Also in 2016, SMS group acquired the majority share in QuinLogic GmbH in Aachen, Germany. This young company creates software solutions for perfect quality management in the steel, aluminum, and paper industries. Counted among them are quality assurance systems for flat steel, stainless steel, special steel, and nonferrous metals. SMS group already successfully uses QuinLogic products in customer projects such as Big River Steel, USA, or Shandong Iron & Steel, China. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a collaboration that MPT International 4 / 2017

30

››› COMPANY PROFILE 2016

2015

Change

Sales

3,052

3,310

- 7.8%

Operating result

14

7

+100%

Order intake

2,680

2,758

-2.8%

Order backlog

3,566

4,018

-11.2%

Employees

13,423

14,211

-5.6%

(million euros) (KIWTGU QH VJG 5/5 ITQWR HQT VJG ƂPCPEKCN [GCT

makes perfect sense, because QuinLogic software solutions benefit from SMS group production know-how. That leads to high-value final products at consistent quality and process stability.

Despite its cost-cutting programmes, SMS group will maintain its unusually high commitment to training young talents. This is how it is responding to demographic change and ensuring the group can draw on a pool of adequately qualified personnel in the future.

%QPUQNKFCVKQP CPF PGY orientation Faced with a sustained global crisis in the steel, copper, and aluminum industry plus an associated decline in orders, the management of SMS group GmbH in 2014 announced plans for a two-stage capacity reduction in its core business of plant and machinery construction in Germany. As a result, the company has reduced capacity in Germany from 5,250 employees at the beginning of 2014 to some 4,050 by the end of this year. The planned, socially responsible adjustment of employee numbers to declining orders in metallurgical plant production took place mainly in Germany. Contrasting with this is expansion in the growth areas of service, digitalization, and modernization.

Future prospects Burkhard Dahmen, chairman and CEO: “Our customers’ problems from global overcapacities have eased a little. Due to individual protectionist measures, both capacity utilization and price levels have increased over-proportionally in some countries. As a result, we are receiving new project inquiries from producers there, especially in the area of rolling special steels and high-strength grades. However, overall plant utilization globally has only increased moderately. That’s why sustained profits are not yet possible in all regions.

This also explains the continued reluctance to invest in new projects.

What’s more, ongoing political uncertainty in our important sales markets Russia and Ukraine is also damaging business. On the other hand, things look brighter in Iran. After the recent presidential election and continued gradual opening of the country, we see opportunities in the foreseeable future for participation in the modernization and rebuilding of the country’s steel industry. Just recently, we signed preliminary contracts with Iranian customers for five plant projects. Their realization depends on long-term loans from banks to the Iranian metal producing industry.

We’re confident there’s unbroken potential in modernizations to make plants greener and more energy efficient. Other growth areas are digitalization and the whole spectrum of services.

We expect the slight upturn in demand to translate into higher order intake as from 2018. This positive outlook is based above all on the higher prices for steel products. Furthermore, our customers are increasingly reactivating shelved investments in revamps and upgrades of their existing plants.

So we’re looking forward to moderately higher order intake in 2017. Unfortunately, the decline in orders over recent years means that sales will be slightly lower than in 2016. Considering the effectiveness of our restructuring measures, we expect our net result for 2017 to be better than the previous year.”

GSM 2x15 t capacity

2 th International Forgemasters Meeting 20 Congress Graz, Austria - September 11-14, 2017 Co visit us at Stand No.:

8

performance for high productivity

GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH

Headquarters: HornstraĂ&#x;e 19 D-45964 Gladbeck / Germany Fon: +49 (0) 2043 9738 0 Fax: +49 (0) 2043 9738 50 email: info@glama.de

GIR-P 1 t capacity

glama.de

GFM 150 t capacity

32

â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş RAW MATERIALS

)KCPV TCFKCN Ć&#x192;QY HCPU KPUVCNNGF CV %JKPCoU NCTIGUV UKPVGT RNCPV For Baosteelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new sinter plant the old induced draught fans were too small to generate the negative pressure necessary for the sinter bed. Baosteel modernized the plant using WZR LQGXFHG GUDXJKW IDQV GLPHQVLRQHG DFFRUGLQJ WR WKH UHTXLUHPHQWV 7KH UDGLDO Ć&#x192;RZ fans delivered in December 2016 with a drive power of 12,300 kW are among the largest fans in the world, entailing various challenges with a view to construction.

6JG JWIG KORGNNGT KU RTQVGEVGF D[ UETGYCDNG YGCT RNCVGU YJKEJ UJKGNF VJG OCKP DNCFG CICKPUV VJG Ć&#x192;QY QH CDTCUKXG RCTVKENGU

#NN RKEVWTGU D[ EQWTVGU[ QH 6.6 6WTDQ )OD*

The sintering of iron ore requires sufficient process air to be drawn through the sinter strand. This is necessary to make sure that the raw material mixture is burnt uniformly and that the sinter has the quality appropriate for the blast furnace.

In 2016 Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (Baosteel) completely restructured their works in Baoshan, in the northernmost urban district of Shanghai,

TLT-Turbo GmbH, ZweibrĂźcken, Germany Contact: www.TLT-Turbo.com E-mail: TLT@TLT-Turbo.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

to meet the demand for steel products which has been rising for many years. Their new sinter plant runs 24 h at about 350 days a year and has an exceptionally large suction surface of 600 m². It consists of individual grate carriages being perforated at their bottom and slowly moving the mixture of ore fines, slag forming materials, fuels, return fines, lime and water to the discharge point. The sintering process is initiated by the ignition of the coke breeze contained in the material.

Air is sucked through the mixture by aid of the induced draught fans and thus the burning zone moves downward through the material. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The heat wave, which runs through the sinter

bed between ignition and discharge, causes the iron ore fines to fuse partially making the feedstocks become pasty and agglomerate to lumps of sinter,â&#x20AC;? Ralph Mansius, TLTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sales manager of the business unit Application Industry, describes how the plant works.

The inlet temperature of the air is about 150°C. However, TLTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fans installed in Baoshan have been designed for a maximum temperature of 250°C to securely withstand process-related fluctuations. A high negative pressure is necessary to draw the hot process gas uniformly through the moist mixture.

The negative pressure is 19,500 Pa at the suction nozzle of each fan and generates a gas stream of 500 mÂł/s per

RAW MATERIALS fan. “It also allows to overcome the pressure losses that are to be attributed to the electrostatic precipitator for gas cleaning which has been installed upstream of the fan on grounds relating to environmental protection and wear and tear,” Mansius explains. A 10 kV asynchronous motor delivers the required drive power of 12,300 kW. It is speed controlled for energy efficiency reasons, since this is how to achieve the best efficiencies in partial load points.

The rotor – a challenge to logistics and construction The rotor of the fan consists of a double-inlet impeller with a diameter of 4.6 m and a shaft with a total length of 7.6 m. Such huge dimensions required an enormous logistical effort from the manufacturer. Hence, the only way to transport the rotor from the works to the port of Hamburg was by water. Also the engineering presented a challenge: “We had to reduce the rotor weight as much as possible to comply with the design requirements of the shaft in terms of the permissible load. A hollow shaft was used to this end and material was cut out at certain points of the impeller,” Ralph Mansius reports.

These actions, however, were not sufficient to ensure smooth operation.

“The large mass resulting from the dimensions of the rotor combined with the operating speed represents a considerable load, so only a sliding bearing assembly could be used,” Mansius says. The necessary oil supply to the

two induced draught fans is effected via a common tank with a volume of 10,000 l. In addition, two high tanks of 3,000 l have been installed to ensure lubrication even during a blackout. The switchover is effected via a non-return valve to the effect that even during standstill of the oil pump the motor and bearing assembly will be lubricated for another 30 minutes to avoid damage.

Due to the abrasive character of the sinter dust that is still in the gas despite the upstream electrostatic precipitator, the induced draught fans furthermore had to be equipped with a wear protection. For that reason screwable wear plates have been fixed inside the impeller to protect the main blade. In the event of a maintenance those plates can be easily substituted. Since the housing is less subject to abrasion, in this case a welded-in, non-replaceable wear plate is sufficient.

TLT’s scope of services in addition to induced draught fans plus motors also comprised the engineering for the transition piece on the suction side and the silencer on the discharge side.

Reproducible product quality due to a reliable control system “If the air volume or temperature are not correct, the sinter quality will decrease and thus a consistent and reproducible production of iron will not be possible in the downstream blast furnace process,” Ralph Mansius explains.

As a preventive action the volume flow

‹‹‹

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#UUGODN[ QH VJG TCFKCN ƃQY HCP CV VJG sinter plant in China

and pressure in the main air flow are continuously measured. The temperature is controlled by holding the air flow at the pre-set value via speed control or by the control valves at the fan and by adjusting the wind boxes situated under the strand. The point where the material will be completely burnt – ideally near the end of the sinter strand – can be settled by the strand speed. After cooling, the sinter is fed to the blast furnace process and reduced to molten pig iron, which is then converted into crude steel.

We measure angles and distances. Digitally Absolutely and Incrementally.

MPT International 4 / 2017

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

%QPUVTWEVKQP QH VJG PGY Ć&#x201A;NVGT WPKV KPENWFGF VJG KPUVCNNCVKQP QH CP CNOQUV OGVTG VCNN UVCEM WUKPI C URGEKCN ETCPG

9QTNFoU DKIIGUV HCDTKE Ć&#x201A;NVGT for waste gases from sinter production starts operation at thyssenkrupp 7KH VWDUW XS RI WKH ZRUOGĹ&#x2019;V ELJJHVW DQG PRVW DGYDQFHG IDEULF Ć&#x201A;OWHU IRU VLQWHU SURGXFWLRQ is a big step forward for the environment in the city of Duisburg. This additional waste gas cleaning process further reduces dust emissions in the area around the steel site substantially. thyssenkruppâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steel division has invested 46 million euros in this project alone.

Before charging in the blast furnace, fine iron ores first have to be converted into lump form in a sinter plant. Because of its high gas permeability the finished sinter is ideal for charging in the blast furnace, where the iron oxide is converted into liquid iron melted to-

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg, Germany Contact: www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com E-mail: erik.walner@thyssenkrupp.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

gether with other materials that can be tapped as hot metal.

The sinter plant of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe in northern Duisburg, Germany comprises three sinter belts.

The mixture of fine ores, coke and additives is placed on a sinter belt, ignited under a furnace at temperatures of around 1,200°C, and sintered. Air is sucked by large fans to burn the coke.

At the end of the sinter belt the â&#x20AC;&#x153;cakeâ&#x20AC;? is removed, cooled and crushed to an average particle size of around 20 mm, referred to in the industry as â&#x20AC;&#x153;lumpsâ&#x20AC;?.

From the sinter plant with its three sinter belts the material is supplied to the four blast furnaces of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe in the north of Duisburg.

Particulates captured almost entirely During the sintering process the combustion air is picking up dust. Before released to the environment, the off-gas has to be cleaned perfectly. At present the dust is captured by several conventional electrostatic precipitators and

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

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35

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prevented from escaping into the atmosphere. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our electrostatic precipitators are already very efficient. But to capture the dust that still remains after this first cleaning process we have installed a downstream fabric filter,â&#x20AC;? says Carsten Rokitt, who is responsible for the sinter plant at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This additional filter achieves a further significant reduction in dust emissions and helps meet our goal of keeping the environment clean.â&#x20AC;?

A downstream fabric filter for the smallest of the three sinter belts went into operation in autumn 2011. By 2014, dust emissions from the steel plant were already roughly 20% lower than in 2010.

Recently another new, 32-metre tall fabric filter facility has been built for the biggest of the three belts. Air that has already passed through the upstream electrostatic capacitator now flows through tens of thousands of extremely fine fabric bags which capture even particulates. The new unit can clean up to 1.3 million mÂł of waste air an hour. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In this way we now capture virtually all the sinter dust. The air emerging from the filters is really clean, and that means less dust in Duisburg and the surrounding area,â&#x20AC;? says Andreas Theuer, head of Environmental and Climate Protection at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe.

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German plant engineering company KĂźttner GmbH in cooperation with LĂźhr Filter GmbH & Co. KG have supplied the plant equipment and the filters for the new bag filter unit. After years of planning and preparation, the construction work on the new filter plant started in November 2015. The plant was commissioned in March 2017 exactly on schedule.

Further measures to modernize the sinter plant in Duisburg-Schwelgern In addition to the installation of the advanced fabric filter, further meas-

ures have been carried out to upgrade equipment at the sinter plant in Duisburg-Schwelgern. They include repairs to pipelines and the coke breeze bunker as well as improvements to the sinter belts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Operations continued while the work was being carried out. Despite this difficulty, with the help of many employees we were able to complete the project on schedule,â&#x20AC;? says Rokitt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We now have one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most advanced sinter plants here in Duisburg.â&#x20AC;?

Construction of the new fabric filter included the installation of an almost 100-metre tall stack. The 400 t giant was transported to the site MPT International 4 / 2017

36

â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 70-metre special crane had to be additionally lengthened. The new stack, which is barely visible from outside the thyssenkrupp site, replaces a 250-metre brick tower.

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by ship in four segments. A special crane was used to assemble the blue striped stack. Prior to this, large-size components with an overall weight of several hundred t had been delivered for the new dust filter. They included segments that were 27 metres long and almost six metres in diameter. After arriving at the port in Duisburg-Schwelgern, the steel parts for the stack were unloaded and assembled on site. The enormous height of the stack meant that the boom of the

6JKTF Ć&#x201A;NVGT VQ DG KPUVCNNGF D[ 2020 Encouraged by its good experience with the first fabric filter, thyssenkruppâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steel division equipped the new filter with the same technology.

A third fabric filter for the remaining sinter belt is currently being planned and is scheduled to come on stream by 2020. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These measures will enable us to capture significantly more dust,â&#x20AC;? says Theuer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So we expect this to have a big impact on reducing air pollution and take us a big step toward further improving the air quality in Duisburg.

You could say this is an investment to improve the quality of life of local citizens.â&#x20AC;?

Conclusion The waste air from sinter belt 3 in Duisburg-Schwelgern flows through more than 44,000 extremely fine filter bags, each almost three metres long. The total fabric area of over 45,000 m² captures tiny dust particulates. Construction project manager Carsten Rokitt says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The air that comes out at the end of the process is cleaner than the air we breathe on the streets of big cities.â&#x20AC;? The start-up of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest and most advanced fabric filter for sinter production is a big step forward for the environment in Duisburg. This additional waste gas cleaning process further reduces dust emissions in the area around the steel site substantially. thyssenkruppâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steel division has invested 46 million euros in this project alone. With additional upgrades to other sinter plant equipment in Duisburg-Schwelgern, the total investment package including the new filter unit comes to around 65 million euros.

â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Online oil layer measurement 52'%+#. '37+2/'06 Due to the laws of physics various methods for the contactless measurement of oil films, e.g. on metal surfaces, can be applied. In addition to infrared spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy provides reliable results in the online measurement of the oil

layer directly in the production process. EMG offers both technological solutions under the product names EMG SOLIDÂŽ IR (infrared spectroscopy) and EMG SOLIDÂŽ LIF (laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy).

The main challenge in online oil layer measurement are the difficult production conditions for an optical measurement system (speed, vibration, ambient influences), the constraints with respect to installation space, and the variety of surfaces and oil types to be analysed. With the offer of two industry-proven solutions for the production of steel and aluminium coils and sheets, EMG offers the user an optimal and safe solution for measuring the oil layer in the production process, tailored to his needs. The selection of the technology is based exclusively on the best possible results, taking into account the overall effort required for the introduction of the system and the special conditions of the production process realized by the customer.

Since both systems have the same â&#x20AC;&#x153;EMG DNAâ&#x20AC;? on the hardware and software side as well as for the operating concept, the total cost of ownership is considerably reduced for the user. This applies not only to the oil level measurement system but also, in particular, to the use in combination with other quality assurance systems of EMG, e.g. the online roughness measurement EMG SORM 3plus or the online material strength measurement EMG IMPOC.

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www.vip-kommunikation.de

www.siempelkamp.com

Siempelkamp offers turnkey open die solutions incorporating the latest forging technologies. These high speed forging lines feature a high degree of repeatability and precision.

As a result of our process control there is a reduction in production time which decreases production costs. Operators of our equipment have a competitive advantage.â&#x20AC;?

Amir Tanbakouchi Sales Manager North America, Russia, Middle East

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş AUTOMATION

MMK Metalurji implemented the Q3MET manufacturing execution system for the cold rolling mill

MMK Metalurji, Turkey, implements MES at steel production sites Turkish steelmaker MMK Metalurji has implemented a state-of-the-art manufacturing execution system (MES) solution at the integrated minimill in Iskenderum and the cold strip complex in Istanbul. The plantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; size and complexity forced MMK Metalurji to seek the best available solutions for achieving excellence in manufacturing and data WUDQVSDUHQF\ IURP WKH VKRS Ć&#x192;RRU WR WKH PDQDJHPHQW OHYHO )XOO VXSSRUW RI RSWLPL]DWLRQ DQG WUDFNLQJ RI SURGXFWLRQ TXDOLW\ DQG VWRUDJH DUH YLWDO IRU DQ HIĆ&#x201A;FLHQW PDQDJHPHQW and ensure optimum visibility of the various plant processes.

International MMK Group is made up of various related companies under a common management. Their activities have been joined and unified to achieve common strategic goals such as long-term competitiveness and sustainable growth. MMK Metalurji, Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest private one-time investment in iron and steel production, includes two

Danieli & C. S.p.A., Buttrio, Italy Contact: www.danieli.com E-mail: info@danieli.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

production sites located in the industrial zones of Dortyol (close to Iskenderun) and Gebze (close to Istanbul), respectively. The plants are designed to produce 2.3 million t/year of flat steel products.

The Iskenderun site comprises an integrated minimill with EAF meltshop, continuous slab caster and hot strip mill, a cold mill complex (continuous pickling line, cold reversing mill, hot-dip galvanizing line, coating line) and a service centre. At the Gebze site (close to Istanbul) MMK Metalurji operates another cold mill complex and a service centre.

MMK Metalurji turned to the experience of Danieli Automation when undertaking an MES (manufacturing execution system) project for their multi-site production facilities. The state-of-the-art plants manufacture hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil, coated coil and sheet products. The plantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; size and complexity forced MMK Metalurji to seek the best available solutions for achieving excellence in manufacturing and data transparency from the shop floor to the management level. Full support of optimization and tracking of production, quality and storage are vi-

AUTOMATION

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tal for an efficient management and ensure optimum visibility of the various plant processes.

Manufacturing execution system dedicated to the steel industry Q3MET is a fully integrated manufacturing execution system (MES) specifically designed for the metals industry and it is a proven solution for integrated plants, minimills, meltshop, casting, hot rolling, cold rolling, cold mill complexes, finishing lines, service centres, and tube and pipe mills. Q3MET supports the demanding requirements of a modern metals producer from the stage of receiving the customer order all the way down to its full execution, based on ISA95 standard. Q3MET provides business process transparency from the shop floor to the management level, ensuring optimum production control and supporting plant operations in technical order dressing, planning, scheduling, production tracking, quality certification and storage operations. (“Order dressing” performs production feasibility and generates production data input (PDI) and routing information required for Level 2 system.)

Q3MET coordinates and guarantees production activities in the Iskenderun and Istanbul plants. The Q3MET system is seamlessly integrated with SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) and the numerous Level 2 automation process control systems in the plants to provide automatic data collection and exchange required for optimal management support.

Q3MET runs on a server platform using Oracle RDBMS on a Microsoft Windows server. Oracle is installed on two servers and configured using Oracle RAC (real application cluster), a cluster database with shared cache architecture to provide high scalability and availability for business applications. The servers use fibre channel disk RAID to ensure high availability and performance.

In addition to the software, Danieli Automation also provided engineering support for the local area network, hardware solutions, and consultancy support. The main modules of Q3MET can be summarized as follows: ▪ system administration (system security and configuration tool, system user group management),

SPI Dispatcher provides an overview of the whole plant

The visual tool allows the supervisors to follow the plant situation

▪ order data management (production and attribute configuration, order data management, technical order dressing, acceptance and feasibility check), ▪ production planning & scheduling PPS (production plan generation and maintenance, production scheduling and machine short time management, cutting plan optimization for the steel service centre), ▪ production progress control PPC (automatic production tracking, manual production backup and maintenance, packing management, stoppage management, inspection and quality decision management), ▪ quality (sample management, mechanical test management, final product certification),

▪ stockyard (stockyard configuration, incoming, intermediate and finished storage management, handheld support, crane terminal touch screen support), ▪ web reports, ▪ PPI, API and SPI provide graphical overview of production areas and plants.

Web-based reporting system Web-report provides an open reporting system with predefined reports such as up-to-date production reports (daily or period), cross-area reports (melt shop – casting – rolling mill), actual vs. planned production, additional customer reports.

A complete set of reports allows MMK Metalurji to have an up-to-date overMPT International 4 / 2017

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››› AUTOMATION

SPI dispatcher shows the production history and the next scheduled production

view of the production at any area of the plant and summarized business reports involving scheduling, production, inventory and quality. The key benefits are: ▪ a secure group-based reporting system, ▪ compatibility with web browsers, ▪ easily extendable by new reports, ▪ easily configurable.

Web-report is installed on a Microsoft Windows server running native IIS (internet information services). It is accessible by all clients connected to the publishing network. Information is provided based on user access rights.

Indicators for site performance, plant performance and area performance SPI (site performance indicator dispatcher), PPI (plant performance indicator) and API (area performance indicator) are visual tools that allow the supervisors to follow the plant situation, the melt shop behaviour and each line’s process status. Dashboard and big screen displays provide real-time visualization of processes, dispatching activities with the status of all production lines and storage facilities. SPI dispatcher, PPI and API collect real-time information from Q3MET and the numerous Level 2 process control systems.

SPI dispatcher gives an overview of the whole plant situation using colours to highlight each area’s status. It is possible to have an overview of the recent production history (shift and day) and MPT International 4 / 2017

the next production schedule. By going further into stockyards details, it is possible to see the storage map with the box occupation and an overview of the stock summaries. Dispatcher is installed in a “dispatcher room” where the operators use the information to report directly to the top management 24 hours a day.

PPI gives an overview of the plant process areas (i.e. meltshop) with summaries of the productivity, production steps and timing of each single area. This is to inform the shift managers and operators in advance about any unplanned situation (delay, production stoppage, loss of productivity) that may lead to an interruption of the casting sequence. It is installed in each pulpit of the meltshop plant to allow the shift managers to always stay informed about the current status of the whole process.

API gives the current information of each process area (i.e. electric arc furnace, ladle furnace, vacuum degasser, continuous casting), summarizing the main parameters by means of KPIs or showing graphically the process with the forecast for the remaining process.

API is installed in the pulpit of each area to allow the process engineers to have a summary of the current process status and to promptly react to any process deviations.

/WNVKRNG DGPGƂVU HQT //- Metalurji MMK Metalurji has implemented a Q3MET manufacturing execution system that integrates the complete plant.

It re-adapts on-the-fly the production

schedule and provides barcode support for storage and shipping operations. Web-based production reports and cross-area reports provide an overview of current vs. planned production.

Plant performance indicator, area performance indicator and site performance indicator dispatcher provide real-time visualization of processes, storages and dispatching activities with the status in all facilities.

The system provides for minimum processing times of the sales orders, i.e. for checking and accepting customer orders. Products can be defined using a fully configurable catalogue of attributes which prevents typing errors while accepting orders.

Planning starts as soon as orders have been accepted as feasible using a rulebased planning sequencing tool which also allows booking of any available material in stock. Plant utilization is optimized as a result of coordinated production scheduling and tighter control of operations across complex areas.

The cutting planning tool supports users in optimizing cutting plans for material repair, and sheet and slit strip production.

The stockyard is managed using crane terminals with touchscreen and wireless hand-held terminals with bar code readers ensuring error-free material identification.

Real-time data are available from automatic production tracking at all lines of the two sites. The data come from the various process control systems or, as in case of the service centre, directly from Q3MET and from supporting manual data entry.

For quality assurance and certification, quality certificates based on delivery notes are automatically generated from the definition and scheduling of tests together with the evaluation of the collected mechanical and chemical test results. The system also handles any deviation identified in the quality laboratory and defects or dimensions outside the tolerance ranges of the order.

Finally, Q3MET is perfectly integrated and aligned with the SAP ERP system in order to integrate all material purchase and delivery information, provide heat production with the required chemical specifications, scrap consumption data and detailed information on each piece produced in each production line.

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We are strong in know-how, engineering and service of long product rolling mills and guide systems.

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Branch Office:

Phone: +46 240 668500 Fax: +46 240 668501 E-mail: mh@morgardshammar.se www.morgardshammar.se

P.O. Box 101552 D-47715 KREFELD, Germany Phone: +49 2151 81290 Fax: +49 2151 611795 E-mail: office@mh-guides.de

www.mh-guides.com

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s e i r uide Se www.gk-mas.de

Morgårdshammar AB SE-777 82 SMEDJEBACKEN, Sweden

Morgårdshammar AB Sales office Krefeld

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››› AUTOMATION

Improved safety in meltshops thanks to machine intelligence Various new technologies have been successfully implemented to increase safety, reduce the manpower needed in dangerous areas, increase traceability and reduce the risk of mistakes in production. Implemented in different steps in both automation and robotics, the integration has introduced the concept of Industry 4.0. Digitization of information VKDUHG ZLWK WKH H[LVWLQJ DXWRPDWLRQ ODQGVFDSH DQG DQ HIƂFLHQW DQG XVHU IULHQGO\ interface for the machine management allow productivity to be increased and human presence outside the control pulpit to be reduced.

HMI for the scrap yard crane, stock pile and bucket scanning

The technical systems of an existing meltshop have undergone various consecutive revamps. The main target of the plant modernizations was to change the role of the operators at the shop floor from operator to supervisor.

Instead of being exposed to the harsh environment while performing operative, manual and dangerous activities, their new roles would be to operate from safe and ergonomically designed pulpits. This approach to the meltshop operation is a general trend, for example, in countries where safety requirements are becoming ever stricter.

The following modifications were executed (listed along the process chain):

Polytec Srl – a BM Group company, division of BM S.p.A., Borgo Chiese (TN), Italy Contact: www.polytecrobotics.com E-mail: sales@polytecrobotics.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

▪ revamping of the existent gantry crane in the scrap yard for automatic bucket loading, ▪ revamp and automation of the bucket transfer cars (from the scrap yard to the meltshop), ▪ new robotized cell with automatic dispenser for cartridges for sampling at the EAF and tool for the internal furnace 360° view, without helper for loading, ▪ remote tapping controlled via infrared camera, ▪ new robotized cell with automatic dispenser for cartridges for sampling at the LF furnace and tapping position, without helper for loading, ▪ automatic sample unloader and associated transportation systems, ▪ automated laboratory, ▪ new robotized cell for tagging the high-temperature billets, ▪ automatic crane for the billet unloading.

Various measures were implemented in the meltshop to reach a high level of safety and reduce the presence of operators at the shop floor.

Automatic scrap yard crane for bucket loading One of the two gantry cranes in operation in the mill has been revamped.

The project included the installation of an absolute positioning system comprising the following equipment: ▪ anti-sway system to reduce the swaying of the hook during automatic movements, ▪ load cell measuring the weight of each loading cycle, ▪ six laser scanners to reconstruct the 3D profile of the scrap yard, ▪ software for calculating and optimizing the positioning and the trajectories from the stock pile to the bucket, ▪ remote supervision of the crane from the main furnace pulpit.

This crane can load up to 200 t/h with two round magnets.

In order to increase the quality of the produced steel, the receipt of the charge is communicated automatically within the Level 2 automation system. At the scrap yard, each box is scanned by laser systems and the volume is commu-

AUTOMATION

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43

nicated to the MES of the plant to manage the bucket loading and the bucket transfer with a view to minimizing the time of bucket loading.

Thanks to the Level 2 automation system it is not necessary for the operators to be physically on the crane.

They rather manage the cranes from a central pulpit where the cranes, EAF and LF are remotely supervised.

Automatic crane for bucket charging into the EAF Also the charging crane in the mill has been revamped. This revamp comprised the installation of an absolute positioning system to automatically control the crane and the trolley position. An absolute encoder calculates automatically the length of the rope. The trajectories and the anti-sway system increase the productivity of the crane and dramatically reduce maintenance thanks to the automatic movement.

Instead of operating the crane from the cabin, crane operation is supervised from the central pulpit of the furnace. The pulpit operator can choose the task and the crane is autonomously driven to the target. Only the final positioning of the hooks during the bucket approach is performed manually.

The charging into the furnace is confirmed by the pulpit operator. The precision of the positioning system is about +/- 10mm.

Robotic cell for temperature measurement, sampling and 360° visual inspection of the EAF

Robotic system for temperature measurement, sampling and visual inspection of the EAF A new temperature and sampling system has been installed substituting the previous manual manipulator. This new cell not only reduces the presence of the operator on the shop floor increasing his safety during loading of the cartridges in each cycle, but also downtime, while minimizing the time between two cycles. The new version of this robotic cell also includes an automatic tool changing device for off line maintenance of the lances. This prevents any contact and includes a robust 360° viewing system to inspect the inside of the furnace just after tapping. In future, the robotic system will be equipped with other tools to automate further manual activities.

Robotic cell for temperature measurement and sample preparation at the ladle furnace

Robotic system for temperature measurement and sampling at the ladle furnace A new temperature and sampling system has been installed substituting the previous manual lance. This new cell reduces the need for operator presence on the shop floor. Also in this case, safety on the shop floor is increased and downtime and the time between two cycles are minimized.

Thanks to arrangement in the mill, the cell can measure the temperature in two different positions. The robot fea-

tures a track motion axis of 9 m, which allows the robot to reach both the tap position and the ladle furnace position.

The robot picks up the cartridges automatically from a dispenser and a special tool separates the sample autonomously, cools it and transfers it via a belt conveyor system to the automatic laboratory.

Robotic system for automatic sample grinding and analysis This cell is designed to receive samples that are manually fed or fed by the MPT International 4 / 2017

44

››› AUTOMATION cluding identification of the billets produced. The robotic cell uses metallic tags coated with a white ceramic paint and printed with a laser marking system. The cell can handle up to 4,000 consumables autonomously without any specific intervention by the operators. By installing the equipment in an air-conditioned container as a plug-and-play system, the required overall maintenance effort has been largely reduced.

The stud applies the tag to the billet surface, which retains the tag without any specific vacuum system. The applied welding technique guarantees an exceptional retaining force. The studs can be made of a specific metal composition to prevent being lost during reheating of the billets in the reheating furnace.

Multi tool robotic solution for continuous casting machines

Billets tagging system

automatic robotized cell. A machine vision system identifies the position of the sample on the inlet belt. It communicates the coordinates of the position to the robot. The robot takes the sample and grinds it with two different grain sizes and cools it with water and air. Then the robot takes the sample to the machine vision area for inspection and places it into the spectrometer for analysis. The last sample of each heat is also checked for radioactivity and the heat number is stamped by a microdot MPT International 4 / 2017

punching system. An image of the analysis is saved in the server for production tracking. Thanks to this cell, all operations related to the handling of hot steel samples, sample grinding and analyses are automated and the operators are no longer exposed to the associated risks.

Automatic crane for handling the billets at the cooling bed The existing crane was revamped in order to automatically handle the billets at the cooling bed, i.e. loading at the hot side and unloading at the cool side of the bed. From the cooling bed, the billets are moved to four different places: wagon 1, wagon 2, billet yard 1 and billet yard 2.

The following equipment was implemented at the crane: ▪ an absolute and robust positioning system for the crane and the trolley, ▪ encoders to measure the position of the main and auxiliary hooks, ▪ software to manage the positioning of the pliers and check the weight.

Crane and software related tracking of the billets prevents faults from occurring during cold and hot charging. The supervisor can check the position and the composition of each pile of billets and select the heat input needed.

Thanks to this integration, a crane operator is no longer needed. Instead, the crane is supervised at the pulpit of the continuous casting machine. An intelligent TVCC system switches automatically the camera’s view, based on the position of the crane. Moreover, the ergonomic design of the pulpit increases safety at this process step.

Conclusions Robotic cell for hot billet tagging Another robotic cell has been installed to handle the tagging of hot billets, in-

In this new era of Industry 4.0, with digitization and automation becoming an ever more important part of the steel mills, the purposes of these tech-

AUTOMATION nologies should be considered under various aspects. They not only bring down the number of work force needed and optimize processes, but they should also be considered under the aspect of safety improvement. The shift from operative and manual activities to supervision and high-skill maintenance work reduces the exposure of the personnel to the harsh environ-

External scrap yard

400 m length, 23 boxes

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Ladle furnace

Continuous casting

6-strand billet caster, 150 mm sq., 15 m

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45

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ment prevailing in some areas of the steel mills, e.g. near equipment han-

dling molten steel. As a result, overall safety in the mill is improved.

46

››› STEELMAKING

AOD converter and dedusting system brought into operation for SIJ Acroni, Slovenia An additional secondary metallurgy route increases production capacity by over 20 SHUFHQW 7KH VDYLQJV RQ DOOR\LQJ HOHPHQWV KHOS WR VLJQLƂFDQWO\ UHGXFH SURGXFWLRQ FRVWV In April, an AOD converter with a capacity of 95 metric tons and a dedusting system from Primetals Technologies were brought into operation for SIJ Acroni d.o.o, a Slovenian steel producer belonging to the Slovenian Steel Group (SIJ). This has given SIJ Acroni another steel production option to add to its existing process route and increased its production capacity by more than 20 percent. The new AOD converter has expanded SIJ Acroni’s product portfolio, taken the load off the existing production processes in the steel works, and improved product quality. It also provides a higher flexibility on the raw material side to allow the usage of less expensive charging materials and to consequently reduce the production costs. Primetals Technologies received the order in the middle of 2015.

SIJ Acroni is Europe’s leading producer of stainless quarto plates. It also specializes in electrical and special steels, which have been sold in the form of hot and cold-rolled coils, heavy plates, and cold-formed profiles, which are mainly used for special niche products. The SIJ Acroni plant is located in the city of Jesenice, about 60 kilometres northwest of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.

The crude steel had previously been smelted in an electric arc furnace, and decarburized in a VOD converter with a capacity of 90 metric tons. As the duration of treatment is significantly longer than that for carbon steels, this plant configuration is a bottleneck in the production of stainless steel. This drawback

Primetals Technologies, Ltd., a joint venture of Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Partners; London, UK Contact: www.primetals.com E-mail: rainer.schulze@primetals.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

The new converter from Primetals Technologies being charged on 24 April 2017 at SIJ Acroni, the Slovenian steel producer

has now been eliminated by the installation of an AOD converter, which has increased both the production capacity and the flexibility of the steel works.

Additional advantages of an AOD converter are the low degree of slagging of alloying elements, such as chromium, and the option of using cheaper ferrochromium grades with a higher carbon content than alloying elements.

Primetals Technologies was responsible for the design and production of the key components of the AOD converter and the dedusting system, and supervised their construction and commissioning. The new materials handling system for the converter has been connected to the existing system in order to ensure maximum flexibility. The scope of supply also included process automation specifically designed for AOD converters. This ensures that raw materials are used efficiently and minimizes treatment times. The converter is equipped with

a Drive Damper. This reduces the vibrations caused by the injection processes and thus the mechanical stresses acting on the entire system from the converter down to the foundations.

The patented system reduces wear and maintenance costs while also lengthening the service life of the plant.

The dedusting system, which was installed at the same time as the AOD converter, ensures that emissions are kept below the current limits. It is a fully automated filter-bag system with an extraction capacity of around 900,000 cubic metres per hour, which ensures that the off gases from the new AOD converter, associated secondary units and the existing ladle furnace are captured and cooled.

The project was handled by a consortium with the Slovenian company Esotech d.d., Velenje. Esotech was responsible for the structural steel work, constructing the plant, and supplying the water treatment plant.

MPT International

the leading technical journal for the global iron and steel industry

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Đ&#x153;ĐľŃ&#x201A;аННŃ&#x192;Ń&#x20AC;гиŃ&#x2021;ĐľŃ ĐşĐžĐľ ĐżŃ&#x20AC;ĐžĐ¸ĐˇĐ˛ĐžĐ´Ń Ń&#x201A;вО и Ń&#x201A;ĐľŃ&#x2026;нОНОгиŃ? ПоŃ&#x201A;аННŃ&#x192;Ń&#x20AC;гиŃ&#x2021;ĐľŃ ĐşĐ¸Ń&#x2026; ĐżŃ&#x20AC;ĐžŃ&#x2020;ĐľŃ Ń ĐžĐ˛

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Metalurgia, Processos e Tecnologias

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Also available as e-journal

48

â&#x20AC;ºâ&#x20AC;ºâ&#x20AC;º STEELMAKING

Liberty Speciality Steels accelerates production of ultra-clean speciality steels with new vacuum induction melting furnace $W LWV 6WRFNVEULGJH 6KHIÆ&#x201A;HOG VLWH 6RXWK <RUNVKLUH 8.

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Liberty Speciality Steels â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the speciality steel business of Liberty Steel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; has been successfully producing alloy and stainless steel grades for over sixty years for use in demanding sectors such as aerospace, oil & gas, industrial engineering and in the manufacture of bearings, bright bar, narrow strip and niche engineering applications for customers around the world.

Their strength in speciality steels lies in the fully integrated production MPT International 4 / 2017

capability, which includes electric arc steelmaking, vacuum induction melting (VIM), mill processing capabilities and dedicated service centres. Typical products include ingots, blooms, billets, bars, slabs and narrow strip; in cast, rolled, drawn, peeled, heat-treated or re-melted condition, in exactly the quantities required by customers.

The production centres in Sheffield and the West Midlands area of the UK are backed by dedicated service cen-

tres in Bolton, UK, Nagpur, India and Suzhou and Xiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;an in China. The service centres enable Liberty Speciality Steels to service their customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; supply chains with bespoke combinations of added-value processing and just-intime delivery.

More than 100 component and equipment manufacturers, end users, third parties and national bodies have validated the quality management systems.

STEELMAKING

â&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;š

49

VIM plant enables Liberty Speciality Steels to deliver the highest purity steels Liberty Speciality Steels has gained an excellent reputation for supplying high-integrity steel to major commercial and military aerospace programmes around the world, using tailored supply chain solutions. Andrew Douglass, engineering director at Liberty Speciality Steels, underlines: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are a key supplier to some very significant aerospace players.â&#x20AC;? He continues: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is definitely a growth sector in terms of aerospace production; Boeing forecasts a need for a record 41,000 new aeroplanes over the next twenty years. 38% of new planes will be for the Asian market, driven by China and India.â&#x20AC;? Some of the most demanding products â&#x20AC;&#x201C; delivered as ingot, bar and cut pieces â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are used in the production of engine components, landing gear, controls, aerostructure, helicopter rotor components, etc. For the production of such materials Liberty Speciality Steels has been operating numerous remelting plants, i.e. two electro-slag remelting plants (ESR) and nine vacuum arc remelting (VAR) plants at the Stocksbridge site, with feedstock mainly provided by the nearby steelmaking operations.

However, the business previously supplied small quantities of VIM-derived steel using ingots sourced from third parties.

Because of the enormous potential of the growing market, in 2013 the company decided to invest in creating its own VIM base. In late 2013 the company announced it would build together with SMS group a vacuum induction melting (VIM) furnace at its Stocksbridge site to enable the steel producer to tap into new market opportunities and develop on its own innovative new products for the aerospace and oil & gas industries. A challenging project had been launched. The company decided for a brownfield project. The furnace location was the site of a former continuous billet casting plant, in order to take advantage of existing buildings, overhead cranes and plant services. The final layout integrated the main furnace components with the raw materials preparation area, the crucible relining and pre-heating area and the mould preparation and ingot stripping area.

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VIM: vacuum induction melting process The VIM facility produces ultra-clean ingots, i.e. remelt electrodes, that will be refined further by a remelting process, usually a vacuum arc remelting (VAR) unit before being rolled or forged and finally manufactured into products such as engine, transmission and structural components for the aerospace market.

The VIM production route involves vacuum melting high-purity steel and alloys in a crucible furnace, and then vacuum casting the purified liquid steel into ingot moulds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all within a low pressure vacuum chamber (vacuum level approx. 0.05 mbar or even less). The VIM technique comprises consecutive process steps as follows:

â&#x2013;Ş The upper furnace and lower crucible are sealed together, evacuated and charged with raw material. â&#x2013;Ş The raw material is melted by electrical induction heating. â&#x2013;Ş Induced current stirs the liquid metal; exposing it to the vacuum during hours of refining to remove gasses.

Liberty Speciality Steels, 5VQEMUDTKFIG 5JGHĆ&#x201A;GNF 7Contact: www.libertyspecialitysteels.com E-mail: contactus@specialityuk.com SMS group, DĂźsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: thilo.sagermann@sms-group.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

50

››› STEELMAKING

▪ Alloying elements can be added under vacuum.

▪ Moulds are prepared and set. The moulds travel on rail car into the casting chamber.

▪ Launder/tundish are prepared and set. Launder/tundish travel on rail to the casting chamber.

▪ Casting chamber is sealed and evacuated and connected to the melting chamber.

▪ After setting the exact composition of the alloys and the casting temperature, the liquid metal is tapped under vacuum. The furnace tilts forward to pour liquid metal via the launder/tundish into the mould during casting.

▪ After casting: the filled mould exits the casting chamber on rail car to the stripping area.

▪ After hours: the solidified ingots are stripped out and placed under insulated hoods to cool slowly. This prevents cracking of sensitive steel grades.

As the entire melting and casting operation is conducted in an oxygen-free atmosphere, the resulting steel is very clean and has very low gas content. The technology enables the achievement of very tight analytical tolerances. Alloying additions, also carried out under vacuum, allow for precise control of the steel’s chemical composition.

Liberty Speciality Steels Liberty Speciality Steels is a division of Liberty Industries Group, part of the metals and industrials group Liberty House. It employs 1,700 people at its major steel melting and processing sites in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth, South Yorkshire, service centres in Bolton, Lancashire and Wednesbury, West Midlands and two distribution centres in China. The business produces a range of high-value steels made from recycled materials that are used in manufacturing components and finished goods for aerospace, automotive, oil & gas and industrial machinery sectors.

Liberty House The Liberty House Group is an international industrials and metals business specializing in commodi-

MPT International 4 / 2017

such as engine, transmission and structural components for the aerospace market.

Technological concept and machine design

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Melting in an oxygen-free atmosphere prevents the formation of oxides and also the loss of elements with an affinity for oxygen. Unwanted accompanying elements which have a high vapour pressure can be removed.

The ingots produced will be refined further by processing through a vacuum arc remelting (VAR) unit before being rolled, or forged into products

ties, metals recycling and the manufacture of steel, aluminium and engineering products. It operates from four hubs in London, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong and has presence in more than 30 countries. Its current turnover is over US$ 6.8 billion per annum. Liberty, along with its sister energy company SIMEC, is part of the worldwide GFG Alliance.

SIMEC SIMEC is a resources group spanning five continents and encompassing major operations across shipping, infrastructure, mining, energy and commodities. The business is part of the GFG Alliance and was established over 50 years ago by Mr Parduman K. Gupta, who remains chairman. Latest SIMEC turnover exceeded US$ 2.7 bn, with net assets valued at US$ 796 m.

The concept of the VIM unit is based on a three-chamber system, in which casting, melting and exchange chambers are arranged adjacent to each other. The independent design of the three chambers allows for individual evacuation of those.

The heart of the VIM X-eed® unit comprises an 8 t vacuum induction melting crucible and the associated vacuum pumping, material charging and process control equipment. All core components supplied by SMS Mevac have been designed to allow Liberty Speciality Steels to increase the melt size to 18 t at a later date.

The mechanical vacuum pump system consists of three skids that can be connected in parallel or alternately at three exhaust points (melting chamber, casting chamber and exchange chamber/charger). To protect the vacuum pumps against dust and metal particles, SMS group has developed special dry-type filters for this application. Separate filter systems have been installed for each chamber.

GFG Alliance The GFG Alliance is an association between PK Gupta and Sanjeev Gupta’s business interests to forge a new agile, sustainable, non-cyclical, integrated, global business model. Its key focus is the creation of a resilient supply chain – from liquid metal produced from recycled scrap and renewable energy to highly-engineered products, funded through a pioneering financial approach. The group encompasses: Liberty House Group – an integrated international industrial and metals business; SIMEC Group – an international resources and infrastructure group; Wyelands – a banking and financial services arm; GFG Estates – a division that manages the alliance’s property holdings; and GFG Foundation which is focused on the retention and creation of engineering skills.

STEELMAKING Also ancillary equipment for crucible preheating and lining maintenance was included in the supply scope. The plant incorporates vacuum pouring equipment for both top poured and bottom poured ingots, in single or multiple ingot configurations.

All process sequences are remote controlled and monitored from the control room. The main process parameters and status indications as well as all important system functions are displayed on the HMI monitor and are additionally recorded to permanent files for full quality assurance traceability within the Level 2 process control system. The condition of the heat and casting operations are visualized on separate video monitors using dedicated process monitoring cameras.

Conclusion Liberty Speciality Steels takes pride in satisfying customer and OEM requirements from state-of-the-art specialist alloy manufacturing facilities which include vacuum induction melting (VIM) alongside vacuum arc remelting (VAR) and electro-slag remelting (ESR). These facilities are coupled to an integrated rolling mill and service centres, which allow the company to deliver its products around the world as ingot, bar, cut piece or machined part.

Their highly qualified technical teams provide advice and help with day-to-day problem solving, and are available to assist with longer-term developments.

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51

Andrew Douglass, engineering director of Liberty Speciality Steels: “We are delighted to have the VIM in operation and producing aerospace grades for sale and customer acceptance trials.” Jochen Schlüter, managing director of SMS Mevac: “We are very proud of having installed and successfully commissioned the new VIM X-eed® facility in Stocksbridge in close collaboration with Liberty Speciality Steels. As partners of Liberty Speciality Steels, we will continue to render our extensive metallurgical expertise to support our customer in developing and producing innovative highend materials with the newly installed VIM X-eed® unit and responding successfully to the increasing requirements of this extremely exacting market.”

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52

â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş INTERVIEW

Background information about VIM investment project MPT International talked about the background of the VIM investment with Andrew Douglass, Engineering director, and Stephen Carey, manager Technology & Development, ERWK /LEHUW\ 6SHFLDOLW\ 6WHHOV 6WRFNVEULGJH 6KHIĆ&#x201A;HOG 6RXWK <RUNVKLUH 8.

7KH DQVZHUV SURYLGH DQ LQVLJKW LQWR WKH FRPSDQ\Ĺ&#x2019;V VWUDWHJ\ LQ WKH UHVSHFWLYH PDUNHW is the total sum invested â&#x20AC;ş What in the speciality steelmaking facilities at the Stocksbridge works?

Andrew Douglass: There was recently significant investment in the business here in Stocksbridge. We probably invested ÂŁ 20â&#x20AC;Ś30 million during a period of approximately five years in various finishing and heat treatment activities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not all new facilities, but also refurbishing of existing plants. We upgraded the peelers, invested in the rolling mill. Here we built a central control pulpit to take all the operators away from the mill train. The new central pulpit has been interfaced with the old mill controls. Additionally, we bought two new VAR plants and the VIM plant.

was the basis for the deâ&#x20AC;ş What cision in favour of the VIM and why are you focusing on this technology?

Andrew Douglass: Certainly, the target is always around the high added value. We had growth plans around supplies to the aerospace industry which would involve additional vacuum capacity. That was one of the key points when we designed the new VIM capacity and went for the option of a bigger crucible. The move from the 8 t to an 18 t crucible is very much in line with

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the aerospace growth plans. Aerospace is definitely a growth sector. We can see the growth, so it is important for us to act, because we are a key supplier to some very significant aerospace players.

Stephen Carey: In addition to routine commercial production, the VIM furnace gives us the opportunity to develop new products and alloys. We can rapidly scale up from laboratory melts to heats of 4 to 8 tonnes made on the new VIM furnace. These are then processed and evaluated through our downstream processes.

do you evaluate your â&#x20AC;ş How footprint in the market for Andrew Douglass, Stephen Carey, Liberty Specials Steels, Stocksbridge, 5JGHĆ&#x201A;GNF 5QWVJ ;QTMUJKTG 7Contact: www.libertyspecialitysteels.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

aerospace products?

Andrew Douglass: The aerospace sector is very much an international market. The supply chain will go through some of the key aerospace

players â&#x20AC;&#x201C; OEMs, who supply components to the aircraft companies. Our steel will be in the components, like engines or landing gears, that the OEMs supply to the aircraft companies. We are already part of the global supply chain where business is based on long-term supply contracts. We have established supply channels in various regions and countries to support that.

is your growth plan in â&#x20AC;ş What terms of sales?

Andrew Douglass: We definitely have set ambitious targets for strategic 5-year and 10-year growth plans for our aerospace segment. A lot depends on customer approvals. We want to broaden our range of steels to sell more.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the reasons for our investments in new technologies, but also for future capacity increases.

INTERVIEW There is a big pipeline of what we want to be able to offer in the future.

Currently on the VIM we manufacture mainly 12 grades of alloy and stainless steels. We are increasing the value of what we are supplying, basically by adding higher alloys and more stainless grades to increase our portfolio.

It is important to note that we are already in the market with various of these grades. Now we are reaching out for additional customer approvals for grades that we are already producing.

Also, with our new VIM plant we can add new grades that we never made before, which include certain alloyed steels and also super alloys.

The rational for our investment in the VIM was that previously we had been buying VIM ingots from 3rd party suppliers to be remelted in our VAR shop. That gave us a foot in the market. Some of our key customers have expected us to seriously enter into VIM products supply by setting up our own VIM production facility. That was part of our growth plan.

Now, as we have our own VIM manufacturing base, these customers consider us to be a more credible supplier of VIM products. Since application of VIM products is increasing, our market share for such product is increasing, too. Had we not invested, we would have less opportunities with these key customers. Now, as we invested, we are on a more level playing field with some of our competitors. It will ensure our competitiveness over a long term and with a wider product range.

you produce materials â&#x20AC;ş Do with customized characteristics?

Stephen Carey: Most of our products have to meet standard specifications like AMS or European standards, or multiple classifications. These include products for very demanding applications. The steels have to meet challenging combinations of metallurgical properties, for use in helicopter transmissions, formula-1 gears, etc. Most of these products require production via the VIM-VAR route, to achieve the required levels of cleanliness, analysis control and mechanical properties. We

â&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;šâ&#x20AC;š

53

already have a number of existing approvals that we want to transfer to our new in-house production route.

As we now have the capability to produce larger quantities by the VIMVAR route, we can offer many more products for new applications in aerospace and other sectors.

did you decide for VIM â&#x20AC;ş Why technology from SMS Mevac?

Stephen Carey: SMS group is highly regarded in terms of their engineering. We have had close relationships with the SMS group as our plant supplier in other parts of the company. As this was to be the first VIM plant built

by SMS Mevac, there was a very good opportunity for us to work closely together with the engineers from SMS Mevac.

This was a development project, where we could bring the operatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective to the design. For us it was a brownfield project. We had to design the facilities to fit into our existing site footprint.

However, we had the opportunity to start from a blank sheet and SMS Mevac were able to accommodate our requirements in their layout design. Finally, since this is a reference plant, it was designed to a very high specification, in terms of vacuum performance, productivity and metallurgical capability.

Andrew Douglass: We are a highly credible supplier of VIM steels to the aerospace industry. We are open for business. We develop steels. All our customers know that there are two main (plant) suppliers to the VIM industry, and we can underline that we opted for SMS Mevac because of the credibility and because we have got a really good plant. We both have a common interest, namely to make this project a success.

you intend to continue inâ&#x20AC;ş Do vesting in VIM-VAR plants?

Andrew Douglass: Yes, absolutely. As explained before, the general backlog of orders for new aircrafts and the prospects of emerging nations like China and particularly India is the base for our growth plan. It is an area where we see positive market indicators.

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Our VIM facility is now being operated with a 8 t crucible, but we intend to increase production using the originally designed 18 t capacity. This new facility will enhance our portfolio and increase our production of the respective products. As all VIM production will go through the VAR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and our VAR capacity is full â&#x20AC;&#x201C; weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to think about additional VAR plants if we increase our VIM production. Investment in additional plants is the logical answer. This way we can increase the size of the aerospace order book, which is going to put some strain on other areas of our organisation. In parallel we have started to implement our plans to automate a part of our testing regime for the aerospace products, which because of their very nature are highly test intensive. Commissioning of some of the automated test preparation equipment is already underway.

Very soon, we will go ahead with an investment in automated testing facilities, which will also further enhance our on-time delivery performance.

Yes, absolutely, we will continue investing in the VIM-VAR process route.

It serves a growing market with good returns. It is one that we believe will acknowledge our expertise as product and service supplier and strongly underpin our commercial growth.

you very much for the â&#x20AC;ş Thank interview.

MPT International 4 / 2017

54

››› TUBE MAKING

Perforating press (front) and cross rolling mill at Vallourec Germany

Vallourec inaugurates new cutting-edge cross rolling mill in Germany International tube producer Vallourec puts a new high-performance cross rolling mill into operation at its Düsseldorf-Rath, Germany tube plant. This cutting-edge equipment provided by Danieli Centro Tube is considered among the most modern in the world and guarantees increased productivity and reduced energy consumption.

The piercing of solid steel ingots and their hot rolling on a mandrel are two key stages in the production of seamless steel tubes. Controlling these processes is crucial to the dimensional and metallurgical quality of the products. Vallourec has invest-

Vallourec Deutschland GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.vallourec.com Danieli & C. S.p.A., Buttrio (UD), Italy Contact: www.danieli.com E-mail: info@danieli.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

ed EUR 45 million in new plant equipment for these key elements of the value chain at the Düsseldorf-Rath pipe mill. With the new equipment, i.e. perforating press and cross rolling mill followed by an inside discaler, Vallourec demonstrates its determination to maintain its highest level of technological expertise and reinforces its position as a global leader.

Philippe Crouzet, chairman of the management board, summarizes: “This new innovative tool, which is faster, more reliable and more efficient, is an undeniable asset for the group in Europe and is aligned with

our global approach to innovation.

It will enable us to meet the market’s ever-growing requirements and maintain our technological lead in the manufacturing of high-strength premium tubes.”

Equipped with three-roll technology, the new powerful piercer produces hollows with outstanding dimensional precision and excellent surface quality as feedstock for premium tubes designed for the most demanding applications. Working alongside the plant’s pilger mill, the new piercer will also offer greater flexibility in terms of the dimensions that

TUBE MAKING can be achieved (outside diameter, thickness, length) and the range of materials manufactured. It will also consume less energy per metric ton produced.

The new equipment will enable the Vallourec group to meet rising demand for high-strength and/or high-alloy steel tubes. Alloys that exhibit an optimal strength/weight ratio are indeed being sought for a growing number of applications in the engineering industry (cylinder tubes, crane components), steel construction (structural components for drilling platforms), oil and gas (casing tubes and coupling, line tubes), power generation (boiler tubes for power plants) and petrochemicals, all markets in which the group has a strong presence.

Lastly, the new piercer makes it possible to fully automate the process, resulting in numerous internal production optimizations and improvements in quality. Christoph Bem, the plant’s director, explains: “The combination of the latest technology and automation leads to a faster production process that is able to sustain the highest quality standards. In this way we can intensify our commitment to excellence for our customers.”

The new piercer replaces an old piercing mill designed for the market requirements of the 1960s that has been in operation for many decades.

However, the old piercing mill was becoming more and more inappropriate for today’s products, i.e. high alloyed steel grades and tubes characterized by bigger lengths and more extreme dimensions. Because of the increasing costs for energy and material, production of these modern products at the old mill lacked efficiency more and more. Also, only a short life time remained for the old mill frame.

An ambitious project implemented within a tight time frame In 2013, Vallourec started initial studies for the “Mohican” project to replace the outdated equipment. The new plant was to perform better in terms of quality, environmental protection and health and safety issues.

Reduction of operational expenditure was to be achieved by lower ener-

‹‹‹

55

Control room of the new piercing plant

Production capacity

120,000 t/year of seamless tubes

Total plant area

837,000 m² (262,000 m² under roof)

Steel grades

Carbon, alloyed, high alloyed

Input material

Ingots, outer dia. 480 – 800 mm (provided by GMH Bous, Germany)

Tube size range

Outer dia. 244 – 660 mm ( 9 5/8” – 26”)

Workforce

620 employees

Main data of the Düsseldorf-Rath production site of Vallourec Germany

gy consumption, increased yield (less scale, less input material) and other savings. With the new plant, Vallourec intended to increase its market share in the premium products sector and possibly enter new market segments.

After intensive studies Vallourec ordered a new 3-roll cross rolling mill from Danieli, which was to be supplied on a turnkey basis. The main scope of supply for Danieli included: ▪ horizontal punching machine, ▪ hollow transfer car, ▪ pusher and inlet trough, ▪ mill stand and drive components, ▪ roll cartridge and relevant changing equipment, ▪ complete outlet area, ▪ auxiliary equipment including hydraulic and lubrication units, ▪ electrics and automation, ▪ tooling.

The mill was to use Danieli Automation’s Level 1 and Level 2 automation system interfaced with a plant supervisory control system.

A relatively short timeframe was assigned not only for the project development, but also for the execution of all site activities the timeframe was challenging – from November 2016 through to January 2017.

On 2 December 2016 the last hollow was produced on the old plant.

Dismantling of the existing equipment started immediately, followed by civil works and installation of the new plant. Commissioning of the new plant was concluded on 11 February 2017 by rolling the first hollow. Since, the new plant equipment has undergone extensive performance testing.

Production ramp up is still in progress (as of mid 2017).

The newly designed unit is a unique installation, specifically developed for this application. None of its kind is currently installed at any other plant in the world. The new equipment will enable the Vallourec group to meet the rising demand for high-strength and/ or high-alloy steel tubes.

MPT International 4 / 2017

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Alternatives to mineral oil DCUGF J[FTCWNKE Ć&#x192;WKFU KP UVGGN production Fire hazards are constantly present in the steel industry with operations involving heavy HTXLSPHQW DQG OLTXLG RU UHG KRW VWHHO DQG ZKHQ PLQHUDO RLO EDVHG K\GUDXOLF Ć&#x192;XLGV DUH being used. However, there are alternatives that can be utilized without jeopardizing the performance or productivity of the steel production line.

4QWIJ UEJGOCVKE QH VJG UVGGNOCMKPI RTQEGUU #TGCU UJQYP KP TGF JCXG VJG JKIJGUV Ć&#x201A;TG TKUM

A fire is one of the events that, once experienced, leave a huge impression on the people involved. In addition to the risk of personnel injuries, there is a likelihood of loss in both capital and production. These losses not only include damage to the building and equipment, but also encompass interruptions in production that can idle production lines for days or even months.

One cause of fire in a steel production plant is the ignition of mineral oil hydraulic fluids. The highest fire risks in a steel production plant are at operations

Ronald Knecht, Quaker Chemical Corporation, Conshocken, PA/USA Contact: www.quakerchem.com, www.quintolubric.com E-mail: sabedra@quakerchem.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

where the processed materials reach temperatures ¹ 1,652°F up to > 2,732°F (¹ 900°C up to > 1,500°C). In most of these processes, hydraulic units are used to operate the equipment, and in many cases a mineral oil based hydraulic fluid is used to fuel the hydraulic unit. While mineral oil has the definite advantage of a good cost-performance ratio, it is a distillate from crude oil, and not always the safest choice due to its tendency to catch fire easily. Fortunately, there are alternatives available to manage this risk and reduce the chance of an ignition without jeopardizing the performance or productivity.

In the following, some examples are given where steel customers switched to a fire-resistant hydraulic fluid after having experienced the hazards of mineral oil based hydraulic fluids.

Case study 1. A customer was operating their billet caster with a stand-

ard mineral oil based hydraulic fluid.

In this specific application, there were frequent hose ruptures that caused the oil to be splashed on the recently, still hot cast billets. Each time a rupture occurred, the fluid ignited into a massive fire with vapor clouds forming into fire balls. The fires were difficult to get under control and each one caused hours of production lost due to down time. After the customer switched to a fire-resistant hydraulic fluid, while the hose ruptures still took place (as it is induced by the surrounding environment), no more explosions of vapors took place and the situation was quickly under control.

Case study 2. In a customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations, leaks were causing the mineral oil based hydraulic fluid to form a pool on the plant floor. While the operation was running, liquid metal sparks would land in the oil pool and catch

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

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A comparison of mineral oil and QUINTOLUBRICŽ 888-46 when poured on a 900°C panel

fire. The fire would spread quite rapidly and although it caused no serious collateral damage, the potential threat was clearly demonstrated. Concerned with what could have potentially happened, the customer performed a test to compare hydraulic fluids for fire resistance. To do this, they placed a redhot piece of steel into a bucket filled with mineral oil based hydraulic fluid and another into a bucket filled with water-free, fire-resistant hydraulic fluid. The bucket containing mineral oil burned until it was empty (more than one hour). The bucket containing water-free, fire-resistant hydraulic fluid extinguished in less than 60 seconds.

Seeing the results, the customer converted to fire-resistant hydraulic fluid.

Case study 3. Although seen as a relative cold area many fires take place at the pickling line, specifically the hydraulic welder. Several accidents have been reported where hydraulic hoses ruptured and mineral oil based hydraulic fluid came as a jet stream, landing on the just generated weld or welding sparks and set the whole area on fire.

This not only caused severe damage in the surrounding area, but also idled the production line for several months. By switching to a fire-resistant hydraulic fluid, the risk of fire spreading to other areas of the plant was strongly reduced, as was long, costly downtime.

Case study 4. A steel customer was using mobile equipment to transport hot slag from its steelmaking facility when an accident took place. The equipmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mineral oil based hydraulic fluid caught fire and the mobile equipment was burned beyond repair.

All the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mobile units were immediately converted to a water-free, fire-resistant hydraulic fluid.

6[RGU QH Ć&#x201A;TG TGUKUVCPV J[FTCWNKE Ć&#x192;WKFU The standard hydraulic fluids used in steel production are mineral oil based. However, an alternative to mineral oil hydraulic fluids are fire-resistant hydraulic fluids, as described below using the ISO 6743/4 classification.

For each fluid type, there are both pros and cons. The performance properties for several hydraulic fluid types are considered important by both maintenance managers as well as purchasers. Here is more detail of properties by type: Mineral oil provides good hydraulic fluid performance attributes at a reasonable price, as table 1 shows.

However, because mineral oil is not biodegradable, it is not environmentally friendly. And mineral oil delivers a higher total cost of operation, when the risk of fire and worker safety is factored in the cost of use.

Phosphate ester (HFD-R) fluids, an older fluid technology, are fire-resistant by chemistry. However, they are formulated with materials considered to be CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic). The combustion fumes they produce are neurotoxic.

While these phosphate ester based products provide good pump lubrication, they can limit the service life of servo valves. HFD-R fluids can be 10 to 15 times more expensive than mineral oil and need to be carefully main-

tained, as these products form aggressive acids as they age. Today, they are used mainly in power generation, although they are at times found in steel plants as well.

Water glycols (HFC) are widely used in steel plants as well as other industries representing approximately 50% of the total fire-resistant hydraulic fluids market. Because of their high-water content HFC fluids provide very good fire resistance. In price, its comparable to mineral oil and less expensive than water-free hydraulic fluids. However, HFCs donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t measure up in performance attributes. Component service life generally is shorter, more fluid management is needed, and energy consumption is 10 to 20% higher compared to mineral oil or polyol ester based fire-resistant hydraulic fluids. All issues drive up the total cost of operation (TCO).

Polyol ester based fluids (HFD-U) are the best alternative to mineral oil. While they are more expensive than mineral oil (approximately two to three times more), they deliver a lower total cost considering the reduction in the risk of fire and improvement in the safety of workers. Also, with polyol ester based fluids, manufacturers donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sacrifice the fluidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance and the polyol ester based (HFD-U) fluids are environmentally friendly.

Understanding the term pĆ&#x201A;TG TGUKUVCPVq The term â&#x20AC;&#x153;fire-resistantâ&#x20AC;? is often mistakenly understood to be the same MPT International 4 / 2017

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

as â&#x20AC;&#x153;fire-retardantâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or the ability to suppress a flame. The only hydraulic fluids that can truly be considered fire-retardant are the high-water content (HFA) fluids. Almost all fire-resistant hydraulic fluids will burn under certain conditions. HFC fluids will ignite if a certain amount of water evaporates. And while most HFD-U fluids will burn, they will not cause the ignition-like explosion that the mineral oil will that leads to an uncontrollable situation.

Fluids can be tested to determine their fire resistance. The most common and generally accepted tests are those used by Factory Mutual (FM Global), the testing and approval arm of a major industrial insurance underwriter (www.fmglobal.com). By using an FM Global approved hydraulic fluid, manufacturers can often reduce their insurance premium. Additionally, beyond FM Global, many other organizations and companies have developed fire resistance tests, usually to simulate a certain type of real-world accident.

A video on YouTube shows the comparison between ignition of mineral oils and HFD-U fluids â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a problem that typically occurs when mineral oil comes into contact with a hot surface. The mineral oil evaporates easily, and therefore tends to build a vapor of oil droplets. Once ignition takes place, the oil droplets can catch fire and result in an explosion or fire ball. These two effects make the fire with a mineral oil dangerous and hard to control, as the fire ball can go to the roof or to cables and can ignite that area.

Water-based fluids

Water-free fluids

HFA-E

Oil in water emulsions Water content > 80% Common use 1 to 5%

HFD-R

Phosphate ester based.

These products are less used because of CMR reputation.

HFA-S

Synthetic aqueous solutions Water content > 90% Common use 1 to 5%

HFD-U

Based on other compounds, but mainly synthetic polyol ester and natural esters (renewable resources)

HFC water glycols

Water glycol solutions Water content > 35%

6[RGU QH Ć&#x201A;TG TGUKUVCPV J[FTCWNKE Ć&#x192;WKFU

With the polyol ester based HFD-U fluids, this evaporation does not take place and thus no explosion or fire ball will be generated. The HFD-U fluid might burn as well, but there is no vapor or explosion and it is limited to the place it comes in contact with, so the situation remains under control.

The heat of combustion of a mineral oil based hydraulic fluid is typically about 43 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 44 kJ/g, whereas an HFD-U, polyol ester fire-resistant hydraulic fluid has a heat of combustion of about 38 kJ/g. So chemically an HFD-U fluid generates 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15% less heat during combustion.

QUINTOLUBRICÂŽ 888 is Quakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best-in-class, ester-based, synthetic, water-free, fire-resistant hydraulic fluid (HFD-U) with use today internationally in more than 60 presses.

QUINTOLUBRICÂŽ 888 is endorsed by multiple major hydraulic component OEMs and hydraulic press manufacturers worldwide.

Practice change-over experience Polyol ester technology has been in use for about half a century, and in many fire hazardous applications in steel mills (from blast furnace to hot strip mill) has been successfully introduced as a fire-resistant alternative to mineral oil based hydraulic fluids. Nevertheless, in many potentially dangerous places, mineral oil based hydraulic fluids are still used. The reasons for that can vary from â&#x20AC;&#x153;not being aware this technology existsâ&#x20AC;? to â&#x20AC;&#x153;only aware of HFD-R and HFC which are respectively not allowed or not suitedâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;we never had a fire, soâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?.

If a manufacturer makes the decision to change to a polyol ester based fluid in their hydraulic system, the conversion process is not very complicated. Typically, no changes need to be made to the hydraulic unit when converting from a mineral oil or water glycol hydraulic fluid to a polyol ester flu-

Property

Mineral oil

Phosphate ester (HFD-R)

Water glycol (HFC)

Synthetic polyol ester (HFD-U)

Fire resistance

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

++

+++

+

Environmental performance

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

++

Thermal stability

++

++

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+

Fluid maintenance

+

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+

Component life/system reliability

+

+â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+

Price

++

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

++

+â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Total cost of operation

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

+

*[FTCWNKE Ć&#x192;WKF EQORCTKUQP YJGP WUGF KP Ć&#x201A;TG JC\CTFQWU UKVWCVKQP MPT International 4 / 2017

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT id. That said, the conversion must be done with care because there are several grades and qualities of polyol ester (HFD-U) fluids available on the market.

The important checks that must be performed are not only compatibility evaluations with the existing mineral oil, but also the paint inside the tank, seals, hoses, valves and pump. In the end, the tests will show that the type of paint is critical (single component paints can be incompatible) as well as pump approvals. Additionally, it is important to remember that several different suppliers exist for polyol ester (HFD-U) fluids, but most pump builders only approve some suppliers without any restriction on rpm and max-

59

fluid, less than 5% residual mineral oil should remain.

Conclusion

The QR code links to a video on YouTube showing the ignition of mineral oils and *(& 7 Ć&#x192;WKFU JVVR YYY [QWVWDG EQO watch?v=bEtlikCMRWM)

imum pressure. Experience teaches that when the paint compatibility is good, no changes or restrictions are needed for the hydraulic system. To guarantee the fire resistance of the new

Steel production is an industry where situations occur every day that can be classified as dangerous. With operations involving heavy equipment and liquid or red hot steel, the danger of fire is ever present. And fire hazards are often exacerbated when mineral oil based hydraulic fluids are being used. Using water-free, polyol ester based fire-resistant hydraulic fluids instead can improve the safety in plants significantly, without jeopardizing the productivity and performance of the production line.

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No wonder our customers believe we are turning steel into gold. Stressometer Flatness Systems â&#x20AC;&#x201C; unstoppable for five decades. www.abb.com/stressometer

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Hot-dip galvanizing of advanced and high-strength steels with high silicon and manganese contents Advanced steels contain alloying elements that form oxides during annealing. Such oxides cause wetting and adhesion problems during the subsequent galvanizing process.

The new PrOBOxÂŽ technology from SMS group effectively counteracts these adhesion problems. The result is an iron layer of good wettability, forming a highly suitable VXEVWUDWH IRU D KLJK JUDGH Ć&#x192;DZOHVV ]LQF FRDWLQJ

Schematic illustration of the build-up of the zinc coating achieved with the PrOBOxÂŽ technology

Introduction The PrOBOxÂŽ process has proven to be an ideal hot-dip galvanizing process for high-strength steels with high contents of silicon and manganese. It prevents wetting problems as known from conventional hot-dip galvanizing by making use of a special oxidation and reduction process: controlled oxidation takes place on the strip surface at a defined temperature during annealing.

The result is a uniform, extremely thin iron-oxide layer which is subsequently reduced in the radiant tube furnace prior to galvanizing, forming a homogeneous, slightly porous iron layer. As the strip runs through the zinc bath, a very

Fritz BrĂźhl, Holger Behrens, Hans Georg Hartung, Jean-Pierre Crutzen, Caesar Sasse, SMS group, DĂźsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: caesar.sasse@sms-group.com

MPT International 4 / 2017

thin iron-aluminum layer will form on the porous iron layer. This intermediate layer is required in the galvanizing process as it serves as an adhesion promoter. Thus, during the subsequent coating process, a uniform zinc layer will form on the strip, coming up to highest surface finishing standards.

Special features of the PrOBOxÂŽ technology include its capacity to precisely control the characteristics of the zinc layer and the fact that the coating thickness can be continuously determined. Another distinctive feature of the process is that it maximizes oxygen pick-up by the strip, as most of the introduced oxygen will migrate into the surface of the steel strip. There is no contamination of the furnace atmosphere by excessive ingress of oxygen.

The system can be implemented in the heating zone of a galvanizing furnace in two basic designs: either as a vertical PrOBOxÂŽ chamber or as a process chamber incorporating a deflector roll. In both variants, nozzles ar-

ranged at a close distance from the strip blow the oxygen-containing gas in a controlled way onto the strip surface. The high rate of oxygen pick-up is achieved by precisely adjusting the required temperature and gas quantity and by the special nozzle design.

While the correct setting of the strip temperature is crucial for achieving exactly the desired coating thickness, the parameters holding time, amount of oxygen and dew point play a much inferior role. In order to ensure that the steel strip always has the correct temperature as it passes through the chamber, the furnace temperature is controlled via a mathematical/physical model. The required amount of oxygen is calculated in advance taking into consideration the amount of oxygen going to be picked up during the process at the respective strip and gas temperatures. As an additional process control measure, the coating layer thickness is constantly determined by a dedicated system.

STRIP PROCESSING

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61

PrOBOx® was developed taking advantage of numerous tests and field experience from previously installed pre-oxidation plants. The technology has been implemented, for example, in the new galvanizing lines of AM/NS Calvert in Alabama, USA, and in various modern galvanizing lines in China (Shandong, Benxi, Angang).

Development of steel grades Driven by the need to reduce fuel consumption and the accompanying trend of weight saving in automotive engineering, the focus of development has been on steels that combine both high strength and good formability. Especially advanced high strength steels (AHSS), referred to as the third generation of modern high-strength steels, have been playing a growing role in the market. However, these grades feature a fairly high alloying content. Often, amounts of silicon and manganese are increased in order to achieve higher strength values at rather low costs.

Besides silicon and manganese, molybdenum and aluminum are used as alloying elements in multi-phase highstrength steels. However, only silicon and manganese are usually added at higher rates. TRIP steels, for example, contain up to 2.5 percent of silicon.

In all multi-phase steels, manganese contents may reach up to 2 percent. In medium-manganese and quench and partitioning steels and in basically all third-generation AHSS grades, alloying contents may reach up to 10 percent.

Silicon and manganese feature much greater oxygen affinity than iron. Consequently, they will oxidize in atmospheres in which iron would not oxidize. Unlike iron oxides, silicon and manganese oxides cannot be reduced by the furnace atmosphere during annealing.

Wetting problems The Wagner model shows that the “dry” furnace atmosphere characterized by low oxygen contents and a very low dew point (defined as the ratio between hydrogen and water partial pressures) has the negative effect of giving rise to external oxidation of silicon. Silicon atoms migrate to the surface of the strip where they oxide. By contrast, if the dew point is higher, the

Many advanced steel grades, particularly 3rd generation high-strength steels, contain great amounts of manganese and silicon

silicon will oxide within the material, get bonded right there in the material and will consequently have no effect on the galvanizing process. From the model it can be inferred that it would be ideal to use an atmosphere with an elevated oxygen content for pre-oxidation in order to achieve a situation in which the alloying elements oxidize within the material, while the iron forms a consistent layer of iron oxide on the strip surface.

Tests at different dew points and the analysis of the corresponding samples by Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy (GDOES) have confirmed the assumed relationships. The GDOES-measured depth profiles of a galvanized high-strength steel strip show that in case of pre-oxidation taking place at a higher dew point (- 5°C) the silicon content at the surface is much lower than in case of pre-oxidation at a lower dew point or in case of galvanizing without pre-oxidation.

This effect can be summarized by the following rule of thumb: in conventional hot-dip galvanizing, problems due to selective oxidation may occur in cases in which the combined contents of silicon and manganese exceed 1.5 percent. Despite the protective atmosphere in the furnace, selective oxidation starts during annealing a temperature of approximately 550°C and a dry furnace atmosphere, leading to alloying elements accumulating at the surface and undergoing oxidation. The resulting oxides are thermodynamically stable and cannot be coated with

zinc or aluminum-silicon. Bare spots on the strip surface, i.e. spots without a galvanized coating, are the result. This means that there are discontinuances in the zinc coating and hence no complete corrosion protection. Additionally, the coated strip will not be able to meet the exacting surface finish requirements demanded by the automotive industry.

Coating of advanced highsilicon and high-manganese grades There are various techniques available to achieve a homogeneous and high-quality coating, avoiding the above described coating problems and the occurrence of bare spots when galvanizing high-alloy grades. The various approaches have been investigated in numerous research projects. The most important methods are: ▪ modifying the chemistry of the steel grades, ▪ pre-coating upstream of the furnace, ▪ pre-oxidation in a direct fired furnace, ▪ pre-oxidation in the radiant tube furnace via dew point variation, ▪ pre-oxidation in a radiant tube furnace using the PrOBOx® technology.

All these methods are characterized by their respective advantages and disadvantages.

By modifying the chemistry of the steel grades, it is possible to substitute the critical elements silicon and mangaMPT International 4 / 2017

62

››› STRIP PROCESSING

5KNKEQP CPF OCPICPGUG HGCVWTG JKIJGT QZ[IGP CHƂPKV[ VJCP KTQP CPF ECPPQV DG reduced during annealing

Technology

Significant increase in operating costs

Complexity

Risks

Modification of chemistry

Yes

Effect on metallurgy

Possibility of process-technological problems

Pre-coating

Yes

Additional process

None

Pre-oxidation in a direct fired furnace

No

High complexity; small process window

Difficult to control

Change of dew point in the radiant tube furnace

No

Low

Risk of material decarburization; layer thickness cannot be controlled

Pre-oxidation with PrOBOx®

No

Low

None

Comparison of the various techniques applied to avoid bare spots

nese by other alloying agents with the same strength-enhancing effect on the metallurgy of the steel. However, these alloying agents are very expensive, ruling out this option for economic reasons. Some of these elements may also cause process-technological problems.

Applying a thin pre-coating – e.g. an iron or iron-nickel coating by electroplating – before the strip enters the furnace is another technique capable of preventing undesirable oxides from forming on the strip surface. As this process is also very costly, it is not an economically feasible solution.

MPT International 4 / 2017

In direct fired furnaces (DFF), the oxidation process can be influenced by varying the lambda value in such a way that the flames impinge on the strip in an oxidizing atmosphere. This technique has proved to be very complicated and difficult to control in practice, among others due to the very small process window available and the inhomogeneous lambda distribution.

In a radiant tube furnace, the dew points can be varied in such a way that there will be an oxidizing atmosphere in the first section of the furnace, followed by a section with a reducing at-

mosphere. Thus, an iron-oxide layer that formed on the strip surface in the first section of the furnace will be subsequently dissipated when the strip runs through the second section under reducing atmoshpere. Although this technique is very easy to implement, it has a number of disadvantages. Due to the long oxidizing section and the long reaction time, it is not possible to control the thickness of the layer. There is always the risk of silicon nevertheless migrating to the surface in reducing furnace atmosphere. Additionally, the steel may decarburize, changing both the material properties and the furnace atmosphere.

The simplest and best proven pre-oxidation technique is the PrOBOx® process for radiant tube furnaces. This process involves the oxidation of the strip surface by controlled addition of heated air within a closed process chamber.

The resulting oxidized layer is reduced as the strip continues to pass through the furnace. A more detailed description of the process follows below.

PrOBOx® pre-oxidation in a radiant tube furnace So-called selective oxidation starts at about 550°C. The inert gas atmosphere in the furnace, which consists of 95 percent of nitrogen and 5 percent of hydrogen, always also contains a certain amount of steam, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. This means that – from a certain temperature upwards – there will also be free oxygen atoms present in the furnace atmosphere. The elements have different oxygen affinity. Therefore they oxide under different ambient conditions.

Whereas iron is not prone to oxidizing in the furnace atmosphere, the elements silicon and manganese in fact are. While manganese is more likely to oxide within the material, silicon tends to diffuse towards the surface.

This results in single oxides forming on the strip surface.

In the PrOBOx® chamber, several nozzles apply heated air to the strip at a temperature between 640 and 680°C. This pre-oxidation process takes approximately 3 seconds. The chamber length is set accordingly. During this process, a uniform iron-oxide layer develops on the strip surface. This layer prevents further alloying elements

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş STRIP PROCESSING

from migrating towards the surface and undesired oxides from forming on the strip surface.

The aim is to achieve an iron-oxide layer between 150 and 200 nanometers thick. For the PrOBOxÂŽ process it is crucial that the layer has just the right thickness. If the oxide layer is not sufficiently thick, it will not securely prevent the alloying elements from oxidizing, resulting in imperfect wettability and the occurrence of bare spots on the material. If the oxide layer is too thick, it may happen that it will not be completely reduced or that there will not be a smooth, regular iron layer, but small iron particles which will lead to a rough, poorly adhering zinc coating. Moreover, there is the risk of iron particles disintegrating during the process and contaminating the furnace by depositing iron powder.

The reduction of the iron-oxide layer starts as soon as the strip leaves the pre-oxidation chamber and will have been completed by the time the strip reaches the rapid cooling section. Due to the prevailing temperatures and the hydrogen content of approx. 5 percent, the furnace atmosphere has a reducing effect on the iron oxide. The reducing reaction produces a uniform, slightly porous layer of iron sponge on the strip surface. Additionally, by shifting the dew point, the coating result can be further improved.

As the strip proceeds through the zinc bath, a homogeneous, extremely thin iron-aluminum layer (Fe2Al5) acting as an adhesion promoter between the steel strip surface and the zinc coating in hot-dip galvanizing processes will form on the iron sponge. As the process continues, a uniform zinc coating will build up on the iron-aluminum layer.

For this process to be successful, the strip surface must have been cleaned and be free from any disturbing contamination before it enters the radiant tube furnace. The combined amount of residual iron and carbon particles has to be below 15 milligrams per square meter. Additionally, care has to be taken that throughout the annealing process the furnace atmosphere is in line with the specifications and does not contain any contaminants such as carbon monoxide or oxygen.

It is also crucial that the zinc bath temperature and the chemistry are adjustMPT International 4 / 2017

ed exactly as specified. Especially the aluminum content, which depending on the process has to be set between 0.12 and 0.24 percent, plays a key role in this context.

$GPGĆ&#x201A;VU HQT VJG RTQFWEVKQP of galvannealed surfaces While in the galvanizing process, an iron-oxide layer thickness of 150 nanometers is desired, for the galvanneal process a slightly greater thickness of 200 nanometers is advantageous. In galvannealing the thicker iron sponge layer provides the benefit that the desired alloyed coating can be achieved

with a lower temperature or a shorter holding time.

This is possible because the ironsponge layer consists completely of iron and the porous structure provides a greater surface area, allowing the zinc-iron reaction to take place faster and more homogeneously. For this reason, a greater thickness is aimed at.

This means that PrOBOxÂŽ may also be the process of choice for certain low-alloy galvannealed steels.

Tests have shown that by changing the dew point in the oxidizing chamber the galvannealing temperatures can be dramatically lowered while ensuring a sufficiently high iron content

For a binary Fe-Si alloy, the Wagner model shows at which dew points the elements oxide and where an internal or external oxidation takes place

)&1'5 CPCN[UKU QH VJG FGRVJ RTQĆ&#x201A;NG QH C ICNXCPK\GF UVGGN UVTKR YKVJ RTG QZKFK\CVKQP at a higher dew point the silicon has been evenly distributed within the material while showing low contents at the surface

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STRIP PROCESSING in the zinc coating. Pre-oxidizing the strip at a higher dew point also leads to a higher aluminum content in the coating, due to the enhanced reactivity between the strip surface and the bath.

Significant savings on energy use result from the lower temperatures and the reduced holding times. This effect may also be taken advantage of in plants featuring galvannealing inductors which are too weak for certain materials. By applying PrOBOx®, such plants would become suitable to produce certain galvannealed grades without having the increase the capacity of the inductors.

Bare spot occurring during conventional galvanizing without pre-oxidation

The features of the PrOBOx® technology Special features of the PrOBOx® technology developed by SMS group include its capacity to precisely control the characteristics of the zinc layer and the fact that the coating thickness can be continuously determined. Another highlight of the process is that it maximizes oxygen pick-up by the strip; the process is thus designed that most of the introduced oxygen will migrate into the material. Additionally, the furnace atmosphere is not contaminated by excessive ingress of oxygen.

PrOBOx® is available in two designs. It can either be designed as a vertical process chamber or as a chamber with a deflector roll. In the vertical, space-saving design, the strip passes through the process chamber from the bottom vertically upwards. In the chamber with a deflector roll, the strip enters the chamber from above, runs vertically downwards until reaching the deflector roll which turns the strip into a vertical upwards movement towards the exit of the chamber.

In the PrOBOx® process chamber, nozzles arranged close to the strip on both strip sides blow air onto the strip

A uniform iron-oxide layer forms on the UVTKR UWTHCEG FWTKPI VJG ƂTUV UGEQPFU as the strip runs through the PrOBOx® chamber

surface in a controlled blowing process. The high rate of oxygen pick-up is achieved by precisely adjusting the required air temperature and the air pressure and, last but not least, by the special nozzle design. Air blowing is adjustable to the strip width.

As a precisely controlled thickness of the iron layer is essential for the pro-

‹‹‹

67

cess, it is calculated beforehand how much oxygen the strip surface will have to pick up. The oxygen supply will be adjusted accordingly. The calculation takes into account the process-inherent oxygen pick-up determined by the strip and gas temperatures and the amount of oxygen required to achieve a suitable iron-oxide layer.

In order to be able to check and adjust the layer thickness continuously, SMS group developed a dedicated measuring gauge operating on the basis of ultra-precise temperature measurements. For the measurements, pyrometers are installed at the entry and exit of the PrOBOx® process chamber.

Based on these temperature measurements and on dedicated models, the layer thicknesses for the specific steel grades can be determined with great precision and any required process adjustments can be directly made.

The correct setting of the strip temperature is crucial for achieving exactly the desired coating thickness. A mathematical/physical furnace control model ensures that the strip always has the required temperature of between 640 and 680°C as it passes through the process chamber. As the process temperature determines the thickness of the layer, for galvanized strip the temperatures are lower than for galvannealed strip. In this way, the higher temperature achieves the greater thickness beneficial to the quality of the galvannealing process.

New plants are generally designed with a furnace that has the capacity to reach temperatures high enough to attain the necessary final annealing temperatures downstream of the PrOBOx® chamber for any grade processed. In case temperatures well above 850°C are needed, a high-capacity heating zone of a suitable length has to be provided or the strip

Schematic illustration of the layers building up during PrOBOx® galvanizing MPT International 4 / 2017

68

››› STRIP PROCESSING

speed has to be adapted accordingly via the process model.

The atmosphere inside the PrOBOx® chamber is permanently held at a specified oxygen concentration. Highly efficient sealing systems equipped with rollers and devices for controlled injection of nitrogen are arranged at the entry and exit of the chamber. As an option, it is also possible to install suction systems. These measures ensure that the oxygen within the PrOBOx® system does not leak into the other furnace zones. Excessive ingress of oxygen would contaminate the furnace atmosphere and give rise to undesired surface reactions, which would make it impossible to achieve a high-grade surface finish.

PrOBOx® is also fitted with blow-out devices, making the system ready in virtually no time for the production of grades that need no pre-oxidation: As in this case the oxygen content in the process chamber is back to normal, the strip can simply pass through the chamber without undergoing any reaction. A PrOBOx® chamber with deflector roll is equipped with electric heating elements. Hence, the strip does not cool down due to a too low temperature inside the chamber. In contrast, a vertically arranged PrOBOx® chamber does not require any additional heating source, as it is heated by the furnace sections next to it.

PrOBOx® unit in vertical design with the treatment chamber extending from the top all the way down

Reference plants PrOBOx® has been developed based on numerous laboratory-scale experiments and field experience gained from galvanizing lines in operation.

All of the following briefly described processing lines feature a PrOBOx® system as described above. In addition to the below cases, predecessor solutions of PrOBOx® are in operation in various other plants.

AM/NS Calvert, USA. For the new steel complex of AM/NS Calvert (formerly ThyssenKrupp USA) in Alabama, USA, SMS group supplied two galvanizing lines for the production of high-strength automotive grades with good forming properties. The two lines are of similar design. They produce galvanized and galvannealed grades for exposed and interior automotive parts. Both lines feature Drever radiant tube furnaces with a vertical MPT International 4 / 2017

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stainless steel PrOBOx® chamber. The lines were already commissioned in April 2011. They are designed for an annual capacity of approx. 500,000 tons each.

Benxi Iron and Steel, China. The continuous galvanizing line supplied

by SMS group to Chinese steel producer Benxi (Bengang Steel Plates) produced the first coil in October 2016.

The line is part of the new cold rolling mill No. 3 built in the province of Liaoning in northern China. It is

made for an annual production of approx. 500,000 tons of strip, including deep-drawing and high-strength DP and TRIP grades. The investment in the new line has allowed Benxi to enter the market for high-grade galvanized automotive grades for interior and exposed parts. The galvanizing line features a Drever annealing furnace with a PrOBOx® chamber of the deflector roll design.

Angang Iron and Steel, China. In April 2016, Angang, located

STRIP PROCESSING

‹‹‹

69

Dew point

GA temperature Iron content

Al content

HSS sample 1

- 30°C

535°C

0.094 g/m²

HSS sample 2

- 5°C

525°C

4.4 wt %

0.090 g/m²

HSS sample 3

- 5°C

535°C

18.6 wt %

0.113 g/m²

HSS sample 4

- 5°C

515°C

16.9 wt %

0.113 g/m²

HSS sample 5

- 5°C

495°C

14.2 wt %

0.118 g/m²

2.6 wt %

HSS sample 6

- 5°C

475°C

14.9 wt %

0.112 g/m²

HSS sample 7

- 5°C

455°C

13.6 wt %

0.103 g/m²

Tests with different dew points during pre-oxidation and different galvannealing temperatures

PrOBOx® installed in the new galvanizing line at Angang Steel in China

in the province of Guandong, China, heat treated and galvanized the first coil in their new continuous galvanizing line. The line is designed for an annual capacity of up to 450,000 tons of galvanized or galvannealed steel strip, intended to be supplied to automotive and home appliances manufacturers in southern China and in the Pearl River Delta. The installed Drever radiant tube furnace also features an integrated PrOBOx® system.

Shandong Iron and Steel, China. For the new flat steel complex under construction on the Chinese east coast, Shandong Iron and Steel Rizhao (Shandong), China, has ordered a galvanizing line from SMS group. In addition to cold strip for the construction and home appliances industries, the new facilities will produce demanding high-grade steels for the automotive industry. The strip will be heat treated in a Drever radiant tube furnace with PrOBOx® integrated into

the galvanizing line. The line, which will go on stream in the course of 2017, will have an annual capacity of about 400,000 tons.

Summary PrOBOx® is a tried and tested galvanizing technology for advanced and high-strength steel grades. The process has proved highly successful in various plants, last but not least due to a range of advantages that make it superior to other solutions. Coating problems resulting from silicon and manganese contained in advanced grades can be securely avoided by pre-oxidation. Thus also these steel grades can be coated with a premium surface finish. Additionally, in galvannealing it may be advantageous to subject certain grades to pre-oxidation, as due to the resulting layer of reduced iron the temperature may be lowered, while promoting the formation of the ironzinc alloyed coating.

MPT International 4 / 2017

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70

››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

.OSHB@K F@TFD ENQ ×@SMDRR LD@RTQDLDMS QUALITY ASSURANCE Shapeline has released a new flatness sensor, VeriFlat®. The new sensor is targeted towards standard applications in steel and metal strip processing and cut-to-length lines. Typical applications include tension and roll leveller control, quality assurance, bundle reports for blanking lines and shape feedback from processing lines to rolling mills.

The gauge measures flatness data, crossbow, I-units, width and off-centre. It comes pre-calibrated, communicates via Ethernet and has an analogue output for direct process control. The flatness data obtained are presented in 3D topographic maps and the results are displayed as cross-profiles, I-units, waves and buckles in accordance with the common flatness standards. In addition, width graphs with tolerance limits are displayed and the sensor can also be used for strip guiding. A simple steel structure is sufficient to support the unit. The sen-

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sor can be conveniently moved between measurement positions in different lines.

Contact: www.shapeline.com

3NNK BG@MFHMF RXRSDL HM LHWDQR BTSR BNRSR SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Tool change is part of the normal routine for mixer operators. The mixing tool does most of the work during raw material preparation, and its condition has a major influence on the quality of the end product. Operators need to change high-wear rotor tool parts on a regular basis. Eirich has developed a new system for changing beaters in production mixers which reduces downtime and costs substantially. It is also ideally suited for low-cost retrofitting.

Changing mixing tools or mixing tool parts in a mixer used to take as long as several hours. The tension had to be released on all beaters mounted on the rotor before worn beaters could be replaced using muscle power and prying tools. Eirich has now developed a quick-change system for the beaters. Replacement is now a simple procedure and takes only a few minutes. Users who have migrated to the new system report a drastic reduction in downtime and maintenance costs. One very clever feature is the ability to easily swap beaters that have wear reserves with beaters which are located in zones with greater stress and show higher wear, making maximum use of the material. Migrating to the new system is easy, because there is no need to replace the rotor or purchase a new rotor shaft. In most cases, only the tool support disks have to be replaced. The ability to continue using existing spare parts is a big advantage. The new SmartFix system, for which a patent application has been filed, is available as a retrofit or conversion kit for all Eirich production mixers with capacities of 75 l or more. %QPVCEV YYY GKTKEJ FG

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

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"GNBJ QDBNMCHSHNMHMF ENQ Ă&#x2014;@S OQNCTBS QNKKHMF LHKKR ROLLING MILL EQUIPMENT Maintaining rolling mills is difficult, costly and time-consuming. However, without regular inspection and maintenance, rolling mill equipment can deteriorate to the extent that any costs saved by avoiding maintenance become insignificant in comparison to the increased downtime and product quality problems resulting from premature equipment failures. Neglected back-up roll chocks may be found in strip mills around the world. Bore concentricity or ovality, coupled with excessive clearances resulting from wear and fretting corrosion of sliding surfaces can escalate quickly, leading to premature bearing failures. The further result is poor product quality, seen specifically in the surface conditions of the strip, and shape and profile tolerances.

Danieli provides critical support services for inspection and maintenance to rolling mill operators worldwide, applying the latest inspection, refurbishment, and manufacturing techniques for 3D laser measurement, weld or metal spray cladding, and CNC machining, etc. Danieliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worldwide facilities refurbish and repair most cost-effectively badly damaged, worn and deformed chocks, restoring them to original design tolerances. A detailed inspection and condition report is provided for every chock, together with options for restoration, enabling the rolling mill operator to take fact-based decisions to address operating costs

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

4KSQ@RNMHB SDRSDQ ENQ MNCTK@QHSX LD@RTQDLDMS ANALYTICAL EQUIPMENT Magnetic Analysis Corporation has introduced the EchomacÂŽ VM, a compact, reliable ultrasonic tester for assessing the degree of nodularity in ductile iron cast automotive components. As the use of nodular graphite iron material has expanded in recent years for automotive safety parts, ultrasonic velocity measurement provides an industry accepted, reliable means of verifying the material integrity of the part. Unacceptable degrees or variations in nodularity, a type of graphite structure that can develop during the production process, can attenuate the velocity of sound waves passing through the material. The EchomacÂŽ VM measures the sound velocity and, using known limits, reports whether the part is acceptable.

The system operates with either full immersion or bubbler couplant technology, and one instrument can test two parts from separate test stations simultaneously. The instrumentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy-to-read screens allow users to evaluate velocity, thickness or flaws in less than two seconds. Two channels are supplied for velocity and two for flaw testing, with an option of four additional flaw channels. The instrument is

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supplied with industrial hardened I/O connections protected from the environment and a closed loop heat exchanger ensures proper operating temperature. A trend chart display and built-in data logger are also included. %QPVCEV YYY OCE PFV EQO

2DQUHBD BKNTC RHLOKHĂ&#x2013;DR BTRSNLDQ HMSDQ@BSHNM VHSG RDQUHBD SD@L INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY NDC has gone live with its service cloud, myNDC, which offers incident management tools to its customers in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific immediately and to the China market later this year. The new service cloud will simplify IT infrastructure to replace multiple applications that were used to provide customer service. NDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s service team will be able to

execute service requests more comprehensively using a knowledge base, and optimize its global resources to deliver excellent levels of service. Customers will even be able to generate their return materials authorizations (RMAs) through myNDC. %QPVCEV YYY PFE EQO

#T@K OTQONRD CQHUD ENQ #" NQ " LNSNQR SPECIAL EQUIPMENT The TM10e2 dual purpose (DP) drive launched by Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) is the ideal solution for modernization projects where the user wishes to upgrade from a legacy DC system to a modern AC system. The TMdrive-10e2 dual purpose drive is capable of powering and controlling either a DC or AC motor. This capability allows for flexibility in planning AC to DC drive system modernizations in a manner that accommodates production requirements and budgetary constraints. ,/3 (MSDQM@SHNM@K

New AC motors can be powered and controlled using TM10e2 DP drives with AC motor control firmware and existing DC motors can be powered and controlled using TM10e2 DP drives with DC motor control firmware installed. DC motors can be replaced at any time with AC motors powered and controlled by the previously installed TM10e2 DP drives.

When DC motors are upgraded to AC, the drive can be reconfigured for AC motor control by switching the firmware from the DC to the AC motor control function set.

DC and AC motors have different physical and electrical requirements. In addition to the standard TMdrive-10e2 AC drive, an auxiliary panel with both armature and field circuit filters is required for the DC motor. Standard TMdrive-10e2 uses IGBT gating with pulse width modulation.

The converter operates with reduced harmonics and unity power factor for reduced impact on the plant power system.

Contact: www.tmeic.com

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

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-DV ATR LNMHSNQ RTOONQSR QD@K SHLD @MC HRNBGQNMNTR QD@K SHLD BNLLTMHB@SHNM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY With ibaBM-PN, iba has again broadened its extensive connectivity to automation systems and bus systems of many automation suppliers. The newly developed Profinet bus monitor, ibaBM-PN, supports the Profinet IO communication standard. The advantage of ibaBM-PN: it has two internal IO devices to acquire more data. Each device can acquire a maximum of 1.440 bytes and exchange data with two controllers as so-called â&#x20AC;&#x153;shared deviceâ&#x20AC;?. ibaBM-PN can be operated on two independent Profinet lines, fully complying with the Profinet specification, e.g. regarding the methods of communication: real time (RT) communication as well as the isochronous real time (IRT) communication. In contrast to the RT communication, the IRT communication is clock synchronous and much more precise.

For this type of communication, cycle times of down to 250 Îźs are possible. Furthermore, another Profinet specification is implemented, namely the support of the media redundancy protocol (MRP). For fulfilling the increasing demands on robustness and reliability even in extreme load situations, ibaBM-PN fulfills the demands of the highest category NetLOAD Class III. The request mechanism for Simatic S7 controllers by Siemens is an iba-specific feature, which can also be realized with ibaBM-PN. By this mechanism, signals can be random-

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ly accessed and, if needed, additional signals can be added conveniently without programming the S7 controller. All signals can be randomly accessed by their symbolic names. %QPVCEV YYY KDC CI EQO

FLATNESS MEASUREMENT Shapeline provides innovative solutions for process control, decision making and quality assurance )URP KRW UROOLQJ DQG GLÎ?HUHQW SURFHVV OLQHV WR Č´QLVKLQJ VHUYLFH FHQWHUV DQG WROO SURFHVVRUV

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â&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;şâ&#x20AC;ş TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

(CDMSHĂ&#x2013;B@SHNM AX OQHMSDC NM BDQ@LHB SHKDR SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Ceramics have proven to be a durable material under many conditions, especially extreme heat. Manufacturers whose products undergo severe chemical or temperature conditions during production or during their intended use need to be able to identify their products throughout their production. CeramiCodeTM is a method of identifying materials with alphanumeric data and 1D or 2D barcodes on ceramic tiles. InfoSight offers laser printers that are designed to mark these tiles.

CeramiCodeTM tiles are durable in the most severe conditions and are reusable. The laser marked images are as

durable as the tiles themselves. The tiles, which are available in several sizes, and the message survive temperatures in excess of 1,370°C. While the tiles are available preprinted, usually with sequential serial numbers, customers also have the option of laser marking the tiles at their own facility with a laser printer. Larger ceramic tiles come with a hole to thread wire through for attachment or for stud weld attachment. Smaller tiles can be cemented into a mould pocket. This allows the message to be protected below the surface of the product. %GTCOKE VKNG YKVJ RTKPVGF QP

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DRIVE TECHNOLOGY The new Simotics DP roller table motors, offered

by Siemens, achieve outstanding power density coupled with a significant power/torque increase of around 25% compared to the previous series. The torsionally resistant ring rib enclosure and bearing plates are made of spheroi,/3 (MSDQM@SHNM@K

dal graphite cast iron (GGG) and are designed for use under the harshest of mechanical ambient conditions. Together with their higher vibration and shock resistance of up to 3M6 in compliance with EN 60721-3-3, Simotics DP roller table motors are ideal for use in steel mills, in particular for rolling,

reversing and transporting red-hot metal blanks under the highest levels of mechanical stress and extreme environmental influences such as scale, dust and water.

The standard versions of the Simotics DP roller table motors are classified in compliance with protection rating IP66. They can optionally be fitted with an additional â&#x20AC;&#x153;special sealing system â&#x20AC;&#x201C; corrosion protectionâ&#x20AC;? to withstand exceptionally tough environmental conditions. Their vibration and shock resistance is tested and confirmed in exhaustive test lab trials. The series is based on the new motor platform 1LE1 and is designed to supplement the existing Simotics DP steel mill motors in sizes 112M-200L, making this a one-stop solution for all kinds of transport applications in the metalworking industry. This not only reduces any associated risks but also makes for more efficient project engineering.

Simotics DP roller table motors are ideally suited for operation in conjunction with the SINAMICS S120 converter. Operation of this combined system has been exhaustively laboratory tested.

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TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

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2NOGHRSHB@SDC SNQBG BTSSHMF L@BGHMD ENQ MDV RK@A B@RSDQ NE ,,*( ,@QHTONK 4JQ@HMD CONTINUOUS CASTING PJSC â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupolâ&#x20AC;?

(MMKI), one of the largest iron and steel works in Ukraine, is installing a new two-strand continuous slab caster being supplied by Primetals Technologies. This new plant â&#x20AC;&#x153;CC4â&#x20AC;? is designed to produce 2.5 million t/year of slabs. It will cast slabs with thicknesses of 170 and 250 mm in widths ranging from 900 to 1,550 mm. The maximum casting speed will be 2.2 m/min. It will process peritectic and peritectic alloyed steels, low, medium, high and ultra-high carbon grades, as well as medium-carbon alloyed steel.

The new slab caster will be equipped with two torch cutting machines, type SGN, supplied by Austrian manufacturer framag. The cutting machines will use length measuring equipment and electric ignition for the cutting torches. framag will also supply the entire engi-

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neering and software for the cutting machines as a customized solution specifically designed for this project. To achieve optimum cutting results while keeping operating costs to a minimum, the cutting machines use FCN nozzle technology that allows both, high cutting speeds and excellent cut surfaces to be achieved.

The durable, heavyweight design of the cutting machines provide MMKI trouble-free, 24/7 operation at the slab casting plant. framag specialists undertake the commissioning and train the employees who will operate the machine in future. %QPVCEV YYY HTCOCI EQO

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76

››› LITERATURE SERVICE Continuously hot-dip coated steel strip and sheet 60 pages, English, German

Continuously Hot-Dip Coated Steel Strip and Sheet Characteristic Properties 095 – E

This publication by The German Steel Federation lists the standards for continuous hotdipped flat products along with information that users and processors of these products should know. The compilation of characteristic properties is intended to help prevent misunderstandings between manufacturers and processors in ordering, delivery and processing.

Contact: E-mail:

www.stahl-online.de info@stahl-online.de

Forging and handling applications 16 pages, English, German A brochure featuring the G-series of forging and handling equipment for the forging industry offered by Glama. It includes railbound and mobile forging manipulators, furnace charging machines and manipulators, as well as various types of heavy-duty robots.

Contact: E-mail:

www.glama.de info@glama.de

Forged copper tuyeres 2 pages, English Concise information by Saar-Metallwerke about high-integrity forged copper tuyeres for hot blast cupola melting furnaces. Design examples and examples of tuyere repairs are presented as well as possibilities of simulating temperature distribution, water velocity, etc.

Contact: E-mail:

www.saarmetall.de info@saarmetall.de

Furnace technology 80 pages, English, German, French, Russian A company profile of furnace engineering specialists Standardkessel Baumgarte. Detailed descriptions of sample references provide a comprehensive overview of the company’s furnace technology for waste and biomass to energy plants, solutions all around waste gas, exhaust air and flue gas cleaning, and innovative technologies.

Contact: E-mail:

www.standardkessel-baumgarte.com info@standardkessel-baumgarte.com

World Steel in Figures 2017 WORLD STEEL IN FIGURES 2017

32 pages, English World Steel in Figures 2017 is a special edition, as The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of steel industry activities, stretching from crude steel production to apparent steel use, from indications of global steel trade flows to iron ore production and trade.

Contact: E-mail:

MPT International 4 / 2017

www.worldsteel.org steel@worldsteel.org

IN THE NEXT ISSUE…

‹‹‹

77

Quality assurance Precise thickness measurement with integrated width determination by means of laser line sensors In the production of slabs, metal sheets and coils, thickness and width are important parameters, since these dimensions are essential for further processing. Product deviations cost a lot of money and time. Accordingly, an absolute ‘must’ in the production process is highly accurate production monitoring, which can be reliably ensured by the use of laser line sensors.

Automation MES implemented at Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, USA The value chain at Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa spans process areas from the meltshop to the finishing lines. Each of the plant areas relies on different Level 2 systems from different providers. In the search for a solution that would integrate the data derived from various individual process control systems, the company decided to implement the Q3Intelligence solution.

Project management Focus on turnkey solutions for the metals industry Industrial investors and plant operators on the one hand and plant and machine manufacturers on the other will no longer be able to cope with the challenges of the future on their own, given the extreme complexity of requirements. SMS group has responded to this development with the expansion of its turnkey segment with a focus on integrated projects.

Additive manufacturing voestalpine globally expands its metal powder activities The voestalpine Group’s High Performance Metals division continues to consistently pursue its strategy of promoting this pioneering technology internationally. voestalpine is investing some EUR 20 million in expanding metal powder production for additive manufacturing at its subsidiaries Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG, Austria, and Uddeholms AB, Sweden. In total, implementing the additive manufacturing strategy will run up to around EUR 50 million.

This preview may be subject to change.

Metallurgical Plant and Technology

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Published by: Verlag Stahleisen GmbH P.O. Box 10 51 64, 40042 Düsseldorf, Germany e-mail mpt@stahleisen.de Publisher: Steel Institute VDEh Executive Member of the Management Board: Dr.-Ing. Peter Dahlmann Internet: www.mpt-international.com Editorial Staff: Chief Editor: Dipl.-Ing. Arnt Hannewald

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MPT International 4 / 2017

AS ONE We are stronger

Two powerful companies in the metals industry have forged together. Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery and Siemens VAI Metals Technologies have united to become the new global force in metals technologies.

Creating the future of metals as one. primetals.com