MPT International 6/2017 (Dec)

Metallurgical Plant and Technology G 25074

ISSN 0935-7254

Steel event | Ideas for a New Normal metals consumption period

6

December 2017

Interview | Big River Steel on its way to become a learning steel mill

MODERNIZATION In times of rapidly changing markets, you want to stay ahead of the competition. We listen. We learn. We deliver: our Modernization specialists will help you revamp your plant faster and flexibly for greater efficiency, lower operating costs, increased productivity, and better product quality.

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EDITORIAL

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Modern times of steel production ahead Earlier this year, MPT reported about the commissioning of the completely new flat steel complex at Big River Steel in Arkansas, USA. While touching the technological milestones, at that stage we also reflected on the challenging US steel market and the optimism needed to decide to build and operate a mill like this. Since then Big River Steel has impressed the North American steel sector with an incredibly fast ramp-up. We visited the new steel mill at the end of last summer, when we had the opportunity to interview the management of the company. In this issue, Big River Steel CCO Mark Bula explains the market prospects and the structure of this next generation steel mill. A separate feature article describes the cutting-edge technology along the production chain at this new flat steel complex.

Back in Europe: Italy-based plant making giant Danieli hosted a technology gathering for roughly 600 decision makers from the global steel industry. At Danieli it has become tradition to meet, from time to time, to brainstorm ideas and visions for technologies. The “Danieli Innovaction Meeting” took place for the fourth time at the company’s headquarters. The entire event was organized according the unifying theme, “Ideas for a New Normal metals consumption period”, which is shaping strategies and influencing decisions now and for the time to come.

Dipl.-Ing. Arnt Hannewald

When business people discuss the future of steel, two terms seem to be unavoidable: “digitalization” and “Industry 4.0”. Whereas digitalization is the new evolution in automation that will reduce response times and human errors, expectations in connection with Industry 4.0 are about optimizing production processes and the products themselves. But does this mean we have to re-invent the steel mill? Yes and no. The head of digitalization at one of the big steel companies recently summarized: What has changed in the digital era is the way we innovate. Certainly, it does not necessarily require a completely new steel mill to keep pace with current trends. Nevertheless, there is the need to innovate – but in another way than in the past. In this issue, we present a number of very successful modernization projects, for example, at Hadeed Saudi Iron and Steel and Abinsk Electric Steel Works, Russia. The digital transformation of the steel industry paves the way for exploiting huge benefits in terms of safety, maintenance, quality, energy use, and many others.

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› CONTENTS

International industry news 24

World Steel Association expects moderate but continued growth for global steel demand World steel demand is recovering well, driven largely by cyclical factors rather than structural. worldsteel forecasts that global steel demand excluding China will increase by 2.6% in 2017 and by 3.0% in 2018

Company profile 26

Danieli group to focus on a “New Normal” market

Coverphoto: The limited space was the challenge of the AQNVMÖDKC OQNIDBS NE CNTAKHMF SGD BNJD NUDM F@R SQD@SLDMS B@O@BHSX @S 'ÂSSDMVDQJD *QTOO ,@MMDRL@MM HM #THRATQF &DQL@MX 3GD ,NMNBK@TR OQNBDRR ENQ SGD CDRTKOGTQHY@SHNM @MC SGD IDS KNNO QD@BSNQ SDBGMNKNFX ENQ SGD AHNKNFHB@K V@RSD V@SDQ SQD@SLDMS VGHBG VDQD ANSG CDUDKNODC AX SGXRRDMJQTOO (MCTRSQH@K 2NKTSHNMR & L@CD HS ONRRHAKD SN NUDQBNLD SGHR BG@KKDMFD SGXRRDMJQTOO (MCTRSQH@K 2NKTSHNMR & Contact: VVV SGXRRDMJQTOO HMCTRSQH@K RNKTSHNMR BNL $ L@HK EQ@MJ QDCDL@MM SGXRRDMJQTOO BNL

In the financial year 2016/2017, the Danieli group faced again a further decrease in sales for the plant making sector and increased sales in the steelmaking sector. The financial year EBIT is positive albeit lower in both operating segments

Events 28

Danieli proposes technologies for competing in the New Normal metals consumption period In early October, 600 decision-makers from the global steel industry gathered at Danieli & C. headquarters in Buttrio near Udine, northern Italy. This four-day gathering of steel industry leaders and experts examined dozens of technologies and trends in the steel business

Ironmaking

Automation

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Lebedinskiy GOK commissioned new direct reduction plant in Russia The plant will produce 1.8 million metric tons of hot briquetted iron (HBI) per year. The plant completed the seven-day performance guarantee test with 100 percent achievement of performance guarantee parameters

Robotic solutions help improve quality, safety and process performance in steelmaking plants The Italian company Polytec has installed a total of 100 robotic solutions in steelmaking plants all over the world, becoming a global leader in this field of steel plant automation

Steelmaking – Modernization 36

Automation system of steelmaking plant successfully upgraded at Hadeed Saudi Iron & Steel The level 2 process automation system and the level 3 production planning system have been completely replaced and made ready for Industry 4.0. The new process models enable noticeably more efficient steelmaking and refining

MPT International 6 / 2017

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Abinsk Electric Steel Works starts up minimill after general overhaul The modernization included the whole steelmaking plant and the continuous billet caster. Abinsk ESW is now able to produce a wider range of steel grades at reduced conversion costs

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Interview 42 $ KI 4KXGT 5VGGNoU ƃCV UVGGN EQORNGZ QP KVU way to become a learning steel mill

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Taking steel production to the next level MPT talked with BRS chief commercial officer Mark Bula and project manager Axel Sprenger from SMS group about the market prospects and the structure of this next generation steel mill

Big River Steel has built the world’s first Flex Mill™ combining the most advanced steelmaking technologies and designed to offer steel users access to promising niche steel products

Hot rolling

Columns

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voestalpine opens its most advanced wire rod mill

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International industry news

The fully automated plant will produce 550,000 t/ year of premium wire rod for the most sophisticated applications in the automotive, energy, construction, and mechanical engineering industries

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Technical innovations

60

Cartoon

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Literature service

62

In the next issue

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Imprint

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Hannover Messe Ankiros Fuarcilik A.S. 16 IMS Messsysteme GmbH 11, 12 JATO-Düsenbau AG 39 Maschinenfabrik Köppern GmbH & Co. KG 14 Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH 64 RHI Magnesita 41

Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH 53 SMS group GmbH 2 RUDOLF UHLEN GmbH 17 Ventilatorenfabrik Oelde GmbH 15 Verlag Stahleisen GmbH 35, 37, 63 Paul Wurth S.A. 21, 22 Zumbach Electronic AG 27

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

The Americas

prove the quality and productivity of the asset base, with additional investment in the group’s Mexican mining operations.

Brazil ArcelorMittal Tubarão to revamp slab caster. ArcelorMittal Tubarão has chosen Danieli for a major revamping of the No. 2 slab caster at its Serra works. The project includes the complete replacement of all moulds, oscillators and segments, renovation of worn structures and a completely new caster maintenance area. The machine radius is around 9 m and the containment length approximately 35 m. The caster produces slabs of 200/225/250 mm thickness with widths ranging from 1,050 to 2,100 mm. In the future it will be able to reach 2,300 mm width. Steel grades produced include ultra-low, low, medium and high-carbon steels, peritectic and HSLA steels as well as micro-alloyed steels. Danieli will be responsible for the design and supply of the slab caster equipment, including Danieli Automation Level 1 and interface with existing Level 2 automation systems, and provide advisory services during erection and commissioning. Start-up is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2019.

Mexico ArcelorMittal to implement major investment programme.

ArcelorMittal has announced a major three-year investment programme at its Mexican operations. The programme is designed to enable ArcelorMittal Mexico to meet the anticipated increased demand requirements from domestic customers, realize ArcelorMittal Mexico’s productive capacity of 5.3 million t and significantly enhance the proportion of higher-value added products in its product mix in line with the company’s Action 2020 strategic plan.

The main investment will be the construction of a new hot strip mill.

Construction will take approximately three years and, upon completion, will enable ArcelorMittal Mexico to produce approx. 2.5 million t/year of flat rolled steel. Further investments will be made at Lázaro Cárdenas to imMPT International 6 / 2017

Mexico Tyasa orders combined galvanizing and colour coating line.

To process strip from the Castrip line at its steelmaking plant in Orizaba, Tyasa is erecting a processing plant, including a tension levelling line, a pickling line, a reversing cold mill and a combined galvanizing and colour coating line. The order for the supply of the combined galvanizing and colour coating line has been placed with Primetals Technologies.

Primetals Technologies is responsible for the engineering, supply, erection and commissioning supervision. The scope of supply for the line includes an entry section with double payoff reel and scrap evacuation, a six-strand horizontal looper, a horizontal direct fired furnace and cooling tower. A GI coating pot with provision for future GL and premelt pots, a wiping system, a 4-high skin pass mill and a 6-high tension leveller will also be part of the supply, as well as an in-line chemical surface treatment section. Production of the first galvanized coil is planned for December 2018 and the first painted coil for March 2019.

USA ArcelorMittal to consolidate plate operations. ArcelorMittal USA will consolidate its plate operations by idling its rolling mill in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania within the next year. The decision is classified as an idling, meaning operations of the rolling mill are being ceased for an indefinite period of time, while preserving the operational integrity of the line in case the market requires a restart. While the decision will result in the idling of ArcelorMittal Conshohocken’s rolling mill, the facility will continue to operate its unique heat treat, finishing and inspection facilities to finish steel rolled by its sister facilities in Coatesville, Pennsylvania and Burns Harbor, Indiana.

News in brief Baosteel, China, has completed the construction of its integrated steel production complex in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. Fives has designed and supplied two annealing line furnaces and a galvanizing line furnaces for the complex, which encompasses a cold rolling mill with a pickling line, a pickling line-tandem mill, a continuous annealing line, a continuous hot-dip galvanizing line and two silicon steel lines.

Liberty Speciality Steels, UK, has re-activated the ‘small bloom’ caster at the Aldwarke works, Rotherham, more than 18 months after it had been mothballed by previous owners during the steel crisis.

Schmolz + Bickenbach International has opened a new location in Santiago de Chile. In addition to a sales office, the company now operates a 1,000 m² warehouse with modern sawing technologies for special steel.

PT. Gunung Raja Paksi, Indonesia, has successfully rolled the first coil on the new reversing cold mill (RCM). The mill was supplied and commissioned by SMS group.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), Russia, has commissioned the new continuous hot-dip galvanizing line No. 3 according to schedule. SMS group supplied the complete line, including mechanical equipment, process and furnace technologies as well as electrical and automation systems.

Tata Steel UK has received confirmation from The Pensions Regulator that it has approved a Regulated Apportionment Arrangement (RAA) in respect of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). The BSPS has now been separated from Tata Steel UK and a number of affiliated companies. Tata Steel UK has also agreed to sponsor a proposed new pension scheme.

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

USA Cleveland-Cliffs to build new HBI plant. Cleveland-Cliffs has selected Midrex Technologies to design, engineer and procure equipment for a new 1.6 million t/year hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant to be located in Toledo, Ohio.

The brownfield site at the Port of Toledo is considered a prime location due to its proximity to several future customers, as well as its logistics advantages including affordable gas availability and access by multiple rail carriers. Cliffs anticipates breaking ground for construction of the HBI production plant in early 2018, with production of commercial tonnage beginning in mid-2020.

USA Nucor to build steel bar micro mill and expand merchant bar operations. Nucor’s board of directors has approved a steel bar micro mill project and is considering five states in the Midwest and Southeast for the project.

The states being considered include Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Florida. The board also approved the expansion of its existing merchant bar operations in either Illinois or Ohio.

Both the micro mill project and the expansion of its merchant bar operations are part of Nucor’s planned strategy for long-term profitable growth.

USA Kobe Steel and U.S. Steel to build new galvanizing line. Kobe Steel and United States Steel have reached an agreement for their joint venture, PRO-TEC Coating Company, in Leipsic, Ohio to add a third continuous galvanizing line in response to growing demand for automotive high-strength steel sheet in North America. Construction is expected to begin shortly with commercial operation to begin in July 2019. The new line will have a production capacity of approx. 500,000 t/year.

It will be equipped with cutting-edge heating and quenching capabilities to enable the production of high-formability, ultra high-strength steel with a tensile strength of 780 MPa and higher.

MPT International 6 / 2017

Asia China Xinji Aosen orders high-speed equipment for wire rod mills.

Xinji Aosen Iron & Steel, based in Shijiazhuang City in the province of Hebei, has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of high-speed equipment for its wire rod mills Nos. 8 and 9. Each of the mills will be designed for an annual capacity of 700,000 t. They will roll wire rod in sizes from 5.5 to 16 mm and rebar in diameters from 6 to 16 mm at rolling speeds as high as 105 m/s.

The wire rod outlet of mill No. 9 will be equipped with one six-stand and one four-stand wire rod block. Installing two separate blocks will allow Xinji Aosen to cool the rolling stock before and behind the blocks in such a manner that all sizes can be finish rolled at low temperatures (thermomechanical rolling) and to very close tolerances. Both mills will be equipped with loop layers and pinch roll units of the latest design.

Commissioning will take place in the summer of 2018.

China Hejin Hongda to install highspeed wire rod outlet. Hejin Hongda Special Steel, based in Shanxi, has awarded SMS group the order to supply a high-speed outlet for wire rod in quality steel grades. The central element of the 700,000 t/year line will be a tenstand wire rod block. The range of rolled products will include wire rod in diameters from 5.5 to 20 mm and rebar in diameters from 6 to 14 mm finish-rolled at speeds of up to 105 m/s. In addition to the wire rod block, SMS group will supply the shear group ahead of the block and the loop layer complete with a pinch roll unit. Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for summer 2018.

China TianMa orders segment caster and EAF. TianMa has awarded INTECO an order for the supply of a new

two-strand segment caster. The caster will produce special steel grades in the section sizes of 500 mm diameter, 620 mm octahedron and 1,000 mm diameter. The key components of the caster will consist of a servo-drive oscillation system, a mould system, a mould level control system, a dynamic hybrid electro-magnetic stirring system as well as an inductive heating system for hot top treatment. INTECO is going to supply the engineering, key technological equipment as well as the automation packages (Level 1, Level 1.5, online solidification model, etc.). The installation of the segment caster will allow TianMa to shift production from a conventional ingot casting route to segment casting producing products with superior quality at significantly reduced overall costs.

Following the order for the segment caster, TianMa ordered the engineering and supply of a 60 t electric arc furnace. The EAF will feature the following key technologies: INTECO PTI chemical energy package and SwingDoor®, ISEC smart electrode control system, eccentric bottom tapping system and latest INTECO Fuchs technology. This new EAF will increase TianMa’s production capacity for high-quality bearing steel grades. Both the caster and the EAF are scheduled to go into operation in 2018.

India JSW Dolvi orders converter shop and secondary metallurgy facilities. JSW Steel has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of a converter shop for its Dolvi plant. SMS group will supply two 350 t BOF converters, two 350 t ladle furnaces and one 350 t RH TOP vacuum recirculation degassing facility. Environmental engineering facilities will include two primary waste gas cleaning systems with a dry dust collection system and a secondary waste gas cleaning system for the converters, ladle furnaces and the RH facility. The secondary gas cleaning plant with bag filter will be designed for a capacity rating of more than 3.4 million m³(stp)/h. In order to increase energy efficiency, the converter shop will be equipped with two heat recovery systems for generating steam from the waste heat of the

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS converter primary gas. The produced steam will be fed into the works pipeline network. The installed gas extraction technology will make it possible to use more than 400 million m³(stp)/ year of converter waste gas to replace other fossil fuels for energy generation.

The single RH-TOP vacuum plant from SMS Mevac is provided with a rockertype ladle lifting system, a multifunctional TOP lance, an extensive alloy addition system and two ladle transfer cars for short cycle times. Commissioning of the converter shop, intended for an annual production capacity of 5 million t of steel, is scheduled for 2019.

India Star Wire orders billet/bloom caster. Star Wire has placed an order with Primetals Technologies to supply a continuous billet/bloom caster for its steel plant in Ballabgarh, Haryana State. The caster will be designed for the production of 30,000 to 60,000 t/year, depending on the steel grades cast. It complements the existing ingot casting route. The new continuous billet/ bloom caster will have a machine radius of 12 m and a metallurgical length of 20 m. It will produce billets 145 mm and 195 mm square, with provisions being made for the future production of larger cross sections up to 350 mm square. The casting process will be fully automated.

Primetals Technologies will be responsible for the basic, detail and process engineering, the complete supply of caster process equipment including technological structure, hydraulic system, subsystems like auto-torch cutting machines and similar equipment. The new caster is planned to be started-up in late 2018.

Kazakhstan ArcelorMittal Temirtau orders ladle furnace. ArcelorMittal Temirtau has awarded SMS group the order to supply a new 290 t ladle furnace. The SMS group scope of supply will comprise the engineering, mechanical and electrical equipment and supervision of erection and commissioning of the new ladle furnace, gas cleaning plant, additives handling system and water treatment plant.

The ladle furnace allows precise control of the chemical composition and temperature of the liquid steel and slag and functions as a buffer for the molten metal upstream of the remaining processing stations. Commissioning is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

Pakistan Aisha Steel Mills orders cold mill. Aisha Steel Mills Limited (ASML), located in Karachi, has placed an order with SMS group for the single-source supply of a twin-stand reversing cold mill of the CCM® (compact cold mill) design. The mill, to be designed for an annual capacity of 500,000 t, will come with four-high stands and proven CVC®plus roll shifting technology.

In combination with positive and negative work roll bending and one X-Shape flatness measurement roll on the entry and one on the exit side, ASML will be able to produce the required strip qualities in widths ranging from 650 to 1,250 mm and minimum final gauges down to 0.15 mm. SMS group is going to supply the complete electrical and automation systems from a single source. Also included in the supply scope are auxiliary facilities such as an emulsion plant, high and low pressure hydraulics as well as the fume exhaust system. The mill is scheduled to start operation in early 2019.

Vietnam Southern Steel Sheet to upgrade colour coating line. Tenova and Southern Steel Sheet (SSSC), based in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai province, have signed a contract for the upgrade of SSSC’s colour coating line. The aim of the project is to increase the annual production and satisfy the demand for high-quality coated coils from the international and domestic markets. The line will receive two bake ovens with rotary thermal oxidizer and four roll coaters, one of horizontal design. The newly equipped color coating line will produce up to 100,000 t/year. SSSC is a joint venture of Vietnam Steel Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) and FIW Steel Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia).

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News in brief ArcelorMittal Méditerranée and EDF Energies Nouvelles have commissioned a solar power plant at ArcelorMittal’s Fossur-Mer site in southeast France.

Equipped with more than 45,000 photovoltaic panels, the 12 MWp solar plant generates the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 7,400 inhabitants, which represents half of the Fossur-Mer population.

Hoa Sen Group, Vietnam, has successfully put into operation the new two-stand cold rolling mill supplied by Esmech Equipment, member of SMS group, after a project duration of only 13 months. The plan now is to increase the rolling speed and gradually ramp up the mill to maximum performance, so that the nominal capacity of 400,000 t/ year can be achieved.

TimkenSteel, USA, has brought the quench-and-temper facility supplied by SMS group online and has begun processing customer orders. The new facility is located at the company’s Gambrinus steel plant in Canton, Ohio. It increases TimkenSteel’s existing quenchand-temper capacity by 50,000 t.

Trinec Iron & Steel, Czech Republic, has begun hot tests on its modernized blooming mill. The modernization project involved the construction of a new billet mill, a major overhaul of the walking beam furnace, including the implementation of an up-to-date control system and a heating model, as well as the installation of a new saw-drilling machine at the rail treatment line.

Alfapipe Ghardaia, Algeria, has completed all performance tests and started full operation of the Alfapipe 80” line for spiral welded pipes. The line is the first of two lines Danieli is supplying to Alfapipe.

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS Vietnam

We agglomerate your valuable dusts and fines

Hoa Sen orders cold mill. SMS group is going to supply a twin-stand CCM® (compact cold mill) to Hoa Sen Group – the third CCM® in a row for Hoa Sen’s new facility in Nhon Hoi in southern Vietnam. The mill will be designed to roll low-carbon steel strips with maximum widths of up to 1,250 mm and final minimum gauges of 0.11 mm. Annual production capacity will add up to 350,000 t, depending on the product mix. The mill stands in 6-high design will be equipped with slim work rolls permitting high pass reductions to be achieved. Rolling will take place at a maximum rolling speed of 1,400 m/min.

The CCM® will be provided with one pay-off and two reversing reels, so the finished coils can be removed from the entry or exit side as needed. SMS group is also going to supply the entire electrical equipment and the automation including Level 1 and 2. Adaptive physical models, e.g. for the description of plastic yielding, roll gap and roll setting, are a precondition for the optimum roll pass schedule as well as the ideal presetting of process parameters for thickness, tension und flatness control. Production start is scheduled for autumn 2018.

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MPT International 6 / 2017

voestalpine to build new special steel plant. voestalpine is going to build a new special steel plant in Kapfenberg. Work will begin on structural preparations right next to the current works premises before the end of this year. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held in 2018. The hightech plant is scheduled to commence operations in 2021, replacing the current Böhler special steel plant in Kapfenberg. With the new plant it will be possible to fully automate the production of tool steels and special steels for the most sophisticated applications.

Closed cooling water circuits and efficient heat recovery and de-dusting systems help to conserve resources and minimize emissions. At the core of the plant is an electric arc furnace, operated using electricity generated from

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Austria voestalpine Stahl to replace discharge machine in sinter plant. In the sintering plant of voestalpine Stahl in Linz, Aumund Fördertechnik is going to replace a rotary discharge machine, type LOUISE, after more than 40 years of operation. The new rotary discharge machine will be a compact BEW-FLS type LOUISE machine for height restricted environments. It will be equipped with a slewing discharge arm and have an extraction capacity of 1,500 t/h. The slewing arm permits the machine to travel to various storage areas between discharge functions.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina ArcelorMittal Zenica to install new dust filters in BOF shop.

ArcelorMittal Zenica has signed a contract with the Italian company Ekoplant, marking the start of a major project to install advanced new dust filters in the steel plant. Work on the new filters is expected to be completed by early 2019. When fully operational, the secondary de-dusting system of the basic oxygen furnace will meet all relevant national and EU standards. More than 95% of the fumes from production operations will be captured and cleaned in the bag filter, which will result in dust emissions below 10 mg/m3 (stp). The BOF steel plant project follows the successful completion in late 2013 of the de-dusting system in the blast furnace casting platform and the installation in spring 2017 of hybrid filtration technology in the sinter plant. Earlier this year, a further major investment introduced new technology to achieve significant reductions in smoke and gas emissions from the coke battery.

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Czech Republic Trinec Iron & Steel to expand bright bar capacity. In response to the

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

growing demand for drawn steel, Trinec Iron & Steel is going to expand the bright bar production capacity at its Staré Mésto site by 17,000 t. In 2016, production reached 87,000 t of drawn bars. In addition to the capacity increase, the process chain is going to be extended by introducing downstream peeling and grinding technologies, including a completely new storage system with a fully automated rack stacker, which will increase storage capacity, speed up truck clearance and save space for additional downstream processes required by customers. The entire investment is planned to be completed during the first quarter of 2020.

Czech Republic ArcelorMittal Ostrava orders moulds for bloom caster. ArcelorMittal Ostrava has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of moulds to be used in a continuous round bloom caster for bloom diameters of 350 and 400 mm. SMS group is going to supply its HD moldFO technology, which

MPT International 6 / 2017

offers a significant improvement in online signal acquisition through the use of fibre optics. SMS Concast will supply two new Convex® moulds prepared for the use of HD moldFO, CONCOR rollers for segment 1 and an online and offline Level 2 technology package for optimization of the secondary cooling zones. Commissioning is scheduled for 2018.

and operate in parallel with the existing control system. This shadow mode will make it possible to check all functions of the new system, the inter-play with the automation environment, and allow adaptation to the products of ArcelorMittal Dunkirk. Installation of the new bending and shifting systems in the first four stands will take place during the annual shutdown scheduled for August 2018. The modernization of stands F5 to F7 will follow one year later.

France ArcelorMittal to modernize hot strip mill. ArcelorMittal Atlantique et Lorraine has placed an order with SMS group covering the modernization of the hot strip mill at its Dunkirk facilities. The modernization will include the installation of the CVC®plus bending and shifting system, of new drive spindles in all finishing stands, and the installation of a new PCFC® system (profile contour and flatness control). The upgrade will be implemented in three steps. The new control system is going to be installed as early as at the end of 2017

Germany Salzgitter to construct third hot-dip galvanizing line. Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG) is going to build a third hot-dip galvanizing line.

This project represents the implementation of a key component in the group’s “Salzgitter AG 2021” strategy, namely a consistent focus on the premium product range. With an annual capacity of 500,000 t, the new hot-dip galvanizing line 3 will supplement the two existing lines and reinforce the market posi-

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS tion particularly in high and ultra-high strength steels for the automotive industry. The unit is scheduled to be put into operation in the second half of 2020.

Italy Acciaierie Bertoli Safau to automate tap hole operations. Acciaierie Bertoli Safau has awarded MORE an order for the supply of an EBT SAND technological package, which will improve the operator’s safety as it avoids any manual operation from the top of the EBT sump panel in their 100 t DC electric arc furnace. EBT SAND is part of the “zero men around� concept intended to remove human activities around the electric arc furnace. The system is comprised of a slag-breaking device, an internal hopper filled with sand from an existing bin and an on-board high resolution camera to inspect the EBT tap hole directly form the control desk to manage the sand charging operation remotely. The project is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Russia Vyksa Steel orders water treatment plant. The supply of a new water treatment plant by Danieli will complete the electric-welded pipe workshop 1 project at Vyksa Steel Works (OMK). The new plant will be designed according to a total water recycling concept. In addition to open and closed cooling circuits, the plant will also feature a dedicated treatment of river water for zero liquid discharge.

This will provide OMK water savings of about 85.000 m3/year of fresh water.

Spain Forjas Iraeta to install walking beam furnace. SMS group has received a new contract from Forjas Iraeta Heavy Industry, S.L. (GRI Group) for the supply of a new walking beam furnace to be used upstream of the existing breakdown mill for flange production. The furnace, designed for a throughput rate of 30 t/h, will be used

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for optimal reheating of a wide range of products, including blooms from 200 to 500 mm square and round blooms from 300 to 700 mm in diameter, in lengths between 3 and 5 m. SMS group will be responsible for integrating the new furnace into the existing rolling equipment and automation system, and will modify the existing water treatment plant to meet the new requirements of the new furnace.

Spain ArcelorMittal Asturias to modernize slab caster. ArcelorMittal Asturias, AvilÊs, has contracted SMS group for a comprehensive conversion of its two-strand slab caster No. 2. A special challenge of this project is the customer’s request to expand the slab width from 1,600 to 2,200 mm without extensive rebuilding of the foundations. The special design of the segment carrying frames to be installed by SMS group will allow the existing foundations and anchor bolts of continuous caster No. 2 to be main-

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MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

News in brief EVRAZ, Canada, has commissioned the spiral pipe plant relocated from the USA to Regina, Saskatchewan. German forming technology specialists Schuler supported EVRAZ in the commissioning of the line and trained the operators. For the modernization process, Schuler also supplied the coil cart and decoiler and the roller beams of the forming station.

ArcelorMittal Galati, Romania, has launched a new family of organic coated coils. With a capacity of up to 90,000 t/year, the new organic coating will produce strips in a wide range of thicknesses and widths, with single and double-sided coatings of various depths and finishes.

tained without any modifications. The caster will be completely rebuilt from the mould down to the exit section, maintaining the curved mould design. Although the maximum slab thickness will be extended to 365 mm, the radius of 10.5 m will be retained, while increasing the metallurgical length from 33.2 to 36.7 m. The caster will be designed for a maximum casting speed of 1.6 m/ min and equipped with SMS group’s remote-adjustable mould, which allows width adjustment and automatic adaptation of the mould taper during production without having to reduce the casting speed. SMS group will implement a new secondary cooling concept with a width-dependent air-mist cooling system and dynamic solidification control. For the workshop of ArcelorMittal Asturias, SMS group will supply its new HD LASr plant assistant.

Sweden Befesa, leading player for steel dust and aluminium salt slags recycling services, is to pursue an initial public offering of its ordinary shares and listing on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter of 2017. The company operates plants in Germany, Spain, Sweden, France and the UK, as well as in Turkey and South Korea.

Vallourec Deutschland has granted Danieli the mill acceptance certification for the new three-roll cross rolling mill. The CRM supplied to VAD is a newly designed machine developed by Danieli Centro Tube to roll carbon, alloy, and high-alloy carbon steel grades. The finished products are tubes ranging from 244 to 711 mm outside diameter.

SSAB aims to be fossil-free by 2045. SSAB has set a new long-term sustainability objective: by 2045, the company aims to be totally fossil-free.

SSAB is to stepwise move toward a fossil-free steelmaking process through the HYBRIT initiative and, in addition, to eliminate other fossil-fuel related emissions. Approximately 90% of the total emissions originate in blast furnaces. The remaining 10% mainly originate from heating furnaces, but also from internal transport. For the company’s entire operations to be fossil-free will require the success of many initiatives, including reducing the amount of purchased energy, utilization of residuals, sustainable input materials and fossil-free internal transport.

Ukraine voestalpine, Austria, has officially opened its new high-tech wire rod mill at the site of the Metal Engineering division in Leoben/ Donawitz. The fully automated plant, supplied by Danieli, will produce 550,000 t/year of premium wire rod for applications in the automotive, energy, construction, and mechanical engineering industries.

MPT International 6 / 2017

Large-scale investment programme at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih. The main tasks of a large-scale investment programme at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih are the modernization of production, replacement of obsolete equipment and technologies for new, environmental safe ones. The converter shop of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih consists of six converters. The first stage of the recon-

struction project in 2012 – 2017 saw the upgrade of converters Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

The second stage of the investment project from 2017 to 2020 implies the reconstruction of converters Nos. 1, 2 and 3. In addition to the reduction of pollutants emissions to the atmosphere the reconstruction of the converter shop and gas cleaning units for all converters will allow the company to reduce water and electricity consumption.

United Kingdom Tata Steel to invest in Port Talbot facilities. Tata Steel plans investments in its UK business to strengthen reliability and allow the development and production of high-performing steels demanded by customers. Earlier this year Tata Steel unveiled a robotic steel welding line which supplies material for car makers from its site in Wednesfield.

Now a basic oxygen steelmaking vessel is to be replaced at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site. At the same time, the company is replacing the massive cranes in the steel plant and installing enhanced dust extraction hoods and energy-efficient drives to minimize emissions.

Companies MMK to open research centre.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) is going to establish the MMK Research Centre at Skolkovo. Key research areas will include development of an instant 3D-printing centre, manufacturing solutions by processing Big Data, optimization of existing solutions in the field of neural network technologies, development and implementation of innovative solutions in the fields of new materials, production technologies, instrumentation and energy saving, and introducing advanced solutions in the fields of IT and artificial intelligence.

Gerdau divests operations in Chile. Gerdau has signed an agreement to sell 100% of its operations in Chile to the Chilean family-owned groups Matco and Ingeniería e Inver-

W E siones. The assets divested are the long steel industrial units, with a combined annual steel production capacity of 520,000 t. This transaction is aligned with the process to optimize the company’s asset portfolio.

C O N V E Y

Q U A L I T Y

Hot Sinter Transport

NLMK to establish corporate university in Lipetsk. NLMK is going to construct a new cultural and educational centre on the site of a former cultural centre for steelmakers in Lipetsk. The new building is going to become home to NLMK’s corporate university, a future centre for training and re-training managers from all NLMK companies. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.

IK Investment Partners to sell Schenck Process to Blackstone.

Private equity firm IK Investment Partners has announced that the IK 2007 Fund has reached an agreement with private equity funds managed by Blackstone to sell Schenck Process, a leading provider of measuring systems for weighing, feeding, screening, air filtration and automation applications.

AUMUND Pan Conveyors Tata Steel acquires full rights in HIsarna process. Tata Steel has acquired the full intellectual property rights in the HIsarna process, which the company has been testing at its IJmuiden steelworks in the Netherlands. HIsarna consists of a reactor into which iron ore is inserted at the top. The ore is liquefied in a high-temperature cyclone and drips to the bottom of the reactor. When powdered coal is injected into the reactor, it combines with the molten ore to produce pure liquid iron and CO2. The process combines Tata Steel’s cyclone converter furnace with Rio Tinto’s smelter. Now, Tata Steel has acquired the Rio Tinto smelter technology and intellectual property rights required to operate the HIsarna process, which has the potential to reduce energy use and carbon emissions by at least 20%, as well as reducing steelmaking costs through lower-priced raw materials, up to half of which could be recycled scrap steel.

• Applications upstream or downstream of the sinter cooler • Optimized charging to energy recovery sinter shaft coolers • Capacity up to 1,500 t/h and pan width up to 3,000 mm • Withstands material temperatures of up to 1,100 °C • Replacement for vibratory feeders or belt conveyors New build. Upgrade. Conversion.

AUMUND Foerdertechnik GmbH Saalhoffer Str. 17 • 47495 Rheinberg • Germany metallurgy@aumund.de · www.aumund.com

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

EU steel market outlook. Apparent steel consumption in the EU fell slightly in the second quarter of 2017, following robust growth in the first quarter. This slight year-on-year dip was a technical correction related to the stock cycle rather than a sign of weakening in the underlying consumption trend. However, increasing import pressure in the second quarter of 2017 signals that foreign supply remains a critical issue for the EU steel sector. First estimates for apparent steel consumption in the third quarter of 2017 signal a return of EU steel buyers to the market.

The forecast for fourth quarter apparent steel consumption is for continued yearon-year growth, but with seasonal destocking dampening growth over this three-month period. Overall, EU apparent steel consumption is forecast to increase by 2.3% over the whole year 2017.

The outlook for 2018 is positive overall. The relatively strong anticipated growth in investment, and the continued expansion of private consumption, will support EU domestic demand. Exports will also contribute to further activity growth among steel users. Output in the EU’s steel-using sectors is forecast to grow by 1.9% in 2018.

Primetals Tangshan Technology Services starts operation. Primetals Tangshan Technology Services (PTTS), a joint venture between Primetals Technologies and HBIS Tangshan Iron and Steel Group (Tangsteel), has started operation. In a first step the joint venture, headquartered in Tangshan, China, will operate in several locations within the Hebei province. PTTS aims to provide comprehensive technology-based services in offline maintenance, equipment refurbishment, condition monitoring, as well as operational support for the slab casters of Tangsteel and other customers. The company with its 400 employees will use proprietary Primetals Technologies maintenance technologies and know-how.

Mahon has become managing director of Innoval Technology (Innoval).

Gary Mahon moves into his new position having been a director of Innoval for the last ten years. He replaces Tom Farley who has decided to retire from the aluminium industry. Tom Farley joined Innoval at its inception in 2003 and was appointed managing director in 2007. He played a key role in the purchase of Innoval Technology by Danieli in 2012.

Gary Mahon

Aichelin adds second managing director. Along with the ongoing international growth of Aichelin Group, management workload has been constantly increasing. For this reason, the new chief financial officer Ronald W. Eibler has been appointed to act as second managing director together with chief executive officer Peter Schobesberger.

New chief executive officer at Vacuumschmelze. Reiner Beutel has been appointed as chief executive officer of Vacuumschmelze (VAC), succeeding Stefaan Florquin who has stepped down as chief executive officer and managing director. VAC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectra Co.

Aperam appoints CEO Services & Solutions. Aperam has appointed Ines Kolmsee as chief executive officer of its Services & Solutions segment.

Ines Kolmsee has a deep industry experience which she gained when holding various international leadership roles.

Personalities Innoval Technology announces new managing director. Gary MPT International 6 / 2017

New general director at Metinvest Ilyich works. Taras Shevchenko has been appointed as general direc-

tor of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, Ukraine. Taras Shevchenko will lead the continued implementation of investment projects at the Ilyich works, such as the reconstruction of the sinter plant, the revamp of the 1700 hot strip mill and the construction of modern continuous casting and secondary metallurgy facilities.

Another key task is to fulfill Metinvest’s commitments regarding the continuous improvement of the environmental situation in Mariupol.

New member on Harsco‘s board of directors. Mario Longhi has been elected to the board of directors of Harsco Corporation. Longhi is the former president and chief executive officer of U.S. Steel.

New CEO of Ertsoverslagbedrijf Europoort and thyssenkrupp Veerhaven. Jan Gelderland will take over as the new chief executive officer of Ertsoverslagbedrijf Europoort C. V. (EECV) in the port of Rotterdam effective 1 January 2018. The EECV terminal handles around 30 million t/year of iron ore and coal. Jan Gelderland will also take over as chief executive officer of thyssenkrupp Veerhaven B. V., a push-tow shipping company mainly engaged in transporting ore and coal from Rotterdam to the steel production facilities in Duisburg.

Liberty appoints new CEO to lead enlarged UK steel division.

Jon Bolton has been appointed chief executive of the enlarged UK steel division of Liberty House. He had previously been Liberty’s director of UK steel development, with responsibility also for the group’s plates and speciality units, but, following major acquisitions by the group over recent months, he has been given overall responsibility for the expanded and restructured steel business in the UK. In light of Jon Bolton’s new appointment, Peter Hogg, previously chief operations officer of Liberty Speciality Steels, will take on the role of chief executive for that division.

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS New CEO at Schuler. Stefan Klebert, chief executive officer of Schuler AG, is not extending his contract and will leave the company by mutual consent on expiry of 24 April 2018, the day of the annual shareholders’ meeting. Stefan Klebert will be succeeded by Domenico Iacovelli, who was recently appointed as a further member of the executive board and deputy chief executive officer.

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Tube 2018 – wire 2018. Concurrently held, two international exhibitions for machinery, plant and equipment: Tube 2018: trade fair for the tube and tube processing industry – wire 2018: trade fair for the wire and cable industry.

› Events ›

1 – 4 March 2018 Cairo, Egypt Organizers: AGEX (Arabian German Exhibitions) www.arabian-german.com

Metal & Steel Middle East and FABEX Middle East 2018. This metal and steel exhibition has established itself as a platform catering to the requirements of the region’s steel industry and providing the opportunities to meet face to face with customers and suppliers. FABEX – the international exhibition for metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing – will be held alongside with Metal & Steel Middle East to offer exhibitors unparalleled access to key industry buyers and influential decision-makers.

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29 April – 2 May 2018 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Organizers: AGEX (Arabian German Exhibitions) www.arabian-german.com

Metal & Steel Saudi Arabia and FABEX Saudi Arabia 2018. Concurrently held, this international metal, steel manufacturing and metallurgy industry trade fair and the international exhibition for steel structures, tube and pipe, sheet metal, metal forming and steel fabrication will be key events for the steel, metal working, machine tool and related industries in the region.

16 – 20 April 2018 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.tube-tradefair.com

24 – 26 April 2018 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Smithers Apex www.metcokemarkets.com

Eurocoke Summit 2018. Conference for key decision makers from the coke, coal and steel industries to network and get up-to-speed on the latest technologies, processes and global market forecasts.

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7 – 10 May 2018 Philadelphia, Pa., USA Organizers: Association for Iron & Steel Technology AIST www.ifm2017.org

AISTech 2018. AISTech conference and exposition provides a global perspective on the technology and engineering expertise necessary to power a sustainable steel industry. A key event to demonstrate products and services to the world’s leading steel producers, suppliers, consultants and academics.

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16 – 19 May 2018 Beijing, China Organizers: CIEC Exhibition Co., Ltd. www.mm-china.com

Metall + Metallurgy China. This key event will again combine four complementing international Chinese exhibitions under one roof: the metallurgical industry exposition, the foundry exposition, the industrial furnaces exposition, the refractories and industrial ceramics exposition.

23

29 May – 1 June 2018 Moscow, Russia Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf Moscow www.tube-tradefair.com

Metallurgy – Litmash. Two international exhibitions in parallel: Metallurgy: international trade fair for metallurgy technology, processes and metal products – Litmash: international trade fair for foundry technology, supplies and castings.

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13 – 15 June 2018 Venice, Italy Organizers: Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia (AIM) www.aimnet.it

ICS 2018. The 7th International Congress on Science and Technology of Steelmaking will incorporate a conference on heat treatment and surface engineering.

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25 – 28 June 2018 Jakarta, Indonesia Organizers: SEAISI (Arabian German Exhibitions) www.seaisi.org

SEAISI 2018. The annual international conference and exhibition of the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) will focus on the theme: ASEAN steel industry – next leap of transformation.

› ›

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8 – 13 July 2018 Paris, France Organizers: Mines ParisTech www.thermec2018.minesparistech.fr

Thermec 2018. The 10th edition of this conference series will cover processing, fabrication, applications of both ferrous and non-ferrous materials, composites including biomaterials, fuel cells/hydrogen storage technologies, batteries, supercapacitors, nanomaterials for energy and structural applications, aerospace structural metallic materials, etc.

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

World Steel Association expects moderate but continued growth for global steel demand World steel demand is recovering well, driven largely by cyclical factors rather than structural. worldsteel forecasts that global steel demand excluding China will reach 856.4 million t, an increase of 2.6% in 2017 and 882.4 million t, an increase of 3.0% in 2018.

worldsteel executive committee during the annual conference, Brussels, in October 2017 (© picture by courtesy of worldsteel)

Every October, World Steel Association hosts the annual conference for its members, which usually begins with meetings of the executive committee and board. This is followed by a series of presentations and panel sessions.

This year the association celebrated its 50th anniversary in Brussels.

Kosei Shindo, representative director and president, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Japan, was elected chairman of the World Steel Association. The board of directors of worldsteel elected as vice chairmen: John Ferriola, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Nucor Co., USA, and Ohjoon Kwon, chief execu-

World Steel Association, Brussels, Belgium Contact: www.worldsteel.org E-mail: info@worldsteel.org

MPT International 6 / 2017

tive officer of POSCO, Korea; as treasurer: Sajjan Jindal, JSW Steel Ltd. The new officers are elected for one year, until October 2018.

Short range outlook In its short range outlook for 2017 and 2018, worldsteel forecasts that global steel demand will reach 1,622.1 million t in 2017. In 2018, it is forecast that global steel demand will reach 1,648.1 million t. Commenting on the outlook, T.V. Narendran, chairman of the worldsteel Economics committee said, “progress in the global steel market this year to date has been encouraging. We have seen the cyclical upturn broadening and firming throughout the year, leading to better than expected performances for both developed and developing economies, although the MENA region and Turkey have been an exception.

The risks to the global economy that we referred to in our April 2017 outlook, such as rising populism/protectionism, US policy shifts, EU election uncertainties and China deceleration, although remaining, have to some extent abated. This leads us to conclude that we now see the best balance of risks since the 2008 economic crisis.

However, escalating geopolitical tension in the Korean peninsula, China’s debt problem and rising protectionism in many locations continue to remain risk factors.

In 2018, we expect global growth to moderate, mainly due to slower growth in China, while in the rest of the world, steel demand will continue to maintain its current momentum.

So, world steel demand is recovering well, driven largely by cyclical factors rather than structural. The lack of a strong growth engine to replace China and a long term decline in steel intensity due to technological and environmental factors will continue to weigh on steel demand in the future.”

Global economic momentum bodes well for steel demand growth in the short term Both advanced and developing economies are exhibiting stronger economic momentum this year. Confidence and investment sentiments are improving in a large part of the world despite some financial market volatility and growing concern of stock market overvaluation. Also on a positive note, global trade is gaining momentum despite worries about rising protectionism and talks of rearranging existing free trade agreements.

The construction sector in the developed economies, which had been slow to recover from its collapse after

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS the 2008 economic crisis, is now showing more positive signs both in the residential and commercial sectors due to rising incomes and improving investment sentiments. Infrastructure investment, which has been driving steel demand in developing countries, is likely to get some additional support from the developed world’s infrastructure renewal initiatives. The global automotive sector is reporting a strong performance in 2017 with an especially strong performance in Turkey and Mexico. However, in the US and China the auto sector could moderate and this trend is likely to extend to other countries in 2018.

Developed economies gain strong foothold for recovery The US economy continues to exhibit robust fundamentals supported by strong consumer spending and rising business confidence. Concern about tensions within the EU particularly over migration policies is receding and the EU economic recovery is broadening. In the CIS steel demand is expected to strengthen in 2017 – 2018 and specifically Russia is likely to maintain its slow recovery.

Japanese steel demand is showing better than expected performance benefitting from the government stimulus package, improving exports and preparations for the 2020 Olympic games. South Korea’s steel demand is suffering from high consumer debts, weakening construction and a depressed shipbuilding sector, while escalated tension around the North Korean nuclear weapons threat poses a serious and highly unpredictable risk.

With these generally favourable developments steel demand in the developed economies is expected to increase by 2.3% in 2017 and 0.9% in 2018.

A special note on China China closed most of its outdated induction furnaces in 2017, a category which was generally not captured in official statistics. With closure of the induction furnaces, the demand from this sector of the market is now satisfied by mainstream steelmakers and therefore captured in the official statistics in 2017. Consequently, the nominal growth rate for steel demand

‚‚‚

Regions’ forecast

2017

2018

change

European Union (28)

162.1

164.3

+1.4%

Other Europe

40.1

42.2

+5.2%

CIS

51.1

53.0

+3.8%

NAFTA

138.7

140.4

+1.2%

Central and South America

40.4

42.3

+4.7%

Africa

37.0

38.2

+3.3%

Middle East

53.9

56.5

+4.8%

Asia and Oceania

1,098.8

1,111.1

+1.1%

World

1,622.1

1,648.1

+1.6%

Developed economies

408.1

412.0

+0.9%

Emerging and developing economies

448.2

470.4

+4.9%

China

765.7

765.7

0.0%

World excluding China

856.4

882.4

+3.0%

25

Short range outlook for apparent steel demand (million tons)

in China increased to 12.4% or 765.7 million t. Disregarding this statistical base effect worldsteel expects that the underlying growth rate of China’s steel demand for 2017 will be 3%, which will make the corresponding global growth rate 2.8%.

The Chinese economy, which has been gradually decelerating, is increasingly supported by consumption while investment continues to decelerate. However, government stimuli, particularly a moderate boost to the construction programme, contributed to increased GDP growth in 2017.

China’s steel demand is expected to increase by 3% in 2017, an upward revision over the previous forecast. The recent closure of induction furnaces will lead to a one-off jump in measured steel use in 2017 to 12.4%. The outlook for China’s steel demand in 2018 remains subdued, showing no growth over 2017 as the government resumes and strengthens its efforts on economic rebalancing and environmental protection.

Developing countries also DGPGĆ‚V DWV VQ XCT[KPI degrees Developing countries benefit from a strengthening global economy. The reform agendas in many developing countries such as Egypt, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and India is expect-

ed to enhance their growth potential over time.

India had a slowdown in economic activity in 2017, but accelerating government reforms are expected to bring about a better investment environment leading to growth in the coming years. Investment activities are still driven by government initiatives and private sector investment is still restrained due to leveraged corporate balance sheets.

ASEAN remains a high growth region, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, while more mature economies such as Thailand and Malaysia are showing slower growth.

Turkish steel demand is expected to resume growth momentum in 2018.

The MENA region’s outlook has suffered from low oil prices, geopolitical strife and high inflation. The region would benefit from reconstruction efforts once the major conflicts are ended. The Arab States of the Gulf (GCC countries) continue to struggle with the low oil price environment.

Countries in South America have been slow so far to benefit from the recovery in the global economy. In Brazil continuing depressed construction activity has held demand recovery back in 2017, but a stronger recovery is expected in 2018. Steel demand in the developing economies excluding China is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2017 and 4.9 % in 2018.

MPT International 6 / 2017

26

››› COMPANY PROFILE

Danieli group to focus on a “New Normalâ€? market ,Q WKH Ć‚QDQFLDO \HDU HQGHG -XQH WKH 'DQLHOL JURXS DFKLHYHG UHYHQXHV RI PLOOLRQ HXURV DQG D QHW SURĆ‚W RI PLOOLRQ HXURV 7KH JURXSĹ’V RUGHU ERRN DV RI -XQH DPRXQWHG WR PLOOLRQ HXURV 7KH WUHQG VKRZV DJDLQ D IXUWKHU GHFUHDVH LQ VDOHV IRU WKH SODQW PDNLQJ VHFWRU DQG LQFUHDVHG VDOHV LQ WKH VWHHOPDNLQJ VHFWRU 7KH Ć‚QDQFLDO \HDU (%,7 LV SRVLWLYH DOEHLW ORZHU LQ ERWK RSHUDWLQJ VHJPHQWV Revenues of the Danieli group are in line with last year’s results with diminished sales in the plant making sector and increased sales in the steelmaking sector with the ABS group, which is also showing higher production volumes than in fiscal 2015/16, in spite of the temporary production stoppage of ABS Sisak doo.

The normalized gross operating margin (which reflects the margins related to the order book for the year) remained steady as predicted but was penalized by the extraordinary non-recurring expenses incurred in companies that have recently joined the group and are either not yet fully integrated or have undergone a production stoppage: in the steelmaking segment, the ESW pipe mill in Germany and ABS Sisak in Croatia, the Italian company FATA in plant making, while the subsidiary Danieli Corus suffered unexpected losses on a job order for a blast furnace in the Netherlands.

However, plant making revenues are in line with the forecasts made at the beginning of the year and refer to regularly progressing construction schedules contractually agreed with the customers, with EBITDA of 138.0 million euros to be normalized to 154.8 million euros, having sustained in the period “non-recurring� charges amounting to about 16.8 million euros linked to non-repeatable costs and to restructuring on problematic projects or whose start-up was delayed, in markets that are not yet fully normalized.

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

MPT International 6 / 2017

Plant making

Steelmaking

Total

vs. 2016

1,751.0

739.9

2,490.9

-/-

138.0

64.5

202.5

- 4%

Net profit

41.3

9.2

50.5

- 43%

Order book

2,157

375

2,532

- 11%

Employees

7,539

1,420

8,959

- 5%

Sales EBITDA

Forecast for 2017/2018 Sales EBITDA Order book

1,600/1,650

850/900

2,450/2,550

105/115

95/105

200/220

2,450/2,700

350/400

2,800/3,100

(million euros) (KIWTGU QH VJG &CPKGNK ITQWR HQT VJG Ć‚PCPEKCN [GCT CPF HQTGECUV HQT VJG EWTTGPV RGTKQF

Steelmaking segment revenues, on the other hand, are slightly higher than what was budgeted at the beginning of the year and show a gross profitability of 64.5 million euros, to be normalized to 70.2 million euros, having sustained in the period non-recurring charges amounting to approximately 5.7 million euros due to the restart of the recently acquired pipe mill in Germany and the production stoppage of the Sisak meltshop in Croatia.

Products sold in the period in the steelmaking segment (ABS group) reached about 1,080,000 tons by 30 June 2017, (a 10% increase over the same period last year), with the goal of maintaining this level of growth in volume next year as well. Therefore for the 2016/2017 financial year EBIT is positive albeit lower in both operating segments; in steelmaking it is also negatively affected by the “one-time� writedown of energy certificates at ABS, amounting to almost 8 million euros and concerning certain projects that were initially approved

but subsequently rejected by the Regulatory Body.

In the period Danieli completed the reorganization of human resources at its facilities in India, Thailand and China, which in any event still make up 35% of the group total, since Asia produces about 55% of all the steel in the world. During the year, the consolidated net profit was consequently affected by these contingent situations including financial management, which was negatively influenced by the US dollar exchange rate; however it is felt that a recovery will be possible next year in both operating segments, thanks also to the group’s solid net financial position which continues to be considerable and stable.

The performance of both the plant making and steelmaking segments – and the large amount of orders – lead Danieli to forecast positive results for next year without being conditioned by any additional extraordinary restructuring charges.

COMPANY PROFILE Worldwide prospects for the metals producing sector that affect Danieli’s plant making business For 2017 forecasts of world steel production point to an overall increase of around 3.5 – 4.0%, with Asia (driven by China and India) showing 5% growth, and advanced and emerging countries showing a smaller growth rate of about 3.0 – 3.5%. The steel market therefore is expected to stabilize further in 2018. Gianpietro Benedetti, Danieli chairman and CEO, comments: “Although we feel we are in a ‘New Normal’ phase similar to the one that occurred in the years 1970 – 2000 that could last for 10 years or more. Steelmakers worldwide are placing more attention on running their plants using innovative solutions and the Green Steel technologies that are

available, thereby reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption per ton, resulting in zero waste for socially sustainable and efficient production for the community and the environment.”

The research and technological development implemented by Danieli in the last decade have enabled the group to expand the range of plants supplied to the entire metals sector (steel, aluminum and other metals) significantly lowering the cost of the initial investment of each project (CAPEX), while also optimizing operating expenses (OPEX), combining several work stages into a single processing line, and widening the number of potential investors thanks to investments that are more economically feasible in countries with mature economies as well as in developing countries.

‹‹‹

27

To remain competitive in a “New Normal” market, Danieli has invested in technologies that always promote customer centricity while boosting plant productivity as well as per capita value added. The DIGIMET project applies the principles of the 4.0 revolution in the steelmaking industry to guarantee total control of production variables with respect to the creation/start-up of plants and also to speed up the production processes, reducing costs and optimizing the efficiency of steel production.

The group’s order book is well diversified according to geographical area and product line, and for the year ended 30 June 2017 amounts to 2,532 million euros (of which 375 million euros in the production of special steels) compared to 2,814 million euros for the year ended 30 June 2016 (of which 162 million euros for special steels).

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600 steel executives from 70 countries met in Buttrio, Italy, to discuss innovative technologies and exchange views on the current steel scenario

Danieli proposes technologies for competing in the New Normal metals consumption period In early October, 600 decision makers from the global steel industry gathered at Danieli & C. headquarters in Buttrio near Udine, northern Italy. This four-day gathering of steel industry leaders and experts examined dozens of technologies and trends in the steel business, DOO ZLWKLQ WKH FRQWH[W RI WKH 1HZ 1RUPDO ZKLFK LV VKDSLQJ VWUDWHJLHV DQG LQĆƒXHQFLQJ decisions now and for the foreseeable future.

At Danieli it has become a tradition to meet, from time to time, to brainstorm ideas and visions for new technologies. The Fourth Danieli Innovaction Meeting – which took place at the company HQ in Buttrio, Italy, on October 2 – 5, 2017 – was an occasion for steel and nonferrous metals producers and professionals to discuss innovative technologies that will improve OpEx, flexibility, product quality and plant utilisation, but also an opportunity to exchange views on current economic forecasts and market prospects. The entire event was organized according to a unifying theme, “Ideas for a New Normal metals consumption period�.

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

MPT International 6 / 2017

Plenary sessions and discussion panels with prominent industry leaders The meeting started with two discussion panels. The first discussion panel of the day addressed directly the New Normal, as World Steel Association general director Edwin Basson narrated the history of steel consumption and industry expansion over the past seven decades. Panelist Emanuele Morandi, CEO of Made in Steel, Italy, declared that advanced controls and automation will define the future of steelmaking operations, predicting that “the factory of the future will produce data, as well as steel�.

Deacero S.A. CEO Raul Gutierrez introduced the opinion that steel demand in regional economies, such as in Mexico, will perform better than the forecast 1.1% expansion through 2035.

CMC Steel CEO Barbara Smith advised the audience that the steel industry must continue to refine and develop scrap processing and recycling, in

order to control its raw material costs, and move more production away from the BF/BOF route to the EAF route.

Mark Lin, chairman and president of Feng Hsing Steel, Taiwan, described the necessity of investing to improve the performance of his company’s operations. This included the original Feng Hsing plant, still profitable and producing 384 different steel products in 240 different dimensions, which can be produced in a monthly rolling schedule, with a maximum of 70,000 tons per month. A second bar mill, now over 30 years old, is being made more competitive with the introduction of Danieli technology to roll low-alloy steel at a lower temperature of 900°C. Mr. Lin declared Feng Hsing Steel is becoming the price and production leader for steel profiles in Taiwan, thanks to highly flexible rolling capabilities, supplied by Danieli. “My experience is it is very important for a plant to adopt advanced technology, hire talented staff and workers, and

EVENTS make certain to maintain safe production practices. These are the only ways by which the plant can be competitive and the product can be qualified.”

Li Xinchuang, president and chief engineer of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, explained the necessity to plan with careful understanding of population growth and technology trends, making it difficult to forecast demand with reliable accuracy. Of the steel industry’s technology planning, he noted the difficulty for steelmakers to increase or decrease production volumes quickly, adding to the unreliability of production forecasts.

Danieli chairman Gianpietro Benedetti told the audience that the New Normal compels steel plant and equipment builders to change their operating strategies and product portfolios to address the different needs of steel producers during a period of dynamic changes directed by new technologies.

In addition to decreased steel consumption, Mr. Benedetti added that “digitalization will promote smaller production quantities, faster deliveries, and greater flexibility”.

Perspectives for regional micromills and minimills A further highlight of the DIM 2017 first day was a second panel discussion on the evolution of the regional micro- and minimill model as a strategy for managing the New Normal conditions. World Steel Dynamics managing partner Peter F. Marcus presented a colourful analysis of the business, technological, and sociological trends shaping the steel economy today. Among these, he predicted a continued decline in the competitiveness of blast furnace-based iron and steel production, and turmoil in production planning as producers try to manage shorter business cycles with wider shifts in supply and demand for finished products. He described the current period as an “age of discontinuity” in which managers will require skill, patience, and humour to survive.

Mr. Marcus was joined on the panel by Giacomo Mareschi Danieli, CEO, Danieli Group, Italy, who traced the development of minimill operations in the global steel industry. He explained how the minimills’ successful strate-

gies in past business cycles – including maintaining competitive CapEx and OpEx, fulfilling regional demand for commodity grades, and adopting new and revolutionary technologies — all remain relevant strategies in the New Normal. In particular, Mr. Danieli cited the MicroMill Danieli (MI.DA) concept as a new model for embracing proven management principles.

‹‹‹

29

Horst Wiesinger of Horst Wiesinger Consulting GmbH, Austria, cited numerous long-term trends in population, raw materials and scrap supply, to explain the strength of the minimill production model versus BF/BOF steelmaking. The minimills remain economically viable because of their flexibility in production volumes, the quality and variety of products, and

Digitalization is the prevailing technological trend for the current age, said Peter Marcus, WSD

Gianfranco Marconi and Alberto Zugliano addressing the global issue of pollution by reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions MPT International 6 / 2017

30

››› EVENTS

the high rates of asset utilization. He also noted that minimills show capabilities for become even more competitive in terms of production process time and energy requirements.

Necdet Utkanlar, board member, Kroman Çelik Sanayi, Turkey, offered the perspective that rising volumes of scrap worldwide represent an advantage for minimills. Likewise, the emerging possibility of CO2 emissions regulation will benefit minimills, in contrast to BF/BOF producers. Further, Mr. Utkanlar predicted that minimills’

steel product. He stressed utilizing all of the scrap regardless of its quality will become more important, and that with the development of technology Tokyo Steel could have established the operation not relying only on high-quality scrap even to make high-quality flat products. He believes the EAF will play a great role in achieving the industry’s future low-carbon-footprint and recycling-based society, and that it will take the place of the BOF. At last, Danieli Group chairman Gianpietro Benedetti described the

▪ Digi&Met: automation for consistency in quality, plant utilization, OpEx and faster deliveries; ▪ Unveling Q-One – a new power unit for the EAF; ▪ Why endless rolling for long and flat products?

▪ Sural, Quebec: the most competitive endless rod mill for the widest range of aluminum series; ▪ Turnkey projects and product on hand – global expertise for EPC management and production; ▪ Danieli worldwide workshops to serve the customers better.

Danieli Innovaction Awards, technical sessions and plant tours

&CPKGNK EJCKTOCP )KCPRKGVTQ $GPGFGVVK RTGUGPVGF VJG ƂTUV &CPKGNK 8KUKQP #YCTF VQ Giovanni Arvedi (left) , “For being able to imagine … pioneering technologies”

flexibility to produce multiple different grades of steel allows them the possibility to shift production programmes to address regional market needs.

Alihussain Akberali, managing director, BSRM, Bangladesh, offered the perspective that emerging markets need minimill operations to fulfill their potential for economic development. The minimills’ CapEx and OpEx efficiency offer the best opportunity for expansion in regional markets, where working close to the customers’ changing demands is a requirement.

Toshikazu Nishimoto, president, Tokyo Steel, Japan, introduced that in 2050 steel accumulation (the quantity of steel in use) will reach 55 billion tons and 1.5 billion tons of scrap metal will be generated, which means 70% of steel demand can be covered by recycled MPT International 6 / 2017

minimill concept as the hope for steel industry growth and technological development, with the regional expansion offsetting global consumption forecasts. Mr. Benedetti further predicted that the Chinese industry would progressively incorporate more minimill operations, to manage costs, increase production flexibility, and resolve the excess of CO2 emissions characteristic of BF/BOF steelmaking.

The first day continued with presentations of general interest, such as: ▪ “Green Metal” – a commitment for a sustainable world; ▪ Technological packages to improve plants and processes; ▪ The new paradigm of customer service: the development of a common ecosystem for more efficient performances;

During the event, six Danieli Innovaction Awards were presented in recognition of longlasting and successful partnerships in innovaction. For the first time, the “Danieli Vision Award” was presented to Giovanni Arvedi, “For being able to imagine – with optimism and concreteness – pioneering technologies in the production of cold and hot rolled planes”. Five more awards were presented to the companies Deacero (Mexico), Sural (Quebec, Canada), Shougang Jing-Tang United I&S Co. (China), KUMZ (Russia) and JSW Steel (India).

The second day of the Danieli Innovaction Meeting started with a visit to the expansive workshops at Danieli Group headquarters in Italy.

The walk through the fabrication, machining, heat treating, and assembly workshops offered a close-up view to the scale and precision of many different types of metal producing equipment, all fabricated, assembled and tested there.

The meeting continued through the day with technology discussions for six groups assigned according to topics of specific interest, namely ironmaking and steelmaking, EAF meltshop and casting, flat products, long products, aluminium and nonferrous metals, and tube, pipe, forging and extrusion plants. These were detailed explanations of proven and emerging Danieli technologies.

The day concluded with a presentation of the Danieli Group financial results for 2016/2017, with elaboration and commentary by all of the Danieli

EVENTS Group’s leaders. A dedicated Digi&Met session led by Danieli Automation experts was held on day 3.

Following three days of panel discussions and technology presentations at the DIM 2017, attendees were invited to tour various plant sites in three countries, where innovative Danieli process technologies and equipment have been installed and now operate successfully. Nearly half of all the guests travelled from the group HQ to attend one of the seven locations during two days of scheduled visits. These plants were chosen among hundreds of locations worldwide where Danieli technologies are performing to customer satisfaction.

‹‹‹

31

The 4th DIM started with a panel discussion addressing directly ideas for the New Normal metals consumption period

Conclusion The audience of steel and nonferrous metals executives at the Fourth Danieli Innovaction Meeting learned many perspectives on the New Normal period for metals consumption.

The event presented an occasion to

consider new possibilities in plant engineering and production technologies, but also an opportunity to recognize and show appreciation for the many successful achievements made together with the customers of

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MPT International 6 / 2017

32

››› IRONMAKING

Lebedinskiy GOK commissioned new direct reduction plant in Russia The plant will produce 1.8 million metric tons of hot briquetted iron (HBI) per year.

The plant completed the 7-day performance guarantee test with 100% achievement of performance guarantee parameters. HBI production exceeded design criteria already during the test period.

Direct reduction plants at Lebedinskiy GOK: Midrex HBI-3 in the front (right), Midrex HBI-2 in the middle, and HYL HBI-1 in the background

The new Midrex hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant at Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Integrated Works (LGOK), in Gubkin Russia, has announced the completion of its performance guarantee test. The plant, Midrex HBI-3, was supplied to Metalloinvest by a consortium of Midrex Technologies, Inc. and Primetals Technologies; it is the facility’s second Midrex HBI plant. Metalloinvest is Russia’s biggest iron mining company and the region’s largest producer of high quality steel. The company is also a leading producer and supplier of iron ore and ore-based metallic iron products.

Midrex HBI-3 began commissioning in early 2017 and passed its performance test, receiving its performance

Primetals Technologies, Ltd., London, UK Contact: www.primetals.com E-mail: rainer.schulze@primetals.com Midrex Technologies, Inc., Charlotte, NC (USA) Contact: www.midrex.com E-mail: cravenscroft@midrex.com

MPT International 6 / 2017

test certificate on 30 June 2017 with the preliminary acceptance received on 15 March 2017, and the PGT completed on 13 May. Test parameters included HBI production, HBI physical and chemical characteristics, the plant’s key natural gas and electricity consumption and environmental/emissions impacts.

Midrex HBI-3 achieved 100% of the test parameters during the first attempt of the PGT. Metalloinvest contracted with Primetals Technologies (formerly Siemens VAI Metals Technologies) and consortium partner Midrex Technologies, Inc. to supply the new Midrex HBI plant as a key part of its development strategy for LGOK to strengthen the company’s position in the global HBI market and significantly increase production volume of high value-added iron ore products.

Metalloinvest also utilized the expanded project financing capabilities (export credit financing) of Midrex and Primetals Technologies Austria through Midrex UK, Ltd. Midrex and Primetals Technologies were responsible for engineering

and supply of mechanical and electrical equipment, steel structure, piping, ductwork, as well as training and advisory services. The Midrex plant produces high-quality HBI from iron ore pellets using the natural gas-based Midrex direct reduction process (Midrex NG™) – a very environment friendly technology for ore-based ironmaking. By using natural gas to make HBI, the technology is free of emissions associated with the production of coke and sinter. Additionally, HBI production displays a significantly higher energy efficiency and a significantly lower carbon footprint than traditional blast furnaces.

The first HBI module at LGOK using the Midrex direct reduction process also was supplied by the Primetals/Midrex consortium in 2005 and began operation in 2007. In each of the last 5 years, the plant has operated over its 1.4 million metric tons/year design capacity, and on 26 April 2015, produced its ten millionth ton of HBI. LGOK’s HBI-3 module will increase the company’s HBI production capabilities to 4.5 million metric tons per year, strengthening Metalloinvest´s leadership in commercial HBI and boosting their world market share to more than 40%. The feed for the new HBI plant consists of pellets produced from Lebedinsky GOK iron ore.

Metalloinvest also owns Oskol Electrometallurgical Works (OEMK), located in the city of Stary Oskol, Belgorod region, Russia – one of the up-to-date steelmaking enterprises in Russia employing Midrex direct reduction ironmaking technology and electric arc steelmaking rather than blast furnace production. Both produce high quality steel almost free of detrimental impurities and residual elements which is providing a stable high demand for it both in Russia and abroad.

MultiROB Multifunctionality Rapidness & Reliability Operator Safety Best Technology

Principles.

Concept.

Advantages.

O Implementation of a standard industrial robot upgraded with special equipment and features for steel plant operation.

O Installation at any kind

O Remote controlled from the operator room.

O Intelligent detection of

O Massive improvement of safety and work conditions.

O Minimum space requirement.

collision risks stops the robot and retracts it back into parking position automatically.

O Cartridge exchange either

O Reliable operation – heat and dust protection of relevant parts.

O Quick and easy maintenance.

of EAF, LF or BOF. Easily adjustable to new situations.

O Basic functions: • Temperature and sample taking • Automatic cartridge exchange • Tool exchange • Furnace inspection with camera O Wide range of further development options and applications

Intelligent casing design for effective heat protection and reliable operation.

Badische Stahl-Engineering GmbH Robert-Koch-Straße 13 D-77694 Kehl/Germany Phone (+49) 78 51/877- 0 Fax (+49) 78 51/877-133 eMail info@bse-kehl.de www.bse-kehl.de

manually by operator in safe distance or automatically, based on a classical cartridge rack enabling the concurrent storage/usage of different cartridge types.

O Tool exchange by mecha-

O Increase of flexibility – tool exchange provides for multiple functions with solely one robot.

O No interruption of power-on cycle and foaming slag practice during temperature and sample taking.

nical clamping of two plates equipped with pins and holes.

O Detailed furnace inspection with camera tool for detection of skulls, hazardous water leakages, bath level and refractory status.

Fully automatic tool exchange...

Cartridge exchange rack for automatic sample taking/ temperature measuring cycle.

…also enables the usage of a camera tool for furnace inspection.

34

››› AUTOMATION

Robotic solutions help improve quality, safety and process performance in steelmaking plants The Italian company Polytec, part of BM Group, has installed a total of 100 robotic VROXWLRQV LQ VWHHOPDNLQJ SODQWV DOO RYHU WKH ZRUOG EHFRPLQJ D JOREDO OHDGHU LQ WKLV Ć‚HOG of steel plant automation.

PolySAMPLE EAF + EYE robotic cell for temperature measure-

PolyCAST multi-tool robotic solution for the continuous

ment, sampling and for 360° visual inspection of the EAF

casting machine

The year 2012, when BM Group invested in Polytec, a company specialized in the manufacture of high-tech robotic cells for steelmaking processes, marked the beginning of an Italian success story. The keys to success have been the company’s in-depth knowledge of metallurgical processes and technologies acquired in the steel sector as a supplier of advanced automation systems and the continuous investment in research and development. This has enabled the company to anticipate the new and ever growing requirements in the steelmaking industry in terms of safety, productivity and quality.

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 6 / 2017

During the last few years, Polytec has developed a range of more than 15 robotic cells designed to be integrated along the entire steelmaking route, from the EAF down to the finishing mill. Each solution is manufactured to customer needs, tested in the Polytec workshop and installed in the steel plant without delay. The cells are installed in new production facilities or can be retrofitted to existing ones. Advanced machine vision systems collect data and allow to verify product quality and process performance.

The upgrade to Industry 4.0 requires robotics and advanced automation systems that are smartly interlinked with one another. Polytec is a reliable partner throughout all project stages, including feasibility studies, assistance and training.

The Polytec motto “From operator to supervisor� describes the changing role of the human operator. Robotic systems take over the human operators’ tasks in hazardous areas, while

the operator can safely supervise the activities from a control pulpit. Thus the use of robotic systems improves the working environment and conditions for the operator.

What is a steelmaking plant 4.0 going to look like?

The operator will manage the automatic scrap yard crane for bucket loading and bucket charging into the EAF from a central pulpit. He will also supervise the activities of the fully automatic robotic system handling measurements and sample taking. A 360° internal view of the furnace will be displayed on the HMI. At the continuous casting machine, a multitool robotic solution will be positioned next to the ladle and the tundish. The robot will position the ladle shroud and perform the shroud cleaning (oxygen shower). The system will also handle the T&S lance for sample taking and temperature measure-

AUTOMATION

‹‹‹

35

PolyTAG FC, a fully automatic system for tagging bundles of bar

ment and dispense the casting powder at the tundish. The operator will control the whole cycle via CCTV. Downstream the casting machine, an advanced machine vision system will check each billet arriving at the cooling bed, in order to identify any geometric defects. A fully automatic tagging machine will apply customized labels on the billets. Depending on the type of finished product to be shipped, e. g. bundles of bars, structural profiles or wire rod, specific robotic cells will handle the application of the final tags. The complete process will be traceable thanks to a tracking system that collects, analyzes and manages all production data.

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79.00 € For personal members of Steel Institute VDEh

71.10 € Manfred Sachse 3rd edition 2008 · 25.6 x 31.9 cm 304 pages, mostly in colour, photographs and technical drawings

Verlag Stahleisen GmbH Sohnstraße 65 · 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany · Phone: +49 211 6707 - 527 · Fax: +49 211 6707 - 582 e-mail: gabriele.wald@stahleisen.de · www.stahleisen.de

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› STEELMAKING – MODERNIZATION

Automation system of steelmaking plant successfully upgraded at Hadeed Saudi Iron & Steel As part of a turnkey project, the level 2 process automation system and the level 3 SURGXFWLRQ SODQQLQJ V\VWHP IRU WKH VWHHOPDNLQJ UHĆ‚QLQJ DQG FDVWLQJ SODQWV DW +DGHHG Saudi Iron & Steel have been completely replaced and made ready for Industry 4.0.

7KH QHZ SURFHVV PRGHOV HQDEOH QRWLFHDEO\ PRUH HIĆ‚FLHQW VWHHOPDNLQJ DQG UHĆ‚QLQJ The implemented solution is scalable to accommodate further progressive digital enhancements.

The Al-Jubail steelworks of Hadeed comprises three EAF meltshops with ladle furnaces and three multi-strand continuous bloom casters

The key question about the modernization project at Hadeed Saudi Iron and Steel was how to prepare a steel plant with legacy equipment partly dating back to the 1990s for Industry 4.0 while keeping downtime to an absolute minimum. Within a very short time, SMS group implemented a state-of-the-art automation infrastructure.

MPT International 6 / 2017

The new intelligent analysis tools add leverage to Hadeed’s experience in production management, quality control and business intelligence including a perfect integration of the pre-existing data to the new fault-tolerant database. Through the collaboration between the metallurgists from Hadeed and SMS group, a wealth of empirical experience was fed into

the new self-learning process models.

This has resulted in significant cost optimization and quality improvements. To ensure future-proof, recurring returns on investment, SMS group supplied virtualization techniques to provide Hadeed independence from specific hardware components with great flexibility in spare parts sourcing. Thus with this re-

STEELMAKING – MODERNIZATION vamp, a comprehensive asset life cycle optimization with attractive ROI was achieved.

The modernization project at Hadeed Saudi Iron & Steel Corporation Hadeed, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian SABIC, contracted SMS group to modernize the electrical installations and automation systems at the Al-Jubail steelworks in Saudi Arabia. As part of the turnkey project, the level 2 process automation system and the level 3 production planning system for three electric arc furnaces (160 t, 110 MVA), two ladle furnaces (153 t, 22 MVA) and two of the three continuous casters (four and six strands respectively), as well as the maintenance section with equipment management system were completely replaced with the SMS group products X-Pact® Process Optimizer and X-Pact® MES 4.0. The core elements also included a business intelligence system with interactive analysis possibilities and a highly extensive, modern web reporting system that provides very clearly structured and comprehensive dashboard visualization of the production processes and the use of associated inputs, in addition to processing the information in the desired level of detail. The challenge was to channel the enormous amount of detailed data into relevant information packages at one central point for intuitive analysis and strategy development.

The central best practice management facilities allow Hadeed to develop the metallurgical strategies centrally and apply them to the different furnaces. Through the mod-

Wilfried Runde, Michael Bruns, Bernd Weber, Binay K Choudhary, Mario Ufermann, SMS group, Düsseldorf, Germany; Said Al-Gadhib, Hadeed Saudi Iron & Steel Co, Jubail, Saudi Arabia Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: wilfried.runde@sms-group.com Contact: www.sabic.com E-mail: SGadhib@hadeed.com.sa

ernization, Hadeed has not only replaced the old hardware and system software with new technology but also received a sustainable platform scalable for integration of innovative modules in connection with Industry 4.0. Such modules can be easily added, progressively increasing system performance with every new solution module.

The new system provides Hadeed consistent improvement in process performance, intuitive technological operator guidance with model-based process control, while achieving cost reductions by savings on consumables and energy and improving and stabilizing process results. The strategic KPIs can now be deployed across all operator teams with data dashboards allowing close monitoring and follow-up of the targets.

Exemplary for modern steelworks Michael Bruns, project manager at SMS group: “At the start of the project, Hadeed featured automation systems typical of today’s ‘mature’ steelworks. We discovered a wide variety of data sources provided by different systems. As in many similar cases, the IT infrastructure at Hadeed had developed over the years.

The process control models, if any, were not aligned with one another. In steel plants, great savings potential often results from the synchronized deployment of the process models across the entire process chain, leveraging the mathematical models based on the heuristics of the experienced personnel. We estimate that with a modernized electrical and automation system, steelworks can save between 5 to 10% of their yearly operational costs. X-Pact® MES 4.0-based solutions streamline the material and energy flows along the entire value chain of the steelworks with features and facilities enabling continuous improvements.”

New productive life for existing plants At Hadeed, the experts from SMS group started with a one-month fact-finding phase that formed the basis of the implementation strategy

‹‹‹

37

for the modernization concept. The strategy took into account the existing third-party plant engineering and field systems, integrating them seamlessly into the new, modern automation infrastructure. Furthermore, the existing data base – and hence Hadeed’s wealth of experience – was transferred from a large number of different sources and formats into the new automation system, adding leverage through new intuitive business intelligence tools.

The automation specialists from SMS group developed a uniform production planning system (on the basis of X-Pact® MES 4.0) for the whole steelworks that interacts with the models of the X-Pact® Process Optimizer – the material tracking and reporting system. Subsequently, the whole new automation solution was subjected to a “plug & work” integration test before delivery. This integration test was performed by SMS group together with Hadeed using simulations. Bernd Weber, process automation specialist at SMS group: “The customer has a profound understanding of the processes in the works. During our integration test, they could thus convince themselves of our capability of fulfilling all their functional demands by modern IT.” The greatest challenges came after the successful completion of the integration tests at the customer’s site where a great part of the installation work was performed with the plant in operation. 18 new servers based on the X-Pact® high-availability concept were installed in Hadeed’s IT centre in addition to more than 50 HMI clients with X-Pact® Vision throughout the works. Mario Ufermann, project manager at SMS group: “Close collaboration with the customer, thorough understanding of the existing infrastructure, knowledge of the safety requirements and environmental conditions in the steel industry were the keys to success in completing the installation and configuration of the process equipment, including the laying of more than 10 kilometres of IT cables through occupied cable routes, without any interruption of the regular operation before the plant shutdown.”

The new automation system from SMS group was first installed and testMPT International 6 / 2017

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››› STEELMAKING – MODERNIZATION

SMS group has developed a uniform HMI for the new level 2 and level 3 automation systems

ed under real-life conditions parallel to the existing legacy systems in the steelworks while the plant was running. This was performed to the full satisfaction of the frontline operators and Hadeed’s plant management.

Then a scheduled plant shutdown not related to the revamp followed.

Right after the shutdown, the complete new automation and business intelligence system, including all the new and modified interfaces, was immediately ready for the start of production. Also the training of all the operator teams took place during that short period. The intuitive user interfaces enabled a steep learning curve so that the new functions could be fully used by the operators immediately after the successful start-up of production. The SMS group completed the whole modernization project within a period of only 15 months after the order had been placed.

Combination of process knowledge and IT know-how A modernization as complex as in this project demands a combination of multiple qualifications: a strong project management, a flexible collaborative design team interacting with the customer across cultures MPT International 6 / 2017

and time zones and, most importantly, expert knowledge of the technological/metallurgical process including the value chains, combined with an in-depth understanding of the IT solutions available from one single source. SMS group, with its profound and long-standing expertise in metallurgical plants along the entire value chain, its commitment to innovative future-oriented solutions and its investment in an own electrics and automation business unit, is perfectly suited to cope with such challenges. This would be a task too complex to deal with for a mere IT supplier.

SMS group has succeeded in dealing with the complexity of the highly dynamic processes. For example, the production bottleneck, the two ladle furnaces, has been optimally overcome by the new production planning system. “The system also immediately reacts to faults in the plant by suggesting alternative process routes,” summarizes Wilfried Runde, manager Production Planning Systems at SMS goup.

The SMS group automation specialists have implemented a visualization platform and a fail-safe database solution at Hadeed using virtualization technologies. Irrespective of the

availability of hardware spare parts, Hadeed will be able to continue using and maintaining the supplied automation systems in the future. This solution provides investment security as it provides the necessary flexibility and scalability for future needs.

Precise forecasts and online optimization Practice has already shown that the new automation system from SMS group meets the expectations and has noticeably improved plant performance. Improved and reproducible productivity and quality across all the operator teams is ensured by the model-based process control. At the electric arc furnaces and ladle furnaces, the production processes for the heats are determined in advance according to their target specifications with respect to analysis, temperature and steel weight in a precise forecast.

The whole sequence of processes with the required quantities of scrap and DRI, the provision in good time of the materials by means of anticipatory logistics, the required electrical energy and the required schedules are calculated on a continuous basis. By combining the control of energy supply, DRI and slag former charging as well

STEELMAKING – MODERNIZATION

LF Computer

EAF Computer

Analysis and process data

Power request

Material request Material request Fluxes and alloys

‹‹‹

39

Caster Computer

Power request

EAF electric arc furnace

Analysis data

Scrap order instructions

Ladle furnace (LF)

Ladle transportation

Continuous casting machine (CCM)

Scrap yard Material

Data

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as oxygen supply within the X-Pact® Process Optimizer, energy consumption has been reduced as a result of improved process control and minimized tap-to-tap times. During refining, the model receives all the relevant process data online and performs the corresponding optimizations, by way of which all the parameters are maintained within the required balance in order to achieve the target values in the most efficient way possible.

Conclusions Said Al-Gadhib, automation engineer at Hadeed, states: “Our operators are highly experienced and have very good insight into the process. Using the new automation system from SMS group, we were able to combine the best practices of the talented individual operators into plant-wide best practices. Instead of frequent manual and individual control activities, the focus is now on monitoring and evaluating the processes. In the event of changes, the operators are supported by intelligent assistance systems – uniformly for the whole steelworks.”

The modernization project at Hadeed has shown that great savings potentials can be achieved in steel plants and continuous casting plants.

The metallurgical models in combination with the business intelligence expert system enable a noticeably more efficient use of the resources and more precise achievement of the targets with respect to quality and weight than previously possible with conventional methods. A sustainable reduction has been achieved in raw material and energy input and in process costs.

At the same time, SMS group has created a consistent and uniform system and data basis capable of providing clear reporting and effective quality assurance. With this solution, Hadeed has successfully introduced Industry 4.0 in its works – and the solution is scalable to integrate further progressive digital enhancements. Being more than just a system update, the innovative process models of SMS group’s integrative automation system take into consideration the complex interactions and dynamic process values for optimized and efficient steel production.

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› STEELMAKING – MODERNIZATION

Abinsk Electric Steel Works starts up minimill after general overhaul The modernization included the whole equipment of the steelmaking plant and the continuous billet caster. Abinsk ESW is now able to produce a wider range of steel grades. Also, conversion costs have been substantially reduced.

Recently, the minimill modernized

by Primetals Technologies was started up at Russian long product producer Abinsk Electric Steel. The modernization included the the basic steelmaking equipment of the company, i.e.

▪ electric arc furnace, ▪ ladle furnace, ▪ 6-strand continuous billet caster and ▪ process automation system.

Abinsk Electric Steel Works is one of Russia’s leading producers of reinforc-

in early 2016. Primetals Technologies was responsible for the basic and detail engineering, the production and supply of the new equipment, and supervised their construction and commissioning.

New mechanical equipment and automation The electrical steel works was equipped with new cross-plant process automation. The modernization also

6-strand continuous billet caster from Primetals Technologies

ing bars and other long products. The company runs an electrical steel works and two rolling mills in the Abinsk area, located in the South Russian region of Krasnodar.

Primetals Technologies had received the order for the modernization project 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 6 / 2017

involved installing a PLC-based electrode control system and a new oxygen injection system for the electric arc furnace in the steel works. In addition, high-current cables and the complete high-current busbar system after the furnace transformer were replaced.

The off-gas elbow was re-engineered, and a new furnace pressure control system with direct evacuation damper after the hot gas duct of the furnace primary suction line was installed.

The main hydraulic system of the electric arc furnace was modified to improve

furnace movements and minimize the power-off times, approximately by 20 seconds per each scrap charging cycle. In addition to the electric arc furnace also the ladle furnace was modernized and equipped with a new, four strand wire feed and a new lime injection system.

For the modernization of the 6-strand continuous billet caster, Primetals Technologies supplied stopper casting equipment, consisting of stopper mechanisms with electromechanical actuators, shroud manipulators, emergency cut-off gates and automatic feeders for mold powder.

For casting at higher speeds, the maximum casting speed being 5 metres per minute for the 130 mm casting format, new DiaMold tube molds, DynaFlex mold oscillators, electromagnetic stirrers, roller blocks and secondary cooling spray headers were installed.

A new billet marking machine was installed in the run-out area of the plant.

The existing turnover cooling bed was modernized, new hydraulic cylinders installed, and the cooling bed hydraulic system modified.

Conclusion The aim of the project was to increase the production capacity of billets (edge length 130 mm or 150 mm) from 1.2 to 1.5 million t per year. Additionally, Abinsk Electric Steel is now able to produce more quality steel grades, such as high carbon steel for wire and spring steel. Moreover, the new technology not only increases the availability of the steel works, but also decreases maintenance costs. Conversion costs also are substantially lowered. The energy requirement of the electric arc furnace is reduced from 410 to 370 kilowatt hours per metric ton.

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The driving force of the refractory industry RHI and Magnesita.

A new global leader in refractories.

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Big River Steel has started up production with an incredible fast speed

$KI 4KXGT 5VGGNoU ƃCV UVGGN EQORNGZ QP KVU YC[ VQ DGEQOG C NGCTPKPI UVGGN OKNN %LJ 5LYHU 6WHHO KDV EXLOW WKH ZRUOGŒV ƂUVW )OH[ 0LOOš 6WDUWHG XS LQ ODWH WKH IDFLOLWLHV LQFRUSRUDWH WKH IXOO SURGXFWLRQ FKDLQ LQFOXGLQJ VWHHOPDNLQJ DQG UHƂQLQJ DGYDQFHG CSP® WKLQ VODE SURGXFWLRQ KRW UROOLQJ DQG DOVR GRZQVWUHDP RSHUDWLRQV ZLWK FROG UROOLQJ DQQHDOLQJ DQG VWULS JDOYDQL]LQJ SODQWV 7KLV DUWLFOH KLJKOLJKWV WKH FXWWLQJ HGJH RI WHFKQRORJ\ LQ WKH GLIIHUHQW DUHDV DQG WKH FRPSDQ\ŒV JHQHUDO DSSURDFK RI WDNLQJ VWHHO SURGXFWLRQ WR WKH QH[W OHYHO The new US$ 1.3 billion steel mill in Arkansas at the east banks of the Mississippi River has been in the news for some time now. Also MPT International reported about the project and its progress [1, 2]. This year the company started with an incredibly fast ramp-up. MPT International was invited by SMS group to visit the new flat steel complex at the end of the summer with the opportunity to have an interview with Mark Bula, chief commercial

Big River Steel, Osceola, Arkansas, USA Contact: www.bigriversteel.com E-mail: salesinfo@bigriversteel.com SMS group, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: thilo.sagermann@sms-group.com

MPT International 6 / 2017

officer at Big River Steel. In the following, the main technical facts of the production facilities are summarized with special emphasis on pioneering details.

General facts The whole flat steel complex has been designed as the world’s first Flex Mill™ in terms of a wide range of steel products. The production facilities have been configured with the ambition to combine the best technologies of integrated mills and EAF based minimills in terms of product quality, energy efficiency and flexibility. In more detail the requirements specification included parameters as following: ▪ EAF meltshop and CSP® thin slab plant, ▪ widest and thickest materials ever produced by EAF/CSP®

▪ widest and lightest materials ever produced by EAF/CSP® ▪ liquid steel refining to achieve low carbon and nitrogen levels, ▪ ability to produce more demanding steel grades previously only available via integrated mills.

Melt shop and secondary metallurgy Big River Steel is the only steel mill in North America that combines an EAF meltshop with an RH vacuum treatment plant. The melt shop contains a DC EAF with a capacity of 150 t (165 short tons).

It has a maximum power rating of 160 kA and 1100 V, equal to 176 MW of electricity. The EAF has a top feed conveyor system which provides the ability to direct charge up to 100% scrap substitute material (HBI, DRI etc.). This allows to

Charging of the DC electric arc furnace

produce grades that have higher internal steel cleanliness demands and also is key for achieving very low residual levels. The EAF is operated with a tap-totap time of less than 38 minutes.

The vacuum treatment of the heat is a process of utmost importance for the production of demanding steel grades with good cleanliness, low gas contents and close alloying tolerances. Big River Steel is the only North American mill to connect an EAF meltshop with an RH type vacuum circulation plant, where others usually operate ladle degassing processes that are easier to perform.

The RH vacuum treatment plant uses snorkels along with an argon lift to recirculate the molten metal. This creates a more homogenous heat as the metal turns over every 1.1 minutes.

The forced decarburization system produces world-class low residual levels of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen.

This enables Big River Steel to produce product categories only previously produced by integrated mills.

A ladle treatment station (LTS) can further achieve final chemistries as the last stage for those grades demanding even tighter chemistries before going to the caster.

CSP® plant Big River Steel operates one of the widest thin slab plants. It combines high productivity in terms of product dimensions and tonnage with high energy efficiency of the thin slab technology. The state-of-the-art casting and

rolling equipment enables for the production of demanding steel products.

The thin slab production route using a CSP® plant plays a vital role in the abilities of the Flex Mill™. Slab thicknesses ranging from 55 mm to 85 mm allow the plant to shift between heavy and light gauges and meet the reduction ratios required to produce the most demanding steel grades.

Two mold types are used: the narrow mold for slab widths 900 mm – 1,600 mm (35.5” – 63”) requirements and the wide mold for slab widths 1,230 mm – 1,930 mm (48.5” – 76”). The wide mold is a bench mark for the widest thin slabs produced to date on a CSP® plant. The caster runs a speed upwards of 5 meters per minute (200” per minute). It is equipped with liquid core reduction, break-out detection, ram drives, electromagnetic brake, strand alignment etc.

The CSP® plant includes a very long and most powerful tunnel furnace featuring 19 control zones which allow for more uniform slab temperatures, thus improving final product mechanical properties. This also allows to realize energy savings due to a more efficient reheating process. Later phases will include the introduction of induction heating to further enhance the thermal and metallurgical control.

The CSP® rolling mill features a 6-stand, 4-high finishing train with the newest continuous variable crown technology available providing shape, gauge and profile control (CVC® plus). The rolling mill is equipped with an advanced surface inspection system and an in-

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tensive laminar cooling control system, that allows Big River Steel to target specific cooling rates to achieve more accurate, consistent and repeatable mechanical properties throughout the strip. This is important to meet increasingly stringent customer requirements, especially critical in higher-strength applications.

Strip processing facilities Downstream processing capabilities add value to the hot rolled strip and MPT International 6 / 2017

44

››› COMPANY PROFILE

Digitization ensures transparency of the plant and 6JKP UNCD ECUVKPI RNCPV CV QPG QH VJG ƂTUV FC[U QH QRGTCVKQP

the production processes at any time

Six-stand CSP ® hot rolling mill with laminar cooling system

widen the range of product offerings.

Big River Steel’s strip finishing operations comprise ▪ a continuous pickle line tandem cold rolling mill, ▪ a continuous galvanizing line, ▪ a batch annealing plant and ▪ an off-line skin pass mill.

The continuous pickle line tandem cold mill produces cold rolled steels ranging in thickness down to 0.3 mm.

A five-stand tandem cold mill with continuous variable crown (CVC® plus) control on every mill stand provides for best-in-class gauge and shape control.

It is equipped with an in-line inspection station to verify process standards that are yielding the demanding quality requirements necessary.

The continuous galvanizing line includes the ability for dual process, allowing for easy conversion from hot dip galvanizing to continuous annealing.

The furnace section is equipped with an ultra-rapid cooling section, achieving best-in-class cooling rates of 82 K/second – 94 K/second, vital to producing MPT International 6 / 2017

Roll preparation area at the tandem cold mill

multi-phase and other advanced highstrength steels. The in-line roll coater affords the capability to apply multiple post treatments that will enhance the corrosion performance and formability of the galvanized product while complying with Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) standards.

Ultra high-quality, closed loop air knife wiping systems at the coating

pot area allow operators to achieve coating weights from G30 – G235. The galvanizing line also accommodates a wider range of thicknesses and width offerings for both cold rolled and hot rolled products.

Big River’s batch anneal plant consists of 24 hi-flo hydrogen stations, each able to handle a maximum coil weight of 38 t (42 st) and a total stack weight of

Area foot print

5.25 km² (1,300 acres)

Production capacity per year

1.45 million t (1.6 million short tons)

Planned capacity expansion (phases 2 & 3)

3.65 million t/year (4 million short tons)

General data of Big River Steel

Thickness

Width

Hot rolled, black

1.4 mm – 25.4 mm

914 mm – 1,981 mm

Hot rolled, pickled and oiled

1.4 mm – 4.0 mm

914 mm – 1,880 mm

Cold rolled (ML/NGOSP)

0.3 mm – 3.2 mm

914 mm – 1,880 mm

Galvanized

0.3 mm – 3.2 mm

902 mm – 1,867 mm

Product dimensions

COMPANY PROFILE

‹‹‹

45

Control room of the continuous galvanizing plant

Batch annealing plant

129 t (142 st). These stations also process hot rolled pickled (HRP) material.

The next set of annealers will allow for higher temperature annealing needed for higher-end electrical steels.

The off-line, 4-high skin pass mill has powerful 18,000 kN of roll force as well as entry and exit bridle rolls with the ability to achieve elongations of up to 10%, required for many niche products including electrical steels.

Digitization takes plant and order management to a new level Electrics and automation supplies for all plants – Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 – were provided from one source: SMS group, who also supplied the mechanical plant equipment. Big River decided to have only one single provider for all the plant equipment and the electric and automation systems to overcome the problems of configuring interfaces and lack of performance when systems from different providers do not communicate properly. The homogeneous automation system is the basis for creating the “learning steel mill” that exploits the enormous potential offered by digitization to manage plants, processes, orders and customer relations.

At Big River Steel the entire process chain is digitally mapped as a precondition for extensive use of all new op-

Skin pass mill in operation

tions offered by digital technologies.

The digital map of the complex process chain provides the basis for computer assistant decision making based on indepth analysis of complex correlations.

The advanced digital technologies create an enormous potential. The availability of vast data volumes (“big data”), data linking, and plant networking as well as the ability to process and analyze all types of information offer new potentials that will transform the production of high-quality steel products.

What is more, Big River Steel is going to create a “learning steel mill” powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Noodle.ai, a San Francisco-based company, has been contracted to implement Enterprise AI to optimize operations. Noodle.ai’s predictive AI engines, configured on its industrial operations platform, The BEAST, will help optimize a vast array of functions throughout the steel mill. The plants possess a rich trove of sensor data for the AI platform to leverage. The AI platform can help unlock breakthrough improvements in areas such as main-

tenance planning, production line scheduling, logistics operations, and environmental protection. The AI algorithms will allow the mill to react to production challenges automatically.

Conclusion Big River Steel is the world’s first smart steel production facility. The facility is designed to be both environmentally resourceful and technologically advanced. The mill is configured for the manufacture of a range of added value products, that previously has been dominated by the integrated iron and steel works.

The flat steel complex has been equipped with high-end technologies that never before were combined to such a unique, innovative configuration. It enables Big River to competitively produce the most-challenging steels, from light-weight advanced highstrength steels to the complex electrical steels, energy pipe grades and coiled plate dimensions that today’s and tomorrow’s steel markets demand.

References [1] North America’s latest steel complex inaugurated at Big River Steel. MPT International, 2/2017 (April), 32-34 [2] Groundbreaking for a new generation of steelworks to be initially built in Arkansas, USA. MPT International, 1/2015 (February), 24-29

© All pictures by courtesy of SMS group and Big River Steel MPT International 6 / 2017

46

››› INTERVIEW

Big River Steel’s learning steel mill to take steel production to the next level %LJ 5LYHU 6WHHO LV D QHZ 86 ELOOLRQ ĆƒDW VWHHO FRPSOH[ LQ 2VFHROD $UNDQVDV 86$ UHIHUHQFHG LQ WKH PDUNHW DV )OH[ 0LOOĹĄ 7KLV PLOO FRPELQHV WKH PRVW DGYDQFHG VWHHOPDNLQJ WHFKQRORJLHV DQG LV GHVLJQHG WR RIIHU VWHHO XVHUV DFFHVV WR SURPLVLQJ QLFKH VWHHO SURGXFWV 037 WDONHG ZLWK %56 FKLHI FRPPHUFLDO RIĆ‚FHU 0DUN %XOD DQG SURMHFW PDQDJHU $[HO 6SUHQJHU IURP 606 JURXS DERXW WKH PDUNHW SURVSHFWV DQG WKH VWUXFWXUH RI WKLV QH[W JHQHUDWLRQ VWHHO PLOO ZLWK SODQW HTXLSPHQW VXSSOLHG E\ 606 JURXS BRS has chosen a minimill › MPT: configuration to produce extra wide coils to be offered in three options, hot rolled, cold rolled or galvanized. Which markets are you targeting with these products?

Mark Bula: We are targeting applications in the automotive industry and also household appliances. That needs to be explained in more detail. Our primary markets are also warehousing, steel distribution and service centers, pipe and tubing industry – which are actually two different segments. Then there is the transportation sector that is structured in passenger vehicles, trucks, trailers and semis. The transportation sector is a little larger than the passenger vehicle market. After that, you can look at the construction products and finally all the other miscellaneous categories, like containers etc. /CTM $WNC EJKGH EQOOGTEKCN QHƂEGT CV $KI 4KXGT 5VGGN

Big River Steel was estab› MPT: lished in a decade witnessing overcapacities in the global steel industry. Why did you build a mill like this at this time?

Mark Bula: When you take a look at the global steel industry or even the

Mark Bula, CCO, Big River Steel, Osceola, Arkansas, USA Contact: www.bigriversteel.com E-mail: salesinfo@bigriversteel.com Axel Sprenger, SMS group, DĂźsseldorf, Germany Contact: www.sms-group.com E-mail: axel.sprenger@sms-group.com

MPT International 6 / 2017

North American steel industry, it may appear as if the market was oversupplied. You would see that there’s plenty of steel in the world. That holds true for the basic commodities of steel. But it is not true for the niche steels like advanced high-strength steels for automotive use and high-strength low-alloyed (HSLA) grades for applications typically using mild carbon grades. So at the beginning Big River Steel started with the question, where are the market opportunities from a standpoint of undersupply by US or North American steel suppliers. Our considerations were predominantly focused on what are the steel products that go into these markets.

Those are the markets in the United States that we target. In each of these markets there is an option to use niche steels as substitute for basic steel grades, and here we are going to build some business. First, we produce wider coils than other mills with a comparable range of grades. Second, we have the capability to produce strip with bigger cross sections than other minimills – up to 1� thick by 76� wide strip. Third, we can make these products at competitive cost thanks to our advanced thin slab technology incorporating the high-quality liquid steel refining capacities. Our mill is configured for the manufacture of a range of added value products that previously has been dominated by the integrated iron and steel works operating the BF – BOF route.

INTERVIEW

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47

What are the benefits for your › MPT: customers having BRS as a preferred supplier for such steel coils?

Mark Bula: Until now the “heavier”, wider steel – strip thicker than 0.625” and wider than 72” – has been considered a premium product. Big River Steel has now the capability to produce such products using a state-of-the-art thin slab mill with all its advantages in terms of operational expenditure and product quality. On the one hand, it’s our competitive edge. On the other hand, the market demand increases for what has been called niche steels for the time being: advanced high-strength steels for automotive use and HSLA grades substituting mild steels in certain applications. Big River Steel is now able to produce such steels with the higher strip thickness and wider coil dimension according to the new market demand. For example, the market for API products is developing from X52 towards X65, X70 and X80 grades in coils wider than 72” and strip gage of 0.75” or more. Big River Steel has the capability to manufacture all these products and thus has become a much more attractive supplier for the industry. It’s the same story for the entire range of niche steel products that I mentioned before. Again, the focus is not only on the range of steel grades itself; we have to remember the dimensional differences of what has been available before now. Then it becomes clear where we compete and where we do not.

Summarizing, Big River Steel is not intending to go into the commodities business. We are targeting markets for products that are underserved in the United States by domestic production. We are focusing on niche steels that have a good potential to grow in terms of volumes for the years to come.

We are convinced that advanced highstrength steels will be used in a broader range of applications as soon as they will be available in higher dimensions and at a competitive price. Applications for advanced high-strength steel are not limited to passenger vehicles.

These grades can also be used for structural tubing, for decking, for building bridges and much more. There are so many fields of application the industries have started to think about. If we can make the steels stronger and lighter, it will improve a lot of products.

p9G CTG HQEWUKPI QP PKEJG UVGGNU VJCV JCXG C IQQF RQVGPVKCN VQ ITQY KP VGTOU QH XQNWOGU HQT VJG [GCTU VQ EQOG q Why are you so sure the › MPT: market trend will go in this direction?

Mark Bula: It is important to understand that the North American steel industry continues to evolve. If we did not compete globally with the capability built in our technology and products, we would lag behind. That I can’t accept. There are enough steel mills producing steel grades the industries use today, even DP 600 etc. Now, Big River Steel has the capability to take steel production to the next level, with DP 1000 and DP 1200 as we evolve our process and continue to expand our abilities. We are ready for the next generation of steelmaking.

metallurgical quality versus other EAF mills. Our capability in the tunnel furnace and the roll-out table gives us another advantage.

Nevertheless, we continue pushing to innovate. The technology we bought from SMS group is the best available for making flat steel products. With this technology we are in a position to evolve our process chain and also our products. We want to go faster, but we have to accept there is a learning curve and we are taking the course now. We are still in the startup phase of our production. There are so many products that we start with.

We are still developing our original products, for instance martensitic

p.''& EGTVKHKECVKQP CPF CTVKHKEKCN KPVGNNKIGPEG FKHHGTGPVKCVG WU 6JCVoU GZEKVKPI q For the first time, a North › MPT: American CSP thin slab plant is processing liquid steel refined by an RH degasser. Why did you go for this combination?

Mark Bula: The EAF meltshop provides the liquid steel, but downstream we have a unique combination of technologies that gives us an edge. Using the RH degasser, we produce higher

grades. Some of them are hot bands, others are cold rolled or even galvanized ones.

Do you also intend to pro› MPT: duce silicon steels?

Mark Bula: This mill has been built with the ambition to eventually make silicon steels. We could already make MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› INTERVIEW

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the substrate today. However, it will still require a significant investment to start commercial production. Our plans are as follows: If we entered the market for silicon steel, we would have to be able to make advanced products also in these categories. We are actually interested in making extremely light gage, non-grain oriented (NGO) electrical steels that are used for the drives of electrical vehicles.

These high grades represent another niche in the market where we don’t see oversupply. Also, we have figured out a similar scenario for some high-value grain oriented (GO) silicon steels, where production capacities in the US are actually limited today. We are very thoughtful. For the next phase of investments these products will be in the focus.

So the main products of Big › MPT: River Steel will be the advanced high-strength steels and the silicon steels?

Mark Bula: Both products are of utmost importance for the next generation of light-weight electric passenger vehicles. Becoming a supplier of both – the advanced high-strength steels for the car body and the non-grain oriented silicon

Mark Bula: The “smart” steel mill will allow us to make better business decisions faster, more accurately and with better business results than we’ve been able to make in the past. With artificial intelligence come to be, we don’t need to actually make the decisions; the system will make the decisions for us. The decisions will be artificially determined as the process unfolds. The system will always monitor itself and will adjust the process parameters and schedule accordingly.

It’s similarly in sales where the system will enable us to take the right orders, and the system will schedule the steelmaking and rolling processes based on all the information about resources on hand, plant availability and all the hundreds and thousands of factors. That’s an enormous speed increase in better decision making. I think we are on the cutting edge and the new AI together with the smart mill from SMS group helps us to get to that next level.

When saying we’ll be able to get better business results, it doesn’t mean for ourselves only, but for our customers.

How do we supply steel faster, more ac-

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steels for the electric drives – gives us an edge. We will be able to offer the entire package. That’s a very interesting supply chain for the automotive industry and a very interesting opportunity for us.

Your company has part› MPT: nered with Noodle.ai to create a “learning steel mill” powered by artificial intelligence. What does this mean in concrete terms?

MPT International 6 / 2017

curately on time, in tighter tolerances. So our customers can also improve from that.

Does this imply additional › MPT: efforts to integrate AI into the new plant equipment?

Mark Bula: The AI experts from Noodle.ai will help connect our business information system with the

plant automation system. I don’t know if we are probably the only steel mill in North America that is working with an AI company within our organization and implementing artificial intelligence, but we are definitely at the forefront of this.

There are more data points being attained in the automation systems of our mill than has been done in the past. We achieved an important advantage as electrics and automation supplies for all plants – Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 – were provided from one source: SMS group. That helps to collect all the necessary information in a proper way. We wanted only one single provider for all the electric and automation systems to overcome the problems with interfaces, when systems from different providers do not communicate to each other properly.

Your steel mill has been › MPT: awarded with the LEED certification – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Why is this so important to you?

Mark Bula: We had SMS group design this minimill to meet the highest standards in environmental controls.

Knowing that, we immediately went after the LEED certification. Steel users and end users are looking more and more after this certification. Since LEED certification is best known for building design, our customers in the construction industry are very LEED sensitive, and so are the automotive companies. They all want their supply chain to be LEED certificated, too.

So the LEED certification helps us to

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market our products. The entire steel mill and even our office buildings are designed to be energy efficient and environmentally sustainable with a view to receiving LEED certification.

If it’s important for our customers to have a product that is energy efficient and environmentally friendly, we can show them that we have the same importance, the same thinking, the same focus on that. We want to be at the forefront also in terms of sustainability. People realize how we act as a company and that we are environmentally cautious.

Big River Steel was built › MPT: and started up in a fairly short time. How did you manage the project to become reality so fast?

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Mark Bula: There are simple reasons: a balanced approach and excellent teamwork. Our teamwork involves SMS group – our equipment supplier – finance, operations, quality management, sales, shipping, and last but not least our customers. We are happy to have customers who want to team with us – to give us orders that help us to get started. It has been important for us to have the right orders in the first month to get our production started and, after that, are continuously revolving. Teamwork is building creditability and integrity in the way we do business with our partners, with our customers and also internally. People out there and also within our company will take note of that.

Big River Steel has a management team and labor group who gained a lot of expertise from previous projects. With such wealth of knowledge and experience it is easy to build a good teamwork very quickly. Any mistakes from the past can be avoided. A great example is: having one company, SMS group, being the entire provider of electrical and automation systems eliminates any finger pointing between different parties.

It’s those types of mistakes that happen in the past. And you say to yourself, we’re not going to make that mistake again.

Axel Sprenger: Communication has been a key factor for the success

p6JGTG CTG UQOG PKEJG RQUKVKQPU KP VJG OCTMGV CPF VJGTG KU PGY VGEJPQNQI[ VJCV OCMGU KV OQTG EQUV GHHKEKGPV VQ OCPWHCEVWTG VJG RTQFWEVU HQT VJGUG PKEJGU q of this project. Everybody has been open for cooperation at any time. Here we have found a common sense that if there is a problem or disagreement, let’s put it on the table to find a solution. Here at Big River Steel we have a team with an outstanding spirit for cooperation. This has fueled the progress of the project from the very beginning.

Everybody here knows about the importance of communication and mutual trust. Video conferences and other advanced techniques have been used

to save time and made perfect communication at a high level so easy.

Mark Bula: Communication is very important, because it’s the speed of decision making and the speed to come to the conclusions and proceed with the project. People involved like working that way, because it is successful.

Thank you very much for › MPT: the interview.

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› HOT ROLLING

voestalpine opens its most advanced wire rod mill Austrian steelmaker voestalpine continues to strengthen its leading international SRVLWLRQ LQ WKH TXDOLW\ ZLUH VHFWRU ZLWK WKH RIƂFLDO RSHQLQJ RI LWV QHZ KLJK WHFK PLOO at its site in Leoben/Donawitz (Austria). The fully automated plant – total investment volume EUR 140 million – will produce 550,000 t/year of premium wire rod for the most sophisticated applications in the automotive, energy, construction, and mechanical engineering industries.

voestalpine has been actively developing automated and networked production processes on an ongoing basis. “The maximum possible degree of digitalization is one of the key preconditions for continuing to drive forward our technological leadership in future global markets, particularly in the mobility sector. We are setting new standards worldwide for modern industrial manufacturing processes with our new wire rod mill in Donawitz which unreservedly meets every Industry 4.0 standard,� says Wolfgang Eder, chairman of the management board of voestalpine AG. The new line replaces the existing rolling line which has been operational since 1979. All 450 employees have undergone intensive qualification measures in preparation for the new production processes.

voestalpine AG, Metal Engineering FKXKUKQP .GQDGP &QPCYKV\ #WUVTKC Contact: www.voestalpine.com ' OCKN RGVGT HGNUDCEJ"XQGUVCNRKPG EQO &CPKGNK % 5 R # $WVVTKQ +VCN[ Contact: www.danieli.com ' OCKN KPHQ"FCPKGNK EQO

MPT International 6 / 2017

Innovative monitoring with over 2,000 sensors The high-tech mill produces steelbased wire which meets the highest technological standards in terms of purity, strength, and ductility. The wire, in diameters ranging from 4.5 mm to 60 mm, is manufactured on eleven separate rolling paths at throughput speeds of up to 400 km/h.

The rolling line is controlled via an innovative monitoring system with more than 2,000 data acquisition sensors and over 15,000 continuously recorded parameters. “This new technology allows us to evaluate and continually optimize all process steps in real time. In turn, this allows us to offer our customers even higher quality products for their specific requirements,� says Franz Kainersdorfer, member of the management board of voestalpine AG and head of the Metal Engineering division.

Plant layout scheme of the new wire rod and bar-in-coil rolling mill (photo: voestalpine)

(CEVU CPF Ć‚IWTGU QH VJG PGY wire rod mill The new mill was built in a 700-metrelong factory workshop covering approx.

20,000 m². Steel billets are reheated in a walking beam furnace supplied by Andritz Maerz. The reheating furnace is preceded by two buffer beds with separating systems and a feed conveyor with automatic billet identification and removal of faulty billets. The heating technology was designed such that scaling and surface decarburization are as low as possible, heat consumption is kept to a mini-

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Main control pulpit (photo: voestalpine)

The QR code links to a YouTube video showing the new wire rod mill in operation (youtu.be/VAeD4BXJlps)

mum while achieving high temperature uniformity, and the NOx and CO emissions are reduced to the maximum possible extent. The furnace is equipped with an emergency cooling system and a heat recovery system to cool the transport system in the furnace to make best use of the residual heat from the waste gas.

Billets of different dimensions and grades are reheated and then rolled into wire of different gauges in a new rolling line from Danieli. The starting material has the following dimensions:

▪ 150 mm x 150 mm x 18,000 mm, 3,100 kg; ▪ 140 mm x 140 mm x 18,000 mm, 2,800 kg; ▪ 130 mm x 130 mm x 18,000 mm, 2,330 kg; ▪ 130 mm x 130 mm x 11,000 mm, 1,420 kg.

Eleven different rolling paths offer greatest possible flexibility and enable short set-up times. The rolling mill was equipped with state-of-the-art technology as follows:

▪ roughing mill, ▪ TMB twin module block, ▪ PFB multiple drive, pre-finishing and sizing block, ▪ induction heating system for bar temperature homogenization at the intermediate mill, ▪ controlled cooling conveyor, ▪ Danieli Automation 3Q concept, and many others. Maximum coil weight is 3 t. The wire rod line is de-

signed for diameters from 5 to 25 mm, whereas the bar-in-coil line produces diameters from 18 to 60 mm. At the wire rod line, the finishing speed is 110 m/s and at the bar-in-coil line 12 m/s.

The rolling mill is designed to meet very tight size tolerances in terms of diameter and ovality over the whole production range.

/CKP EWUVQOGT QH VJG YKTG rod and bar-in-coil is the CWVQOQVKXG KPFWUVT[ The product range covers a broad range of steel grades: case hardening steels, soft grades, concrete steels, high carbon grades, cold heading grades, bearing steels, welding wire, cold working steels, free cutting steels, spring steels. Over 50% of the wire produced in Donawitz is delivered as a high-quality pre-material to the automotive industry where it is processed into essential safety-relevant and weight-optimized components including cylinder-head bolts, dampening and clutch springs, and airbag cartridges; a modern car contains up to 120 kg of high-tech wire end products. Other areas of application include extremely high-load-bearing strengtheners for components used in wind turbines and in the off-shore sector.

XQGUVCNRKPG VQ DWKNF PGY casting plant and steel TGUGCTEJ EGPVTG KP 5V[TKC In line with its strategic focus on customer segments with highest technology requirements, the voestalpine MPT International 6 / 2017

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group has decided to invest more than EUR 100 million in two future-oriented projects at its Donawitz site in Styria (Austria). 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 hightech seamless tubes. The highly auto-

mated production line with an annual capacity of up to 950,000 t is scheduled to start up operation in 2019.

The voestalpine group’s Metal Engineering division is headquartered in Donawitz, Austria. With its innovative steel solutions, it is one of the world’s leading providers of special rails for the railway infrastructure,

TMB twin module block (photo: voestalpine)

Induction furnaces (right) and intermediate mill (photo: Danieli) MPT International 6 / 2017

quality rolled wire especially for automobile manufacturers, and hightech seamless tubes for the oil and gas industry. “This major investment in a continuous casting line will enable us to produce even higher quality pre-material for our products and further expand our technology leadership in our key customer segments.

This investment will also serve to secure the group’s Donawitz site,” comments Franz Kainersdorfer, member of the management board of voestalpine AG and head of the Metal Engineering division. The new line, which will be set up parallel to the existing line and will replace it in future, features fully digitized process control and is state of the art with respect to Industry 4.0.

The second project is to set up a completely new research center on company grounds in Donawitz that is dedicated to developing even lighter, more corrosion-resistant, and stronger steel grades. Starting in 2018, the 2,800 m² “Metallurgy Centre” research facility will develop future steel products. It will complement steel research activities at the group’s flat steel site in Linz, Austria. “Ongoing development of new steel grades is the basis for ensuring that our final products meet the highest quality criteria. An entire small-scale steel plant will be built at the new research centre, enabling us to transfer our findings directly to the manufacturing plants,” says Kainersdorfer.

The research facility will comprise a small steelmaking plant for heats of around 4 t and downstream steel processing equipment for the production of bars, wire, rails and even seamless tubes. The characteristics of the new steel grades will be tested along the production chain. The R&D activities will help to significantly shorten the innovation cycles for the development of new steel grades. It will also enable voestalpine to supply customers with small batches of innovative steels, something that has not been possible to date.

The goal of the project is to develop new high-performance steels of even higher strength, but lower weight, and better corrosion resistance – especially for the mobility and energy sectors.

The use of these future materials will allow, for example, stronger yet lighter power train components for automotive application, that help to reduce fuel consumption of cars.

www.vip-kommunikation.de

www.siempelkamp.com

Precise and economic pipe production: our presses form large pipes with pressing forces of up to 4,000 tons per meter.

The new “C-U-O Application Software 2.0” optimizes the complete forming process from the plate to the final expansion step.“ Dipl.-Ing. Rüdiger Bartz Sales Metal Forming

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››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Intelligent electronic rotary cam limit switch SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Mechanical position switches such as gearing and spindle limit switches or rather rotary cam limit switches are well-established technology. However, the time and cost involved in setting the switching points of mechanical rotary cam limit switches is enormous, resulting in considerable costs over the lifetime of the devices.

Johannes Hübner Giessen has now launched a new intelligent electronic rotary cam limit switch to replace mechanical limit switches. The new ERC 40 does not require the setting up of individual cam disks, as the configuration software included in the scope of supply makes configuration simple.

For instance, it is possible to copy position switching points directly from the application using a simple drag-anddrop operation. The system is available with 3, 6, 9, 12 or a maximum of 15 relay outputs. Each relay output can represent a cam with two switching points. Thanks to 28 bit resolution

Electronic rotary cam limit switch with intelligent functions

and adjustable switching hysteresis, the device offers an extremely high level of switching accuracy. The switch test function integrated in the configuration software makes it easy to test if the relays are functioning properly.

In the event of any deviations an active

error message, which can be transmitted to the programmable logic controller (PLC) via a digital output, ensures the highest level of control and information.

Contact: www.huebner-giessen.com

Selfcalibration of measuring units GAUGING TECHNOLOGY The measuring heads of the ODAC® series offered by Zumbach have a selfcalibration function (Patent DE3111356) which makes a subsequent, regular calibration superfluous, except when exchanging components. All the relevant parameters for accuracy are continuously monitored by the measuring system and automatically compensated when required. This is particularly important for possible ageing effects of the scanner motor or the possible long-term drift of the measuring electronics.

Zumbach measuring units are calibrated using reference standards which were certified by the federal office for metrology (www.metas.ch) or by accredited laboratories. Each unit is supplied with a detailed calibration protocol. A regular check for measur-

MPT International 6 / 2017

Laser diameter measuring gauge with reference calibration standards

ing errors along with the corresponding protocol can be carried out according to the customer requirements. The regularity of these calibrations is de-

pendent on the customer specific requirements and internal regulations.

Contact: www.zumbach.com

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New range of non-contact thermometers HEAT TREATMENT AMETEK Land has launched a new range of stand-alone infrared pyrometers for heat treatment applications. The SPOT fixed non-contact pyrometer is designed with advanced integrated processing capabilities to make temperature measurement accurate, flexible and easy to use. The model variants allow users to select thermometer type, temperature range, spectral response and optical characteristics to suit applications from 50 to 1,800°C. For heat treaters requiring temperature measurement at induction hardening, carburizing, plasma nitriding and continuous annealing line positions, multi-wave length models, single wavelength models and fibre-optic models, with small optic heads that allow access into the most difficult measure locations, are available.

As everything is built into the SPOT thermometer, it is a truly stand-alone solution that requires no separate processor. The thermometer can be powered by either 24 – 30 V DC or Power-over-Ethernet. One of its major advantages is the outstanding target alignment. It features a throughthe-lens integrated camera with auto brightness and patented, pulsed green LED to make measurement alignment much simpler on hot targets. The technology can be configured locally via a simple, menu-driven interface. SPOT contains a web server allowing remote setup and viewing from any standard web browser.

Contact: www.landinst.com

Stressometer® Systems. Turning steel into gold.

The golden jubilee offering of Stressometer Flatness Control System brings mill speed and productivity to a completely new level. Reduction of strip breaks, rejects and pass time, leads to rewards up to hundreds of thousands dollars/euros on the bottom line.

No wonder our customers believe we are turning steel into gold. Stressometer Flatness Systems – unstoppable for five decades. www.abb.com/stressometer

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

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››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Casting of 600-mm-thick slabs CONTINUOUS CASTING The Dillinger continuous casting machine CC6 was supplied by SMS group in 2015. The first vertical continuous caster without bending at the Dillingen plant is designed for the production of slabs within the 300 to 600 mm thickness range. The first 600-mm-thick slab was produced in July 2017. Particular challenges posed by the slab dimensions of up to 2,200 mm x 600 mm were solved by SMS group by way of the permanent load holding system, the neutral axis technology and the load take-over strategy.

Slabs cast with the CC6 allow Dillinger to manufacture plate with extremely large dimensions and unit weights and to cover an increasingly advanced product mix. Higher volumes of thick plate can now be processed in shorter times. The benefits for customers, for example, in the offshore wind power industry or the boiler and pressure vessel sector include less welding required for larger components, which also results in

Vertical casting machine

600-mm-thick slab

time savings when processing these types of orders. Not least, the line offers the opportunity to continue developing new steels with extreme

surface requirements and unusual dimensions.

Contact: www.sms-group.com

#HEETRHNM OTLOR NE DMG@MBDC DMDQFX DEÖBHDMBX SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Diffusion pumps have no moving parts. They operate on the principle of steamed propellants, enabling extremely reliable and low-maintenance operation.

In addition, they are robust and offer an excellent cost-benefit ratio in high vacuum generation. For decades, these properties have made them the “workhorse” in industrial applications. Vacuum supplier Leybold has recognized the potential to take this established technology to the next level by developing the DIJ diffusion injector pump series. Leybold provides a number of optimized variants and accessories. The housing design has been optimized, offering connections for both ANSI flange and ISO flange components as well as various electrical connection variants. The new five-stage nozzle system has been specially improved for the pressure range from 10 -2 to 10 -3 mbar. Energy consumption has been significantly reduced. There are MPT International 6 / 2017

further improvements in terms of serviceability and integration into the customers’ systems. The greatest savings potential was achieved by selecting an improved heating system and adjusting it to produce the propellant steam.

In addition, energy is saved by an optimized arrangement of the heating elements in the boiler room, the loss-free energy transmission and the thermal insulation. During a typical production cycle, the full heater power must only be used during the initial heating up of the pumps’ boiler room. In the following process phases, the necessary energy supply can be controlled exactly with the settings of the controllers. For this, sensors in the boiler room measure the oil and heater temperature. As soon as the optimum is reached, the heating output is lowered. The power consumption is adapted to the requirements at the respective operating point by means of the energy regulator, operating manually or via a PLC. Compared

Diffusion injector pump

to the energy consumption of unregulated standard pumps, energy savings of up to 50% are possible, depending on the process cycle.

Contact: www.leybold.com

Demonstrate your expertise with professional reprints Take advantage of the excellent reputation of MPT Metallurgical Plant and Technology

Have we reported about your company, your products or systems in one of our journals?

Or have we published an article authored by yourself?

Whatever may be the case: Why not produce a reprint (print and/or digital version) of the published article and use it as a highly effective marketing tool.

We are happy to provide you with more detailed information and discuss individual design options with you.

Interested?

Then visit our website www.mpt-international.com (About us) or talk directly to our staff.

Gabriele Wald · Phone: +49 211 6707- 527 · gabriele.wald@stahleisen.de

Verlag Stahleisen GmbH Sohnstraße 65 · 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany · Phone: +49 211 6707 - 527 · Fax: +49 211 6707- 582

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››› TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Continuous dense phase conveying system SPECIAL EQUIPMENT E-finity® is a continuous dense phase conveying system for fragile materials patented by Schenck Process. Precise pressure monitoring and airflow corrections allow the system to operate efficiently under all conditions, while gently inducing materials through the conveying line.

E-finity® is ideally suited for granular and pelleted materials. Unique air controls use a single air source to operate two to three different systems simultaneously. This results in significant cost savings on both equipment and installation, with continued savings in operation and maintenance.

Contact: www.schenckprocess.com

Low-pressure conveying system for fragile materials

First implementation of new power unit for AC EAF ELECTRIC STEELMAKING Danieli Automation has developed and for the first time implemented a new power unit able to run conventional AC EAFs without generating the problems caused by reactive power, flicker and harmonics to the network. Based on control capabilities provided by power electronic semiconductors, the system, called Q-ONE, reduces overall electric power consumption of the EAF through shorter poweron times and considerably lower elec-

trode consumption. Being a modular system, it can be implemented at any time on newly built or existing AC EAFs. With the new system installed, the EAF no longer requires transformers or SVC filters to perform reliably.

Q-ONE allows the simultaneous use of multi electric power sources. Its modularity makes for easy expansion when more power is required. The system also provides great flexibility allowing EAF operation to continue in

the event of a failure of individual power units and to allow the furnace to operate at full power with just two electrodes. And it reduces operating expenditure as a result of the higher efficiency and the lower energy and electrode consumption achieved. Installation of the next Q-ONE unit – on a 35 t AC EAF – is scheduled to be completed in spring of 2018.

Contact: www.danieli.com

High-performance DRI production IRONMAKING In Abu Dhabi, Emirates Steel operates two twin Energiron DRI plants supplied by Danieli. The first plant has been in operation since 2009, the second one since 2011. In 2014 both plants were upgraded increasing their capacities from 1.6 to 2 million t/year. 100% stable production was reached in only six months. Since MPT International 6 / 2017

then Emirates Steel has been steadily operating the Energiron plants at their increased nominal capacities, producing high-quality hot DRI conveyed to the adjacent Danieli EAFs through the Hytemp pneumatic transport system.

During the last twelve months, DRI plant No. 2 has set various production and availability records. It has

produced more than 2 million t of high-quality DRI, operated for more than 8,400 h (equal to 105% net availability) and for 315 days continuously without any stoppage, confirming the reliability of the Energiron technology.

Contact: www.danieli.com

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Research project on use of woodchips in blast furnaces to reduce CO2 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION In a newly-started research project, the use of biocoal is being tested in blast furnace-based steelmaking. This new method may reduce fossil CO2 emissions by up to 30%. The project is being run by Swerea MEFOS which, together with SSAB in Oxelösund, Sweden, is going to develop methods and carry out testing on a full industrial scale. The biocoal project is an initiative to further reduce CO2 levels using today’s blast furnace technology. If the tests are successful, some of the current coal and coke can be replaced by biocoal without any major investments, resulting in a greater degree of fossil-free manufacturing. The project is to showcase the possibilities for dealing with pre-treated biomass containing renewable energy, for example residual products from

forestry operations. Replacing parts of today’s black coal with biocoal can lead to reduced fossil CO2 emissions. There have been promising results in small blast furnaces with biocoal injection, but this has never been tested on a full industrial scale.

The project commenced in September 2017. Preparation and implementation of operational testing are planned for 2018 – 2019. In 2016, SSAB had already taken the initiative for a fossil-free steel industry together with LKAB and Vattenfall. By using hydrogen instead of coke and coal in steelmaking, the ambition is to create a process that emits water instead of carbon dioxide.

Contact: www.ssab.com

Enhanced control features for variable frequency drives SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) has introduced an advanced electronic control board set for its family of variable frequency drives. The new high-performance control board set is designed for faster processing speed and data communications using floating point calculations. As new features, it is able to respond to industrial communication protocols such as ProfiNet, Modbus RTU, CC-Link, EGD, and TCnet-IO and support Ethernet 100Base-T for high-speed communication. It has highly functional support tool, TMdrive-Navigator, realizing extended data monitoring and reduced troubleshooting time. Designated by the suffix

e2, the next generation control board set has been applied to the TMdrive-70e2, TMdrive-MVe2, TMdrive-10e2, TMdrive-DCe2, Dura-Bilt5i MV, and the LCI retrofit. All TMEIC drive families are available with TMEIC’s proprietary remote connectivity module, which allows operators to remotely connect to the drive and monitor its performance.

Common applications for drives include supplying power to variable speed motors driving pumps, compressors, fans, extruder, mixers, crushers used in a wide range of industries.

Contact: www.tmeic.com

Casting and rolling plant for magnesium wire NON-FERROUS METALS At the end of August 2017, German plant manufacturer hpl-Neugnadenfelder Maschinenfabrik GmbH presented its most recent development: a pilot plant for the production of magnesium wire by casting and direct rolling. This unique facility incorporates a new manufacturing technology developed by hpl-Neugnadenfelder in close cooperation with the Institute of Metal Forming at the technical university Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany.

The casting and rolling plant combines two basic, consecutive processes for the production of magnesium wire which have been carried out separate-

ly so far: the casting of melted magnesium that solidifies abruptly in the roll gap as well as the forming (rolling) of this just solidified magnesium profile in the roll gap. New structures occur inside the material with positive effect on material properties like the formability of the wire.

The newly developed casting and rolling technology provides a basis for further research aiming for the innovative production of magnesium wire – a material that is expected to play an important role in the future revolutionizing especially the automotive and transport industry. The casting and rolling plant will be supplied to the Institute of Metal

Pilot plant for research activities

Forming in Freiberg. Research activities will start immediately after the line will have been put into operation.

Contact: www.hpl-group.de MPT International 6 / 2017

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Complete production lines for ring manufacturing RING ROLLING With its new series of ring rollers, developed in close cooperation with the forging industry, Schuler now provides complete production lines – from heating and automation systems to forging presses and dies – from a single source. The new series is designed for ring sizes with outer diameters of up to 8,000 mm and heights of up to 1,250 mm. The new machines come with a number of special features. For example, the position of the upper bearing of the mandrel can be height adjusted. Thus the length of the roller mandrels can be adapted exactly to the ring geometry, which leads to considerably reduced bending and die loads. Through an additional roller mandrel drive, all forming dies can rotate also during idle times, thus cooling evenly on all sides. The low construction height makes for convenient access and quick roller mandrel changes.

In combination with the main roller in a cartridge design, a die change can be completed in just a few minutes. The short set-up times make the machine an economical solution also for small lot sizes.

Ring roller (Picture by courtesy of Schuler)

Contact: www.schulergroup.com

© Utz Peter Greis, Düsseldorf

Cartoon

Come in and watch William Shakespeare’s „Hamlet“ performed as a classical ballet by leading steel companies facing worldwide overcapacity MPT International 6 / 2017

LITERATURE SERVICE

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Strip processing lines 8 pages, English This brochure features the OPExSTM operation & process expert system developed by CMI for processing lines. The system links expert know-how online into the process control system, analyzing process and coil data to determine process and quality conditions and giving operational advice and guidance.

Contact: E-mail:

www.cmigroupe.com welcome@cmigroupe.com

Roll welding technology 4 pages, English This brochure features the Weldclad brand from Corewire. Weldclad consumables and roll welding machines enable efficient and economical cladding of rolls in steel and non-ferrous production, e.g. in slab, bloom, billet and thin slab casters, hot strip mills, plate and section mills.

Contact: E-mail:

www.corewire.com info@corewire.com

Mechanical vacuum systems 8 pages, English A brochure outlining the competences of Edwards in mechanical vacuum systems for secondary metallurgy processes such as VD, VOD and RH. It includes the technical specification of a typical steel degassing module system and a cost comparison of steam ejectors versus dry running pumps.

Contact: E-mail:

www.edwardsvacuum.com info@edwardsvacuum.com

Non-contact temperature sensors 8 pages, English A brochure describing the range of thermal imagers and pyrometers supplied by LumaSense for steel industry solutions. Examples of applications include coke ovens, blast furnaces, ladle and torpedo cars, slag detection, continuous casting, slabs, bars, billets, burr detection, annealing furnaces, etc.

Contact: E-mail:

www.lumasenseinc.com info@lumasenseinc.com

Non-contact temperature measurement 8 pages, English A technical brochure presenting infrared thermometer technology from Optris for hightemperature applications such as detection of lining wear, breakout prevention in continuous casting plants, hot metal detection, induction welding of pipes, induction hardening, etc.

Contact: E-mail:

www.optris.com sales@optris.com

MPT International 6 / 2017

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››› IN THE NEXT ISSUE…

%QORCP[ RTQƂNG New Dung Quat Iron & Steel complex to be built in central Vietnam Hoa Phat Steel, Vietnam, is going to build a new integrated iron and steel complex as a greenfield project. The company has placed the orders for new steel production facilities with an annual capacity of 4 million t with leading international plant suppliers. Production plants for both long and flat products will be built.

%QNF TQNNKPI Tosyali-Toyo starts sheet production in new cold rolling complex The new cold strip complex at Tosyali-Toyo enables the company to produce cold rolled sheet with various surface coatings: tin-plated, hot-dip galvanized and painted sheets. It marks the expansion of Tosyali into the flat product sector.

Moreover, it is the first application of the patented iBox pickling process in the Europe/MENA region.

5VTKR RTQEGUUKPI Model predictive control applied to a continuous annealing line In a continuous annealing line, temperature control is a most sensitive parameter for the steel quality. Currently, most of the furnaces are controlled by either PDI units or non-static models which are not optimal considering that a furnace is a highly non-linear system. Model predictive control uses a comprehensive model and increases reliability of the control during transitions, which enhances productivity.

3WCNKV[ CUUWTCPEG Cloud-based strip flatness information and control A newly developed cloud-based quality data solution combined with an advanced flatness control system has been implemented at Gränges, Sweden, a leading manufacturer of rolled products (strips) for heat exchangers. The system enables up to 40% improvement of strip flatness.

This preview may be subject to change.

Metallurgical Plant and Technology

Advertising Manager: Sigrid Klinge

+49 211 6707-552, Fax +49 211 6707-923-552 e-mail sigrid.klinge@stahleisen.de Distribution Dept.: Gabriele Wald

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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

+49 211 6707-568 Assistant Editor: Edith Mielke

+49 211 6707-572 e-mail mpt@stahleisen.de Publishing Staff: Managing Director: Frank Toscha

MPT International 6 / 2017

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© 2017 Verlag Stahleisen GmbH, Düsseldorf This journal and all articles and illustrations contained in it are protected by copyright.

With the exception of statutory allowable cases, utilization without the consent of the publishers is a punishable offence. This is particularly applicable to reproductions, translations, microfilming and storing and processing in electronic systems.

Upon acceptance for publication, the author agrees to grant, transfer and assign to the publisher all exclusive rights to publish the work during the lifetime of the copyright.

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MPT International

the leading technical journal for the global iron and steel industry

Metallurgical Plant and Technology

Металлургическое производство и технология металлургических процессов

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Оптимизация формы, прибыльной части и теплоизоляции слитков (с. 10)

North America’s latest steel complex inaugurated at Big River Steel

Повышение эффект эффективности работы станов для произво производства длинномерного проката (с. 16)

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