MPT International 4/2019 (September)

Metallurgical Plant and Technology G 25074

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ISSN 0935-7254

September June 2016 2019

Outokumpu teamed up with Microsoft to digitalize its biggest factory (page 34)

Tata Steel ist using software to refine the process of steel manufacturing (page 40)

New Marker robot improves the cycle time of a hot strip mill (page 46)

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EDITORIAL

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Digitalization, digitalization, digitalization, no other topic has kept METEC exhibitors and visitors busier than the digital revolution in the steel industry. The topic is also a recurrent theme in this issue of MPT International Stainless steel producer Outokumpu even wants to digitize the entire steel production process and has, therefore, taken experts from Microsoft on board. In an interview with Jan Hofmann, EVP Business Transformation & IT, you will learn how the transformation should succeed. At METEC, David Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel, explained how the SMS group supports the steel manufacturer in the digital transformation. With a strategic partnership with Voith, SMS also wants to develop an IIOT platform, while Primetals has signed an alliance for the digital journey of steel producer Gerdau. Tata Steel has introduced software to better plan steel production. Primetals reports in this issue about new "Assistance tools and service solutions for digital production". Digitalization everywhere...

Torsten Paßmann

The second major issue affecting the steel industry is CO2 reduction. Dr Hans Bodo Lüngen, Steel Institute VDEh, summarised the results of the ESTAD conference, which took place parallel to METEC. Conclusion: "CO2 mitigation of 80% and higher is achievable". Primetals presented a new method for carbon-free, hydrogen-based direct reduction for iron ore fines at METEC and summarized it in an article in this issue.

The steel industry is, of course, also developing remarkable innovations that are not directly linked to digitisation or CO2 reduction. Timken, for example, presents innovative bearing solutions for high-speed rolling mill auxiliary equipment. Sorin Tudor, Principal Application Engineer, Timken Europe Customer Engineering, describes what this means. The industry is always in need of new grades of tailor-made steel. The AddSteel project, supported by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, is investigating how these can be produced using additive manufacturing processes. Professor Andrzej Wyclślik from the Silesian University of Technology reports on acceptable errors in chemical analyses of products made from steel and metal alloys.

Digital or analogue - developments in the steel industry remain exciting. With this in mind, we hope you enjoy reading this issue!

Torsten Paßmann Chief Editor, MPT International

MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› CONTENTS

International Industry News 6

Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe Acerinox, Gerdau, Baosteel Zhanjiang, SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group, and more

9 Companies Klöckner & Co., Outokumpu, POSCO,

Schmolz + Bickenbach, and more

13 Personalities Dr. Hans Fischer, Dr. Donatus

Kaufmann, Björn Rosengren, and more

COVER STORY: Within the stainless steel industry Outokumpu sees itself as probably the most transformative

Events 17 Where experts meet innovations...

company. See full story page 34.

Contact: www.outokumpu.com Email: claudia.fischer@outokumpu.com

Review of the "Bright World of Metals": Interview with Friedrich Kehrer, Messe Düsseldorf, impressions, innovations, reports and bulletins.

24 ESTAD 2019 – “CO2 mitigation of 80 % and more is achievable“ Conclusion of ESTAD: Dr. Hans Bodo Lüngen, Steel Institute VDEh, takes stock of the conference, which offered 550 presentations.

Business 26 VDMA Metallurgy: German plant builders between scepticism and optimism in 2019 The VDMA looks back on the economic development of the sector in 2018 and gives an outlook on the expectations for 2019.

Steelmaking – Metallurgy 30 Timken presents innovative Bearing solutions for very high-speed rolling mill auxiliary equipment The focus of this article is on the rolling mill auxiliary equipment operated under high and very high speed conditions in conjunction with the heavy loads.

Digitalization 34 From ‘experience-driven’ to ‘information-driven’ By 2020, Outokumpu aims to have fully digitalized its biggest factory in Tornio, Finland. To achieve this goal, the world leader in stainless steel production has teamed up with Microsoft.

MPT International 4 / 2019

38 SMS digital and Voith to push IIOT platform development Voith and SMS digital, the digital subsidiary of SMS group, announce plans to bundle competencies in platform development. The aim of the cooperation is to offer platform services for their industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions.

39 Gerdau signs strategic partnership with Primetals The focus of the cooperation lies on the execution of digitalization projects, joint development projects and the creation of new business models. The steering committee existing of both experts from Gerdau and Primetals Technologies has already started working.

Process Control 40 Using software to refine the process of steel manufacturing At Tata Steel, the change management and version control software versiondog has become a proven and effective means of combating downtime and increasing production costs. The software experts of Auvesy explain, how it works.

39

34

40

21

Advanced Equipment

Research

43 EAF based melt shops. Smart products; Assistance tools and service solutions for digital production

51 AddSteel project: new steel materials for 3D printing

Digital EAF Steelmaking starts with automated scrap handling and preparation, followed by a fully automated melting process guided by camera systems and automatic measuring devices. An article by Primetals Technologies Germany.

46 Marker Robot Improves Product Performance In this article, Hans Spaans, Technology Director of Tebulo Industrial Robotics, explains how he met this challenge in a country supplying 50% of the world's total steel production.

Quality Assurance 48 Acceptable errors in chemical analyses of products made from steel and metal alloys

North Rhine-Westphalia has launched the NRW Leitmarkt project AddSteel, which is aimed at digitalizing the steel industry. Coordinated by SMS group GmbH, this project will develop new function-adapted steel materials for additive manufacturing.

Columns 3 Editorial 53 Technical innovations 54 In the next issue 54 Imprint

In this article, based on the cooperation of the Silesian University of Technology with the former Baildon Steelworks, permissible errors in chemical analyses of individual alloying elements, determined in a wide range of concentrations in steel and metal alloys, were compared.

MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Africa South-Africa

adopted by the majority of producers worldwide.

Gerdau Cartersville will be upgraded with the addition of three CS type stands after the breakdown mill and before the continuous finishing mill.

In addition, a new cold saw will be added into the finishing section. The upgrade will allow the mill to increase productivity by optimizing the pass design and improving the section control. The heavy-duty Compact Stands compact stands are the ideal choice for demanding applications due to their superior rigidity and allowance for higher loads, especially in universal configuration.

Both projects are slated for installation over multiple shorter shutdowns to minimize production impact. Completion of both is foreseen before the end of 2020.

Photo: Danieli Automation

Acerinox contracted Danieli Automation for the electrical and automation revamp of the stainless steel slab caster at Columbus Stainless (Pty) Ltd., Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The plant produces austenitic stainless

on-site activities (dismantling, mounting, cold and hot commissioning) were included, too.

The first flat bars produced -ahead of schedule- already have shown optimal surface quality and metallurgical properties. The project will continue with a second phase aiming to increase the dimensional product range. Danieli Service, by means of its local Brazilian

ANDRITZ has received an order from North American Stainless for renewal of cold strip line #1 at the Ghent, Kentucky plant. The scope of supply and services includes engineering and delivery of a new chemical processing section, major modifications to the entry section of the line, new mist

Left: Danieli was contracted for the electrical and automation revamp of a stainless steel slab caster. Right: The mill produces specialty steel round bars.

Americas Brazil Gerdau contracted Danieli to upgrade its rolling mill #3 in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo, in order to be able to produce spring steel flat bars. The mill, producing specialty steel round bars, has recently been supplied by Danieli. The project consisted of advisory technical services, expertise sharing, and equipment supply, including new cooling bed eccentric shafts and pneumatic apron flaps. Other MPT International 4 / 2019

structure, offers: solutions to revamping projects, original spare parts, qualified technical assessment, refurbishments and consignment stock in the local workshop.

USA Gerdau AmeriSteel Corp. has selected SMS group for the supply of rolling mill stands to upgrade the heavy section mill in Petersburg, Virginia, U.S., and the medium section mill in Cartersville, Georgia, U.S. “This important investment will enable Gerdau to leverage the synergies between it’s Petersburg, Virginia and Cartersville, Georgia mills, allowing us to increase efficiencies and maintain our position as one of the leading suppliers of structural shapes in the market”, says Kevin Jilbert, Procurement Manager at Gerdau AmeriSteel Corp.

For the Petersburg location, SMS group will supply two CCS® stands (Compact Cartridge Stand) after the breakdown mill group with the aim of increasing productivity, improving performance and section control and allowing for future production range increases. The CCS® stands, developed

by SMS group, are the industry standard for structural steel rolling and are

Photo: NAS

steel, ferritic stainless steel, and duplex stainless in plate, sheet, coil and strip.

The 1990s-era CCM currently is a production bottleneck for the plant, with a maximum casting capacity of 72,000 t/month. The turnkey project will include new PLC and SCADA systems, converting 18 motors/drives from DC to AC power supply and, complete replacement of Level 2 with Danieli Automation Q-CAST, including the Q-ART, Q-CUT, Q-MIX and Q-COOL technological packages. With less than six months from the order to the restart of the plant, and only two weeks of shut down, this project represents an important challenge for Danieli Automation.

North American Stainless, Ghent, Kentucky

cooling section after the furnace, as well as the electrics & automation, and commissioning of the upgraded line.

The modernization work is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2020. North American Stainless (NAS) is the largest fully integrated stainless steel producer in the U.S. and a member of the Acerinox Group.

Otto Junker GmbH has received another incoming order from Wieland Werke AG. In the middle of next year a roller hearth furnace, including handling and packaging

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Asia China

Photo: Primetals Technologies

Baosteel Zhanjiang, a subsidiary company of the Chinese corporation Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd. (Baosteel) contracted Primetals Technologies to supply digitalization packages, automation technology and electrical equipment for its new 1,780 mm hot strip mill to be constructed in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province in the southern part of China. “The implementation of an extensive package of

Baosteel orders digitalization packages, automation and electrics for a new hot strip mill.

Industry 4.0 solutions is an important step to achieve the target of building an intelligent and the most advanced hot strip mill in the world”, Primetals Technologies states. The project is expected to be finished at the end of 2022. In addition, a cooperation agreement for the joint development of advanced Industry 4.0 solutions in hot rolling was signed.

News in brief Shandong Laigang Yongfeng Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Yongfeng) awarded Friedrich KOCKS GmbH & Co KG, Hilden, Germany, for the supply of a RSB® 370++/4 in 5.0 design, in conjunction with the KOCKS Size Control System SCS® and the 4D EAGLE® profile measuring gauge. The privately owned Yongfeng Steel Co. Ltd., founded in 2002, is a subsidiary of Yongfeng Group Co. Ltd. and one of the major steel producers in Shandong Province Currently, Yongfeng produces about 5 million tons of steel per year with about 6,500 employees.

China Steel Corporation (CSC), Taiwan, has awarded SMS group the contract to supply three 160ton converters for its No. 1 steel making plant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The aim of the upgrade is to improve the availability of the converters and reduce the need for maintenance. Replacement of the old and commission-

Photo: SMS group

equipment, will be delivered to the subsidiary Wieland Copper Products, LLC, a copper tube production site in Pine Hall, North Carolina. In future, all copper coils (LWC coils) will be produced using the new roller hearth furnace and, after annealing, will be appropriately packaged ready for dispatch directly to the customer.

The plant will operate using the Otto Junker mass flow principle. The material to be annealed will be heated indirectly by high convection in a protective gas atmosphere. Only a minimal excess temperature is required to heat the coils through gently but quickly.

At the end of the heating process, the material is uniformly heated within narrow temperature tolerances, resulting in a consistent product quality throughout the entire coil that meets the highest customer requirements.

The interior of selected products can also be purged with the patented Otto Junker Copper Tube Purging system (CTP).

Several production lines in Pine Hall have been renovated and modernized as part of individual expansion steps, clearly demonstrating Wieland Werke AG's commitment to the USA as a location.

BOF converter shop, delivered by SMS group.

ing of the three new converters are scheduled for the period 2020 to 2022.

The scope of supply covers the converter vessels, the trunnion rings, the proven lamella-type vessel suspension system, the tilt drives, the X-Pact® electrical and automation systems for the tilt drives, and supervision of erection and commissioning. The maintenance-free lamella-type converter suspension system ensures unrestrained arrangement of the converter vessel in the trunnion ring.

Benxi Iron & Steel Group expands its production for high quality steels. Benxi Iron & Steel Group (Benxi) awarded Friedrich KOCKS GmbH & Co KG, Hilden, Germany, for the supply of a RSB® 370++/4 in 5.0 design. Benxi Iron & Steel Group, belongs to Bengang Steel Plates Co., Ltd.a Chinese holding company based in Benxi, Liaoning Province and producing around 15 Mio. anual tons of steel.

With the decision to implement a KOCKS RSB® 370++/4 in the existing 600.000t/a bar mill line, Benxi intends to further expand their share in the

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Fuxin Special Steel Co., Ltd., a stainless steel producer based in Zhangzhou in the southeastern province of Fujian, China, and part of Formosa Plastics Corporation, is going to expand its production facilities by a new hot rolling mill as well as cold rolling mills including continuous annealing line and numerous finishing lines. The supply contract for coil transport logistics between the individual plants was awarded to AMOVA GmbH, a company of SMS group.

Several bids were received for British Steel and the agreement signed between Ataer Holdings A.S. and the Official Receiver sees the preferred buyer in exclusive talks to confirm their intention to take on the steel making business and its subsidiaries. The Official Receiver said: “Following discussions with a number of potential purchasers for the British Steel group over the past few weeks I am pleased to say I have now received an acceptable offer from Ataer Holdings A.S. for the purchase of the whole business and I am now focusing on finalising the sale.“ Tubacex increases order intake by 40% in a recovering market. Sales amounted in the first half of the year to €323.5 million and the EBITDA stood at €33.3 million with a margin of 10.3%, which is higher than the margin in the same period of the previous year. Profit amounted to €5 million. >> MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

high demanding SBQ sector for high quality bearing steels and steels for the automotive industry. The KOCKS 3-roll block is replacing a 2-high sizing system. The RSB® 370++/4 will produce straight bars step less in a range between Ø 12.0 to 80.0 mm onto the cooling bed and will be located as a finishing unit after the 14 conti-stands in the roughing and intermediate mill.

The commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2020.

First Heat with first INTECO TiVAR in China. The Chinese steel producer Chongqing Kingsley Titanium Technology awarded INTECO with the Engineering and Supply of a Titan-VAR (Ti-VAR), with which ingots with an approx. weight of 17t and a diameter of 1200mm can be remelted in one melt station. After the onschedule delivery beginning of 2019 and the erection finalized this spring, now and very much to the pleasure of the client and the INTECO expert time on site the first heat was carried out successfully.

The remelted ingot was produced with the so called “double-stick” method, where one long electrode is welded out of two smaller ones. First the stub is welded with the consumable part and then the second electrode is welded with the first one in the furnace according to predefined process parameters. This project represents the first successful commissioning of an INTECO TI-VAR in the upcoming and promising Chinese market. INTECO is confident that with this successful commissioning many follow up orders will be secured within the Chinese Titanium industry.

Benxi Steel (Bengang Group Corporation), Liaoning Province, China, has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of a single-strand slab caster to be installed at the steelmaker’s works in Benxi in north-east China. The new casting plant will be designed for an annual production of up to 1.6 million tons of steel slabs of 230 millimeter thickness and between 1,000 and 1,900 millimeters wide. The caster equipment will be prepared to be extended to a slab thickness of 250 millimeters. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2020. The new caster will produce slabs MPT International 4 / 2019

in high-grade steels, primarily for the automotive industry.

Japan Tokyo Steel chooses Q-ASC for scrap selection. Tokyo Steel, the largest steel scrap consumer in Japan, purchases various types of scrap to feed its electric-arc furnace melting process. To support scrap handling and classification of the incoming material, the steelmaker selected Danieli Automation to supply the Q-ASC Automatic Scrap Classification system.

Q-ASC will go through various self-learning phases to achieve fully automatic scrap classification, providing real-time feedback for yard operations and objective support in claims made to suppliers. The project will be implemented at the Kyushu plant but the cloud-based system architecture will make possible a seamless extension of Q-ASC to other Tokyo Steel plants.

The Q-ASC application, part of Danieli Automation DIGI&MET, is a response to EAF steelmakers’ need for Industry 4.0-compatible data technology.

Russia Danieli has been awarded a contract by PAO Severstal for the upgrade of plate mill 2800 at Cherepovets (Russia), in order to improve plate surface quality and increase production volume.

The order includes a new hot dividing shear; two new, disc-type cooling beds; upgrade to the plate tilter for plate inspection; two chain transfers; and new piling facilities consisting of over 3,000 tons of new equipment.

The hot dividing shear is a fully hydraulic device capable of cutting plates with thicknesses up to 50 mm, at temperatures up to 1000°C. Furthermore, the shear is able to shift offline when not in use, to protect it from the long exposition to high temperatures. The new pair of cooling beds will ensure the requested surface quality of the plates thanks to the disc-type design, which also will allow also a good cooling ratio.

Moreover, Danieli Automation will provide new L1 and L2 automation systems for the supplied equipment, in-

cluding a crop optimization system for the hot dividing shear. The modernization, to be carried out is several steps, is expected to be completed in Spring 2021.

Vietnam New quenching Line for Tung Ho High-speed rolling mill. Tung Ho Steel Vietnam chose Danieli to upgrade its 600,000-tpy flexible rolling mill in Phu My. Coming four months after the FAC for the new bar and light-section rolling mill, this order consists of an in-line water quenching system for 10to 43-mm straight rebars. Quenching will optimize the alloying elements in the rebar products and achieve the high standard requirements of yield strength, coupled with very good weldability and improved elongation.

Just one chemical composition setup for the starting billet will optimize production planning for both melt shop and rolling mill. The project includes piping and cabling detail design together with mechanical and electrical equipment supply and advisory services. Installation and start-up are scheduled during the shutdown at the end of 2019.

Europe Germany Salzgitter AG selects SMS group to build a new hot-dip galvanizing line at ist Salzgitter site.

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG), a subsidiary of Salzgitter AG, has launched its “Hot-Dip Galvanizing 3” (FV3) project and one of its largest single investments of the last decade at the Salzgitter location. For plant engineering, the company selected SMS group as project partner. In addition to supplying all main components, SMS will also be responsible for erection and commissioning.

The new production facility, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons, supplements SZFG’s already existing hotdip galvanizing lines. “This project is a key component in the strategy of Salzgitter Group that focuses on qualitative growth in the steel strip business and will help us strengthen our

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS market position as a producer of premium products for national and international customers in the automotive industry,” explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, Chief Executive Officer of Salzgitter AG. FV3 is scheduled to start operation in 2022 and will then produce thirdgeneration AHSS (Advanced HighStrength Steel) grades for chassis and body applications which play an important part in lightweight automotive construction and in vehicle security.

Ulrich Grethe, member of the Group Management Board and CEO of SZFG’s Management Board says: “At the same time, FV3 is an essential factor in securing the future viability of Salzgitter as a steel location and the jobs there, as this investment will enable us to further optimize our already high-quality product portfolio.” The new facilities to be supplied by SMS group will produce hot-dip galvanized sheets with thicknesses of between 0.7 and 2.5 millimeters and widths from 800 to 1,700 millimeters. The strip is wound to coils with a maximum weight of 32 tons.

The production of high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel grades will be ensured by the integration of a high-performance furnace from Drever International, a member of SMS group, which achieves very high cooling rates with the innovative UFCplus rapid gas cooling system and features an oxidation/reduction process thanks to PrOBOx® technology.

The range of materials will cover ultra-high- strength dual-phase steels

through to complex-phase steels and on to quench and partitioning steels,” explains Dr.-Ing. Michael Brühl, Managing Director of cold-rolled flat products at Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. thyssenkrupp has approved the investment funds to build a new, state-of-the-art coating line for packaging steel at its Andernach site. As well as meeting the technical requirements for a new process for the production of chromium-coated packaging steel, this will further improve health, safety and environmental performance. The new process will replace the current production method which, due to the EU-wide ban on chromium (VI) compounds in production processes, will not be permissible in the future. Coating with chromium is one of the key steps in the production of high-quality, printable packaging at thyssenkrupp in Andernach. thyssenkrupp’s Rasselstein plant in Andernach is the world’s biggest packaging steel manufacturing site.

Through the tightknit network of its German sites, thyssenkrupp pursues a consistent premium strategy all the way from its starting product steel through to end products such as highend tinplate.

Slovenia PSI Metals has been commissioned by the SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group and its steel company SIJ Met-

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al Ravne for the implementation of the PSImetals modules Production, Quality, Order Dressing and Order Scheduling and Line Scheduling. PSImetals 5.18 will replace two legacy systems in the melt shop and downstream area.

Together with PSI, SIJ Metal Ravne is starting a project directed to the legacy manufacturing systems replacement and creating a new digital manufacturing environment. Project scope includes sales, order-based production planning, production and technological process-control and quality management control as well as certification and production of stockyards management. “This project reflects our digital manufacturing strategy and will allow us to complete construction of a fully integrated digital manufacturing architecture on SIJ Metal Ravne,” said Vladimir Arshinov, CIO of the SIJ Group.

Companies The macroeconomic environment has clouded over significantly since the start of the business year 2019/20, states voestalpine Group. By and large, this is due to the fallout from the international trade conflicts and the associated, growing weakness of the global economy, which affects above all Europe’s export-oriented industries, and the slumping automotive industry in particular. At EUR 3.3 billion, revenue for Q1 2019/20 3.8% is lower than in the previous year (EUR

>>

IRONMASTERS 2020

European Direct Reduced Iron and Alternative Ironmaking Conference October 28 - 30, 2020 Schönbrunn Palace Vienna/Austria

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ironmasters2020@asmet.at www.ironmasters2020.org

1st announcement Abstract Submission - January 24, 2020 ©gettyimages.at

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

During the second quarter, Kaman Corp. announced the anticipated sale of its Distribution segment to affiliates of Littlejohn & Co., LLC for $700 million in cash, subject to customary closing conditions and working capital adjustments. The Distribution segment results are reported as discontinued operations for all periods in the release. “In our continuing operations, we exit the second quarter with strong sales of $174.7 million, up 5.0% from the first quarter,” Neal J. Keating, Chairman, President & CEO, reports. Sales declined when compared to the second quarter of 2018, due to unfavorable foreign exchange of $1.9 million and the absence of $2.5 million of sales from the Aerospace businesses sold in 2018. “Highlighting our performance in the quarter was an 8.2% increase in Aerospace operating profit to $24.6 million, or 14.1% of sales, when compared to the prior year”.

In the second quarter of 2019, operating income (EBITDA) of Klöckner & Co SE, at €51 million before material special effects, was below the prior-year figure of €85 million. While the company benefited from a very positive market environment in the second quarter of 2018, earnings in the reporting quarter were impacted by negative price and volume effects. Including material special effects, EBITDA was €82 million as in the prior-year quarter. The sale of a property in the United Kingdom had a positive one-off effect of €36 million. Conversely, personnel-related measures at the Group holding company in Germany and in France reduced EBITDA by about €5 million MPT International 4 / 2019

Deloitte CIS has completed an assessment of MMK’s digital maturity and transformation potential as part of MMK's digitalization strategy.

The joint team applied Deloitte's global experience to analyse MMK's current digital initiatives and future potential. Currently, as part of the Company’s Industry 4.0 initiative, MMK is implementing more than 20 projects, dozens have been completed and the results are already visible. Digital solutions are being implemented at every stage of production. For example, when purchasing coal concentrate, an optimisation model is used to assess the quality and volume of supply, which takes into account economic, logistical and other parameters. At the sales stage, an optimiser is used to

Klöckner & Co expects negative impacts from a fall in demand.

in total. Net income was €28 million, compared with €33 million in the prior-year quarter. Earnings per share consequently came to €0.28 (Q2 2018: €0.33). Klöckner & Co has continued to make good progress in its digital transformation, the company states.

Accordingly, the proportion of sales generated via digital channels increased in the second quarter of 2019 to 29% (Q2 2018: 20%). For the remaining course of the year, Klöckner & Co expects negative impacts from a fall in demand, principally from the European automotive and mechanical engineering sectors.

Photo: MMK

3.5 billion). EBITDA fell by 27.7%, from EUR 513 million to EUR 371 million, EBIT dropped by 51.6%, from EUR 324 million to EUR 157 million.

Profit before tax declined from EUR 294 million to EUR 124 million, profit after tax from EUR 226 million to EUR 90 million. Gearing ratio rose from 49% to 58%, equity stable is at EUR 6.7 billion, number of employees is 51,670 (-0.3%). Cooling economy and trade conflicts as well as price increase in iron ore and CO2 emission certificates were main factors”, the company emphasizes.

Photo: Klöckner

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Currently, as part of the Company’s Industry 4.0 initiative, MMK is

Heating furnace No. 4 at 3000 Heavy Plate Mill (3000 Mill) at Metinvest Group’s Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol was shut down for a major overhaul. The works are progressing under the large-scale production modernization project at Mariupol Assets of the Company. As a result of UAH 10.5 million worth major overhaul, energy efficiency of the equipment will meet the best world standards. Major overhaul of heating furnace No. 4 of 3000 Mill of Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol will minimize heat losses and improve energy efficiency to the level of the best European practices. The overhaul commenced in the beginning of June. The investments planned for the upgrade of this equipment will comprise approximately UAH 10.5 million. Hinges, defective sections of the furnace casing, brickwork of sidewalls in zones Nos. 2-7 and roof of zone No. 5, steel structures and brickwork of the discharge end wall, as well as end gates and shock-free discharge slab tables will be replaced within 105 days; piping for bottom beams and bottom brickwork will be partially replaced.

implementing more than 20 projects.

load shipments in ports, this is synchronised with the formation of calendar production plans and also the development of the demand forecasting model for finished goods. Power engineers use the digital twin turbine to sel ect the optimal operating parameters and continue to improve the energy management platform. To improve the efficiency of maintenance and repairs of equipment, an intelligent project life cycle system was launched to simulate and plan control, monitoring and management of the equipment’s life cycle.

During the first half of 2019, Outokumpu’s sales decreased to EUR 3,415 million (EUR 3,553 million). Adjusted EBITDA decreased to EUR 145 million (EUR 269 million), heavily impacted by weaker stainless steel demand. Deliveries during the first six months of the year were 8% lower compared to the same period last year. Graphite electrode and other input costs were higher on average and the Ferrochrome result was lower due to the lower benchmark price. Raw ma-

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Photo: Outokumpu

INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

The stainless demand is weakening.

terial-related inventory and metal derivative losses were EUR 29 million (losses of EUR 4 million). Other operations and intra-group items’ adjusted EBITDA amounted to EUR -10 million, EUR 25 million lower than during the first half of 2018 which was positively impacted by gains from emission allowance derivatives.

EBIT was EUR 16 million (EUR 176 million) and net result amounted to EUR -33 million (EUR 74 million) during the first half of 2019.

POSCO’s new product POSCO-Box Column (P-Box column), along with the P-Box pillar and ledger beam bonding technology received designation as “new construction technology #868” by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. The core of the new technology is to connect horizontal reinforced concrete to P-Box steel pipe column filled with concrete.

The P-Box reduced the number of welding by folding hot-rolled steel – it

Invitation to www.mamc2019.org

only needs one welding in the center, the company states. “This simplified manufacture process, and thanks to the stiffening member, constructors can apply 6 mm boards instead of the previously-used 9 mm boards." The new building technology starts with manufacturing long P-Box columns at factories, then attaching anchors to the columns beforehand. Anchor connects girders to columns. Then, the connected anchors and P-Box columns are transported to the construction site where reinforced girder is horizontally attached to the anchors. Because the height of a P-Box is 15 meters, the new technology can erect three floors at one go, instead of one floor, to dramatically save costs and time in constructing a building.

About a generally satisfactory performance, with all business units making positive contributions to profit in the first half of 2019, reported the Salzgitter Group. The Group also closed the second quarter of the current financial year with a pre-tax profit (€19.4 million). Declining rolled steel prices in combination with further raw materials price hikes resulted in a downturn of the earnings situation of the steel-related segments. Meanwhile, the KHS Group as the largest unit of the Technology division, continues to develop very satisfactorily, the company emphasizes.

In the first six months of 2019, the Salzgitter Group reported marginally lower external sales of €4.5 billion

In the first six months of 2019, the Salzgitter Group reported sales of € 4.5 billion.

compared with the previous year’s period (H1 2018: €4.6 billion). The main driver of this development were the volume- and price-induced declines in the Strip Steel, along with the Plate / Section Steel and Trading business units. Earnings before taxes achieved a presentable €145.3 million (H1 2018: €198.6 million). Salzgitter AG anticipates slightly lower sales above the €9.0 billion mark, a pre-tax profit (EBT) of between €125 million and € 175 million and a return on capital employed (ROCE) that is tangibly below the previous year's figure.

SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH reported a 16.2% decline in sales volume from 580 kilotons in the second quarter of 2018 to 486 kilotons. Due to higher sales prices, revenue decreased proportionally to EUR 807.6 million (11.1%) from EUR 908.3 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was 52.3% lower at EUR 40.5 million compared to EUR 84.9 million in the same quarter of the previous year. >>

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS has been operating since 1993. Over the years, the company has established itself as a service company for steel and rolled product manufactures around the world due to the production of machines with personalized settings based on individual customer needs.

In particular, tying machines for bundles and packages have reached a very high level of customer satisfaction and become one of the leading products in the market. The new entity will operate under the name “ATS Mechatronics s.r.l.”.

Clemens Iller, CEO SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH

EBITDA reached EUR 28.0 million, 65.8% less than the EUR 81.8 million achieved in the second quarter of 2018.

Both the Group's order intake and order backlog continued to decline. The steel sector also suffered from the unfavorable market setting, triggered primarily by the trade conflict between the USA and China. In addition, threats from the United States to introduce new tariffs on EU products, the Brexit process and other global crises weighed on the confidence of consumers and producers. In the second quarter, SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH initiated further measures to mitigate the impact on earnings in the short term.

Administrative costs were reduced, the number of contract workers reduced, ongoing projects prioritized and maintenance works postponed where this poses no risk to our operational performance vis-à-vis customers and to employee safety. In addition, production was cut back in order to adjust inventories to the current low demand, particularly from the automotive industry. In terms of structural improvements, the focus was on implementing the turnaround plan of Finkl Steel and the continued integration of Ascometal.

AIC Automazioni Industriali Capitanio has acquired ATS, Applicazioni Tecnologiche Siderurgiche S.p.A, a producer of machines for long product hot rolling mills, located in Trasaghis (UD) in Italy. The acquired assets include know-how, designs, brands, buildings, equipment and warehouses in addition to other strategic technical possessions. Applicazioni Tecnologiche Siderurgiche s.r.l.

MPT International 4 / 2019

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Primetals Technologies will acquire ABP Induction Systems (ABP), a global manufacturer and servicer of induction furnaces and heating systems from CM Acquisitions, a Chicago based private equity firm. ABP offers a variety of best-in-class products and comprehensive services to blue-chip customers, including leading automotive OEMs and suppliers, industrial manufacturers, independent foundries as well as steel plant manufacturers and steel producers. MHI and Primetals Technologies will jointly take ABP’s shares. Future business activities will be conducted in close cooperation with and under the leadership of Primetals Technologies. The completion of the acquisition of ABP is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities, and is planned to close around the end of August, 2019.

ABP provides state-of-the-art equipment for ferrous and non-ferrous metal casting, forging and steel making. Its main products are induction melting, holding and pouring furnaces as well as induction heaters. ABP’s business is built upon a large and global customer base with more than 1,600 active units worldwide. The company also exclusively provides special induction heaters to Primetals Technologies for endless strip production, which helps provide a competitive edge.

ArcelorMittal completes sale of several European steelmaking assets to Liberty House Group.

ArcelorMittal announced that it completed the sale to Liberty House Group that form the divestment package the Company agreed with the European Commission during its merger control investigation into the Company’s ac-

quisition of Ilva S.p.A. Assets included within the divestment package are: ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia), ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy), ArcelorMittal Dudelange (Luxembourg) and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liège (Belgium). The total net consideration for the assets payable to ArcelorMittal is €740 million.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has approved thyssenkrupp’s climate targets. At the same time the organization has confirmed that thyssenkrupp is acting in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris climate conference, where the international community agreed to limit future global warming to well below two degrees.

The SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Its aim is to establish science-based climate targets as standard business practice, by defining and promoting best practice in science-based target setting. To this end, the targets defined by companies are subject to an extensive independent assessment based on the latest climate science.

There are currently only 10 German companies whose climate targets have been approved by the SBTi. thyssenkrupp recently announced that it aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this, the company has set two binding medium-term targets which have both been validated by the SBTi: Compared with the base year 2018, emissions from production and sourced energy (scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions) are to be cut by 30 percent. This target is in line with an emission reduction pathway of “well below two degrees Celsius”.

Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) marked a steady start to the financial year by posting 6% growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) in Q1FY20 at Rs 84 crore compared to Rs 79 crore in the corresponding period last year (CPLY). During Q1FY20, net revenue of the Company remained stable at Rs 2,147 crore and EBITDA was recorded at Rs 237 crore. Melt production in Q1FY20 also remained consist-

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ent at 160,291 tonnes. Sales volume slightly slipped to 151,873 tonnes in Q1FY20 against 170,422 tonnes in CPLY, because of low market sentiments in certain segments such as hollowware. The Company’s overall performance remained steady in spite of weak demand in the first quarter. Performance of JSHL’s Specialty Products Division during the first quarter of FY20 saw an increased sale of ~6% in products like blade steel, precision strips, and coin blanks. Stainless steel demand from Railways for coaches and wagons continued to drive volumes.

The Company has also commissioned a new induction furnace in the steel melting shop to enhance operational efficiency. Reduction in production cost, increase in yield and improved resource utilisation will be the key benefits from this initiative going forward. voestalpine secures 10-year contract with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce. A new contract with Rolls-Royce, a world-leading engine manufacturer, draws on high- performance materials from voestalpine. As a new European producer, the Group’s High Performance Metals Division supplies pre-materials for engine disks which are required to withstand huge

The division specializes on materials for aircrafts.

forces during flight. High-tech materials and special forgings from voestalpine are already used in structural, undercarriage, wing, and engine parts in all major models of aircraft, from Airbus and Boeing to Embraer and Bombardier. The Group currently generates revenue of around EUR 400 million in the growing aerospace market, and this figure is expected to increase to EUR 500 million over the medium term.

Schuler to supply one of the world’s largest presses to thyssenkrupp. 16,000 tons of concentrat-

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ed press force, 1,700 tons of weight and a height of ten meters: The Farina forging press, which thyssenkrupp Gerlach ordered from Schuler in April 2019, is one of the world's largest mechanical systems of its kind. Starting in 2021, the GLF 16000 machine will form truck front axles and crankshafts at the Homburg site. Schuler had taken over the Italian press manufacturer Farina in 2018. thyssenkrupp has been so satisfied with a 4,000-ton forging press, which Farina had supplied in 2006, that the company again opted for the GLF series – but this time for a four times more powerful model.

Schuler will manufacture the large press at its Erfurt location. “The main press of the new forging line will be the world’s first eccentric press of this size, capacity and output to go into operation,” says Dr. Franz Eckl, COO of the Forged Technologies business unit. “It will produce around 360,000 forged components per year.”

Personalities Dr Hans Fischer, CEO Tata Steel Europe, has decided to retire from the position of CEO with effect from July 1, 2019. He will continue to serve on the Board of Tata Steel Europe as a non-executive director and will continue to advise Mr T.V. Narendran, CEO and MD of Tata Steel Limited. Dr Henrik Adam, currently Chief Commercial Officer Tata Steel Europe, has been appointed to succeed Hans as the CEO. He will also join the Board of Tata Steel Europe and report to Mr Narendran.

Henrik Adam joined Tata Steel Europe in 2011 as Chief Commercial Officer, helping to transform the company into a customer-centric organisation.

Before joining Tata Steel, he held a wide range of roles at thyssenkrupp including CEO of thyssenKrupp Electrical Steel. He has also been a Director of EEF (now called Make UK), the UK’s manufacturers’ organisation, and Chairman of WorldAutoSteel, the automotive group of the World Steel Association.

Born in Essen, in Germany, he is a mechanical engineer who started his career as a scientist in vehicle safety technologies.

T.V. Narendran said: “During his tenure as CEO and before that as Chief Technical Officer, Hans has helped set MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Tata Steel Europe on course to become sustainable in every sense, improving the company’s competitiveness and focus on customers.

In a further change announced by the Board of Tata Steel Europe, Mr N K Misra, Executive Director Finance Tata Steel Europe, will retire from his position on December 31, 2019, though he will continue as an Adviser to the company’s Executive Committee.

The Board has also appointed Mr Sandip Biswas, Group Executive Vice President Finance Tata Steel Limited, to the Board of Tata Steel Europe. He has additionally been appointed Executive Director Tata Steel Europe and will be responsible for driving the company’s transformation programme. He will be working closely with Mr N K Misra for a smooth transition and take over as the CFO of Tata Steel Europe from January 1, 2020. He will operate from Port Talbot in the UK and report administratively to Dr Henrik Adam, CEO Tata Steel Europe, and functionally to Mr Koushik Chatterjee, Executive Director and CFO Tata Steel Limited.

In the context of the strategic and structural realignment of the thyssenkrupp Group, Dr. Donatus Kaufmann, member of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG, reached an agreement with the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG to end his mandate as a member of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG by mutual agreement. Dr. Donatus

ID 114119252 © Eyewave | Dreamstime.

Dr. Donatus Kaufmann

Kaufmann will leave the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG and the company effective September 30, 2019. Dr. Donatus Kaufmann has been a member of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG since February 1, 2014. “In recent years, Donatus Kaufmann has enhanced the change in values and culture as well as the Group's compliance and governance approach in a way that is exemplary in German industry. He has set a clear course in the Group's innovation management and consistently advanced the digital transformation of the industrial group and its businesses,” Martina Merz, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG states.

Herbert Eibensteiner. At the Annual General Meeting, Herbert Eibensteiner took over as the Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG from Wolfgang Eder, who served in this position for more than 15 years.

Herbert Eibensteiner is an internationally experienced manager, who started his career at voestalpine as a plant engineer in 1989 after completing his degree in mechanical engineering/business management. He held numerous executive positions in the company before being appointed to the Management Board and simultaneously the Head of the Metal Forming Division in 2012. Eibensteiner’s switch to the Steel Division in October 2014 made him the Head of the Group’s biggest revenue earner. “I look forward to continuing to further develop voestalpine’s successful business model in a consist-

Management change: Herbert

Wolfgang Eder hands chairmanship of the Management Board to

Eibensteiner (right) takes over from Wolfang Eder.

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ent way. With a focus on innovation, internationalization, and value-added growth as well as our commitment to sustainability, we will continue our journey towards a technology group”, Eibensteiner stated. Wolfgang Eder, the departing CEO, worked for the voestalpine Group for 41 years, being more than 15 years Chairman of its Management Board. Under his leadership, the voestalpine Group developed from an Austrian steel company into a global technology group.

Björn Rosengren, President and CEO of Sandvik, will leave the company as of 1 February 2020. He will join ABB on February 1, 2020 as Chief Executive Officer and succeed CEO, Peter Voser, in this role on March 1, 2020. At that time Peter Voser will revert to his position at ABB solely as Chairman of the Board. “Björn Rosengren has, since he joined Sandvik in November 2015, established a solid decentralized business model for the company and made the organization more flexible and efficient,” says Johan Molin, Chairman of the Board for Sandvik. “This has not been an easy decision. Sandvik is a great company with a lot of future po-

Björn Rosengren

tential and I will continue to lead the organization with a strong commitment until end of January”, says Björn Rosengren.

DVS General Manager Dr. Boecking on the Board of Directors of IIW. The 72nd Annual Assembly with a subsequent conference of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) was particularly significant for DVS German Welding Society this year, be-

cause the DVS General Manager Dr. Roland Boecking was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors of IIW. Thus, Germany is now represented with three German members in this body of the International Institute of Welding to which Professor Thomas Böllinghaus, Vice-President of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin, and Dipl.Ing. Christian Ahrens, International Welding Consultant, Duisburg, already belong.

Dr. Boecking considers it to be an honour to be appointed to the Board of Directors. He is looking forward to the forthcoming tasks in IIW. "The next months will certainly become intensive and exciting," said the DVS General Manager. Because the headquarters of IIW will be relocated from Paris/France to Genoa/Italy on January 1, 2020. Dr. Luca Costa from the Italian Welding Society is becoming the new CEO of IIW and resigned from his office as the Treasurer of IIW for this purpose. The CEO of IIW until now, Dr. Cecile Mayer from the French Welding Institute, was thanked for her many years of commendable activity.

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››› EVENTS

Events › 16 – 21 September Hannover, Germany Organizers: Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinenfabriken e.V www.emo-hannover.de EMO. The Exposition Mondiale de la Machine Outil or EMO (German: Werkzeugmaschinen-Weltausstellung) is the world's largest trade fair for metalworking. It currently takes place every two years in the "Hanover - Hanover - Milan" cycle. With the Hanover Exhibition Centre, EMO has the largest exhibition area in the world at its disposal.

› 22 – 25 November Mobile, Alabama, USA Organizers: International Titanium Association www.titanium.org/events TITANIUM USA 2019. The event will provide a platform to gain insights into the global titanium industry and will serve as a premier networking venue for business executives and consumers of titanium alike.

› 25 – 26 September 2019 Budapest, Hungary Organizers: Quartz Business Media www.futuresteelforum.com Future Steel Forum. What is ‘platformisation’ and how does it relate to digital manufacturing? How can cloudbased design help steelmakers improve efficiency and reduce costs? How far can we go with ‘deep machine learning’ without losing our grip on ethical responsibility and what exactly is ‘knowledge engineering’? These are questions that need to be answered if steelmakers are going to gain a greater understanding of the world surrounding Industry 4.0 and its associated technologies. This is the focus of this year’s Future Steel Forum in Budapest.

MPT International 4 / 2019

› 25 - 26 September 2019 Memphis, USA www.rolling-day.com Cold and Hot Rolling Day. Heavy-hitters from the steel industry host this event dedicated to the latest advancements in cold and hot steel rolling technology.

› 5 – 8 November 2019 Stuttgart, Germany Organizers: P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG www.blechexpo-messe.de Blechexpo and Schweisstec. The trade fair duo of Blechexpo and Schweisstec takes place on a two-year cycle in the state trade fair centre in Stuttgart (Landesmesse Stuttgart) and is the only event in the world that deals with the complementary technologies of sheet metal processing and joining technology. Within the shortest timeframe, Blechexpo has been able to gain a leading position in Europe and now ranks second in the world on the list of trade fairs for sheet metal processing. The Schweisstec international specialist trade fair for joining technology forms the ideal complement. It presents all of the relevant mechanical and thermal joining and connecting procedures as well as thermal welding processes.

› 12 – 15 November Moscow, Russia Organizers: Expo-Park Exhibition www.metal-expo.ru/en METAL-EXPO 2019. Despite the use of synthetic materials and the most upto-date digital technologies, products of the steel industry, mechanical engineering and metalworking remain highly significant across all the industry segments. Metal-Expo presents the most interesting solutions through its conferences, seminars, and roundtables. This year’s largest exhibit showcases Russian equipment made with the latest innovative technologies.

› 20 – 23 November Bangkok, Thailand Organizers: Reed Tradex www.metalex.co.th Metalex. International trade fair for machine tools and metalworking machines. It offers the automotive, food, clothing and textile, plastics and rubber, as well as the furniture industry plants and machines that correspond to their later intended use. In addition, numerous lectures and seminars will be offered for interested trade visitors.

› 26 – 28 November 2019 Maastricht, Netherlands Organizers: KCI BV www.stainless-steel-world.net/ ssw2019/ Stainless Steel World Conference & Exhibition. The biennial gathering of the global stainless steel community, bringing together the highest concentration of experts and key stakeholders from across the engineering landscape and supply chain.

More than 280 companies present their products and solutions to 6,500 middle-to- higher management visitors. For those seeking to update their knowledge base, the conference affords a perfect setting to catch up on the latest developments, technologies and trends.

› 29 November – 2 December Teheran, Iran Organizers: Nama Negar Co. www.iranmetafo.com/en IRAN METAFO 2018. The exhibition presents iron and steel technology and products. More than 350 companies from 17 countries are going to showcase their expertise in Tehran International Permanent Fairground Halls No. 5, 6, 7, 8-9, 10-11 and 27.

About 10,000 visitors are expected.

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EVENTS

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In conversation with... FriedrichGeorg Kehrer, Messe Düsseldorf In an interview with MPT, Friedrich-Georg Kehrer, Global Portfolio Director of Metals and Flow Technology at Messe Düsseldorf, provides insights into the background and trends surrounding the Bright World of Metals.

Kehrer: The trend topics of Industry 4.0, digitalisation and by association the networking of all companies involved in the manufacturing process were convincingly presented at the large exhibitors’ stands.

The SMS Group in particular impressively demonstrated the important role digitalisation plays in current corporate philosophy. And of course, additive manufacturing also featured.

Corresponding synergies were also presented to a great extent. Loramendi presented a trade fair novelty together with Voxeljet and ASK Chemicals.

Friedrich-Georg Kehrer

The higher number of exhibitors highlights the importance of the “Bright World of Metals” but at the same time, the number of visitors has fallen. Why is that?

Kehrer: Previously, entire workforces were sent to trade fairs; nowadays the managers and decision-makers that are more important. So, in actual fact, the total number of companies attending the event has remained consistently high. It is more impor-

tant to fill the halls with relevant managers with corresponding purchasing power than just to look at the total number of visitors. Across the four fairs, the percentage of managers has tripled, to 68 %. What's more, the greater someone's decision making power, the further they travel.

In your opinion, which exhibitors were prototypical for the big trends?

What are your conclusions shortly after the fair?

Kehrer: From my point of view, we have once again succeeded in consolidating the four parts of the Bright World of Metals as the world’s leading trade fairs and have boosted their reputation.

The whole world was hosted in Düsseldorf and returned home feeling good. Everyone involved is already looking forward to the next exhibition in four years!

MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› EVENTS

Where experts meet innovations...

For the first time in four years, at the end of June, it was finally time for the latest edition of "Bright World of Metals. Over the course of five days, more than 72,500 visitors from 118 countries were welcomed to the fair. In comparison to the 2015 event, the number of exhibitors had increased across all four trade fairs and the innovations were impressive. their home large stand on In addition to a d its own te as oup also bo turf, the SMS Gr tended at llwe e th – e m lecture program sday, for ur Th On . ers Talk” “Leading Partn utive ec Ex Stickler, Chief example, David out the ab e ok sp l, ee ver St Of ficer of Big Ri which t, an pl el vanced ste world ’s most ad ted by or pp su o als s wa he founded. He the Board of en, Chairman of Burkhard Dahm the SMS Group.

Krosaki, a global pla yer in refractor y pro ducts, based in Japan back on a centur y of , looks histor y. The technica l highlight at President Masashi Saeki and Ge neral Manager of Tec hnical Ser vices Vladan Paunovic ’s stand wa s the state- of-the -ar t “R- gate” sliding gat system, which contro e ls the flow of steel fro m the ladle to the distributor and was modelled on site.

“As the world's large st rec ycler of steel mill dusts, DK Recyclin g und Roheisen were also able exhibi t at METEC , but we will be present at GIF A in 2019 as the European market lea der for foundry iron”, news editor Torsten Paßmann learns from Christian Köhler and Rolf Emunds (left to right), who are still we aring their ties just before the end of the trade fair.

MPT International 4 / 2019

at and Khayrullin Salav ein Rafael Rubinsht h have from Plasmamas selves em th positioned tional flags na eir th to xt ne phers. for the photogra hich also The company, w USA and has sites in the s in ise ial ec Mexico, sp among , ng tti cu a m as pl other things.

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EVENTS

hine with i debricking mac e trade fair: Min th pany, at m n co e tio Th va . no bH In TML Technik Gm n tio g ta in ro ick br om 360° bo d a mini de im, has develope d steel an n iro al, et based in Monhe m the cally for use in res high, the machine specifi ide and 1.6 met w s re et m 1.3 can reach places 0 11 industr y. At HS AC oeuvrable UNID an m ely e is the boom m ur at tre ex can’t. The key fe s ne hi ac the m e bl compara ch in turn of fers ted by 360°, whi tors with va ca ex l na that can be rota tio y— unlike conven ion highest flexibilit machine to posit This allows the s. m ar rget surface. ta e th on ar ticulated e gl via at almost any an a safe distance necessar y tools is operated from g 0 ein 11 te HS an AC ar ID gu The UN panel, thus using a control eady alr s ha ny pa remote control m co a side note, one fair, the work safety. On : Af ter the trade ne hi ac m e th stan. kh za purchased Ka to is going straight 0 11 HS AC ID UN

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The Indian supplier Pio neer Cranes & Elevat ors is represented at METEC for the first tim e. “ The whole world in one place – what excellent idea. We are an most popular in the far and middle east”, Director Arshdeep Sin says gh. He sees potentia l for optimisation in similar exhibitors in placing the same space togeth er.

hted Flies" has highlig mpetition "Steel d co an l p na io Lip n at rn tia te ris The in mper, Ch inners: David Ke stadt have rm Da of ty the following w rsi ch from the Unive eir flying object, Alexander Kubs st place with th fir e th d re cu particularly se not only tion prize for a won the innova went to the o als e ac they have also pl "aircraft". Third e th of well. Second e ap ed sh or t sc smar , where Team 1 dt sta rm d.

Da of University rsity of Dortmun am 3 of the Unive ng Te lo to a nt on we ck e ba ac pl n look " competition ca e Düsseldor f The "Steel Flies years ago by th 19 d de un fo s ch Association) ar se Re l tradition. It wa ung Stahl" (Stee ig ein er sv ideal material ng e hu th "Forsc y that steel is wa ial ec sp a in then, to underline plications. Since construction ap g this ht ig cin fa we ht en lig be r fo g students have in er ne ative gi cre en l e ca es mechani veloping th af ter year and de ties of rsi ive un e th challenge year m s fro is year, student land University steel planes. Th und, Kassel, Saar rtm Do , dt sta rm rticular Aachen, Da petition. The pa part in the com that fly ok ns to sig iro de Ca t d gh an sign and build fli de to s wa ge challen n propulsion. without their ow

At Zumbach Switzerl and stand, everythin g revolves around contactless measurin g, say Managing Dir ector Dirk Müller (le Sales Director Mauro ft) and Consonni. One of the ir stand -out pieces is “Profilemaster SPS 80” the , which, among other tasks, can measure the fin height of standard ised steel structures.

MPT International 4 / 2019

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“We want to be the creator of this transition” Green steel, a topic everybody should care about – now, and in the future, of course.

At a talk round at the METEC, representatives of Paul Wurth and Sunfire GmbH gave an idea of their roadmap to green steel At the beginning of the year, ironand coke-making technology company Paul Wurth has become the new lead investor of Sunfire GmbH, a German developer and manufacturer of highly efficient electrolyzers and fuel cells. The Luxembourg-based plantmaker calls this a step towards green steelmaking as well as an opportunity to enter the growing e-fuels market.

Thanks to a €25 million injection in its third financing round, Sunfire will start implementing commercial multi-megawatt projects applying high-temperature electrolysis and Power-to-Liquid technology.

The technologies developed by Sunfire allow for producing climate-neutral fuels and gases for sectors which today can hardly do without fossil energy sources, such as the steel industry.

Green hydrogen is produced based on green electricity in an efficient high-temperature electrolyser, using waste heat generated, for example, by industrial processes.

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH is one company counting on green hydrogen in a successful pilot project. "Therewith we have already set a signal in the steel sector. With Paul Wurth joining the venture, we become a valuable partner for energy intensive industries," Carl Berninghausen, chief executive of Sunfire, said on the occasion of the signature. At the recent METEC trade fair in Düsseldorf, he described his intention together with Dr Thomas Hansmann, Chief Technology and Operations Officer of Paul Wurth GmbH. Berninghausen noted that Sunfire is a total newcomer to the steel sector.

"Our technology is a novel electrolizer technology at the core. As long as we are in a high-temperature environment we have a totally different efficiency from everything that has been MPT International 4 / 2019

electrolyzer so far," he described Sunfire’s product. "Secondly, we not only split water – which is what an electrolyzer normally does - but also carbon dioxide; so we can we can create carbon and hydrogen – what is used for the reduction of steel. We offer a new material base which is sustainable instead of fossil fuels; we want them to stay in the ground."

Thomas Hansmann noted that Paul Wurth with its specialization on the liquid steelmaking face stands for 8085% of emissions in steelmaking, and underlined the responsibility for climate change for the emission of CO2 –a topic touching Paul Wurth’s business very much.

Sunfire so far has been concerned with solutions for the transportation and energy industry among others. "In the future we should be able to learn that we can do the same things without taking more fossils from down there. Instead, we will use what’s in the atmosphere, and we are doing it in a revolving, in a cyclic way. That means reducing steel not with fossils; that way we also leave the carbons in the ground and they will not end up as additional burdens in the atmosphere."

“How can we join this train?”

Both conceded that there is a long way to go and that technically it will take a long time to convert a carbon-based industry to a carbon-free industry.. "So we have to start now, which is a difficult point in time because economic conditions are not in favour," Hansmann said. "But we want to be the creator of this transition, so we want to start now and we want to prove the technical feasibility of this conversion process. "As soon as we have built the first steelmaking process that does without taking coal from the ground, then everybody will look because then

we can do it everywhere. And then everybody will come and ask ‘how can we join this train?"

The time frame the partners give is five years, "hopefully less", to prove to the world it is possible to make the change. To this purpose, Wurth is not only investing financially in Sunfire but is also participating in the technical discussion. It has deployed people to Dresden where Sunfire is located, to work together on a daily basis.

The close partnership with Wurth as investor gives Sunfire’s technology a backbone strength it was previously lacking. "We can now go to Norway and tell investors, hey we can use the huge resources you have and use that for steel and for fuel making," Berninghausen explains in an imaginary example. People may be willing to give money. But what happens if that technology does not work on the first attempt? Would Sunfire be strong enough to repair or replace something because it may become expensive as things take longer. "If we were all alone were all alone, that would probably be the end of the discussion."

Sunfire and Wurth want go big-scale and they need to validate it, and see it run in increasing steps, before it can go to 100-200 MW.

New technology, new business model The partners may not only change the technology, but probably also the business model. Today, the entire process happens at the big plants in the industrial centers of industrialized countries. But that's where renewable energy is expensive and scarce.

Berninghausen suggests to transfer a model Sunfire applies in the fuel sector to the steel industry. It would mean a massive move, though. "We relocate the first stage of steel produc-

‹‹‹

EVENTS tion to areas where renewable energies are abundant and cheap. There we will reduce the iron ore and then transport the reduced ore to the exist-

ing steel mills." "But first, baby steps," Hansmann notes. "We are preparing our discussions now in order to find a way to create a demonstration plant

21

that can show the feasibility of this technology, and let’s keep fingers crossed that this may happen within short time."

“The most profitable mill in the world – after two years”

Photos (3): Messe Düsseldorf

Not everyone knows that before David Stickler worked in the steel world, he started his professional career as an investment banker on Wall Street. At the METEC fair, he retold how he diverted into steel – and about the feats reached lately with his company Big River Steel.

David Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel, and Burkhard Dahmen, CEO of SMS group, talked about market trends.

US Steel was one of David Stickler’s first customers when still on Wall Street, and which has to take the blame – or praise – for bringing him to the steel industry. He was involved with the concept of mini-mills with the formation of Steel Dynamics, which was formed by three people who had left Nucor. “We teamed up with SMS, with KfW, (=Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, i. e. the German Development Bank), a great German bank. Over that 20 year period we had great success with putting greenfield mills up,” Stickler recalls from that time.

At the METEC Talk, he gave a detailed overview of a four-year success story with Big River Steel. “It’s been 4

>>

David Stickler presented new developments at his company.

MPT International 4 / 2019

22

››› EVENTS TEELMAKING – METALLURGY

years with a lot of hard work. It took around seven months to build the facility in cooperation with SMS group.

And I’m very very proud that from the point-of-view of safety, the effort was absolutely outstanding, the safety incidence rate was one tenth of the average of the United States," he underlines.

"We started production in January 2017 with a large SMS team and in the first month set a production record for a newly-started CSP (Compact Strip Plant) of 60,000 tonnes in one month."

Break-even in month 2

Dr. Ing E. H. Heinrich Weiss, Chairman of the Shareholders' Committee (left), and Edwin Eichler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board SMS group GmbH (righs), take

Some statistics: The second month brought not only a production record for this time of plant, but also "we were Ebit positive, which again is highly highly unusual for a company, no matter what industry you’re in, if Silicon Valley, heavy equipment manufacturing, or else. So again ‘hats off’ to the team we had."

Stickler still has the wary eye of the investment banker on profitability – and Blue River Steel makes a splendid example for it. Within 6 months, the mill reached 80% of its rated capacity. In terms of Ebit per tonne, it became the most profitable steel producer in North America in its 2nd year of operation. And it reached something else which Stickler highlights: It is the only steel production facility in the world "LEAD- certified” by the Environmental Protection Agency EPA. "Now, some of you in Europe might not know what LEAD certification stands for: That’s Leadership in environmental and energy – its normally for office buildings, hospitals, colleges, universities and the like. - We were the first and only heavy production facility to receive it."

Certified for environmental soundness + certified by carmakers For the moment, Stickler concedes that people are "certainly not prepared to pay more for steel” just because it was produced at a LEAD certified facility. "However, if our steel sells for $900 per tonne delivered, and a competitor sells it for $900/t delivered as well, everything else being MPT International 4 / 2019

David Stickler in the middle.

equal – I will get the order, so it’s a tie-breaker."

And it is curious to learn who is "really, really interested in this.": Companies such as BMW, and Mercedes.

"BMW is talking about making a TV ad in North America where they take a 1520 year old BMW car, take it to the shredder, the metal that come out gets dropped into a railroad car, is sent to Big River Steel, to our furnace, goes all the way of the process to galvanized coil. And the coil is then shipped shipped back to BMW and formed into a new car.

Slightly cheeky, Stickler notes that the latest SMS promo video for Big River Steel still gave 1.5 million m tonnes per year as rated capacity – but it has by now been brought up by some 10% to 1.65 million tpy.

And Big River will go for more A couple of weeks ago BRS was able to raise $480 million of 30-year money with 20-year interest only, at a rate of 4,5%. "That is very inexpensive money for BRS. It allows us to double our capacity, so we placed another order with SMS, including EAF, another ladle, caster, furnace shaft etc. Plus BRS has secured a lot of land in the Port of Brownsville in Texas to advance a steelmaking complex."

Profitable like Silicon Valley Stickler kept on talking about money.

The mill’s Ebitda / profitability per employee so far has added up to $557,000.

"Now look at our competitors - and

these are good competitors – Steel Dynamics is at $253,000, Nucor at $153,000$; and we are almost 10 times as profitable as US Steel."

Once BRS has the new equipment from SMS it will produce 3.3 million tonnes, but will add only another 150 workers "So with 660 workers, the figure will be over $1 million Ebitda per workers. These are Silicon Valley profitability numbers."

In terms of steel, this makes 350,000t per employee. "I hold that number up against any steel producer in the world!" a statement deserving so much emphasis that Stickler repeated it right away, adding that he has seen many mills in the world – in South America, Malaysia, Russia, Europe, Canada, Japan, Thailand, China.

And it’s all because of the technology. "We are so productive because of the technology and the automation."

So what about the quality? After just over 2 years of full operation it sells to to three automotive companies. "We just passed the Mercedes audit three weeks ago – so by the end of the year we will be selling to them, too." He stresses that it is "unheard of for a company this young to be selling directly to the automotive companies.

On the larger horizon, he drew a picture of the pageant of EAF-based mini-mills over time. "30 years ago, 100% of flat rolled steel in the world was produced by the integrated community.

In the United States today, integrated accounts for less than 40%, in another 5 years less than 25%. So the domestic auto guys know they must to diversify their sources supply."

‹‹‹

EVENTS

23

Carbon-free, hydrogen-based direct reduction for iron ore fines Primetals Technologies has developed the world's first direct reduction process for iron ore concentrates from ore beneficiation not requiring any preprocessing like sintering or pelletizing. The company can resort to the comprehensive experience from the earlier Finmet development and plant installations. "The new technology can be applied to all types of beneficiated ore and particle sizes of 100% smaller than 0.15 mm", Primetals statet at METEC. As primary reduction agent, the new process uses H2 from renewable energy or alternatively H2 rich gases from conventional steam reformers or H2 rich waste gases. This results in a low or even a zero CO2 footprint. The direct reduction plant comes in a modular design with a rated capacity of 250,000 tons per year and module, making it available for all sizes of steel plants. A pilot plant for testing purposes will be set up at voestalpine Stahl Donawitz, Austria and is due to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2020.

The use of DRI/HBI is expected to continue to grow due to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the growing number of electric arc furnaces in service worldwide. Currently, all available technologies require agglomeration, like pelletizing to produce DRI or HBI. An additional challenge steel producers face, is the reduced quality of iron ore, resulting in the need to beneficiate the iron ores. In order to progress to a CO2-free steel production, a process using mainly H2 is most desirable. The solution developed by Primetals Technologies takes care of all the above considerations.

The pilot plant will consist of three parts: a preheating-oxidation unit, a gas treatment plant and the actual reduction unit. In the preheating-oxi-

Computer-generated image of a direct reduction plant for iron ore fines developed

by Primetals Technologies together with voestalpine Stahl Donawitz.

dation unit, fine ore concentrate is heated to approx. 900 °C and fed to the reduction unit. The reduction gas H 2 is supplied over the fence from a gas supplier. A waste heat recovery system from the off-gas ensures optimal energy use and a dry dedusting system takes care of dust emissions from the processes involved. The hot direct reduced iron (HDRI) leaves the

reduction unit at a temperature of approx. 600 °C, which can be subsequently used in an electric arc furnace or to produce Hot Briquetted Iron.

The aim of the pilot plant is to verify the break-through process and to serve as a testing facility to provide the data basis for setting up an industrial scale size plant at a later date.

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MPT International 4 / 2019

››› EVENTS

Photo: Messe Düsseldorf

24

The conference attracted a large audience.

ESTAD 2019 – “CO2 mitigation of 80 % and more is achievable“ The fourth European Steel Technology and Application Days (4th ESTAD) took place from 24th to 28th June 2019 parallel to the METEC metallurgy trade fair in Düsseldorf.

550 presentations provided 1,210 participants from 46 countries with information on the state-of-the-art technology, latest ideas and technical developments in iron and steel production technologies, steel materials and steel materials application. The presentations were given in 130 technical session with up to 19 sessions in parallel which was a challenge for the organizers. The participants were impressed by numerous presentations, highlights of which were the sessions, papers and the workshop on CO2 mitigation technologies as well as the papers on industry 4.0 in steelmaking.

Professor Wolfgang Bleck, chairman of the METEC & 4th ESTAD 2019 and former director of the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, opened the event and gave a warm welcome to the participants. He then reminded the delegates that during the entirety of the conference all participants are committed to adhere strictly to all applicable antitrust laws, which includes, that within the context of METEC & 4th ESTAD 2019 it was strictly prohibited to discuss competitively sensitive subjects

Author Dr. Hans Bodo Lüngen Steel Institute VDEh

MPT International 4 / 2019

such as price-fixing agreements or agreements of quantities. Professor Bleck then gave an introduction of the conference and high-lighted some main topics focused on at ESTAD, for example the search for sustainability, the life cycle assessment and the CO2 challenge, the integration of information technologies, industry 4.0, and the command of complexity, the new demands for the process technology of new steel concepts.

Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, Chairman of Steel Institute VDEh and President of the German Steel Federation, reported on political challenges and technological prospectives for the steel industry in Germany and Europe. He pointed out that Germany and Europe are following an ambitious approach in cli-

mate policy. The European steel industry is committed to the Paris Agreement and wants to substantially contribute to the target of an 80% to 95% CO2 reduction by 2050 compared to 1990. For the conventional primary steel production route via the blast furnace oxygen steel converter, the further mitigation of CO2 emissions is limited from a scientific and technical point of view.

To reach a CO2 neutral economy in 2050 radical changes in production methods and CO2 breakthrough innovations are necessary.

The “Steel Roadmap for a Low-Carbon Europe 2050”...

Dr Peter Dahlmann, Executive Member of the Managing Board of Steel In-

‹‹‹

EVENTS

Photos (2): Messe Düsseldorf

... and its economic evaluation

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bleck, Director, Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy, RWTH Aachen, Germany.

stitute VDEh, presented the technical results of the study entitled “Steel Roadmap for a Low-Carbon Europe 2050” which was carried through out in 2018 on behalf of EUROFER. The evaluation of 1990 and 2015 average CO2 emissions of the EU 28 steel industry shows a drop of the total CO2 emissions of the steel industry by 28% from 298 to 216 million t. In the same period, the crude steel production in the EU decreased 16% from 197 million t to 166 million t in 2015. The production decrease in Europe contributed to almost by 50 % of the total CO2 reduction. The new ways for primary steelmaking to reach massive CO2 mitigation can be divided into "Smart Carbon Usage (SCU)" with processes which still use mainly carbon for steelmaking and "Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA)" which use predominantly hydrogen and/or CO2 - free electricity for steelmaking.

Smart carbon-usage processes based on coal need CCU (Carbon Capture and Usage) or CCS (CO2 Capture and Storage). CCS could be applied at coastal sites. Carbon direct avoidance means a change from carbon to hydrogen as reductant in the iron-ore based production route. This means a change from blast furnace and oxygen converter to a direct reduction plant and electric arc furnace. In all scenarios for reaching the 80 % and the extreme 95 % CO2 mitigation, large amounts of renewable energy are required in combination with availability of biomass, CCS and market for recycled carbon products in order to be successful.

The economic evaluation of this Steel Roadmap was done on behalf of EUROFER by Navigant. The results were presented by Dr. Mathias Kube, Associate Director at Navigant, Cologne, Germany. He also concluded that reaching deep decarbonisation of 80 to 95 % poses a substantial challenge for the iron and steel sector. Navigant made estimations based on a slight production growth in steelmaking up to 200 million t crude steel in EU 28 in 2050 which represents a 0.5% growth per year as well as on a production stagnation case.

A share of scrap-based electric steelmaking of up to 50 % has been considered. Navigant performed a detailed techno-economic assessment of a broad range of mitigation options in line with the main low-carbon innovation projects within the EU 28 steel industry. It assumes that currently existing CO2 breakthrough projects around SCU and

Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, President and Managing Director Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl.

CDA are developing into their full production capabilities. It implies broad diversity of production technologies in 2050. The transformation into a "low CO2 steelmaking" requires a huge amount of financial resources for capex and opex as well as significant time for implementing new technologies.

Hence especially European-primary steel producers will have a significant cost disadvantage compared to other regions which are not developing towards low CO2 steelmaking technologies in a similar way. To reach the emission reduction targets it is important to act now.

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In general, it can be concluded, that with the current CO2 breakthrough technologies for primary steelmaking under way in the EU 28 steel industry a CO2 mitigation of 80 % and more is achievable from a technical point of view under the precondition of availability of green (CO2-free) electricity.

This result is based on the assumption, that the steel companies in Europe will further develop their planned and announced process routes for massive CO2 mitigation to industrial application by 2050.

Two Plenary Sessions, six main topics Subsequent to the opening session two plenary sessions took place in parallel.

Plenary session one highlighted trends in CO2 mitigation which dealt with natural gas and hydrogen based primary steelmaking using direct reduction technology and electric arc furnace in the carbon direct avoidance pathway and the use of process gases from integrated iron and steelworks for new products in the smart carbon usage pathway.

Plenary session two showed trends in steel and process development on the basis of megatrends in innovation, industry 4.0, advanced high strength steels, a new electric steelworks for strip production and process chains of cold and hot forged drive train components.

This was followed by the presentation of the papers, which were summarised into six main topics: Ironmaking (144 papers), Steelmaking (176), Rolling and Forging (115), Steel Materials and their Application (42) as well as Environmental and Energy Aspects (55). The sixth topic Industry 4.0 in particular has shown itself to be a cross-cutting. There were 39 presentations on the first three main topics alone, plus 9 further presentations as an independent block. Apart from that, the various presentations dealt with Cokemaking, sintering and pelletising of iron ores, blast furnace technology, direct reduction and smelting reduction, oxygen steelmaking, electric steelmaking, rolling of long and flat products including tubes and rails, advanced high strength and special steels among other things.

MPT International 4 / 2019

26

››› BUSINESS

VDMA Metallurgy: German plant builders between scepticism and optimism in 2019 Manufacturers of metallurgical plant and rolling mill equipment in Germany expect a stable order intake in 2019, and a year-on-year increase of revenue on orders placed earlier.

In the second half of last year, the industry achieved 30% increase of order intake, albeit from a low previous-year level, according to the Metallurgy division of Germany’s mechanical engineering association VDMA (Verband der Maschinen- und Anlagenbauer). Revenues in that period rose 11%. Domestic production, however, fell somewhat, and at €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) in the full year was some 10% lower than in 2017. According to the spokeswoman, many companies have production sites abroad that do not enter the statistics.

For 2019, companies see a very slight increase of orders (1%) and an increase of revenue by 14%, they said in a sentiment poll carried out by Ifo Institut.

The sentiment has become continuously more optimistic since mid-2018, partly due to the rising global steel production, VDMA notes.

Exports from Germany to key markets rise in 2018 Exports from Germany, the third largest exporting country in this sector, were slightly above the previous year’s level, at €668 million. Exports grew strongly for several key markets. For the second year in succession, deliveries to China grew by 19% to slightly more than €100 million. Starting from a low figure in the previous year, exports to the USA almost doubled, making the country the second-largest export market.

Good growth was also recorded in trade with India (plus 55 percent), Russia (plus 31 percent) and Austria (plus 135 percent). Equipment with a total value of €222 million was exported to the EU28 countries, representing a fall MPT International 4 / 2019

of 18 percent compared with the previous year.

Against that, there was a sharp drop in exports to Turkey, which were down 81%.

On a global scale, exports by the five major supplier countries in the sector – China, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USA – rose by about 12 percent on average, according to VDMA estimates.

The increase in total world trade, is slightly lower at approximately 9 percent, and totalled €4.9 billion.. Notably, China, Italy and the USA were able to boost deliveries by 20, 17 and 10 percent respectively.

Sector wavering between optimism and scepticism Despite better capacity deployment than in the previous year and largely positive expectations for production activities over the next three months, expectations for export business in the next three months have stagnated and sceptical opinions currently predominate, the Ifo report indicates.

With respect to the development of export markets, respondents to the

survey carried out by the VDMA for 2019 also indicate mixed expectations.

While the assessment of the USA continues to be optimistic and subdued optimism is apparent with respect to the ASEAN countries, stagnation is expected in the majority of customer countries and regions.

“As trade policy uncertainties continue to grow, the question of the effects on raw material markets and metallurgical value chains is becoming more pressing and is having a negative impact on business in the metallurgical plant and rolling mills sector.

While the industry is successfully pooling its resources in the fields of digitalization and environmental protection, the pressure on costs and the competition for specialist personnel remain challenging,” said Timo Würz, managing director of VDMA Metallurgy says commenting on the situation.

II) VDMA: Thermo process technology boosts sales and remains on high level German thermo process equipment manufacturers experienced

‹‹‹

BUSINESS

27

growth in exports to Brazil (plus 50 percent), India (plus 38 percent), Canada (plus 129 percent) and Spain (plus 70 percent).

two years of growth in succession, the country’s mechanical engineering association VDMA notes. While sales grew by 11 percent nominally in 2017, there was further significant growth of 33 percent in 2018. Last year, orders received were up by 8 percent on 2017. Production of thermo process equipment in Germany grew by 16 percent in 2018 to over €2.3 billion, the second highest value after 2011.

Sector expects sales to stagnate at a high level in 2019 Orders received in the sector, especially from the Eurozone countries, have fallen since mid-2018, albeit from a very high level. For the year 2019 as a whole, VDMA members participating in a recent economic situation survey expect that the order intake will remain flat.

Slow growth in world trade compared with previous year Current estimates of world trade in thermo process equipment made by the association indicate a slight growth of about 3 percent for 2019, with a total trading volume of about €9.3 billion. Among the major supplier countries, Japan recorded the highest growth, at slightly more than 30 percent, to an export volume of €608 million. Deliveries from Italy were slightly above the previous year’s figure at almost €1.3 billion. Exports from the USA stagnated at a volume of €809 million.

Against the backdrop of a positive mood in the domestic market, exports from Germany were slightly above the previous year’s figure (plus 4 percent) at a level of more than €1.8 billion. The sales indices of the sector also indicated a nominal increase of 52 percent in Germany.

China remains largest market for thermo process equipment from Germany German exports to China reached a new five-year high last year, with an almost 13 percent growth (€286 million). In contrast, deliveries from Germany to the USA fell for the second year in succession (minus 17 percent) – even though the USA remained the second-largest customer country, at €133 million, followed by Italy, with a volume of €90 million, where equipment sales by the sector grew by 10 percent. Exports to Russia fell in 2018 compared with the previous year (minus 26 percent). This was also the case in Turkey (minus 23 percent) and Mexico (minus 24 percent). In contrast, the sector reported significant

Worry about restrictions and regulation VDMA refers to the Ifo Institut’s business confidence index for the respondent group “industrial furnaces and burners”, which had improved successively to mid-2018. Since then, the sentiment deteriorated from the autumn onwards. However, capacity deployment grew again slightly to almost 87 percent. In the first quarter of 2019, exports continued to grow, with a rise of 10 percent. Exports to China and the USA exceeded the values for the first quarter of 2018 by 35 and 29 percent respectively.

“In addition to poor economic prospects and current trends connected with new mobility concepts, the sector has recently become increasingly concerned with the issues of environmental restrictions and regulation,” says Timo Würz, managing director of VDMA’s Metallurgy division.

III) VDMA: Sales up for foundry machinery in 2018; fall expected in 2019 Last year, sales of the German foundry machinery manufacturers exceeded expectations, with growth of 17 percent nominally, reaching a new record.

Compared with the high volume of orders recorded in 2017, orders received fell slightly, by 2 percent in 2018. The downtrend accelerated in the first quarter of 2019 when orders received were al-

2018 – good business in Germany with a further slight increase in exports

>> MPT International 4 / 2019

28

››› BUSINESS 48 percent), there was also significant growth in exports to the Iberian Peninsula, which more than doubled compared with the previous year. The German companies’ domestic production failed to keep pace, falling by 14 percent to €927 million.

most halved from the previousyear quarter.

World trade in foundry machinery on the upswing in 2018 According to estimates made by VDMA’s Metallurgy division, world trade in the foundry machinery sector increased by 5 percent in 2018, to a level slightly above €2.3 billion. On average, exports from the five largest supplier countries of foundry machinery – China, Germany, Italy, Japan and South

Korea – were above the value for 2017 last year (plus 8 percent).

German foundry machinery exports in 2018 up 11 percent on previous year In 2018 as a whole, German foundry machinery manufacturers exported 11 percent more than the previous year (€175 million). There was strong growth in exports to China (plus 35 percent), the largest market for foundry machinery from Germany, and to Mexico (plus 40 percent) and Turkey (plus 76 percent). Exports to the USA (minus 18 percent) recorded the secMPT International 4 / 2019

ond fall in succession. Orders from countries outside the Eurozone in total continued their upward trend up to the end of 2018, growing by 20 percent in 2018 compared with 2017. After the end of 2018, the trend was reversed, as had previously been the case with orders from the Eurozone.

Deliveries to the EU28 countries grew slightly by 6 percent, with these countries accounting for 44 percent in total exports by the sector. In addition to increased deliveries to Sweden (plus

2019: fall in sales expected in the single-digit range As in many EU countries, the business climate in large areas of the world in key customer industries for castings, including machinery and automobile production, has once again become more sluggish. In addition, it has not yet been possible to settle the conditions for Brexit or the trade dispute between China and the USA. A glance at purchasing manager indices indicates a patchy scenario. While pessimism predominates in the EU, the indices in the BRIC countries, especially Brazil, Russia and India, in addition to the USA, are still above the growth threshold of 50 index points.

Starting from the very high value of the previous year, VDMA Metallurgy expects a fall in sales in the high single-digit range in 2019. Vigorous ordering following this year’s GIFA trade fair in Düsseldorf, the main industry showcase, will probably only counteract this trend by the end of the year at the earliest.

Recent economic surveys indicate that German foundry machinery manufacturers are concerned about several issues beyond the deterioration of economic conditions. These include the further development of drive systems and e-mobility, automation and digitalization, as well as financing and support for research, VDMAstates.

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››› STEELMAKING – METALLURGY

Timken presents innovative bearing solutions for high-speed rolling mill auxiliary equipment The focus of this paper is on the rolling mill auxiliary equipment operated under high and very high speed conditions in conjunction with heavy loads. Bearings mounted on the input shafts of gear drives of cold and tube mill drive trains – and those mounted on the output shafts of reels of steel and aluminum cold mills – are most often exposed to high or very high speeds.

1. Rolling Mill Auxiliary Equipment Overview a) Introduction The mill stand (1) is the main equipment of the rolling mill line (Figure 1).

It is used together with auxiliary equipment for steel (hot and cold, flat and long) or aluminum rolling. Auxiliary equipment may include units such edgers (2), shears (3), mill drive trains (4), table rollers (5), reels (6), straighteners, slitters, and levelers.

The focus of this paper is on the rolling mill auxiliary equipment operated under high and very high speed conditions in conjunction with heavy loads. Bearings mounted on the input shafts of gear drives of cold and tube mill drive trains – and those mounted on the output shafts of reels of steel and aluminum cold mills – are the ones most often exposed to high or very high speeds. Bearings from the input shafts of gear drives operate under high speed mainly due to the high rotational speed coming from the electrical motor, while those from the output shafts of reels operate under high speed mainly due to their very large inner ring bore diameter (see also section 2, “High Speed – Theoretical Considerations”).

The Timken Company provides a complete range of solutions for rolling mill auxiliary equipment, comprising: Author Sorin Tudor, Principal Application Engineer, Timken Europe Customer Engineering

MPT International 4 / 2019

Figure 1: Rolling mill line

• Bearings: ball, tapered, cylindrical and spherical • Bearing-related products: housing units, lubrication and seals • Power transmission equipment: couplings, gears, belts and chains • Services: bearing inspection and repair, condition monitoring systems Timken solutions help assure consistent operation for auxiliary equipment.

The innovative tapered roller bearing construction of the 2TS-IMC and 2TSMA-IMC has been developed by Timken for very high-speed operating conditions. b) Mill drive train The mill drive train supplies mechanical energy to the top- and bottom-driven rollers of the rolling mill stand. The mill drive train is config-

ured with an electrical motor, a gear drive (Figure 2) and a pinion stand, all connected by couplings.

The electrical motor generally covers a power range of 500 kW to 15 MW and has an angular rotational speed of 1500 rpm or more. The motor torque, measured in kNm, is tailored to meet the rolling mill’s operational requirements.

The gear drive’s role is to increase the torque provided by the electrical motor simultaneously with the decrease in the rotational speed. Motor torque increases with the gear ratio from the input to the output shaft. Angular rotational speed decreases with the gear ratio from input to output. The power remains approximately constant on all gear drive shafts, reduced only by the gear drive’s efficiency from input to output.

‹‹‹

STEELMAKING – METALLURGY

31

Figure 2: Gear drive

There is tremendous variety among rolling mill gearbox configurations, including single, double and triple reduction. Despite the variations, all these gear drives are considered heavy-duty load and are designed for high reliability, with a typical bearing target L10 life of 50,000 hours or more.

The pinion stand splits the gear drive’s output power in two for activating the driven rollers of the rolling mill stand. The reducer and pinion stand can be either separate units or a single, combined unit.

Couplings connect the train’s components from the electrical motor to the mill stand and assure the transmission of power between them. In addition, they should handle torque, the misalignment between equipment, shocks, and vibrations. c) Payoff and rewind reels Strip mill lines generally include a coil process. Therefore, they have a minimum of one reel (Figure 3) to either pay off or rewind the strip. These reels go by a variety of names, including coilers, uncoilers, winders, unwinders, and tension reels.

2. High Speed – Theoretical Considerations a) Tapered roller bearings – speed evaluation The usual evaluation of the speed of a tapered roller bearing is made at the midpoint of the inner ring large rib

(Figure 4). The circumferential velocity is calculated here.

Where: Dm = mean inner ring large rib diameter in mm, n = bearing speed rev/ min This document considers a circumferential rib speed velocity of 15 m/s as the starting point of the high-speed field for tapered bearings operating on heavy-duty rolling mill auxiliary equipment. The bearings’ construction, their internal geometry, the lubricant and the lubrication system all need to be evaluated in heavy-duty/ high-speed applications. b) Spherical and Cylindrical Roller Bearings – speed evaluation For Timken spherical roller (SRB) and cylindrical roller bearings (CRB), the thermal speed ratings are listed in the catalogue bearing tables. These values have been determined by balancing the heat generated within the bearing with the heat dissipated from the bearing. c) High-speed operating conditions – auxiliary equipment application concerns Today’s auxiliary equipment environments target maximum production rates. To reach this goal, the auxiliary equipment handles heavier loads and Figure 3: Payoff/rewind reel

Figure 4: Mean inner ring large rib diameter

Figure 5: Damaged, cage-broken bearing

Figure 6: Burned SRB bearing

faster speeds than ever before. Bearing performance and damage become concerns in this case.

Figures 5 shows an example of a tapered roller-double outer ring (TDO) bearing damaged by cage breakage.

The bearing was mounted on the highspeed input shaft of a gear drive and also was exposed to high acceleration and deceleration.

The remaining bearing components (inner and outer rings and rollers) have been placed next to the TDO in the original bearing box. Post-damage analysis shows that the bearing components are in good shape except for the cages, which are broken.

Figure 6 shows an example of a burned spherical roller bearing that operated in a high-speed gear drive. >> MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› STEELMAKING – METALLURGY

3. Innovative Solutions for Very High-Speed Rolling Mill Auxiliary Equipment The designs traditionally used in gear drives and reels are SRB, CRB or TDO bearings. Bearing damage may manifest in these traditional bearings when operated at very high speeds in the form of burning/overheating (poor lubrication) or cage damage (unloaded rows in the case of high axial loads, high cage clearance or high mounted endplay). The Timken Company has developed two new, innovative tapered roller bearings (the 2TS-IMC and 2TSMA-IMC) to address these issues.

Figure 7: 2TS-IMC bearing assembly

a) 2TS-IMC – two single rows indirect-mounted in a carrier The 2TS-IMC bearings are designed for operating on rolling mill auxiliary equipment where the rib speed exceeds 25 m/s. The 2TS-IMC bearing assembly is made up of two single tapered roller bearings (TS=tapered roller bearing, single row). The TS bearings are indirect-mounted (IM=indirect mounting) into a carrier (C=carrier), as shown in Figure 7a. Every TS bearing’s outer rings are blocked against rotation by means of a key (Figure 7b). The carrier is keyed into the housing (Figure 7c) to prevent such rotation.

The 2TS-IMC bearing assembly has spring-loaded outer rings (Figure 7c) in order to keep the TS bearing’s rows permanently seated and to induce zero internal operational endplay. The assembly reduces cage vibration and the risk of damage. The bearing has features to accommodate a circulating oil system and a special design for improving bearing lubrication and reducing the risk of overheating. This special design involves collecting the oil flow via a lubrication groove manufactured on the outside diameter of the carrier and pointed at the roller’s small end (the area between the cage bore and the inner ring’s small rib outer diameter) through radial and axial lubrication holes (Figure 7d).

At normal operating speeds, the oil is carried inside the bearing from the small end to the large end of the roller (Figure 8). At high speeds, the lubricant begins to move outward due to centrifugal effects. Centrifugal force throws all the oil out of the cup, bypassing the roller end-rib contact area.

The contact between the roller large MPT International 4 / 2019

Figure 8: Lubrication centrifugal effect at high speed

end and the inner ring’s rib thus becomes critical because of the risk of overheating. In order to reduce this risk, the 2TSMA-IMC bearing’s construction is engineered to be effective in rolling mill auxiliary equipment where the rib speeds exceed 35 m/s.

2TSMA-IMC bearings (Figure 9a) have all the design elements of the 2TS-IMC and, in addition, feature a special component (the manifold) to ensure adequate lubrication of the critical roller large end-rib contact area and to reduce the risk of bearing overheating. The manifold is a machined piece pressed onto the inner ring outside diameter (Figure 9b). The concept works by capturing oil driven by centrifugal forces in this manifold and directing it to the critical roller large end-

rib contact area through holes drilled axially in the inner ring.

4. Case Study – The Innovative Timken High-Speed Coiler Gear Drive A well-known aluminum company opened a new mill complex, completing the first phase of a huge modernization project. The centerpiece is a new aluminum cold rolling mill that produces the world’s widest flat-rolled aluminum strips for aerospace applications. Timken equipped the mandrel output shaft of its coiler gear drive (Figure 10). The coilers were built by a longtime Timken customer that is also one of the largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the world.

Figure 9: 2TSMA-IMC bearing

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STEELMAKING – METALLURGY Traditional bearing designs (SRB, CRB and TDO types) cannot accommodate extreme high-speed operating conditions (maximum rib speed of 35 m/s) because of their imposed very large inner ring bore diameter (~660 mm) combined with a maximum rotational speed of 900 rpm. The new Timken 2TSMA-IMC bearing, part number NP293620 – NP995047 (Figure 11), was designed for these precise conditions.

The bearing’s internal geometry has been precisely engineered to reduce the risks of overheating and cage damage.

Timken also provided lubricant specifications and lubrication system recommendations (oil features, oil flow quantity and oil jet position) for the aluminum company’s new coiler gear drive (Figure 12).

During drive operation, oil jets pump oil into the manifold area. The manifold captures the oil using centrifugal forces and directs it to the critical roller large end-rib contact area through holes drilled axially in the inner ring.

The OEM tested the coiler gear drive at maximum output speed for an hour, which meant the 2TSMA-IMC NP293620 – NP995047 bearing had to operate consistently at a rib speed of 35 m/s. During testing, the bearing’s temperature remained constant at 80°C. Vibration levels stayed within acceptable limits, and the post-test inspection showed that the cage withstood the testing conditions well.

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Figure 10: Coiler gearbox

Figure 11: 2TSMA-IMC NP293620 – NP995047 bearing schematic

5. Summary and Conclusions

Figure 12: Coiler gearbox lubrication

1. Today’s rolling mill environments target maximum production rates.

To reach this goal, mill auxiliary equipment handles heavier loads and faster speeds than ever before.

Bearing life and damage become serious concerns.

2. The Timken Company provides a complete range of solutions for auxiliary equipment including bearings (ball, tapered, cylindrical and spherical), bearing-related products (housing units, lubrication and seals), power transmission equipment (couplings, gears, belts and chains) and services (bearing inspection and repair, condition monitoring systems). These solutions help assure consistent operation for rolling mill auxiliary equipment operated under heavyduty load conditions.

3. The innovative 2TS-IMC and 2TSMA-IMC tapered roller bearings have been developed by Timken for rolling mill auxiliary equipment operated under very high-speed conditions (rib speed over 25 m/s). The internal geometry of the bearings’ rings and rollers are designed to reduce heat generation under these conditions. These bearings have been tested on rolling mill lines and meet customers’ expectations.

4. The advantages of 2TS-IMC and 2TSMA-IM innovative construction versus traditional SRB, CRB or TDO designs include: a. Ability to reach a higher speed with a high-load capability b. Reducing the risk of bearing burning by assuring correct lubrication c. Reducing the risk of cage damage (unloaded rows under high axial

loads, high cage clearance, or high mounted endplay) 5. The 2TS-IMC and 2TSMA-IMC cup carrier enables the use of the same assembly on the fixed and floating shaft positions.

Acknowledgments The author would like to thank The Timken Company for permission to publish this study.

References 1 Timken Engineering Manual, Metals Industry Edition (2013) – The Timken Company (Order No. 10688) 2 Timken Metals Product Catalog (2014) – The Timken Company (Order No. 10675) 3 Timken Super Precision Bearings for Machine Tool Applications – The Timken Company (Order No. 5918) MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› DIGITALIZATION

From ‘experience-driven’ to ‘information-driven’

What is your motivation to fully digitalize stainless steel production?

JH: Over the past decades, technical innovation in the steel industry has been aimed at creating greater economies of scale, equipment automation, and combining processing steps (e.g. combined rolling and annealing lines).

All that comes with huge investments and is mainly technology-focused.

Digitalization shifts the focus to information. End-to-end digitalization leads to full transparency on process and quality data throughout the process chain and allows us to solve problems that we have not been able to solve for decades. Digitalization also has the potential to move existing boundaries of steel production.

For this project, IT experts and stainless steel professionals had to collaborate closely—how did you organize the communication?

Photos: Outokumpu

By 2020, Outokumpu aims to have fully digitalized its biggest factory in Tornio, Finland, transforming it into the most digitalized and most cost-competitive stainless steel operation in the industry. To achieve this goal, the world leader in stainless steel production has teamed up with Microsoft. In an interview with MPT International Jan Hofmann, EVP Business Transformation & IT, explains, how this project works.

Jan Hofmann

JH: At Outokumpu, we benefit from an eight-year-long transformation process. We shouldered the acquisition of ThyssenKrupp’s former stainless division, which led to massive industrial restructuring to bring the company

back to profitability. This transformation was only possible by removing the organizational silos and creating a collaborative culture. Within the stainless steel industry, we are probably the most transformational company. The complexity of the stainless steel process makes digitalization complicated, and you cannot be successful if the IT teams do not understand the business processes or vice versa. We have formed a powerful project team consisting of the best talents from Outokumpu’s Operations, Research & Development and IT teams, and Data Scientists from Microsoft. The project has strong executive sponsorship from me and other colleagues of the Outokumpu Leadership Team. Our role is to set the

Outokumpu's biggest integrated stainless steel plant is located in Tornio, Finland.

MPT International 4 / 2019

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months when the pure accumulated processing time across the chain is less than 40 hours? Why can’t we achieve a right-first-time ratio close to 100%?

What is preventing us from producing zero defects? Why do best-in-class mills still have safety incidents? When you start digging, you quickly face technological or process limits. Information Technology has the power to break these invisible walls with tools and technologies that we have only dreamt of in the past. There are ample technologies and suppliers for digital solutions these days, and the hype is big. So, you must start with a clear vision and know what you want before you look at what technology can do for you.

Outokumpu wants to free up 100,000 tons of capacity.

The Outokumpu/Microsoft team has already developed a digital platform. What are the features?

JH: The Outokumpu Digital Platform (ODP) is an internal platform based on Microsoft Azure cloud and AI technology. It allows us to build an end-to-end backbone for all digital manufacturing-related activities and to scale all use cases across our global operations.

We are connecting information from end to end. While Microsoft is our key strategic partner in this project, we also work with selected vendors on individual use cases within the ODP framework. ODP provides common standards and a collective data back-

target vision and clear the path for our teams to move quickly with all the possible support we can give.

What was the first step in the project?

JH: We started by creating a clear and bold vision. If you don’t know where you are going, you will never arrive.

Digitalization is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. You need to develop a compelling business vision that is clear, ambitious, and can be understood by everyone involved. Our aim at Outokumpu is to significantly reduce our end-to-end customer lead times and free up more than 100,000 tons of capacity from the existing assets. For that, we had to question boundaries, and we always asked ourselves ‘what prevents us from doing the impossible today’. For example: Why is the average lead time 1-2

Digital Transformation is one of six strategic must-win battles in Outokumpu’s

>>

strategic plan.

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bone to connect all digital technologies on the shop floor.

In a press release, you mentioned the “first two concrete solutions, already expected to bring considerable improvements in quality performance for Tornio mill.”

Can you describe these solutions?

JH: We have clustered our roadmap into several concrete use cases, all forming logical elements towards reaching our goal of significantly shorter lead times and 100,000 tons of

freed capacity. Some of the first use cases are centered around the themes of automated surface inspection and digital coil data mapping. We train algorithms to identify and categorize the smallest surface defects beyond the ability of the human eye and standard technology. This helps us detect defects early on and allows us to identify and remove the root causes of these defects by connecting the process and quality data across the production chain from melting to finishing.

— Millmate Thickness Gauging systems Gapless gauging for aluminium strip

The Box Gauge measures aluminium strip thickness with a gapless sensor – excitation and receiver in one single unit. The compact and robust design, together with insensitivity to alloy variations and harsh rolling mill environments, enables accurate measurements in any position, even interstand in a tandem mill. Thus the MTG Box Gauge is ideal for use with all types of AGC, for control of thickness as well as for reducing thickness errors. abb.com/thicknessgauging

MPT International 4 / 2019

You want to gain 100,000 tons of freed capacity. Does this mean that you want to increase production capacity or that you want to produce and deliver faster?

JH: In the steel industry we usually refer to capacity in tonnages. But as we all know, capacity is determined by available equipment time, bottlenecks and throughput speed. Generally speaking, unplanned maintenance breaks, quality issues requiring rework and non-optimized supply chain planning processes, for example, can easily consume over 10 percent of theoretical capacity. We address all of this. Removing the bottlenecks and maximizing a rightfirst-time production will result in higher availability and therefore free up capacity – without investment in expensive equipment and massive fixed cost increase. Information is key to remove a lot of blockers, waste, and bottlenecks from the process.

What are the next steps in the Tornio plant?

JH: We systematically follow our roadmap with growing numbers of use cases rolled out and added to the platform. Our short-term focus is on some major bottlenecks in our operations.

One of the topics we are currently looking at, for example, are electrode models in our electric arc furnaces (EAF).

We already gathered valuable experience from previously applying AI to our Ferrochrome smelters, where we were able to significantly increase productivity and the lifetime of our furnaces (maintenance impact) while reducing electrode consumption.

Promising results which can be transferred to steel melt shops as well. There are many other use cases in the pipeline.

What are the next steps within the company?

JH: Digital Transformation is one of six strategic must-win battles in Outokumpu’s strategic plan towards the company’s vision for the year 2020.

Within that must-win battle, Digital Manufacturing is a key element, where we now focus on the digitalization of our biggest plant in Tornio by 2020. The platform, solutions, and transformation models we develop

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there are designed to be scaled to all other Outukumpu plants. Within Digital Transformation, we are pursuing the transformation of our business process and renewal of our ERP systems with the Chorus program.

There are also other paths on our road to digitalization, such as building the next generation of digital sales capabilities. A lot is moving at Outokumpu as we continue to transform our company to be the best value creator in stainless steel by 2020 through customer orientation and efficiency.

The technical solution is only one side; the mindset of the employees is the other side. How do you ensure all Outokumpu staff become digital minded?

JH: Nowadays, most people are already highly digitalized through smartphones and other technologies, as large changes in intuitive user expe-

Information becomes the basis of decision making.

rience in recent years have made technology available to everyone. I think that the real challenge in our industry is how to manage the transformation

Online buying / selling of steel: Will one winner take it all?

Outokumpu was one of the first actual steel mills to link up with an e-commerce venture set up for steel distributors. The company behind the venture is itself one of the biggest steel and metals distributors: Klöckner & Co. And it seems to know quite well what it is doing. While two other ambitious German start-ups, Mapudo and #netzwerkstahl (later renamed to steelshop) in spring both gave up after three to four years, Klöcker’s Xom Materials keeps flourishing.

Tim Milde is the chief operating officer Xom Materials, and he remains all positive for the future He emphasizes that it takes time, effort and money to make progress in e-commerce. “Many companies do not invest sufficiently in IT,” he said, assessing the investment in Xom itself so far at €10 million.

Headquartered in Berlin, Mitte district, Germany’s modest version of an urban Silicon Valley, the company has offices in Duisburg and Atlanta, USA, and plans to soon set up more in eastern Europe. Curiously, Klöckner CEO Gisbert Rühl earlier on underlined that Xom is a rare example of an e-commerce venture which grows westward from a European base. “There are American platforms that are proprietary to service centres, for example, but none that are open to other parties,” he said after a visit to the USA. The platform by now is active in 16 countries including the USA, and, according to Rühl, has no similar competitor, either in America or in Europe. Last year, the Xom supported steel transactions worth €7 million. This year, the volume is seen passing €30 million.

XOM has currently 21 partners selling on its platform, most of them steel distributors. Apart from Outokumpu, producers include Buderus, but also plastics company Röchling. XOM company is presently organising the first financing round to give shares to third-party investors of up to 25-30% initially, so that it becomes an independent platform, which is what Klöckner intended from the outset.

When asked why Klöckner has launched such a venture, Rühl replies “... if we don’t do it, someone else will, and then we will have to link up with someone else’s platform. – As a distributor, you need to position yourself at an early stage.”

from ‘experience-driven’ to ‘information-driven’. When information becomes the basis of our decision making, algorithms advise us how to do things better or even make the decisions for us. But what is the role of humans in this context? For someone with skills, seniority and pride derived from experience, this may present major questions: What is my value if my experience does not count anymore?

Shall I give away my day-to-day decision power to an algorithm? Am I replaceable? Is this AI thing really working? These questions and fears must be taken seriously.

The truth is, we do not want to drive digital transformation against the people but with and for the people. We aim to get better and better, more and more efficient, more and more sustainable in our ways of working and the usage of natural resources. Personal experience still counts, and we want to digitize the collective work experience and transform it towards building and operating digital solutions. But in the end, the smart systems are still tools and to be used by humans for the benefits of humans.

I think that the value of our talents, especially on the shop floor, will gradually shift from applying personal experience in daily operations towards moving boundaries day by day, leveraging information and technology. And as teams are key to making this transformation a success, it is important to empower teams and build digital solutions with them and for them.

MPT International 4 / 2019

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The joint platform is easy to use by smartphone.

SMS digital and Voith to push IIOT platform development Voith and SMS digital, the digital subsidiary of SMS group, announce plans to bundle competencies in platform development. The aim of the cooperation is to offer platform services for their Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. The two companies are joining forces to digitalize business with smart applications and efficiently share development resources and competencies.

The joint platform provides both companies the opportunity to use new applications across different industries in the other’s worldwide core markets and speed up the development process of customer-relevant applications. For example, SMS digital can introduce its digital product Smart Alarm more efficiently in Voith's core markets and the process industries. Meanwhile, SMS benefits from Voith’s OnCumulus apps designed for production efficiency enhancement and asset management.

While most of the platform services are industry-independent and can be jointly used by both companies, some MPT International 4 / 2019

that are app- or industry-specific, will be reserved for the respective company. The customer gateways MyVoith and mySMS group still remain the central and cross-sector contact points for customers, partners and suppliers of each company. Additionally, these gateways serve as company-specific access points to the respective IIoT applications. The platforms and applications are accessible via all common mobile devices.

Building on deep domain knowledge in their respective industries, both the Voith Group and SMS group make effective use of these competences, developing highly efficient digital

applications specifically for their customers’ needs. Both companies share not only this common background, but also a common vision. “Together, we provide platform solutions and technologies for the digital age that offer real added value to our customers,” states Dr. Benedikt Hofmann, CTO Voith Digital Ventures.

“SMS digital identifies and develops innovative products for the metals industry and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to take a further step in the digital transformation of key global industries together with Voith,” says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katja Windt, CDO, SMS group GmbH.

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Photo: Primetals

DIGITALIZATION

The partnership was signed at METEC 2019.

Gerdau signs strategic partnership with Primetals During the trade fair METEC in Dusseldorf, steel producer Gerdau and full-line supplier of metallurgical plant solutions Primetals Technologies signed a strategic partnership for their digitalization journey. The main goal of this cooperation is the development and realization of a digitalization roadmap for Gerdau, who intends to be the pioneer in the implementation of digital innovation among all steel producers in the world. The focus of the cooperation lies on the execution of digitalization projects, joint-development projects and the creation of new business models. The steering committee existing of both experts from Gerdau and Primetals Technologies has already been formed.

A a leading steel manufacturer, Gerdau has put digitalization at the top of its agenda. Marcos Eduardo Faraco Wahrhaftig, Executive Director at Gerdau, defines the main target for this strategic partnership: “For more than 100 years Gerdau has been a pioneer in the manufacturing of steel products. Now, we also want to become the pioneer in the implementation of digital innovation in the steel industry. Therefore, we have selected Primetals Technologies as the leading technology company in this sector.”

Primetals Technologies will support Gerdau in the development and implementation of their digitalization roadmap and showcase the benefits of digitalization technologies. Kurt Herzog, Head of Industry 4.0 at Primetals Technologies, states: “We are looking forward supporting Gerdau to drive their digital transformation in order to commonly create new innovative digital services

on the edge of industry 4.0.” The signing of the strategic partnership between Gerdau and Primetals Technologies at METEC marks a new milestone in the more than 40 years lasting partnership between the two companies.

New business models Primetals Technologies is one of the leading plant builders and drivers of digitalization in the metals industry.

Based on a long history in the automation, digitalization and optimization of steelworks, Primetals Technologies has defined its strategic target to transform to a digital, know-how based company, and assist customers in the metals industry on their digitalization journey. The unique combination of metallurgical know-how and the bold expertise in automation and digitalization is the basis for the strategic cooperation with Gerdau in order to pro-

vide the necessary know-how to implement digitalization projects on Gerdau sites in Brazil according to a defined digitalization roadmap, drive joint development projects and create new business models. The joint projects will include digital innovations for smart sensors, process automation, quality control, production management, intralogistics, condition monitoring and data analytics.

Steering committee A steering committee has already been nominated, consisting of experts from Gerdau and Primetals Technologies.

Due to its strong presence in Brazil, Primetals Technologies will provide local support to Gerdau. Regular steering committee meetings as well as innovation workshops will ensure the defined targets are reached in an agile manner.

MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› PROCESS CONTROL

Using software to refine the process of steel manufacturing

Tata Steel is one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with manufacturing plants in 26 countries and commercial operations in more than 35 countries. In Europe, it is the second largest steel maker.

Its production facilities not only employ cutting-edge technology in all areas, but extremely close attention is paid to life-cycle costs. There is virtually no other way to manufacture steel competitively in Europe. A maintenance department that is able to react quickly when necessary is also indispensable, and needs to be as technologically up-to-the-minute as the production plants. The versiondog change management and version control software has played a key role at Tata Steel for some time now.

It was first used by the company in 2011 at its IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands. At the time, this kind of software was not completely new to the company. Since 2005, they had been using a version control product called VersionWorks that was then being distributed by the Dutch version control specialist, Agilitec B.V. After support for VersionWorks was discontinued in 2010, Agilitec and AUVESY decided to enter into cooperation. Agilitec has been the versiondog distributor for the Benelux countries ever since.

In the Netherlands, as in other countries, Tata Steel is structured into de-

Author Silke Glasstetter AUVESY GmbH

MPT International 4 / 2019

© Tata Steel Europe (3)

It is a cold hard fact that steel production in Europe can hardly be made economically viable unless manufacturing facilities use the very latest equipment and technology. And there is no alternative to operating 24/7. So it is clear that the number of stoppages must be kept to an absolute minimum, and, when unavoidable, must be as short as possible. At Tata Steel, the change management and version control software versiondog has become a proven and effective means of combating downtime and increasing production costs.

Tata Steel is the second largest steel manufacturer in Europe

centralised business units that each have their own product groups and production facilities. Some are cold rolling plants, for example, and some hot rolling plants. "After the switch to versiondog, we approached all Tata units in the Netherlands in order to tell them about versiondog. That's how we came into contact with the central service group HTD," recounts Yme Bosma, CEO of Agilitec B.V. Hoogoven Technische Dienst (HTD) is the internal service provider for the maintenance departments of Tata Steel's business units. They quickly recognised the benefits of versiondog and soon became highly enthusiastic about the system. The software has been made available to individual business units on the central network.

They can choose to take advantage of versiondog on a subscription basis. To increase the maximum number of components, the versiondog system is

currently set to be upgraded to a parallel server system.

The latest version of any project Last year, Tata Steel Europe produced 10 million tonnes of steel and generated a turnover of €7.9 billion. Nearly all production processes at IJmuiden are continual and need to be kept running 24/7, so avoiding downtime is a top priority.

That's a big part of the reason why versiondog is in use across the board there, on all production lines. But because Tata Steel business units have a high degree of autonomy, the way individual units use versiondog varies considerably. "That's because different units are involved in different kinds of production", explains Hassan El Haddad technical automation specialist at HTD. "But despite that, they still all use

‹‹‹

PROCESS CONTROL versiondog, and that just shows how flexible the system is. The fact that there are no central rules also tends to lead to different units using versiondog in different ways. How they use the software is up to each individual unit but part of the essence of versiondog is that you never lose any data," he adds, "and you always document all changes, so there is no real need to impose any bureaucracy on the system."

There are 18 different units and around 200 users with access to versiondog. Hassan El Haddad and René Blaauw, being two of the system administrators are able to centrally monitor and manage some 3,000 versiondog components.

The number of backups being made of device control programs is steadily growing. Depending on the needs in each particular production area, some are made daily, some weekly and some monthly. Around 150 backups of the more critical equipment are made every day. When new machinery is installed, backups are initially made more frequently. When it is confirmed that everything is running smoothly and reliably, the interval can be extended. Fortunately, setting up and

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More time for new tasks: Automated backups and structured data management result in substantial time savings for maintenance staff at Ijmuiden.

changing backup jobs in versiondog is a very straightforward process.

"In the past, we used to make backups for the sake of making backups," recalls Mr. El Haddad, "With the number of devices we have, that was a huge waste of time. Now our teams know when a change has been made and when a backup is required." Some of the units backup their networked devices automatically. Others do so man-

ually because they have a lot of standalone machinery, hence devices that are not networked. One of the many advantages of the versiondog system is that it supports both automatic and manual backup routines equally well.

Registering every change Plus there are units for whom adhering to the "Management of Change Proto- >>

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12.08.19 09:36

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col" and registering each and every change is extremely important. HTD at Tata Steel believes: "However versiondog is used, the benefits are the same; we always know who changed what and why. Centralised documentation of changes is of tremendous value."

Whenever versiondog is rolled out to new users, a lot of attention is paid to the security of the network. Satisfying the various security requirements of different production plants is another area in which this software offers a high degree of flexibility. HTD can easily grant and manage access rights centrally, according to the needs and wishes of each individual unit. This is an advantage because if a unit is subsequently reorganised, the system administrator does not need to be called in to deal with access rights. A number of external contractors have also been granted access to the versiondog system so that they can check-in on projects themselves. The fact that the maintenance technicians are happy to allow this shows how much they trust the system.

Justifiably so, because all changes made by contractors can be easily viewed and approved. If a change still doesn't produce the desired result, the previous version can be quickly restored to the device.

HTD emphasises one very important advantage: "With versiondog, we always know the current status of our production plants. versiondog makes our work easier and saves us time."

Central data storage, easy comprehensible documentation of all changes and SmartCompare (i.e. graphical or text-based detail comparisons of versions) all lead to vastly improved clarity and certainty.

Preventive maintenance Hassan El Haddad couldn't say exactly how much time Tata Steel saves: "Yes, that's something that our management would also like to know," he says, "but it is as difficult to quantify in euros and cents as is the benefit of having a smartphone." He goes on to explain how a substantial improvement in their work comes from knowing the condition of the production equipment. That makes proactive preventative maintenance much easier: "The more we know about our machinery, the better we are able to maintain it.

MPT International 4 / 2019

Better teamwork: versiondog centralises project and device data and provides endto-end change management – users can always see who changed what, where and when.

What's more, we have more data available for analysis, and we can use that to improve our processes. That's what the Industrial Internet of Things is going to be about, but for us it is here today." The main goal was to reduce downtime, and that has been achieved.

"We now know exactly which version of any control program is the one currently in use, we don't just think we know which one it is."

The system administrators are now exploring the possibilities offered by the new features and options in versiondog 6.0. As experienced users, they can quickly appreciate the new features that they regularly discover and that promise great benefits and are keen to make them available to the users.

They are particularly enthusiastic about the new SAP interface. As the maintenance department already manage equipment data with SAP, automated integration of production plant data into versiondog would be a valuable cross-system benefit.

Work culture Tata Steel is no different to many other companies in that the staff initially regarded the introduction of versiondog with a degree of scepticism. "Since then, though, our work culture has changed." That might sound like quite an assertion, but Hassan El Haddad is adamant: "We now approach problems and tasks differently. Our people now primarily see the opportunities that change offers, and not just the risks.

They appreciate the workload reduc-

tion, smoothing of workflow and the certainty that versiondog provides.

That is why versiondog is not simply a tool, it has become a core element of our maintenance culture." Some people had been doing their jobs more or less the same way for more than twenty years. Now, new possibilities have suddenly been opened up and attention is being focussed toward areas where there is much to be gained. For many, it has been a transformation. Backups, plant monitoring, information for planners and engineers – the AUVESY software is even involved in data management for the production plant power supplies. And these plants contain machinery that uses a lot of energy!

The way tasks are now approached in maintenance has resulted in a broader change in attitudes toward innovation. "Sharing more means learning more" is the principle. Readiness to exchange information about problems in production depends on the degree of desire to learn from one another as a team. The web-based versiondog Factory Floor Status is used a great deal in this context. This useful add-on gives staff ready access to additional information and KPIs concerning jobs and components.

Hassan El Haddad's concluding remark: "If you want to minimise downtime or avoid it altogether, it is not enough to just think you know which version should be the right version of your control program project. versiondog gives you end-to-end clarity on what changes have been made. You can't get better quality than that!"

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EAF based melt shops.

Smart products; Assistance tools and service solutions for digital production Digital EAF Steelmaking starts with automated scrap handling and preparation, followed by a fully automated melting process guided by camera systems and automatic measuring devices. Small smart products around the EAF help to perform dangerous or tough working steps safely with as little manpower as possible.. Powerful tools for the process analysis and Business Intelligence systems allow a deep insight in the physical production process.

The digital EAF production is basically based on four pillars: • Collection and analysis of EAF data from production as well as from equipment. Basis are mainly Level 1 and Level 2 data form the basis..

• Collection from other sources, the so-called called smart sensors.

• Automated functions by manipulators, robots etc.

• Condition monitoring of equipment In all these areas, a lot of development has been taken place in the past years.

The task today is to combine all these areas for a seamless interaction to achieve a fully optimized EAF process with the highest possible degree of automation.

Data collection and analysis In a reference plant, all data from level 1 and level 2 systems are collected and stored via encrypted cloud services. All data storage and software licensing is in one location. The customer is provided with customized trends, various reports, including business intelligence technologies shown on easy dashboards. The information can be Authors J. Apfel, H. Beile, Primetals Technologies Germany Contact: Dr. Jens Apfel Phone: +49 9131 9886 787 Email : jens.apfel@primetals.com This presentation was held at ESTAD 2019.

Fig. 1: Level trend data from burner system

viewed by operators and managers using any web-browser from anywhere in the world. The art is to select and analyse the important information out of the huge database.

This graph gives information about the present status of the EAF and its installed equipment including off-gas system.

Interactive reports show the most important key figures. Unusual values

are highlighted. Figures of the last few heats can easily be shown as a comparison. All these reports can be customized to the needs of every user. Each customer can create his own views, dashboards and reports.

Correlations between different parameters can be analyzed with statistical methods to determine optimized operational parameters for the EAF and its auxiliary equipment. After >> MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

Fig. 2: Interactive report with highlighted figures.

reporting and analysing the data, the next steps are clearly defined. They are condition monitoring out of the huge level 1 data base followed by a predictive maintenance concept.

Automatic Scrap Loading and charging One of the areas in a steel melting shop with lowest degree of automation is the scrap loading and charging. The challenge is a safe and reliable production without failures, damages and downtimes. There is a fully automated system for the scrap charging into the EAF, which exactly reproduces the charging conditions and movements.

The crane movement is synchronized with the movement of the doghouse and the EAF roof. The advantages are less power-off times and higher equipment safety, meaning less damages through scrap charging. This system can be easily installed in existing plants.

Measuring devices and sensors must be installed to locate the scrap baskets at any time. Additionally, the cranes themselves need to be automated to move to all positions fully automatically. Figure 3 shows the principle of the scrap charging system for an EAF plant with doghouse.

The next step is the automated loading of the scrap baskets at the scrap yard with a similar system of position measurement. The scrap pile is measured and the crane is taking scrap grab-by-grab from the different MPT International 4 / 2019

Fig. 3: Principle of automatic scrap charging into an EAF

piles according to the recipe defined by the precalculation of the Level 2 system.

Automatic sandfilling device Refilling the taphole of an EAF is one of the most dangerous activities around the furnace. The operators have to go up to the EBT balcony and inspect, clean and refill the taphole under hot and uncomfortable condi-

tions. The intelligent automatic sandfilling device does all this work automatically monitored by the operator via a camera system.

The filling sand bin (1) is filled by a material handling system via a pipe or chute. Once tapping is finished, the bin and the camera (2) moves over the inspection hole of the taphole. If the taphole is free and clean, the operator starts the filling from the pulpit. The camera also shows whether the tap-

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ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

Fig. 4: Automatic sandfilling with inspection with camera.

hole is correctly filled. If more sand is needed, the operator can easily top up the filling by pushing a button. Once the taphole is filled correctly, the bin moves back to the manipulator box, also bringing the camera into a safe position. Afterwards, the inspection hole is afterwards closed by a flap (4). This tool brings more safety into the daily work of the operators, and helps reduce the power off times at the EAF.

EAF taphole opener Sometimes, the tap hole fails to open when opening the tap hole slide gate.

The current normal procedure now is to burn the hole open with an oxygen lance from the bottom of the furnace.

This is again a very dangerous procedure, where an automatic tool should help to solve the problem without people entering a dangerous area.

Opening the hole with an oxygen lance using a manipulator is basically the same procedure as when done by an operator.

The manipulator is operated by remote control from the EAF or tapping pulpit. The lances are consumables and need to be changed after each usage. This change can be done from a safe area, when the manipulator is swivelled into the parking position.

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Fig. 5: Tap hole opener with interchangeable lance.

door so that no scrap can fall in, which would be difficult to melt. Second, it allows a precise control of the slag flow during melting. Even cleaning of the slag door area is possible. Using this equipment all the dangerous handling in front of the slag door can be minimized, which allows for better operating safety. It also helps decrease downtimes and to run closed door-operation for lower energy consumption.

The system works with a pair of cylinders which is moving the door. The thickness of the door makes sure that the tunnel is completely filled and no scrap is falling in.

There is still a way to go especially on predictive maintenance. But step by step the principle of digital EAF steel making will be followed.

Fig. 7: Slag door with cleaning and slag control function

References Lueckhoff J., Apfel J., Buttler J., The vision of a fully automated Mini Mill, Proceedings of AISTECH, Pittsburgh, US 2016

The following table gives an overview of automatic functions in a mini mill, not only EAF.

Slag-door assistant The slag-door assistant has two tasks.

First, it closes the tunnel of the slag

Table 1: Automatic functions in mini mill steel making MPT International 4 / 2019

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Marker Robot Improves Product Performance "A substantially higher production speed, as well as printing a marking of more characters on the flat and rounded sides of extremely hot rolls of steel, in less time," were the demands imposed by China's leading steel producer when ordering the latest marker robot for their hot strip mill from Dutch manufacturing company, Tebulo Industrial Robotics. Or, in short: “Substantially improve the cycle time of our hot strip mill”. In this article, Hans Spaans, Technology Director of Tebulo Industrial Robotics, explains how he met this challenge in a country supplying 50% of the world's total steel production.

Henriëtte van Norel

Photos (3): Tebulo

Passing through at considerable speed and with their ‘eye to the sky’ are approximately 60 glowing hot rolls of steel (800° C), weighing 20 to 30 tons, on the ‘walking beam’ in the Chinese hot strip mill. Positioned beside the ‘walking beam’ is Tebulo Industrial Robotics’ latest marker robot. Within the traceability context, this robot applies a unique ID number to each of the rolls. For several decades and to the fullest customer satisfaction, Tebulo Industrial Robotics has delivered marker robots to the leading Chinese steel manufacturer, who annually produces 21 million tons of steel.

For over 20 years, the above production line had operated with a Tebulo marker robot. Spaans explains: "The robot had reached its technological end of life and needed to be replaced, as spare parts were no longer available.

This was the main reason for ordering a new marker robot".

Process One by one, the robot prints markings on passing rolls, which appears to be simple. Yet, in practice it turns out to be a considerable technological challenge. Namely, on this production line, the exact position per roll is not defined: It is always an approximate position. Consequently there may be considerable variations in a roll's position. Due to the extremely high temperatures and slight inaccuracies in the line's drive system, the rolls of steel are not accurately positioned. As soon as the roll in need of marking stops, the MPT International 4 / 2019

The job was hardly feasible for the old robot.

robot must first detect where the marking should be placed on the roll's side, as well as the roll's exact position and height. First, a procedure to determine the accurate measurements is required in order to establish the position. Successfully performing the procedure constituted a major technological challenge, since it is all very time-critical.

Time The cycle time per roll amounts to 60 seconds. Per roll, only 25 seconds are available for the application of the marking and the measuring procedure, while merely 15 seconds are utilized for the actual measuring. In other words, the unique ID number must be applied in the remaining ten seconds. Spaans

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47

On average, every 3 to 6 weeks, duringa regular maintenance stop, the robot receives any necessary maintenance.

explains: “This was hardly feasible for the old robot, let alone with the new one. The standard for the latest marker robot was, namely, that it had to have the capability to maximally apply 25 characters at a time. On average, the application of 1 character takes 1.2 seconds. The smaller characters still take 1 second per character. Once the walking beam is at a complete stand-still, the marking is applied. The line starts up again as soon as the robot finishes its procedure. While intending to solve these technological challenges, the producer wanted to increase line performance as well. In short: More had to be accomplished in less time. So we needed to find a different, smart solution”.

Previously In the old process, the line control system determined when the rolls of steel were stopped. There were no line data, speed and position data available. So the robot’s controller received a start signal from the line controller as soon as the line stopped. Next, the robot controller received the printable data.

Before the marking could be applied to the roll of steel, the robot arm moved towards the steel roll in order to measure the diameter, position and height of the roll in a fixed pattern. Next, based on all this data, the controller could plot the robot's exact trajectory needed for the application of the marking's received number of characters.

Spaans explains: “Elaborating upon the old system, we have sought for a way to gain time somewhere. The idea emerged to optimize the measuring cycle by conducting it while the rolls of steel were in transport. Also, whenever feasible, process time could be considerably shortened by performing various measurements simultaneously, instead of one by one.

Measuring Process The measuring process consists of a combination of a distance laser and synchronization of line transport.

Every 5 ms, the laser detects each roll's contours by performing a distance measurement on the passing roll from a fixed position. The speed at which a steel roll passes is determined by accurately measuring the line movement with the assistance of the line transport sensors. By combining data derived from both measurements, the respective roll's contours may be determined, as well as its exact stop position. Next, this data is sent to the robot controller which combines these data with the fixed, known distance to the walking beam, in order to calculate the roll's position and particularly the location of the arch on which the marking needs to be applied. Moreover, the known information is that the rolls are accurately positioned within +/- 200 mm. The rolls are perpendicularly placed on the line by means of a tilting system with an allowable positioning accuracy of +/- 150 mm. In other words, based on the available information, the robot's controller easily plots the exact trajectory in which the marking needs to be applied. No additional measuring is required in the described approach, aside from the roll-height measurement, saving approxi- mately 10 seconds per roll. When asked whether the height measurement might also be included in one pass, Spaans responds: "No, a height measuring process is necessary under all circumstances. This is because not all rolls of steel are identical, while the marking position, as seen from the top down, must always be identical. The height measurement also helps to determine whether the roll has a case of telescoping. This measurement per-

formed on the roll's flat side is a tested and approved measuring approach. In a case of excessive telescoping the marking is only printed on the roll's rounded side.

Single Nozzle On average, every 3 to 6 weeks, during a regular maintenance stop, the robot receives any necessary maintenance.

When the rollers of the hot strip mill need replacing, the line with the rolls of steel requires emptying. Consequently, the speed of the line transport changes. In the controller's new configuration, this does not at all impact measurement accuracy. The customer decided again for a single nozzle for the new marker robot. A sevennozzle dot matrix is faster in applying a marking. However, the single-nozzle design is much less sensitive to pollution within a hot environment, so it has a better performance output than the dot matrix. The white paint utilised for the marking's application was fully developed in-house by Tebulo Industrial Robotics. The paint can easily be refilled while the robot is in operation, since the paint supply system sits outside the safety fence surrounding the robot.

Finally In conclusion, Spaans says: “Since then, Tebulo Industrial Robotics has placed various marker robots, as described above, in hot strip mills worldwide. We were able to accomplish a considerable time savings per roll, particularly by integrating data from the line and robot control in conjunction with parallel implementation of various measurements. This benefits the line's eventual performance as well as TCO. MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› QUALITY ASSURANCE

Acceptable errors in chemical analyses of products made from steel and metal alloys In this paper, based on the cooperation of the Silesian University of Technology with the former Baildon Steelworks, permissible errors in chemical analyses of individual alloying elements, determined in a wide range of concentrations in steel and metal alloys, were compared. This applies to the determination in mass percentages of carbon from 0.005 to over 0.5%, sulphur from 0.003 to 0.030%, silicon from 0.05 to 4.0%, phosphorus from 0.003 to 0.045%, nitrogen from 0.01 to over 0.25%, manganese from 0.03 to over 20%, nickel from 0.03 to over 20%, chromium from 0.10 to over 20%, molybdenum from 0.03 to over 3.0%, tungsten from 0.05 to over 10%, aluminium from 0.05 to 10.0% inclusive, and titanium and niobium in the amount of 0.05% for all concentration ranges.

Quality assurance in chemical research laboratories combines different activities defined in methodological procedures and necessary to achieve an adequate degree of certainty that the quality control process meets the assumed requirements. Quality control is a complex process, including a series of activities that ensure that the research techniques and methods of measurement applied in laboratories allow obtaining results in accordance with the intended objectives. The implementation of a quality control system requires not only in-depth knowledge of the basics and principles of techniques and analytical methods, but also knowledge of the sources of errors at individual stages of the research cycle [1-11]. Taking into account different types of errors - relative, absolute, accidental (random or unspecified), systematic (specified), and gross errors (outliers) [9-10], instrumental errors, personal errors etc. with their short characteristics, in this study, permissible errors in chemical analyses of products made from steel and non-ferrous alloys

Author Prof. dr hab. inż. Andrzej Wyclślik, Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy, ul. Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Email: Andrzej.Wycislik@polsl.pl

MPT International 4 / 2019

were compared, and errors resulting from the contamination of test material during sampling and sample preparation, i.e. errors related to sample material, were discussed. This is very important because quite often the analyst receives the material for testing with no opportunity to supervise the correct sampling process. As a typical example may serve the error resulting from the difference in hardness of the processed material used for the product and unprocessed material used for the sample. An important factor, especially in the determination of the content of trace elements, is the purity of chemical reagents, which should be such as to prevent the analysed material from getting contaminated with any impurities during the digesting process. This is of particular importance when in the process of sample preparation, relatively large, compared to the sample weight, amounts of the reagents are used [1-8,11,12]. In this study, based on the cooperation of the Silesian University of Technology with the former Baildon Steelworks, permissible errors in chemical analyses of individual alloying elements, determined in a wide range of concentrations for products made from steel and metal alloys, were compared.

Parameters The basic parameters for the quality assessment of chemical analysis are: ac-

curacy, precision, repeatability, reproducibility and reliability (correctness).

Precision and repeatability can be determined in each chemical analytical laboratory by multiple repetition of the whole analytical cycle, i.e. the procedure for the test sample preparation and analyte determination by the currently applied analytical technique.

Yet, high precision and repeatability do not guarantee a priori that the results of chemical analysis are in line with true values. For the full assessment of an analytical procedure it is necessary to determine its accuracy, i.e. the closeness of agreement between a measured value and a true or accepted value [1-6,1,13]. In modern chemical analytical laboratories, it is not possible to control the correctness of actions performed over the entire analytical cycle and reliability of the obtained results of chemical analyses without the use of certified reference materials.

It is worth adding here that certified reference materials are used for various purposes, to mention as an example control of new analytical procedures, checking the degree of mastering research methods and analytical skills of laboratory staff or their proficiency in interlaboratory tests, for routine control of accuracy and precision of the determination of individual components in samples, or for instrument calibration using the available methods. The preparation of certified refer-

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QUALITY ASSURANCE ence materials is a technically difficult, long-lasting and thus very costly process. For these reasons, special national and also international institutions are in charge of this task. The best known and appreciated is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington, D.C. USA (NIST). As regards the manufacture of certified reference materials for metallurgy, significant achievements have in this respect two Polish institutes, i.e. the Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy (steel metallurgy) and the Institute of Non-ferrous Metals (alloys based on non-ferrous metals). These domestic certified reference materials, commonly referred to as benchmarks, are an important aid in assessing the quality of the obtained results of the determination of individual components in metallurgical chemical laboratories, including the determination of acceptable errors in individual concentration ranges.

It is also worth adding that some measurements in analytical chemistry can be of absolute character. In absolute measurements, sometimes determined by definitive methods, it is possible to obtain the results of chemical analyses based on some fundamental quantities, such as mass or volume, or based on constant physical quantities, e.g. Avogadro constant, Faraday constant, or based on constant chemical quantities, which include the atomic mass and the stoichiometric composition, or based on some thermodynamic constants. Such absolute methods include gravimetry, titrimetry, electrogravimetry and coulometry [12,13]. To obtain reliable results of chemical analyses, laboratories should conduct independent audits of quality control procedures and employ appropriately qualified personnel. However, it should be emphasized that even the use of the most advanced and coupled analytical techniques based on stateof-the-art laboratory equipment and/ or control and measurement equipment will not eliminate errors made during sampling and preparation of samples for chemical analyses [1-19].

At the end of this chapter, it is worth pointing out that quite often the institutions and organizations manufacturing certified reference materials do not include in their offers some specific patterns that laboratories

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Element Content of the analysed

component,% by mass

Permissible error in the concentration ranges tested,% Above max, %

Below min, %

Carbon

up to 0,03 inclusive from 0,03 to 0,25 inclusive from 0,25 to 0,50 inclusive 0,50 and over

0,005 0,01 0,02 0,03

-0,01 0,02 0,03

Sulphur

up to 0,030 inclusive from 0,030 to 0,080 inclusive from 0,15 to 0,30

0,003 0,005 0,02

--0,02

Silicon

up to 1,0 inclusive from 1,0 to 2,0 inclusive from 2,0 to 4,0 inclusive

0,05 0,07 0,10

0,05 0,07 0,10

Phosphorus

up to 0,030 inclusive from 0,030 to 0,045 inclusive

0,003 0,004

---

Nitrogen

up to 0,25 inclusive 0,25 and over

0,01 0,03

0,01 0,03

Manganese

up to 1,0 inclusive from 1,0 to 2,0 inclusive from 2,0 to 5,0 inclusive from 5,0 to 10,0 inclusive from 10,0 to 20,0 inclusive 20,0 and over

0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,15 0,20

0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,15 0,20

Nickel

up to 1,0 inclusive from 1,0 to 3,0 inclusive from 3,0 to 5,0 inclusive from 5,0 to 10,0 inclusive from 10,0 to 20,0 inclusive 20,0 and over

0,03 0,05 0,07 0,10 0,15 0,20

0,03 0,05 0,07 0,10 0,15 0,20

Chromium

up to 10,0 inclusive from 10,0 to 15,0 inclusive from 15,0 to 20,0 inclusive 20,0 and over

0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25

0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25

Molybdenum

do 1,0 inclusive from 1,0 to 2,0 inclusive from 2,0 to 3,0 inclusive 3,0 and over

0,03 0,05 0,08 0,10

0,03 0,05 0,08 0,10

Tungsten

up to 3,0 inclusive

0,08

0,08

Aluminium

Up to 0,3 inclusive from 3,0 to 5,0 inclusive from 5,0 to 10,0 inclusive

0,05 0,07 0,10

0,05 0,07 0,10

Titanium

all concentration ranges

0,05

0,05

Niobium

all concentration ranges

0,05

0,05

Table 1. Permissible errors in chemical (control) analyses of products made from steel and metal alloys

could use directly in their chemical analyses. This applies not only to different grades of steel and special alloys with strictly defined application areas, but above all to studies in the field of speciation and speciation analysis, the aim of which is to determine the chemical composition of isolated intermetallic and carbide phases, or non-metallic inclusions. In such cases, metallurgical laboratories

use internal standards, i.e. samples whose chemical composition has been determined by several different techniques and/or analytical methods, or they prepare synthetic standard solutions. These standards do not have appropriate certificates of conformity, but are of great practical value for the analysts rendering unprecedented practical services in current laboratory practice. >> MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› QUALITY ASSURANCE

Permissible errors As part of the long-term cooperation of the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Laboratory of the Faculty of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy at the Silesian University of Technology with the Chemical Laboratory of the former Baildon Steelworks, after many years of joint studies and analyses of various steel grades and multi-component metal alloys, a list of errors acceptable in chemical analyses of selected alloying elements listed in Table 1 was developed. It is worth recalling that the former Baildon Steelworks produced over 400 grades of steel and alloys, and analysts employed at the Chemical Laboratory of this renowned metallurgical plant were excellent specialists with very high qualifications, experience and technical and methodological skills. In my opinion, without any problems, they would find employment in renowned metallurgical chemical laboratories of leading European and even global steel mills. Hence the data listed in Table 1 is fully reliable. In the studies, both domestic and foreign certified reference materials and internal standards were used along with the synthetic reference solutions.

Considering the fact that alloying elements in steels, especially in high-alloy steels and multi-component alloys, occur in a fairly wide range of concentrations, in Table 1, the permissible errors are reported with breakdown by concentration ranges. The results compiled in Table 1, referring to the determination of the content of metallic elements, were obtained by the technique of the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) using atomic absorption spectrometers by Perkin-Elmer model 503 (Silesian University of Technology) and model 603 (Baildon Steelworks).

The content of carbon, sulphur and nitrogen was determined with LECO automatic analysers. The content of phosphorus was determined by the well-known spectrophotometric methods, and that of silicon by AAS technique and gravimetry. The verification of the data provided in Table 1 was also done using other analytical techniques, including optical emission spectrometry with spark excitation and X-ray fluorescence. This conMPT International 4 / 2019

firms that errors in the determination of individual alloying elements given in Table 1 have been calculated in a correct and reliable manner.

Final remarks In this study, as a result of cooperation between the Silesian University of Technology and the former Baildon Steelworks, Table 1 gives values of errors acceptable in chemical analyses of individual alloying elements, determined in a wide range of concentrations for steel and metal alloy products.

This applies to the determination in mass percentages of carbon from 0.005 to over 0.5%, sulphur from 0.003 to 0.030%, silicon from 0.05 to 4.0%, phosphorus from 0.003 to 0.045%, nitrogen from 0.01 to over 0.25%, manganese from 0.03 to over 20%, nickel from 0.03 to over 20%, chromium from 0.10 to over 20%, molybdenum from 0.03 to over 3.0%, tungsten from 0.05 to over 10%, aluminium from 0.05 to 10.0% inclusive, and titanium and niobium in the amount of 0.05% for all concentration ranges. Data on errors acceptable in the determination of individual elements listed in Table 1 does not necessarily include the determination of these elements in isolated phases, both intermetallic and carbide, and in non-metallic inclusions [19-22]. This is mainly due to a very small mass of test isolates, and hence the inability to perform parallel analyses and make the statistical evaluation of the specific determination of individual elements reliable and conformant with the applicable standards and provisions of international agreements.

References 1. Prichard E., Barwick V.: Quality Assurance in Analytical Chemistry, J. Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2007 2. Kealey D., Haines P.J.: Chemia Analityczna Krótkie wykłady, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2006 3. Skoog D.A., West D. M., Holler F.J., Crouch S.R.: Podstawy chemii analitycznej, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2006 4. Sommer D., Mertens R., Schlothmann B.J., Thiemann E., Von Wachtendonk H.J., Aufgaben der Stahlanalytik für die Qualitätssicherung bei der Stahlerzeugung, Stahl und Eisen vol. 119, No 6/7, 1999, p. 109-112 5. Koch K. H., Fortschritte und Zukunft der metallurgischen Analytik, Stahl und Eisen vol.

122, No 8, 2002, p. 59 – 65

6. Sommer D., Flock J., Thiemann, E., Schlothmann B.J., Die analytische Chemie in der Stahlindustrie, Stahl und Eisen vol. 130, No 10, 2010, p. 30-42 7. Humbert J.: Steel quality and analytical precision in plate production, Steel Research vol.

62, 1991, p. 171-175 8. Müller N., Boeckers T.M.E.: Das Qualitätssicherungssystem des Stahlwerks in einem ganzheitlichen Managent-Konzept, Stahl und Eisen vol. 119, No 6/7, 1999, p. 115-119 9. Wyciślik A.: Uzyteczne rady dotyczace odrzucania wyników odległych w badaniach składu chemicznego stali, Hutnik-Wiadomości Hutnicze vol. 73, No 11, 2006, p. 520-524 10. Wyciślik A.: Źródła błedów systematycznych w analizach chemicznych próbek metalurgicznych, Hutnik-Wiadomości Hutnicze vol.

78, No 12, 2011, p. 995-998 11. Welz B., Atom-Absorptions-Spektrometrie, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim Deerfield Beach, Florida, Basel 1999 12. Hulanicki A.: Współczesna chemia analityczna Wybrane zagadnienia, wyd. PWN, Warszawa 2001 13. Godlewska-Źyłkiewicz B.: Materiały odniesienia w kontroli jakości analizy, p. 46-64 in book „Zastosowanie metod spektrometrii atomowej w przemyśle i ochronie środowiska” [red.]Bulska E., Pyrzyńska K., wyd. Komitet Chemii Analitycznej PAN, Warszawa 1999 14. Ohls K., Sommer D.: Application of Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Ferrous Metallurgy, in Haswell S.J. (ed.) Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Theory, Design and Applications.

Elsevier, Amsterdam-Oxford-New York-Tokyo 1991 15. Staufenberger O.: Die Einsatzmöglichkeiten der Atom-Absorptions-Spektrometrie in einem Laboratorium des Elektromaschinenbaus, Analysentechnische Berichte Z. 41, 1975 16. Price W.J.: Analytical Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Heyden Son Ltd London-New York 1978 17. Tieking W., Overbosch A.Broersen P.,Kooter R., Rijnders M., Alders L.: Traces in Alloys and their Effects on Steelmaking and Casting, Stahl und Eisen vol. 133, No 3, 2013, p. 59-64 18. Price W.J.: Analytical Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Heyden Son Ltd London-New York 1978 19. Wyciślik A.: Determinanty wyboru i walidacji metody analitycznej w badaniach materiałoznawczych, Inzynieria Materiałowa No 26, 2005, p. 153-157 20. Richter J., Wyciślik A.: Isolation techniques and methods for isolated phases investigation, Acta Metallurgica Slovaca No 7, 2001, p. 481-485 21. Jurczyk J., Jagiełło-Puczka W., Łysakowska M.: Badanie izolatów wtraceń niemetalicznych w stalach metoda spektralna ze wzbudzeniem jarzeniowym, Inzynieria Materiałowa No 14, 1993, p. 88-93 22. Stahlberg R., Steglich F., Zieger M.: Zur Genauigkeit sequentieller AAS-Elementbestimmungen in elektro-chemisch isolierter Gefügebestandteilen differenziert behandelter Stähle, Fres. Z. Anal. Chem. vol. 306, 1981, p. 365-371

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In the project AddSteel, powders for metallic 3D printing using the LPBF process are produced from special, adapted alloys.

Photos (2): Fraunhofer ILT, Aachen, Germany.

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RESEARCH

AddSteel project: new steel materials for 3D printing North Rhine-Westphalia has launched the NRW Leitmarkt project AddSteel, which is aimed at digitalizing the steel industry. Coordinated by SMS group GmbH, a plant engineering company based in Mönchengladbach, Germany, this project will develop new function-adapted steel materials for additive manufacturing. One of the project’s key areas of focus is the qualification of the developed materials for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), a metallic 3D printing process, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. One of the AddSteel project team’s first successes was the development of the first case-hardening and heat-treatable steel powders designed specifically for LPBF applications.

Author Petra Nolis M.A. Marketing & Kommunikation Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT Contact for scientific information: Andreas Vogelpoth M. Sc. Laser Powder Bed Fusion Group Telephone +49 241 8906-365 andreas.vogelpoth@ilt.fraunhofer.de Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Bremen Group Manager Laser Powder Bed Fusion Telephone +49 241 8906-537 sebastian.bremen@ilt.fraunhofer.de

Lightweight vehicle design using new LPBF materials A major challenge facing steelmakers in Germany, and especially those in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is the continuing decline in sales. Previously, efficiency was increased by modifying manufacturing processes and equipment. Now, however, developers and users are increasingly turning their focus to the alloys to be processed. Innovative materials offer new potential for competitive advantages.

The steel industry needs new materials to meet its customers’ increasing-

ly complex demands for products they can use, for instance, to manufacture lightweight and crash-resistant components for the automotive sector.

This is where additive manufacturing techniques such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) come into play, thanks to their ability to exploit digital data to improve component functionality.

Adopting metallic 3D printing based on LPBF technology also gives users the opportunity to sustainably optimize the steel industry’s value chain.

Over the last few years, scientists at Fraunhofer ILT have worked continuously to develop the additive laser >> MPT International 4 / 2019

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››› RESEARCH

For new, tailor-made steels, the AddSteel project partners combine the elements cobalt, carbon, molybdenum, vanadium and tungsten, among others, and vary the corresponding alloy constituents.

powder bed fusion technology from a prototyping method to an industrial-scale method for the production of complex parts in small series. LPBF is already being used by companies in the aerospace, turbomachinery, medical device and other industries to produce complex functional components.

However, one drawback currently prevents 3D printing of case-hardening and heat-treatable steel: suitably qualified and certified materials that would enable components to be additively manufactured in the LPBF process without forming cracks or defects are either unavailable or not yet available in sufficient quantities for industrial manufacturing.

Step-by-step material development through 2021 It is not enough to adjust the LPBF processes and equipment, because the alloy composition of the steel materials currently used is specifically adapted to conventional manufacturing techniques such as primary shaping, reshaping and machining. It was for this reason that, on January 1, 2019, the MPT International 4 / 2019

four partners – plant engineering company SMS group GmbH in Mönchengladbach, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Specialty Steel GmbH & Co. KG in Krefeld, Fraunhofer ILT spin-off Aconity GmbH in Herzogenrath and Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen – with support from North Rhine-Westphalia’s Leitmarkt funding program, launched the AddSteel project to develop new steel materials specifically for use in the LPBF process.

Initial results with new alloys in sight Developing new types of steel requires the right elements, the right combination and the creativity of metallurgists – especially when, as in this case, the steel is to be processed in a new way.

The AddSteel project partners have chosen to develop alloys in an iterative process, combined with systematic adjustments to the LPBF process and equipment. This will be followed by the construction of technology demonstrators for fabricating new components and spare parts that will be used to test and validate performance and cost-efficiency.

“A plant has already been built at SMS group that can nozzle suitable metal powders,” reports Andreas Vogelpoth, a member of the Laser Powder Bed Fusion Group and head of the AddSteel project at Fraunhofer ILT. “Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Specialty Steel is now supplying the new alloys that Fraunhofer ILT will soon be testing on its LPBF system, after the alloys have been converted into powder form.”

Anyone interested will have the opportunity to discover more about the AddSteel project at the Fraunhofer joint booth D51 in hall 11 at formnext 2019, the leading global exhibition and conference on additive manufacturing and the next generation of intelligent industrial production, which will take place in Frankfurt am Main from November 19 to 22.

Funding The AddSteel project is coordinated by SMS group GmbH and has been granted funding for a period of three years by the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

53

New rail brushing machine KNORR, SPECIALIST FOR FULLY AUTOMATED NON-DESTRUCTIVE RAIL TESTING LINES WITHIN THE AMT GROUP, has developed a new generation of rail brushing machines.

The first machine has successfully passed the workshop test.

It will be installed and commissioned in September 2019 at a rail mill customer in India.

The new features are: Consistently high brushing performance due to force-controlled guiding units, easy change-over between rail profiles and brush wear monitoring. More over, one brush dimension fits all brushing units and the modular design reduces inventory of required spares. Brushing is the most convenient and economic way for pre-conditioning of

rail profiles prior to non-destructive testing. KNORR’s brandnew brushing machine improves the reproducibility of the entire testing process by significantly reducing the amount of loose and adhering contaminants, such as scale.

Coarse dirt is collected in a removable bin underneath the machine whereas dust is safely disposed of by an automatic filter system. Less contamination of the downstream testing machines is the consequence, which in turn also leads to a higher overall availability of the entire testing line and lower cleaning effort.

Contact: www.alpinemetaltech.com

New PSImetals Service Platform PSI METALS HAS LAUNCHED THE PSIMETALS SERVICE PLATFORM. It is the new software basis that combines all requirements for a future-proof production management solution for all currently available PSImetals components as well as new services that will be developed in the coming years for metal producers.

The PSImetals Service Platform is based on PSI Java Framework and forms a foundation for service-oriented software architecture which makes it highly integrative for any services used in the metals production. In addition, the platform features an integrated Service Bus (PSIbus), which is responsible for the entire data exchange between PSImetals services and third-party services/products. The proven PSImetals Factory Model, the Digital Twin, is still the heart of the new platform and will operate on all industry-proven database management systems for future services.

“We are pleased to release our new PSImetals Service Platform as it represents our first milestone in our development plan, which offers the industry a very flexible and forward-looking platform,” said Thomas Quinet, Managing Director PSI Metals. “The platform is able to integrate not only currently available PSImetals components, but also all new services that will be developed in the upcoming years for steel and aluminum producers,” he added.

Based on its own software products, the PSI Group develops and integrates complete solutions for optimizing the flow of energy and materials for utilities (energy networks, energy trading, public transport) and industry (mining, metals production, automotive, mechanical engineering, logistics).

Contact: www.psimetals.de MPT International 4 / 2019

54

››› IN THE NEXT ISSUE...

Advanced Equipment Schuler to supply one of the world’s largest presses to thyssenkrupp. 16,000 tons of concentrated press force, 1,700 tons of weight and a height of ten meters: The Farina forging press is one of the world's largest mechanical systems of its kind. MPT International spoke with Schuler about the technical background of the major order.

Metallurgy When it gets hot: Schmidt + Clemens has developed new high-temperature materials. In an interview with MPT International, the company explains what the materials are used for.

Digitalization Managing obsolescence in steel manufacturing. The steel industry shows a greater awareness of how automation and digitalization can improve traditional processes and benefit predictive maintenance. EU Automation explains how obsolescence management procedures, such as retrofitting, can achieve tangible benefits for steelmakers.

This preview may be subject to change.

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