MPT International 6/2019 (December)

Metallurgical Plant and Technology G 25074

6

ISSN 0935-7254

December 2019 June 2016

Hydrogen in steel production – four major European mills tell about their ambitious projects (page 23-27)

Nucor selects Danieli and SMS group for its Kentucky greenfield plate mill (page 29)

Primetals: Siemens is selling its stake in the plantbuilding company to Mitsubishi-Hitachi (page 19)

SECTION AND BILLET MILLS

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www.sms-group.com

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EDITORIAL

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It has been an exciting year – for the steel industry and society as a whole. The common intersection: climate protection in general and decarbonisation in particular.

Many policymakers, as well as climate activists, consider the steel industry a barrier in achieving carbon neutrality. The development and investment cycles in steel take too long for the industry to be a frontrunner in the race to a neutral climate.

Nevertheless, steelmakers and plant builders are extremely ambitious to make progress and demonstrate success. In recent weeks, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (the first industrial-scale injection of hydrogen), voestalpine (the world's largest pilot plant for "green" hydrogen) and Salzgitter AG (entry into commercial hydrogen production) have made encouraging reports to the public. If you ask companies such as Primetals Technologies or SMS group, you will be given various other examples of how plant manufacturers are forcing change in the industry.

Torsten Paßmann

Outside Europe, too, politics is trying to get a grip on the matter. In the United States, federal states such as California are challenging the government in Washington. Some want stricter while others want more lax rules on climate.

In the People's Republic of China, the situation is contrasting. The government in Beijing is imposing stricter regulations. But for the provinces, sheer output is often still regarded as a sign of economic performance.

Smart activists and politicians agree that climate change needs an innovative steel industry. Otherwise, alternative energies cannot be expanded. However, this is not a carte blanche; manufacturers must do their homework and consistently reduce their CO2 emissions.

Whatever the next year will bring, it will be an exciting one!

Torsten Paßmann Chief Editor, MPT International

MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› CONTENTS

International Industry News 8

People, Places & Companies thyssenkrupp, Sandvik, NLMK, and more

10 Americas, Asia, Europe Algoma Steel, NAS, Celsa, Daehan, and more

15 Industry News SMS group, British Steel, Marcegaglia, and more

Events 16 Events calendar SteelFab in the UAE, Metal&Seel in Egypt, IFEX in India, and wire + Tube in Germany

17 METAV 2020 – 40 years of serving the toolmaking process chain METAV, the trade fair of the German metalworking community will show the latest trends in laser-assisted production for the fine structuring of design and functional surfaces.

18 wire+Tube 2020 2,500 enterprises from all over the world and an experts meeting with Antonio Marcegaglia

Business 16 Primetals now solely owned by Mitsubishi-Hitachi Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery (MHMM) and Siemens AG reached agreement that MHMM will acquire Siemens’ 49 percent stake in Primetals Technologies.

20 Steelmakers at Blechexpo 2019: abrasive sheet qualities, progress in digitalisation, and the green footprint A look back at the highlights of the 14th edition of the Stuttgart trade fair for sheet technology

28 Westfälische Drahtindustrie receives world’s largest pickling plant for steel wires The plant built by Steuler Anlagenbau will have an annual capacity of approximately 550,000 tonnes/ year of different grades of carbon steel.

29 Nucor selects Danieli and SMS group for greenfield plate mill in Kentucky The US company is investing USD 1.35 billion in a new greenfield plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky.

MPT International 6 / 2019

COVER STORY: Europe’s steelmakers are lining up investments into R&D to reduce CO2 emissions and to step up the use of hydrogen in steel production. – A look at the latest efforts by SSAB, voestalpine, thyssenkrupp and ArcelorMittal Photo: voestalpine’s H2Future project

Energy & Environment 23 ArcelorMittal aims to produce steel in a climate-neutral manner At ArcelorMittal Hamburg, the group targets the use of alternative feedstocks and the conversion of CO2 emissions involving hydrogen.

24 thyssenkrupp launches tests into blast furnace use of hydrogen Hydrogen will be a key driver of thyssenkrupp Steel’s climate strategy in the coming decades

25 H2FUTURE: voestalpine’s “green” hydrogen pilot facility commences operation The Austrian company has started what it says is the world’s largest pilot plant for the CO2-neutral production of hydrogen

26 SSAB initiates study in Finland for fossil-free steel SSAB is initiating an Energy-4HYBRIT prefeasibility study to investigate the use of fossil-free energy sources

27 Phase-out of mineral oil /phase-in of metals?

We need more metals for the energy revolution, says the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam

26 20

50

12 Business & Politics 30 Levelling the playing field Brexit dominates the headlines and darkens the outlook for the British economy.

What can European business partners expect?

32 The Issues at Ilva Is ArcelorMittal pulling the plug on an investment plan that amounts to EUR 1.15 billion to make Europe’s biggest steel location fit for the future?

Company Profile 34 Conveyors – the connecting element between two stages of a process An interview with Franz-W. Aumund about the many activites of Germany’s AUMUND Group

Metallurgy 38 Control methods to reduce coke oven pressure variations A novel approach to the control of coke oven pressure control, applied to coke plant 2 at Tata Steel Europe in Ijmuiden.

46 Solid state subtractive metallurgy Canadian researchers tell how a coal-based DRI process inspired the development of a battery recycling technology.

Additive Manufacturing 50 Additive manufacturing in bridge construction In October, researchers from the TU Darmstadt reached a milestone – the completion of the first steel bridge to be built on site using additive manufacturing.

51 Oerlikon, Linde, TU Munich to develop high-strength aluminium-based alloy Plus: Status Report: 3D printing is becoming industrial in German engineering

Columns 3 Editorial 54 In the next issue 54 Advertisers’ index 54 Imprint

42 Pushing performance to new limits Uddeholm talks about its Dievar steel, manufacture tool steel that it claims performs far beyond any known toughness and performance levels

MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› PEOPLE, PLACES & COMPANIES

Stefan Widing new CEO of Sandvik Stefan Widing will assume the position of president and CEO for Sweden’s Sandvik on 1 February 2020. Stefan Widing succeeds Björn Rosengren, who as previously announced, will leave Sandvik. Since 2015, Stefan Widing is the Executive Vice President of Assa Abloy and President of HID Global Corporation, a technolo-

gy division within Assa Abloy. He holds an MSc in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and a BA degree in business administration.

Sandvik’s board of directors notes that Widing’s competence in advanced technologies and experience from leading digital transformations will be an asset to the company.

Two years after it has rolled out a new corporate design, Austria’s voestalpine group has put the new company logo on top of its headquarters in Linz.

While the redesign campaign started in a boom phase, the company admits on its website blog that it hesitated with the crowning finale now that times have become more difficult.

Eventually, however, voestalpine decided to complete the measures it had planned at the beginning of the rebranding campaign but will waive further promotion and sponsoring measures.

Photo: voestalpine

voestalpine’s HQ sports new logo

Exchanging the logo on voestalpine’s “Blue Tower“ in Linz took three weeks of work.

Erratum: Martina Merz, CEO of thyssenkrupp AG

Photo: thyssenkrupp

Photo: thyssenkrupp

In the last issue of MPT, we reported on the change at the top of thyssenkrupp AG. Unfortunately, the picture did not show Martina Merz, the new CEO, but Prof. Ursula Gather, chairwoman of the Krupp Foundation, the majority shareholder of the thyssenkrupp industrial conglomerate.

The picture in the last issue of MPT did not show Martina Merz, the new CEO, but Prof. Ursula Gather, chairwoman of the Krupp Foundation and Guido Kerkhoff.

MPT International 6 / 2019

Martina Merz, CEO of thyssenkrupp AG

PEOPLE, PLACES & COMPANIES

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Karl Haider new CCO of Tata Steel in Europe In November, Karl Haider took up the role of Chief Commercial Officer for Tata Steel in Europe, replacing Henrik Adam, who became CEO of Tata Steel in Europe in June this year.

Karl Haider joined Tata Steel in Europe as director of downstream operations in 2011. He began his career in the steel industry as an apprentice at voestalpine in 1981. He went on to study technical chemistry and business economics and holds a PhD in Natural Science. From 1997, he filled several commercial roles at Dutch chemical company DSM from 2001 until 2006. He then returned to voes-

Karl Haider

talpine, first as a project manager and then as a member of the executive

board of the High-Performance Metals division of voestalpine AG.

Dmitry Sotnikov appointed NLMK Group vice president for Investment Projects NLMK Group has announced the appointment of Dmitry Sotnikov as NLMK Group Vice President for Investment Projects. Before joining NLMK Group, Dmitry Sotnikov headed a development company that executed the construction of a business park in Moscow, a residential complex in Yekaterinburg and a business centre in Perm, among other large-scale projects.

Before 2011 and for almost a decade, Dmitry held various investment and operational management positions at Evraz. He created a project management system at Evraz and was directly involved in the execution of the Company’s largest steelmaking and mining projects.

Konstantin Lagutin, NLMK Group’s previous VP for Invest-

ment Projects, has decided to step down from the position. He will stay on with the company until the end of the year as an advisor to NLMK Group President and CEO. He led the implementation and development of the project management system, and the execution of several NLMK strategic projects, including the construction of Stoilensky pelletising plant.

German Iron and Steel Institute: Lüngen new executive member of the managing board At Germany’s Steel Institute VDEh, Dr Hans Bodo Lüngen has assumed the position of executive member of the managing board. Lüngen for many years has been heading the technical affairs at the techno-scientific organisation of the German steel industry that is headquartered in Düsseldorf. He joined the institute in 1985.

After studying metallurgy and writing a PhD thesis on sintering process-

Dr Hans Bodo Lüngen

es, he has held various leading positions at the institute over the years.

Among other things, he has co-organised the European Steel Technologies and Application Days (ESTAD), a technical forum hosted as part of the Düsseldorf Metec trade fair. Lüngen is also chairman of the Technical Group Steel 1 (TGS1) of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS). He is succeeding Peter Dahlmann, who retired in November.

MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Americas Brazil ArcelorMittal Monlevade has commenced operation of a 130-tonne-hot-metal desulfurization station (DeS) and a new dedusting system supplied by Primetals Technologies. The desulfurization station represents the first installation of Primetals Technologies combining a volumetric dosing device for Magnesium (Mg) and a pressure dispenser for Calcium Oxide (CaO). Low sulfur levels of lesser than 0.005% (50ppm) can be achieved. The consumption of desulfurization agents is significantly reduced and processing times are reduced to less than 30 minutes compared to treatment in a torpedo car. A handling system for 130-t-hot-metals ladles was also part of the project. The new equipment is part of an expansion and quality improvement program at ArcelorMittal Monlevade.

Canada Danieli, along with Danieli Automation and Danieli Taranis, are the supplier team chosen for a complete upgrade of the 166-in. wide plate mill of Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Maire, Ontario. The project will allow Algoma to expand its product portfolio to include wider plate products, to better control shape and surface quality and to improve logistics – making it possible to offer enhanced ship on time performance.

The plant will be completely re-automated by Danieli Automation from

Level 0 through to Level 2 systems.

Along with new process equipment and new digital drives, this will allow Algoma to perform normalized - or controlled - rolling, so that it can supply new grades of plate to the shipbuilding, energy and bridge building sectors. Additionally, Danieli Taranis will provide engineering and post-commissioning support.

Danieli’s scope of work will include an overhaul of the complete plant automation system –from the reheat process to finished goods – and the installation of a new primary de-scaler, a new hot-leveler and a new cooling bed. A new dividing shear, piling system, 'top-to-bottom' automated inspection system and plate marking machine will upgrade the finishing area. Work began in October 2019 and will be concluded in the summer of 2021. All work is scheduled to be carried out in stages during routine downtime, ensuring no impact to operations or shipments.

Pickling and galvanizing of the first coil in September 2019, marked the production start of the new "heat-to-coat" process line at Nucor Steel Gallatin in Ghent, Kentucky. SMS group delivered the whole line, and notes that the "heat-to-coat" technology is characterized by the compact and operator-friendly U-shape design, the turbulence pickling system, the high-power inductive heating system, the FOEN®

USA For North American Stainless (NAS) in Ghent, Kentucky, SMS group has commissioned a torque retainer for the 160-tonne AOD converter no. 1. The aim of the revamp was to reduce the torque that had previously been causing uncontrolled vibrations and damage to the bull gear, bearings, and foundations of the converter drive during AOD converter operation. As a result, the uncontrolled vibrations in the gear unit and converter vessel were substantially reduced. The target values were achieved under production conditions shortly after commissioning.

Plate mill of Algoma Steel in Ontario, Canada MPT International 6 / 2019

SMS group supplied the torque retainer as a compact electrohydraulic unit. The scope of supply also included the engineering, supervision of the erection and installation work, and technical assistance during commissioning. Both the cold and hot commissioning were completed jointly with the customer.

Nucor Steel Gallatin

galvanizing equipment and the Drever after-pot cooling system.

The line is designed to produce 500,000 tonnes of galvanized hot strip per year with a maximum capacity of 180 tonnes per hour and a large strip cross section (up to 6.35 millimeter thickness and up to 1,854 millimeter width), which sets a new standard in hot strip galvanizing. The "heat-to-coat" process based on SMS patented technology permits the production of galvanized steel strip with durable corrosion protection, an appealing visual appearance, as well as an increased mechanical load-capacity while still maintaining low production and investment costs, SMS group says.

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INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS North Star BlueScope Steel, located in Delta, Ohio, has selected SMS group as the supplier for its new single-strand thin-slab continuous caster. The new casting machine will have a thickness range of 95 to 110 millimeters and a width range of 900 to 1,595 millimeters. It will allow North Start BlueScope Steel to increase thinslab production from 2.2 million tonnes (2.4 million short tons) to over 3.3 million tonnes (3.6 million short tons) per year. To digitalize the casting process, SMS group is going to supply a range of innovative technology packages. The new casting machine will be equipped with X-Pact® Width Control, X-Pact Solid Control that includes width-dependent air-mist secondary cooling and solidification control, Level 2 X-Pact Cast Optimizer and the HD mold mold monitoring system.

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) has selected Fives for a high efficiency skin-pass mill - DMS SkinPass 4Hi - at the GalvTech facility of its Techs Division in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For high quality strip finishing, a skin-pass mill is essential to remove the yield-point elongation effect and greatly improve the surface roughness and flatness. The DMS SkinPass 4Hi, a new skin-pass mill from Fives, is designed to improve performance and surface quality of a continuous galvanizing line. The mill is a wet process type with a maximum rolling force of 5500 kN. SDI and Fives ignited a preferred partnership last year, having signed a major contract for the design and supply of a new continuous galvanizing line (CGL No. 3) and an up-

grade of the continuous galvanizing line (CGL No. 2), both located in Columbus, Mississippi.

Asia China A Chinese steel producer located in Hebei Province has placed an order with Primetals Technologies for the supply of an Arvedi ESP (Endless Strip Production) line. The casting-rolling facility will be part of a new steelmaking facility with one BOF currently under construction.

The Arvedi ESP line is capable of rolling strip to a reproducible strip thicknesses down to 0.7 mm, The Arvedi ESP plant will allow the steel producer to better serve the highly attractive local and export markets for high-quality, thingauge strip products, Primetals notes, adding that the 180-meter-long plant is far more compact than conventional casting and rolling mills. According to news service Kallanish Steel, the customer is Taihang Iron & Steel.

Danieli Corus has signed two contracts for in total four sublance systems to be installed in China.

Tangshan Reafon Iron & Steel has contracted Danieli Corus to implement a sublance-based BOF process control system with SDM Process Model for one of the 210-ton converters at the Tangshan, Hebei plant. Hegang Laoting ordered three sublance systems with SDM Process Model and ASCON slag

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News in brief Danieli Automation supplied complete electrical and automation equipment for the rolling mill at Pomina 2 Works in Vietnam.

The supply included new AC main drives common DC Bus technology regenerative type, auxiliary drives, motor control Centers, LV distribution and L1 automation for reheating the furnace and bar mill.

Contract signature took place in May 2019 and final project acceptance was in October 2019.

Steel Dynamics at its plant Columbia City, Indiana, has started operating a new billet welder and new spooler line operating in endless mode supplied by Danieli. The new lines produce spooled coils up to 5 tonnes in endless mode.

Among the main equipment is a 70 m conveyor connecting the existing medium section of the mill to the new spooler line, a 3 MW induction furnace to heat the stock coming from the existing mill, six SHS 180 roller stands without housing, complete with quick stand-changing table, a 6-pass Delta-type finishing block driven by a low-voltage 2.5MW motor and finishing services.

Youli has selected Danieli Fata Hunter Twin Roll Casting technology with an order for a new line to be installed in the new magnesium sheet complex in Shandong, China. The new Twin Roll Caster will be designed for hot-rolled coils for strip from 4 to 7 mm thick (mechanical capacity up to 10 mm) and in widths from 900 to 1,425 mm. The TRC stand features the well-known and already successfully proven configuration of the SuperCaster Plus® with 15° inclination, to guarantee superb geometrical and mechanical properties of the final magnesium alloy AZ31B, a typical product for the automotive industry. The line is completed with pinch-roll, travelling shear and coiler. >>

Danieli's DMS SkinPass 4Hi at SDI in Pittsburgh MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

control system, to be implemented at the 120-ton converters of BOF Shop No. 2 at their plant in the Laoting Economic Development Area, Hebei Province.

This order follows those placed by Hegang Laoting for the supply of three systems for BOF Plant No. 1, in 2018 and 2019.

AVIC Shaanxi Hongyuan Aviation Forging Co., Ltd. has put the world's largest clutch-operated screw press into operation at its site in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.

The SPKA-type clutch-operated screw press, which was supplied by SMS group, has a screw diameter of 1,330 ROGESA, the pig iron plant in Saarland, Germany

The joining of screw and nut for the SPK 1 at AVIC

millimeters, a hard-on-hard blow force of 365 MN, a gross power of 27,000 kJ and a weight of 2,900 tonnes. It is already the worldwide third clutch-operated screw press of this size supplied by SMS group, and with its performance data exceeds the other two existing presses delivered before.

The clutch-operated screw press requires far less stroke to achieve the preset ram speed than a conventional slipping-wheel screw press. The maximum ram speed is attained after just 10% of the ram stroke, and remains at a constant level until the ram hits the part being forged. This type of press is particularly suitable for high-energy forging as typically used for turbine blades or structural aircraft components, for example.

MPT International 6 / 2019

Danieli is currently commissioning the world’s first DUE plant at Shougang Jingtang, Caofeidian Industrial Area, Tangshan city, Hebei province. This new concept in thin-slab casting and rolling unifies all the winning features that have been demonstrated up to now in a single production line, using either endless or coil-to-coil rolling in separate production lines while eliminating the limiting factors of each.

The single-strand thin-slab caster regularly produces slabs reduced from 130 mm (mould exit) to 110 mm (TSC exit), using Danieli’s well-proven Dynamic Soft Reduction technology. Coil-to-coil rolling is already a consolidated production practice as is semi-endless rolling, the latter being the natural step to achieve the true casting/rolling functionality in endless mode.

South Korea Quenching and HSD lines from SMS group at Daehan Sinpyeong.

South Korean Daehan Steel Co., Ltd. has re-started production with new SMS group quenching and high-speed lines following the successful modernization of the Sinpyeong bar mill. The Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) was signed two months ahead of the original schedule, SMS group notes. The main target of the modernization was to reduce the ferro-alloys content in the billets, which results in a substantial reduction in production costs. The up-

grade also aimed to improve the production efficiency with a product range from 16 to 35 millimeters rebar and steel grades up to SD600.

Europe Germany ROGESA Roheisengesellschaft Saar mbH, the pig iron plant in Germany’s state of Saarland, owned jointly by Dillinger Hütten und Saarstahl, has awarded Paul Wurth with the order to design and supply coke oven gas injection systems for the company’s blast furnaces No. 4 and No. 5.

With this new technology, coke oven gas will become a metallurgical process gas instead of being used to produce energy at a low efficiency level. In its new role, coke oven gas will partially replace both pulverized coal and metallurgical coke as reducing agents in the blast furnace process, thus contributing to reducing the carbon intensity in the blast furnace as well as the carbon footprint of the overall ironmaking operations.

Spain Global Steel Wire S.A. (Celsa Group), located in Santander, Spain, has placed the order for the

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››› INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS

upgrade of their continuous billet casting machine with SMS Concast. Steel production at Global Steel Wire S.A. (GSW) is focused on wire rod in special steel grades for the automotive and special engineering industries. Currently, the existing caster produces roughly 900,000 tonnes of steel per year in 180 millimeter square sections. The aim of the modernization is to increase the production flexibility by broadening the range of cast formats by the addition of 200 to 240 millimeter square sections, increasing the casting speeds, and consequently enhancing the productivity and the quality of the cast products. The upgrade is to be implemented with minimized interruption of production. The start-up of the upgraded machine is scheduled for early 2021. The order includes the installation of CONDRIVE mold oscillation drive systems on all strands. CONDRIVE has already been tested and has been successfully running on one strand at Global Steel Wire since October 2018.

Russia As part of a large scale, technical overhaul project on Blast Furnaces No. 2 and 3 at the Ural Steel plant in Novotroitsk, Russian steel producer Metalloinvest has selected Danieli technology to upgrade Blast Furnace No. 3’s charging system. The furnace will be equipped with a modern chute-type distributor based on hydraulics for maximum reliability and availability.

Danieli's DANCU at Ural Steel in Novotroitsk

The Danieli distributor (DANCU) has only a few moving parts, and it is the most straightforward, robust design in the industry. All main components are either failure-free or redundant, ensuring unparalleled reliability. To allow implementation without large-scale modifications to the existing top structure of Ural Steel plant’s Blast Furnace No. 3, Danieli Centro Metallics and Danieli Corus have developed the Compact DANCU, which has a slightly shorter maximum chute length, the plantbuilder underlines.

Severstal has contracted Danieli Corus to design and supply three sublance systems for three 350t converters at the BOF Shop

at Cherepovets. Danieli Corus is the market leader in sublance-based BOF process control, and the implementation of this technology will contribute to Severstal’s objective of achieving lower steel production costs while maintaining efficiency and quality.

Sublance technology, in combination with a state-of-the-art process model, enables shorter tap-to-tap times, higher hit rates and reduced consumption of oxygen, energy and flux materials, while improving operating conditions. Danieli Corus systems have a proven, unparalleled capability of trouble-free operation for multiple decades in the hostile environment above the converter hood.

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MPT International 6 / 2019

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INDUSTRY NEWS

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SMS group is moving to a new campus in 2023 It is being created next to the existing buildings on the Mönchengladbach site. This decision to move to an innovative campus stems from the longterm wish to unite employees from many different business units under one roof while offering them state-ofthe-art workplaces, the group says.

The campus will bring together employees who, until recently, had been spread across five locations in the immediate area.

By merging these locations, SMS group is promoting closer cooperation along the entire value chain. The Technology, Service and Digitalization Campus will enable agile work in a 5G infrastructure and will feature generous social and communication areas, it says.

Alongside office equipment and traffic concepts, cost aspects were thor-

Graphic of the SMS Campus in Mönchengladbach.

oughly analyzed and compared. The costs of the new construction will be offset by avoiding further rental costs and necessary renovations at the existing premises in Düsseldorf and

through a sale of this company property.

A building permit has already been granted and the foundation stone will be laid in late summer 2020.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. to acquire AK Steel Holding Corporation in a USD 1.1 billion deal The two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Cliffs will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of AK Steel common stock. Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Cliffs, will lead the expanded organization.

Upon completion of the transac-

tion, Cliffs shareholders will own approximately 68% and AK Steel shareholders will own approximately 32% of the combined company, respectively, on a fully diluted basis.

The transaction will combine Cliffs, North America’s largest producer of iron ore pellets, with AK Steel, a leading producer of in-

novative flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, to create a vertically integrated producer of value-added iron ore and steel products. According to Cliffs, the combined company will be ideally positioned to provide high-value iron ore and steel solutions to customers primarily across North America.

Marcegaglia has finalised the takeover Italian re-roller Marcegaglia has finalised the takeover of plate producer Evraz Palini & Bertoli from Russian steelmaker Evraz. The deal has been done through its subsidiary Marcegaglia Plates for a value of EUR 40 million, the company has stated. The new acquisition is part of the plan to strengthen the capacity of Marcegaglia Plates and will create a new

player capable of producing 1 million tonnes/year of plate. The expanded subsidiary will have 200 employees.

For Palini & Bertoli, Marcegagia plans investment of approximately EUR 15m over the next two-to-three years aimed at strengthening its competitiveness. Palini & Bertoli has 108 employees and an annual turnover of EUR 216m. It specialises in the

manufacturing of heavy quarto plates with over 400,000 t/y of capacity.Palini e Bertoli’s plate mill is located in San Giorgio di Nogaro and sells its products in Europe and North America. Marcegaglia's plate production division is also located in the dedicated unit of San Giorgio di Nogaro. It also has a production capacity of 400,000 t/y.

MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› INDUSTRY NEWS

China’s Jingye Group will be taking over certain assets of British Steel According to a statement from the UK Official Receiver’s (OR) office, "the Official Receiver and Special Managers from EY can confirm that a sales contract has been entered into with Jingye Steel (UK) Ltd and Jingye Steel (UK) Holding Ltd (together, Jingye), to acquire the business and assets of British Steel Limited (BSL), including the steelworks

at Scunthorpe, UK mills and shares of FN Steel BV, British Steel France Rail SAS and TSP Engineering."

British Steel had entered administration in May when former owners Greybull Capital had declared the company as bankrupt. It has since continued to operate under the direction of special managers appointed by the UK government’s

OR. "Jingye plans to invest £1.2 billion in the business over the next decade in upgrading the plants and machinery, improving the new company’s environmental performance and boosting energy efficiency to place the operations on a more competitive and sustainable footing," the Chinese steelmaker says.

Steel consumption in the Middle East and North Africa should rebound 2% on-year in 2020 Steel consumption in the Middle East and North Africa, excluding Iran, should rebound 2% on-year in 2020 to 41 million tonnes after dropping -7% in 2019 to 40mt, the Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU) says in a newly-released report. MENA economic growth has slowed in 2019 due to lower oil pric-

es, continued military operations in Syria and Yemen, and the delay of reconstruction projects in Iraq and Syria, AISU said. This is despite economic reforms being carried out, which include reduction of government energy subsidies, application of VAT, and diversifying away from oil dependence.

Gulf Cooperation Council steel consumption is expected to decline -8% on-year in 2019 to 16.4mt before rebounding 1% next year to 16.5mt. An increase in imports into the region led to the initiation by the GCC of a wide-ranging steel safeguard investigation in October

place in Cairo. It is a recognized platform to introduce new products and an excellent opportunity to get informed about the latest innovations.

In addition, the fair is a bubbling source of new ideas and applications and therefore provides important impulses for one’s own strategic planning.

opments, trends, services and products from various sectors. This year the IFEX takes place already for the 16th time.

››› EVENTS › 13 – 16 January 2020 Sharjah, UAE Organizers: Expo Centre Sharjah www.steelfabme.com SteelFab 2019 The United Arab Emirates big event for the metal working, metal manufacturing and steel fabrication industry. By hosting close to 250 Plus exhibitors from 21 countries and attracting 6,838 trade visitors from scores of countries, the show in 2019 has reinforced its position as the largest and most attended event of its kind in the region.

› 27 – 29 February Cairo, Egypt Organizers: TG Expo, Turkey www.metalsteelegy.com Metal & Steel is a trade fair for the metal and steel industries and takes MPT International 6 / 2019

› 28 February – 1 March 2020 Chennai, India Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt. Ltd. www.ifexindia.com IFEX is an international exhibition for foundry technology, equipment and supplies. It provides an excellent platform for national and international businesses to present their own products and latest developments and to obtain detailed and comprehensive information on the most current devel-

› 30 March – April 2020 Düsseldorf, Germany Organizers: Messe Düsseldorf www.wire-tradefair.com www.tube-tradefair.com Tube + wire, the famous twin fair for the key players in the wire, cable and tube industries will bring together some 2,600 exhibitors in 2020. The fair has extended to now 15 exhibition halls: For the first time the new multi-purpose Hall 1, which holds up to 10,000 people will offer Tube exhibitors new presentation options.

The trade fair duo expects in excess of 70,000 visitors from some 130 countries.

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EVENTS

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METAV 2020 – 40 years of serving the toolmaking process chain METAV, the leading exhibition for metalworking technologies will be taking place for the 21st time from 10 to 13 March 2020 at its traditional location in Düsseldorf. What began here in Germany’s biggest conurbation in 1980, has evolved to become an indispensable part of the technological trends that have affected virtually all aspects of production in the direct vicinity of metalworking manufacturers and users.

METAV is the meeting point of the metalworking community and the marketplace of all subjects over all stages of the value chain, with its four areas Quality, Medical, Moulding and Additive Manufacturing.

Highlighting the manufacture of precision tools Exhibitors at METAV 2020 from will be highlighting technologies such as additive processes or laser-assisted production for the fine structuring of design and functional surfaces.

"There are major production challenges in the manufacture of special tools, such as custom-adapted stepped or fine drilling tools. The speed with which these tools can be produced is often decisive," says Prof. Dirk Biermann, Head of the Institute of Machining Technology (ISF) of the Technical University of Dortmund.

"Targeted developments are also crucial, such as cutting edge preparation or layer post-treatment. The aim is to

have appropriately constructed precision tools, especially for the machining of challenging high-performance materials," he says.

Tools nowadays usually require special microshaping of the cutting edges in order to ensure maximum productivity. "And that's why suitable measuring systems and evaluation strategies need to be deployed for the precise analysis and quantitative determination of the various aspects of the cutting edge microstructure," says Biermann, who is also a member of the WGP (German Academic Association for Production Technology).

Process chain analysis for optimum surface quality A further key aspect of tool production is surface quality. "Polish-grinding is appropriate for the active surfaces of precision tools. A good flute surface is important in drilling tools in order to ensure effective chip removal even with high cutting data levels and challenging workpiece materials, especially

when producing deep bores," explains Biermann. The ISF institute has joined forces with well-known industrial companies to carry out tests into improving the targeted use in terms of grinding wheel selection, dressing conditions and process parameters. The Institute will be reporting on its research work at METAV.

Clamping Device Forum at METAV 2020 The theme of the 4th Clamping Device Forum. organised by the Precision Tools division of Germany’s mechanical engineering association VDMA and scheduled for 11 March, is "Clamping Equipment – Solutions for Megatrends".

The Forum will feature numerous presentations on clamping equipment solutions which are aimed at helping customers overcome the challenges posed by megatopics such as smart manufacturing, cloud platforms, additive manufacturing, alternative drive concepts, digitalisation, etc.

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››› EVENTS

wire+Tube 2020 There are about four months to go until the two international trade fairs for the wire, cable and tube industries will open their doors at the Düsseldorf exhibition centre from 30 March to 3 April 2020, presenting over 2,500 enterprises from all over the world.

By October, registration figures for Tube 2020 were already very promising. The organisation has noticed a strong increase in attendance from Turkey, India and Taiwan, with the number of exhibitors from these countries surpassing last year's final count. In addition to this, strong participation from traditional exhibitor regions such as Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central and Eastern Europe points to new record exhibitor figures for 2020.

"With the new multi-purpose Hall 1 we offer our exhibitors the latest in terms of technical facilities and ultimate convenience," stresses Daniel Ryfisch, Deputy Director Metals and Flow Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf. He highlights the range of Chinese exhibitors in Hall 7.0. So far just

under 52,000 square metres net have been rented out – by comparison the exhibiting companies occupied a total of 52,436 square metres at the previous event in 2018.

Expert meeting with Antonio Marcegalia A sidebar programme already established at other steel fairs in Germany – like Blechexpo- is the ExpertenTreff (Experts Meeting), organized by stahlnews.de. On the first evening, this get-together will feature the CEO of Marcegaglia group, Antonio Marcegaglia, as the keynote speaker. Other speakers will be Hanns-Jörg Westendorf of tubes distributor Hoberg&Driesch and Jan-Peter Schulz of saw manufacturer Wespa.

Comments on wire+Tube 2018:

Gerhard Berger, SSC Anlagenbau GmbH, Senior Consultant, Austria SSC Anlagebau GmbH produces equipment for tube construction, seamless rolling mills, mechanical machining and also provides solutions in transport and automatisation business. "We have participated in the Tube for years, and the fair is extremly well organized." He noticed the many companies from Asia and also from Russia that attended in 2018: "It seems to me that there is much to catch up with in terms of industrial production in this region, and hopefully we will benefit from that."

MPT International 6 / 2019

Foto: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann)

Renu Kochhar, Managing Director,Viraj Profiles Limited, India Viraj is one of the world's leading manufacturers of stainless steel long products like wires, welding wires, bright bars, flanges or fasteners. "Our products are currently being exported to around 6 continents across 90 countries," Mrs. Kochhar explains. "We have 1100 customers all over the world, when we think of Europe, Germany is our biggest market."

In addition, Viraj’s sales managers of different areas like Brazil, Middle East, Russia or India take part in the wire.

Alberto González Ortiz de Urbina, Temsa, Customer Care Team Manager, Spain Temsa, founded in Barcelona in 1987, is specialized in the manufacture of high precision metal cold forming tooling. Temsa has been exhibiting at the fair for many years.

Mr González summarizes in retrospect: "The Tube is the place to be.

Everybody is here, technicians, engineering – and machine specialists, people from the managament – but only decision-makers. That makes time so valuable."

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BUSINESS

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Primetals – now solely owned

by Mitsubishi-Hitachi Primetals Technology, one of the undisputed heavyweights among steel plant builders, will soon no longer have Siemens as a shareholder. Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery (MHMM) and Siemens AG reached agreement that MHMM will acquire Siemens’ 49 percent stake in Primetals Technologies. This will end the line of European ownership that traces back to Austria’s VAI. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected by early 2020, the two groups say in a joint statement. Siemens will support the process to ensure a successful closing of the transaction. Following closing, MHMM – an MHI group company – will assume sole control of Primetals Technologies.

Primetals Technologies was established in January 2015 and grew out of a long history of innovation in the field of metals production established by its predecessor entities, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery and Siemens VAI. As a worldwide leading engineering, plant-building, and lifecycle services partner for the metals industry, Primetals Technologies offers a complete technology, product, and service portfolio that includes integrated electrics, automation, and environmental solutions. Its creation was a result of the desire to closely collaborate in the field of metals machinery and develop an enterprise between MHI and Siemens that would be renowned for its technical and business excellence.

Takashi Ishizuka, President and CEO, Industry & Infrastructure of MHI, MHMM’s parent company, expressed his appreciation to Siemens: "I would like to express my deep gratitude to Siemens for their enormous contribution to Primetals Technologies over the past four years and nine months. Primetals Technologies has been able to establish a highly successful business through Siemens’ strong leadership and deep experience in the industrial machinery business. MHI expects that Primetals Technologies will build on these foundations and strengthen its business in the future."

Jochen Eickholt, Chairman of Siemens Portfolio Companies said: "We have successfully brought together our

Satoru Iijima, CEO of Primetals Technologies

activities in metal plant equipment and have achieved a lot together. Now the time is right for Primetals Technologies to develop even further under the full ownership of Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery. The agreement with MHI benefits customers, employees, and owners alike."

Satoru Iijima, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Primetals Technologies, also expressed his deep appreciation to Siemens and looked toward new cooperation opportunities with Siemens in the future: "We have learned a great deal from Siemens’ contributions to Primetals Technologies. As a result of Siemens’ focus on productivity, production-related processes, and advanced automation, Primetals Technologies has improved across the board and been able to prepare for the challenges it will face in the coming years."

MPT notes that the companies involved won’t give further comments to the deal and what it means to Primetals’ future operation prior tot he trans-

action’s closing next year. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, as is customary in such deals.

The Japanese branch of the Association of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce on its website "Japanmarkt.de" cites Reuters stating a value of EUR 800 million for Siemens VAI at the time when it merged to become Primetals.

In the sale of its shares in Primetals Technologies, Ltd. to Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Siemens was advised by law firm Linklaters. The international law firm that was founded in London in 1838 by John Linklaters was at Siemens’ side when Siemens AG and MHMM founded the joint venture in January 2015. In the recent transaction, Linklaters advised under the leadership of Timo Engelhardt. The core team included Martin Schunke (Associate, Corporate Law/M&A, Munich), Derek Tong (Partner, Mainstream Corporate, London) and Erik Venot (Counsel, Competition/Antitrust, Brussels).

MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› BUSINESS

Steelmakers at Blechexpo 2019: abrasive sheet qualities, progress in digitalisation, and the green footprint The Blechexpo/Schweisstec trade fair duo, held in early November every two years, is the only event in the world that unites sheet metal working and joining technology. This year, the event in Stuttgart broke several records. There were 1498 exhibitors from 36 countries (up from 1339 in 2017), 45% of which came from outside of Germany, and with a total of 108,000 square metres, roughly 15% more exhibition floor space was booked than in 2017.

The events are a strictly practical-oriented concept and cover all aspects that influence the world of sheet metal processing and metalworking. In terms of topics, digitalisation and automation, as well as sustainable production, gained increasing spotlight this year.

A traditional emphasis was placed on modern cutting technologies. Fifty-six exhibitors presented laser cutting alone, and 25 further companies exhibited technologies covering all aspects of high-pressure waterjet cutting. MPT International visited all the major European flat products mills to see what they focussed on this year

voestalpine: a debut for precision strip voestalpine participated with ten subsidiaries and offered what it said to be MPT International 6 / 2019

voestalpine's DNA Man

a "glimpse into the technology group’s DNA." Under the slogan ‘Way of Innovation,’ the company underscored its achievements in creating steel technologies for a greener environment.

One section of the stand featured six sample coils used by voestalpine Precision Strip to present its latest innova-

tion: laser-welded special strips in an intelligent combination of steel and non-ferrous metals. "The precision welded strips for the electronics, and automotive industries which we are presenting here in Stuttgart are a product that will certainly find its way into future generations of electronic components manufactured by leading global enterprises," stressed Robert Gegenhuber, Innovation Manager at voestalpine Precision Strip.

Tata Steel Europe: new sheet qualities Under this year’s motto ‘Let's talk about the future’, Tata Steel is increasingly using digital elements for its trade show presence. A ‘Skype-corner’ allowed visitors to chat remotely with Tata Steel specialists, and visitors could

‹‹‹

BUSINESS go on a VR tour through one of Tata Steel’s production facilities.

The company also featured two new products: Valast 450 and XPF1000.

Valast 450 is a new high-endurance steel sheet with a typical hardness of 450 HBW. Tata Steel developed the product for use in equipment that suffers from high abrasion wear, e.g. containers, asphalt pavers or excavator buckets. The product was developed in close collaboration with leading OEMs and is available in dimensions from 2.0 - 12 mm thick and 1,000 - 2,000 mm wide.

The recently introduced XPF1000 is designed for use in lightweight automotive applications, combining exceptionally good formability with high strength and optimised processing efficiency. According to Tata, the XPF product family enables efficient use of steel, while also helping to reduce tailpipe emissions. XPF1000 extends this range to the 1000MPa level.

It can be used in a wide set of applications such as chassis and suspension components, seating, interior and body-

21

This year's Blechexpo Award went to Schuler, Kjellberg Finsterwalde, Trumpf, Q-Fin and Cenit

in-white. Tata Steel is currently backing up its ambitions with significant investments in sites in the Netherlands, the UK and Belgium.

Thyssenkrupp Steel: a modified alloying concept for the coating thyssenkrupp highlighted its AS Pro coating, which minimises detrimental

process-related hydrogen absorption during the annealing process. This significantly improves the reliability of the hot forming process and the parts produced, structure-relevant components which in turn means greater safety for car occupants.

The abbreviation AS stands for an aluminium/silicon coating that protects hot-formed parts against scaling and

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››› BUSINESS

AS Procoating for hot forming

corrosion. During the hot forming of manganese-boron steels with an AS coating, the critical point arises during annealing in the furnace when the aluminium in the coating reacts with the oxygen in the water vapour. This also produces hydrogen, which diffuses through the coating into the material due to the high temperatures. In combination with high strengths and high stresses, this can lead to hydrogen embrittlement. To date, this has been countered by control of the furnace atmosphere dew point or subsequent heat treatment. Both processes are energy-intensive and expensive.

For AS Pro—in addition to aluminium and silicon—a targeted amount of magnesium is added to the molten bath. The optimised alloy takes effect during the annealing process: Seen at an atomic level, magnesium oxide is now formed on the material surface that produces significantly less diffusible hydrogen than a standard AS coating.

ets, cranes with a lower weight, weather-resistant foundations for solar systems and cheaper washing machines. ArcelorMittal will be highlighting four products: Amstrong Ultra, Relia, Magnelis and Jetskin.

Amstrong Ultra offers high potential for manufacturers of construction machinery, transport vehicles and agricultural machinery. Relia is used, for example, as a material for excavator buckets, sideboards and loading areas of dump trucks and trucks. Magnelis is steel with outstanding corrosion protection that is at least three times better than conventional galvanised steel, the company claims. Finally, Jetskin is a metallic coating for steel that is applied by JVD (jet vapour deposition), which involves coating a moving steel sheet in a vacuum chamber.

In a presentation at the forum, Grünewald gave a comprehensive overview of the company’s ambitions for greener steel production in Europe (see the following article)

ArcelorMittal: longer shelf life for steels & hydrogen for Hamburg

Steel specialists on the sector's digitalisation progress

"If we want to reduce the amount of CO2 in the industry, we need to help our customers significantly increase the shelf life and longevity of steel products, and make processing easier," says Jochen Grünewald, Managing Director of Flat Products at ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany.

Hence, the group presented a range of products with increased abrasion resistance, for truck or excavator buckMPT International 6 / 2019

The steel industry has problems encouraging the entry of younger candidates to become involved in its digitalisation. It had better educate its engineers to become more aware of such technological developments, said speakers at an evening talk at the Blechexpo, set up by stahlnews.de The steel industry needs people "… with a different mindset", but is not attractive to them, said Tim Milde of Xom, a subsidiary of Klöckner & Co

that offers digitalisation services. "The run for young talent has long begun, and they want to go to Facebook in Essen, not to Klöckner in Duisburg," said Milde.

A solution was suggested by Menno van der Winden, general manager Advanced Analytics at Tata Steel Europe, himself a metallurgist who started to become involved in data analytics only two years ago. "I think all of you could do it, and you don’t need to be fifteen," he told participants. The industry does not need digital experts for implementing data, but people who know the daily routine at a mill, he proposed.

To that end, Tata has started its own so-called Analytics Academy. "We have a whole community of users who have attended the academy,” he said.

"You can make a metallurgist into a data analyst – but it won’t work the other way around."

The session also featured presentations by Matthias Liewald of the Institute for Forming Technology at the University in Stuttgart, Markus Reifferscheid Vice President R&D at SMS group on the Topic: The Learning [Steel] Plant, and Norbert Thumfart, from Austrian distributors federation ARGE Stahl- und Metalldistribution.

Already for the fourth time, the "Blechexpo Award" was presented by "blechnet" trade journal in cooperation with event promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG. The prize was awarded to the most innovative exhibits in five different categories. With its MC 125 automatic stamping press, Schuler was the winner in the stamping and forming technology category. Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen won in the cutting technology category with its Q 3000 plasma cutting system. The winner in the joining technology category was Trumpf Laser- und Systemtechnik with their TruLaser Station 7000, a 3D laser welding machine. The award for surface finishing technology went to Q-Fin Quality Finishing Machines for their SER600 Super Edge Rounder (a deburring and edge rounding machine).

Finally, Cenit was distinguished in the handling and automation category for their cross-manufacturer cutting and joining software, namely Fastsuite Edition 2.

The next Blechexpo/Schweisstec trade fair duo will take place 2–5 November 2021.

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

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Responsible Steel across Europe ArcelorMittal aims to produce steel in a climate-neutral manner.

In November, the company announced plans to roll out a new sustainability programme across Europe, aiming to secure ResponsibleSteel site certification for all its ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products sites. The 12-month programme will enable each site to prove that its production processes meet rigorously defined standards across a broad range of social, environmental and governance criteria.

ResponsibleSteel is the industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative, dedicated to defining and promoting responsible practice, aimed at improving: • Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions • Water stewardship and biodiversity • Human rights & labour rights • Community relations and business integrity

Photo/graphic: ArcelorMittal

The standard is based on 12 principles with a variety of criteria and underlying requirements. To become ResponsibleSteel certified, each site will undergo a rigorous third-party audit with an independent Certification Committee, making the final certification decision. "Given the strong investments we have already made towards low carbon and environmental standards across our sites, I’m confident that we should secure certification in each of our Flat Products sites within the timeframe," says Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. The

ArcelorMittal claims that the existing Midrex plant in Hamburg is the one with the lowest CO2 emission in quality steel production in Europe. It converts 980,000 tonnes of iron ore pellets into sponge iron, which consists of 95% pure iron.

first wave of auditing includes sites in Belgium, Germany, Spain and France with others to follow. After the initial phase, further ArcelorMittal sites around the world will be part of the programme.

In 2020, ResponsibleSteel will launch a standard for the certification of steel products, which will include stringent requirements for raw materials supply chain. ArcelorMittal will continue to play an active role in developing this aspect of the programme.

At the Blechexpo fair, Jochen Grünewald of ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany GmbH gave a comprehensive overview of the company’s ambitions for greener steel production in Europe. He identified:

Three ways to green steel • Clean electricity as the source of energy for steel production using hydrogen produced using electrolysis • Carbon in the circular economy Recycling of biodegradable and plastic ways from households and industrial sources • Using fossil fuels with capture and storage of carbon (CCS) to pave the way for a low-emission steel production In addition to energy efficiency, the company promotes more use of scrap in the region where it is active. In Europe, it is currently investing EUR 250 million in technologies for the reduction of emissions. Also, it pledges political commitment so that policymakers "understand and promote the transition to a future of low emission."

Lighthouse project in Hamburg: DRI through hydrogen At ArcelorMittal Hamburg, Germany’s only mill with direct-reduced-iron (DRI) technology, the group targets the use of alternative feedstocks and the conversion of CO2 emissions involving hydrogen. The new hydrogen-based process aims to be able to produce steel with the lowest CO2 emissions. The project costs amount to around EUR 65 million (USD 73 million). The hydrogen-based reduction of iron ore will initially take place on a demonstration-scale with an annual production of 100,000 tonnes. The process is first tested with grey hydrogen (generate d at gas separation) to allow for economical operation. In the future, the plant should also be able to run on green hydrogen (generated from renewable sources) when it is available in enough quantities.

"The difference to earlier similar projects using hydrogen as a reduction agent is that we go for industrial production right away," the CEO for Germany, Frank Schulz said at the announcement of the project in spring.

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››› ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

thyssenkrupp tests the use of hydrogen in a blast furnace thyssenkrupp Steel has launched a series of tests into the use of hydrogen in a working blast furnace. These tests are the first of their kind, and are aimed at significantly reducing the CO2 emissions that arise during steelmaking.

In the centre: thyssenkrupp Steel CEO Premal Desai, NRW’s economics and digital minister Andreas Pinkwart, and tk Steel’s chief technology officer Arnd Köfler

The hydrogen tests are an important part of thyssenkrupp’s climate strategy to become climate-neutral by 2050.

"Today is a groundbreaking day for the steel industry," said Premal Desai, chairman of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, at the event. "The use of hydrogen is the key lever for climate-neutral steel production. At the same time, we see what is possible when business and government work together towards a common goal. We are very grateful to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for supporting the project."

In the classic blast furnace process around 300 kilograms of coke and 200 kilograms of pulverized coal are needed to produce a tonne of pig iron. The coal is injected as an additional reducing agent into the bottom of the blast furnace shaft through 28 so-called tuyeres. At the start of the tests, hydrogen was injected through one of these tuyeres into blast furnace 9. It marks the start of a series of tests in which thyssenkrupp Steel plans to gradually extend the use of hydrogen to all 28 tuyeres on blast furnace 9 and then, from 2022, to all three further blast furnaces. The advantage is that whereas injecting coal produces CO2 emisMPT International 6 / 2019

sions, using hydrogen generates water vapor. CO2 savings of up to 20 percent are therefore already possible at this point in the production process.

The project is being funded under the IN4climate., an NRW initiative launched by the state government, and is scientifically supported by the BFI research institute. The state government gave funding approval for the first test phase in April 2019. "We need to keep driving the use of hydrogen in industry because it offers great opportunities, especially in steel production," said NRW economics and digital minister Andreas Pinkwart.

From lab to industrial scale The start of the test phase also marks the project’s transition to industrial scale. Preliminary investigations and simulations have been carried out over recent months. The tests in a working blast furnace take the project to the next level. "We want to reduce emissions with hydrogen while continuing to produce pig iron of the same quality," explains Arnd Köfler, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s chief technical officer. "The results will

help us to widen the use of hydrogen to all 28 tuyeres."

Hydrogen infrastructure more and more important Hydrogen will be a key driver of thyssenkrupp Steel’s climate strategy in the coming decades. Following the conversion of the blast furnaces, the company plans to build large-scale direct reduction plants, which will then be operating with hydrogen-containing gases, starting in the mid-2020s. The sponge iron they produce will initially be melted down in the existing blast furnaces but in the long term will be processed into crude steel in electric arc furnaces using renewable energies.

In Air Liquide the project has a partner on board for the injection tests who has expertise in the entire hydrogen value chain from production and storage to the development of end consumer uses. Gilles Le Van, CEO of Air Liquide Deutschland: "Hydrogen is the key to both the energy transition and industrial transformation. This special molecule can be both a raw material for industry and a medium for energy storage and recovery."

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

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H2FUTURE: voestalpine’s “green” hydrogen pilot facility commences operation The world’s largest pilot plant for the CO2 neutral production of hydrogen has successfully commenced operation at the voestalpine's site in Linz. It is simultaneously setting an international mark in the advancement of new energy supply options.

As part of the EU-funded H2FUTURE project, main partners voestalpine, energy utility VERBUND and Siemens are researching the industrial production of green hydrogen as a means of replacing fossil fuels in steel production over the long term.

The new plant has a capacity of over 6 megawatts, and is currently regarded as the most effective and state-of-theart facility of its type. It will be used to test whether the technology deployed to produce green hydrogen is suitable for use on an industrial scale. Furthermore, the project, which receives EUR 18 million (USD 20 million) in EU funding, will investigate the potential to provide network services, and potentially compensate for fluctuations in the power grid. voestalpine is currently investigating the practicality of a hybrid technology to bridge between the existing coke/coal-based blast furnace route and electric arc furnaces powered with green electricity partly generated using green hydrogen. "The most important precondition for scenario planning based on green electricity and green hydrogen is, however, sufficient quantities of renewable energy available at commercially realistic prices.

This is the only way in which we can apply tomorrow’s technologies in a truly competitive manner," voestalpjne CEO Herbert Eibensteiner says.

Siemens regards hydrogen essential for a climate-neutral industry "Siemens has a history of focusing on clean energy, including its generation, distribution and application. This plant uses renewable energy to split

The high-tech heart of the plant, the Siemens Silyzer 300, has a capacity of six megawatts, and can generate 1,200 cubic meters of green hydrogen.

water into its constituent parts – hydrogen and oxygen. The process creates a huge potential to decarbonize the energy and economic system and make it more flexible," says Wolfgang Hesoun, CEO of Siemens Austria.

Electrolysis can also be used to support the power grid, by extracting excess power from the grid as required.

This is an important factor in light of the increasing fluctuations in power generated by renewables. Further-

more, responsive electrolysers can be used to provision power grids, offering services for increasingly overloaded transmission networks. "H2FUTURE is a prime example of cross-sector cooperation generating added value", says Wolfgang Anzengruber, CEO of Austrian utility VERBUND. "The use of green hydrogen is both a win-win situation for power generation and industry, and a perfect example of sector coupling through electrification."

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MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

SSAB initiates study in Finland for fossil-free steel SSAB has announced that it is launching a study in Finland for fossil-free steelmaking.

In line with the HYBRIT project, SSAB is taking the next step for a completely fossil-free steel value chain.

SSAB's Raahe mill in Finland will be the group's pilot works.

In partnership with Gasum, Neste and St1, SSAB is initiating an Energy4HYBRIT pre-feasibility study supported by Business Finland to investigate the use of fossil-free energy sources, primarily biomaterial sidestreams, to replace fossil fuels in certain steelmaking processes, for example rolling processes. The Raahe mill will act as SSAB’s pilot.

The HYBRIT initiative, owned by SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall, aims to replace the coke used in iron ore-based steelmaking with hydrogen. Ironmaking accounts for around 90% of SSAB’s carbon dioxide emissions. The new process would emit water instead of carbon dioxide. Laboratory tests and a pre-feasibility study have shown that the process works and the pilot MPT International 6 / 2019

plant being built in Luleå, Sweden will be completed in 2020. The aim of the initiative is an ambitious one and will potentially reduce Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.

"The Finnish effort is an important step in our ambition to become fossil-free in all our operations. Together with our partners, we will introduce a completely fossil-free value chain from the mine to the finished steel products. We are aiming to be the first in the world with fossil-free steels to the market in 2026", says Martin Lindqvist, CEO and president at SSAB. "The joint Energy4HYBRIT project focusses on the remaining 10% of carbon dioxide emissions originating

from numerous other steelmaking processes, excluding than ironmaking. One of the main aims in the pre-feasibility study will be to explore the possibility to use fuels other than fossil fuels in these processes. Regarding biofuels, the project will study the possibilities of collecting, transporting and utilizing felling and other biowaste and sidestream products from the Baltic Sea region," says Harri Leppänen, Environment and Safety Director at SSAB. The University of Oulu and VTT will study and model all the energy flows at the works. The energy companies involved in the pre-feasibility study are looking into the use and availability of alternative energy sources. The study will be finished in May 2020.

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Photo: Shutterstock

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Phase-out of mineral oil / phase-in of metals?

A farewell is, at the same time, a new beginning. The phase-out of fossil fuels is long overdue in terms of climate policy. The active phase-out of fossil oil also requires a start, an active phase-in of even more metals. A one-day symposium was set up by the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam to discuss how to synchronise the two phases.

The post-fossil age will still require energy, and electrical energy will be of primary importance in the future. We need more metals for the energy revolution, whether it be classic base metals such as copper or rare earth metals such as neodymium for the magnets of modern wind turbines, according to the IASS. The turnaround in mobility also requires increasing electrification of motorised road traffic, whether directly electric or with hydrogen/fuel cells. In contrast to fossil oil, we cannot abandon the use of metals, the institute states.

The central challenge of the Paris Climate Agreement is to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality, but the challenges associated with this are often ignored in the public debate, said speakers at the conference,

which was organised by IASS together with the Federation of German Scientists (VDW). An active phasing-out of oil production needs an all-encompassing framework. At the same time, the timeframe both for this and for the inevitably increasing demand for metals would have to be given much more attention. The strategic importance of copper, for example, is increasing.

Although fracking has increased the global supply of oil, the actual shortage is not so obvious for a limited period. However, in the next decade at the latest, there will be a shortage of oil. The unsustainable use of fossil sources will inevitably come to an end, the conference stated, but also rose awareness that metals, too, must be produced sensibly.

Resource extraction: What side effects can we live with?

According to Melanie Müller of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, to prevent this, the topic of mining must be "thought in a more transnational way" and "The mining of rare earth and metals must be monitored. Ombud offices for mining activities would be a good idea. Peter Buchholz, head of the German Raw Materials Agency (DERA), recommends the establishment of cooperatives with licences that have to be bought to prevent human rights violations in mining. These could only be obtained by complying with certain minimum standards, such as the exclusion of child labour or demonstrable compliance with environmental protection measures.

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Westfälische Drahtindustrie receives world’s largest pickling plant for steel wires Steuler Anlagenbau has received an order from wire manufacturer Westfälische Drahtindustrie (WDI) for the planning and construction of a fully automatic tunnel pickling plant for steel wires. The order is worth over €10 million. The new facility at WDI’s site in Hamm in state North Rhine Westphalia is scheduled to commence production in the third quarter of 2020. The plant will have an annual capacity of approximately 550,000 tonnes of different grades of carbon steel, making it the largest continuous pickling plant in the world once it has been commissioned, the plantbuilder claims.

WDI had not originally planned this investment in a new plant. Around Easter 2019, welding work caused a major fire in Hamm which completely destroyed the existing 40-year-old pickling plant and made an urgent replacement necessary.

This major contract will also involve the participation of the Steuler Group’s Linings division: Surface Protection Linings will supply and install approximately 3,000 m² of floor coatings and BEKAPLAST linings.

The operator, WDI, has installed an on-site camera to document the progress of the pickling plant construction project: https://www.wdi.de/en/ welcome.html. Demand for Steuler’s MPT International 6 / 2019

environmentally friendly pickling technology is growing.

Steuler Anlagenbau says that its Surface Technology division has grown to become a world leader in the chemical treatment of wire in recent years.

Thanks to the latest orders from SBEVarvit (Italy) and Hyundai (Korea), Steuler Anlagenbau has been able to further strengthen its leading position in the market for wire coil pickling plants. Orders for four such steel wire pickling plants have been received in the period since 2017, it notes.

Steuler Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG is based in Höhr-Grenzhausen in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It has been develop-

ing, planning, managing mechanical, chemical and electrolytic surface treatment plants for steel, stainless steel, non-ferrous metals, aluminium, glass and special metals for over 40 years.

It is part of Steuler Group, a leading suppliers of linings founded in 1908 which operates around the globe, supplying equipment engineering/environmental technology solutions "Made in Germany". The Steuler Tiles group and Pool Construction division represent further mainstays of the business. The medium-sized group of companies based in the heart of Germany has over 2,800 employees worldwide and generates an annual turnover of €447 million.

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Nucor selects Danieli and SMS group for greenfield plate mill in Kentucky Nucor Corporation is investing in a new greenfield USD 1.35 billion plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky. The company says that the mill will have a capacity for 1.2 million short tons per year. It is expected to come online in 2022.

"This strategic investment will enable us to build a clear market leadership position in the US plate market," says Nucor ceo John Ferriola. “Kentucky is an excellent location for this mill, right in the centre of America's largest plate-consuming region. Our acquisition of the Gallatin sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky, five years ago has been a tremendous success, and we are pleased to add a second mill in the state." Nucor currently operates plate mills in North Carolina, Alabama and Texas.

Nucor estimates that the new mill will give the company the ability to satisfy 97% of the US’ plate requirements by product "... including the specialty higher-margin products."

The mill’s capabilities will range from 60-160 inches in width, with thicknesses of 3/16-14 inches.

Danieli will supply the new electric arc furnace (EAF) melt shop and plate-/Steckel-mill, as well as an electrical and automation package provided by Danieli Automation. The value of Danieli supply is approx. USD 330 million. The EAF will be a full platform design with an EBT tapping system, equipped with all modern mechatronic devices to improve the performance and the safety of the EAF, such as Q-Melt and Zero Man Turn Around.

Danieli will also supply secondary metallurgy equipment, including a

From left: Keith Watson, SMS group Inc. Vice President; Burkhard Dahmen, SMS group GmbH President & CEO; John Ferriola, Nucor Chairman and CEO; Leon Topalian, Nucor President & COO

twin station LMF and a twin station VTD equipped with mechanical pumps. Both units will be equipped with the latest automation and process models to ensure precise chemistry and temperature control while minimising transformation costs.

The plate-/Steckel-mill will be equipped with two stands: a roughing mill and a Steckel-mill, where the roughing mill will also be designed for the rolling of 36" ingots. The complete design of the plate mill will be optimised to produce thermo-mechanical rolled plates, production of API-grades, as well as high hardness, wear-resistant plates up to a rolled width of 160" and coils up to a rolled width of 125". After the Plate-/Steckel-Mill mill, the latest EVO 5 hot leveller designed for two different types of cassettes and a plate finishing and shearing line for the handling and cutting of 250 ft mother plates will follow.

The final product will be plates and heavy plates in a thickness range of 3/16" up to 14" and coils from 3/16" up to 1".

Casting of steel in special sizes From left: Giacomo Mareschi Danieli, Danieli CEO; Gianpietro Benedetti, Danieli Chairman; John Ferriola, Nucor Chairman and CEO; Leon Topalian, Nucor President and COO, Paolo Losso, Danieli Corporation President

SMS group will supply a single-strand caster for ultra-wide and thick slabs. Accroding to the company, it will be designed for an annual capacity of 1.6 million short tons, and will be a core element

of the production chain of the new facility in Brandenburg. The casting machine will be one of the largest casters worldwide, SMS group states. It will produce slabs of 8 to 12 inch (200 to 305 millimeter) thickness up to 124 inch (3,150 millimeter) width. Slab lengths vary from 104 to 600 inch (2,642 to 15,240 millimeter).

Technological features include include robotic applications on the casting platform and an HD mold with fiber optics and electromagnetic stirring. In addition, a customized roller apron, a quenching unit and a secondary cutting line will also be incorporated. An integration test with virtual 3D production and active participation by Nucor personnel will take place in the SMS test field.

To meet Nucor’s challenging project objectives, several special technological features will be incorporated into the new vertical bending caster, SMS emphasises.

These include robotic applications on the casting platform and an HD mold with fiber optics and electromagnetic stirring.

In addition, a customized roller apron, a quenching unit and a secondary cutting line will also be incorporated.

About Nucor Corporation Nucor Corporation is America’s largest steel and steel products maker, with approximately 27,000 employees at 25 steel mills and more than 300 operating facilities throughout North America. Last year, Nucor produced more than 24.7 million tonnes of steel and more than USD 25 billion in revenue.

Nucor is also North America’s largest recycler, using scrap steel as the primary raw material in producing its steel and steel products. In 2018, the company recycled approximately 22.2 million net tonnes of scrap steel.

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Levelling the playing field

Brexit has darkened the outlook for the British industry. How do you asses the prospects for the industry in general and the steel industry in particular?

Coface: Our outlook for the British industry is very bad. Since 2017, the investments in machinery and equipment were negative compared to the year before (average 2010 – 2015: +4.1%, change year-over-year). The sentiment of British manufacturing companies is decreasing, especially since late spring 2019 when Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister and the probability of a no-deal Brexit increased. The yearly growth rate of production in the manufacturing sector has been in the negative since October 2018. The only months when we had a peak were February and March 2019, but only because the producers wanted to fill their stocks before Brexit is realized. Since then, the yearly growth rate has been negative again.

As a result, insolvencies picked up since 2018. In the first half of 2019, insolvencies in manufacturing were 9% higher than the first half of 2018. The situation for the steel industry is even worse. There is a general weakness of the car industry in Western Europe due to several problems with emission standards/decreasing demand/uncertainty regarding future mobility concepts. On top of this, several car producers have left the UK or reduced their production (because of cross-border supply chain disruptions), which is hurting the steel industry.

The British car industry is foreignowned, and decisions are made abroad.

For example, MINI is a subsidiary of the BMW group. Moreover, the weakness of the construction sector is weighing on the steel sector. This all resulted in an increase of insolvencies of 31% year-over-year in the first half of 2019. Therefore, our outlook for the MPT International 6 / 2019

Copyright: Coface

Brexit dominates the headlines and darkens the outlook for the British economy. What can European business partners expect? In an interview with MPT International, two experts of the international credit insurer Coface talk about the prospects. Christine von Berg, economist for the Northern European region, and Khalid Ait-Yahia, industry analyst for steel, assess the situation.

Christine von Berg and Khalid Ait-Yahia are not very optimistic for the British industry.

British metal industry is "very high risk".

The problems seem overwhelming. Are there also rays of hope?

Coface: In the first quarter of 2019, some high value-added steel producers were better at protecting their margin.

As in every crisis, the pressure on the companies to change their business models, to develop new, more efficient or sustainable products is high. So, if the companies survive this weakness, they will be better in their standing in the global market. This outcome is highly dependent on the ability to generate enough cash while managing a very difficult market.

Could a trade agreement with the US save the British steel industry?

Coface: A trade agreement with the US could help the British steel industry, depending on the terms and conditions. As the United States is a main partner for steel exports - 2nd partner, 9% of exports; USD 445 million - and aluminum exports - 5th partner, 4.4% of exports; USD 66.5 million - the British steel industry is affected by US tariffs. But US steelmakers are on the verge of developing new greenfield

projects as their market is now protected from imports. Additionally, the competition with Japanese steel products is very strong as their quality is very high. Therefore, the market could be overcrowded for British steelmakers. Furthermore, in the case of the Brexit, there will be tariffs from the EU on steel and aluminum, too. As the other TOP 10 export partners of the British steel industry are almost all EU countries, it is not likely that the trade agreement with the US alone could save the British steel industry.

What do you see being the greatest risks to the British steel industry?

Coface: The British steel industry, while being declared ‘vital’ by the British Government, cannot compete with its European peers, notably those from Germany or France. This is due to political support in these countries.

The British steel industry is evolving in a landscape impacted by higher cost, notably energy and environment-related ones, particularly emissions. One must ask if the future of the industry is on the top of the Government’s agenda with the growing political uncertainty related to Brexit.

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What effects do you expect for the German/European steel industry?

Coface: The effects will be noticeable but manageable. In the case of Germany, the relevance of the United Kingdom as a trading partner has diminished in the past decades, but especially in the last years. On the export side, the UK ranks 13th (2.9% of exports) for iron and steel and is in the top 10 for steel products (equals 4.2% of all German steel exports). On the import side, the UK ranks 15th for iron and steel as well as for steel products (both 1.8% of the import share). Here, the effect of Brexit should be less significant. As the steel market is suffering from overcapacities, it would be easier to replace the absent supply by other trading partners. Additionally, the demand from German manufacturing is decreasing - e.g. from automotive and the machinery sector - so that, if we disregard highly specialized steel products, the supply from the UK is no longer needed as much.

What consequences do you expect for British branches of German steel traders?

Coface: Brexit does not mean that there won’t be any steel trade between the UK and Germany anymore. It means that delivery times will be longer due to customs control, that the prices will go up due to tariffs and that regulations may change. In comparison to UK steel traders, German traders will lose a lot of their competitiveness, except for their product-competitiveness.

If the quality or specifications are unique, the loss in competitiveness will be limited.

How can German and European trading partners and customers arm themselves against these risks?

Coface: They have already done so by changing their supply-chains and ex-

Copyright: Tata Steel

The industry is outcompeted by actors that are better prepared to cope with a sluggish market with a more efficient plant, a better portfolio of products, a highly integrated supply chain, and so on. The fact that big British plants such as Port Talbot are under the constant threat of closing reminds us that the industry needs an overhaul.

CofaceIndustry: UK steelmakers need funds to invest in their plants and in research to cope with competition.

port partners. Over the last four years, the growth rates of exports and imports between the UK and Germany have decreased, but this dynamic severed between 2017 and 2018, with a continuing tendency in 2019. Instead of the UK, other countries, especially from the EU (due to the customs union), can win from this change in trading structures. For example, exports of steel and iron products to Sweden increased by 24% between 2017 and 2018, boosting the export share to Sweden up to 3.4%, 11th in Europe, right behind the UK. What can European politicians do to mitigate the consequences for the steel industry?

Coface: Brexit, in whatever form, will hurt the European steel market. Even if Brexit will not be realized, the uncertainty around it is hurting the economy.

European politicians can work towards a decision so that the uncertainty diminishes (even if the decision is a nodeal Brexit) because the uncertainty is delaying many investment decisions on the continent. Additionally, politicians can work on the demand side and decide on a European concept of automotive mobility, so that a coordinated Europe-

an infrastructure can be built and customers and producers have more security about which technology will be used in the future. This would support the demand for automobiles and therefore help the steel industry as well.

What is your long-term expectation of the British steel industry?

Coface: As explained above, the short term outlook is not that positive. In the long term, this industry must reinvent itself with the help of the public authorities, notably by not burdening it with extra-costs. Being in the European Union helped the industry. However, the exit could damage the industry and the whole supply chain. UK steelmakers need funds to invest in their plants and in research to cope with competition.

The Chinese authorities are forcing their steelmakers to produce better steel while closing inefficient plants. Japanese and Korean steelmakers are providing higher grade products. In Europe, Austria with Voestalpine is doing the same. There are good examples to follow, but the key unknown is the commitment of British authorities in providing UK steelmakers with a level playing field.

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Photo: Shutterstock

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The Issues at Ilva For two years, the salvation of Europe’s biggest steel location seemed to be on the horizon. But in November, ArcelorMittal – Ilva’s new owner – threatened to cancel its takeover. The group was lacking the legal security for the mammoth task of turning the notorious polluter into a clean plant.

On 4 November, ArcelorMittal sent a note telling Ilva’s extraordinary commissioners of its decision to withdraw from, or terminate, the agreement for the lease and subsequent conditional purchase of the business of Ilva S.p.A. The agreement signed in October 2018 stipulates that, if a new law affects the environmental plan for the Taranto plant to materially impair the ability to operate it or to implement its industrial plan, the company has a contractual right to withdraw from the agreement.

Effective on 3 November 2019, the Italian parliament has removed the legal protection necessary for the company to implement its environmental plan without the risk of criminal liability, thus justifying the withdrawal notice.

Ruling expected 20 December Also, the decisions issued by the criminal court of Taranto bind the Ilva commissioners to complete certain requireMPT International 6 / 2019

Enclosing the raw materials yard to reduce dust emissions

ments by 13 December 2019—a term the Commissioners themselves deemed impossible to meet. Upon failure to meet these requirements, blast furnace number 2 will be shut down. Such requirements must also reasonably and prudentially be applied to the other two blast furnaces at the Taranto plant. The shut-

down would make it impossible for the company to implement its industrial plan, operate the Taranto plant and, generally, perform the agreement.

Since the announcement, both sides have reopened negotiations to create a new industrial plan for Ilva. A ruling by the Milan tribunal on the matter

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has been scheduled for 20 December.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the company will maintain normal operations at the plants and continuity of production until that date.

The Italian press reported that, according to the public prosecutor's office, the deaths of 11,550 people in the region who died of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases over the course of seven years could be linked to emissions. The risk of cancer in children was said to be 54% above the Italian average.

According to residents of the area, a nearby primary school closes on days that the wind blows the toxic dust towards the school, and the children in the neighbourhood often stay at home.

In 2012, the public prosecutor's office ordered the plant to be shut down for serious environmental violations and the company’s managers to be arrested. In 2017, Arcelor Mittal bought the plant and undertook to restore it.

Key facts of the plant • Deep seaport for vessels >320kt • 4 Coke batteries in operation, 2 Sinter Plants • 3 x 11m BFs in operations, 1 x 14m BF in standby waiting relining • Two steel shops, 6 BOFs, 5 CCs • 2 HSMs, one plate mill, three tube mills • 1 Pickling line, 1 PLTCM • 2 HDG lines (HDG #1 and #2) • Integrated SSC for slitted coils/ sheets • Logistic integration (incl. seaport loading) • Two integrated power plants, air separation units • Mining activities for lime, two lime furnaces

Ilva sea view

Photo: Shutterstock

The environmental problems of the Taranto works

A Fridays-for-Future demonstration in Taranto in November

According to earlier figures, the Taranto plant can produce up to 10 million tonnes of crude steel, although the effective output in 2016 was only 5.8 million tonnes.

Major environmental investment projects ArcelorMittal envisaged at Taranto: Primary raw materials yards EUR 300 million for enclosing the raw materials yard to reduce dust emissions. Work began on enclosing the iron ore building—situated close to the district of Tamburi—in 2017. When completed according to plan in May 2020, the enclosed stockyard will be the first of its kind at any operating steel plant in the world and will materially improve the quality of the air in the neighbourhood.

Coke batteries EUR 200 million to transform the environmental performance of the coke batteries. By installing a new under-firing de-dusting system—the first of its kind in the EU—new quenching tow-

ers, and a new wastewater treatment plant, the company aimed to go beyond regulatory requirements for emissions by 2021.

Sinter plant EUR 36 million for installing an innovative filtration technology to reduce the emissions of dust, metals and dioxins from the sinter plant below EU’s 'best available technology' levels. The sinter plant, where iron ore is crushed, homogenised and mixed with limestone and coke breeze and then cooked to form sinter for the blast furnace, currently contributes around 50% of dust emissions. The project is planned to be completed in 2021.

Rainwater runoff EUR 120 million for systems to collect and treat all rainwater in the full area of the plant and harbours. The aim was the complete elimination of runoff, preventing polluted water from reaching the environment. The project will be completed by August 2023. For the treatment of wastewater, the company has allocated another EUR 167 million.

Further elements of an investment plan that amounts to EUR 1.15 billion include the enclosure of conveyor belts and buildings (EUR 128 m), remediation measures including removal of asbestos and other historic residues (EUR 172 m), an upgraded plan for fire prevention desulphurisation of the steel plants, and establishment of an area for non-used production residues.

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››› COMPANY PROFILE

Conveyors – the connecting element between two stages of a process

Established in 1922 by his grandfather, Professor Heinrich Aumund, and carried on by his father, Günter Claus Aumund, the company has experienced a third generation since 1966, with Franz-W. Aumund being at the helm for over 30 years as owner and president of the AUMUND Group of Companies. In an interview with MPT International, he explains what made the company an international leader in bulk materials conveying and storage technology.

What in your view are the main factors which have upheld the position of the AUMUND Group over the years?

Franz-W. Aumund: From my point of view, AUMUND Group is characterised by three pillars: innovation, quality and reliability. For me this means that the top priorities are our continuous research and development work, the high quality of our machines and services, ongoing staff training and the aspiration to always

Today, AUMUND consist of

All photos and graphics: AUMUND

AUMUND Group has set standards with reliable machines for conveying and storing bulk materials, in a multitude of key industries such as cement, limestone, gypsum, mining & minerals, iron & steel, chemicals, fertiliser, alternative fuels and ports and terminals, all over the world. With the development of a pan conveyor to travel a curved course, AUMUND set the first technological standard in the coal mining industry. This was followed by the wagon tippler and many other innovations, which to date have been the subject of over 200 patents.

Franz-W. Aumund, President AUMUND Fördertechnik GmbH

be a reliable partner to our customers everywhere.

A further important factor is the financial strength which allows AUMUND to develop existing markets and also invest in new areas in order to establish ourselves in different industries.

AUMUND is a household name in the cement industry. In which other sectors is AUMUND to be found?

Aumund: The activities of the company were influenced in the early 1920s by the German coal mining industry. It was at this time that the significance of and the requirement for robust and reliable steel pan conveyors, which were a technical innovation in underground applications, became clear. When at the beginning of the 1960s the mining crisis took hold, supply to the emerging cement industry increased under the management of my father, Günter Claus Aumund, in particular in Germany. The first products were pan conveyors and then came bucket elevators. Equally attractive was the requirement in the iron and steel industry for heavy steel pan conveyors, which had to withstand temperatures up to 1,100°C. In short, pan conveyors and bucket elevators are real all-rounders. The specific application dictates the technical design and dimensioning. Knowledge and alignment of these details are the key to opening up and penetrating further bulk materials markets of increasing importance to us, such as mining & minerals and the chemicals industry, in particular the fertiliser sector.

19 companies, subsidiaries and branch offices, and five service centres across the world, with around 500 employees in Europe, Asia, India and North and South America, as well as a global network of over 80 agents. The AUMUND reference lists document currently more than 22,000 machines in over 150 countries.

Historical image of the curved steel plate conveyor and railway wagon tippler MPT International 6 / 2019

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COMPANY PROFILE What particularly stands out about the AUMUND Companies today?

Aumund: In fact, today we have to look at the complete range of products and services of the AUMUND Group, from its three manufacturing brands, AUMUND Fördertechnik, SCHADE Lagertechnik and SAMSON Materials Handling. In a nutshell that means that our products and performance are always the connecting element between two stages of a process, whatever the industry. For example, we have been a partner to industries all over the world since the 1970s, assisting with layout and design planning, where we are able to incorporate the product range of the group.

Which current examples can you give us of measures to safeguard the future of the company?

Aumund: Innovation and investment are of the utmost importance to me. They secure the future of the individual companies, and with them the future of our group. Targeted measures are always required to keep a house in order and then to extend it in future when the family gets bigger. We have an investment agenda which takes into consideration among other things markets, manufacturing locations, ideas and innovations as well as investment in employees. This is why we do not only concentrate on activities in our familiar key industries, but we also open up new future-orientated areas such as alternative fuels. Currently we are developing our own technology for processing replacement fuels from treated or pre-selected domestic refuse.

In order to sustain the quality of our products and at the same time to future-proof our Rheinberg location (Germany), we run a comprehensive and multifaceted investment programme.

Just recently a new robotic welding system and our new water jet belt prepara-

Original AUMUND Bucket Elevator Chain

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AUMUND Pan Conveyor type KZB for operation in cement plants (left) and in steelworks (right)

Flow sheet: Applications of the AUMUND, SCHADE and SAMSON products in Metallurgy (products in red)

tion technology went into operation.

Both of these systems will enhance precision and quality whilst reducing lead times, and optimising costs.

Not only belts but also our chains constitute the core components of our bucket elevators. With the acquisition of the experienced chain manufacturer TILEMANN in 2016 we took the first step to self-sufficiency in chains, and upgraded the facility with the latest CAD technology and presses. Now that this specialist manufacturer of highquality chains and key components with its modern machinery belongs to the AUMUND Group, we are no longer dependent on outside suppliers. Product quality and product development are in our own hands, and we are firmly in control.

With an investment of around €200,000 the new show room, which has been established in a converted factory hall in Rheinberg, was another good decision for the future. Since July

AUMUND Bucket Elevator with Central Chain (type BWZ-D)

this year the display room has been delighting as a meeting point for customers as well as training and seminar participants.

In recent years you have bought up other companies to add to the group. What were the reasons for this?

Aumund: We can identify three strategic phases. The first phase went up to the end of the 1990s. During this peri-

>>

Foyer and glance into the AUMUND Show Room MPT International 6 / 2019

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od we invested predominantly in the development of our own products.

Some of the significant product launches were the Pan Conveyor in 1962, the Bucket Elevator with Central Chain in 1968, Belt Bucket Elevator and Steel Silos in 1977, the Armoured Chain Conveyor in 1988, and in 2000 the first Arched Plate Conveyor.

At the beginning of the 1990s we started to expand our product portfolio by acquiring companies with an exact fit. My purpose in securing LOUISE Maschinenbau and WTW Engineering in 1991 and Besta & Meyer Maschinenfabrik in 2014 was first and foremost to concentrate the product know-how in drag chain conveyors and silo discharge systems, but also to strengthen our important spare parts business.

When we acquired SCHADE Lagertechnik, founded in 1879, in 2001 and B&W Mechanical Handling, founded in 1966, (now SAMSON Materials Handling) in 2002, both of which are much older than AUMUND, we deliberately carried on the established brands in order to preserve their international name, their competence and their own identity, and of course to benefit from these advantages ourselves.

The impact of the AUMUND Group on the market in this day and age is largely due to the three product companies, AUMUND, SCHADE and SAMSON. With their product ranges they are equally active in all key industries, often in conjunction with each other. The synergies often ask to give joint proposals for large projects.

We are currently in the third strategic phase, the era of our expanding international focus. Because the three product companies and the AUMUND subsidiaries are active internationally, the AUMUND Group now is spanning the globe. In 1975 the AUMUND subsidiaries in Brazil and Canada were incorporated, and in 1980 USA followed, with France in 1991, then Switzerland, in 1996 India and Hong Kong in 2005.

The AUMUND representative office for technology, purchasing and production was opened in Beijing, China, in 1994 and this was followed by the incorporation of the AUMUND subsidiary in Beijing in 2006.

AUMUND is so well financed for the future that I am sure we will be able to remain in investment mode.

MPT International 6 / 2019

AUMUND Group spanning the globe

How do you see the position of the AUMUND Group in terms of service?

Aumund: AUMUND has massively increased its service spectrum in recent years, starting with an after sales function responsible for the classic spare parts business and for running maintenance seminars for plant managers and maintenance personnel, and culminating in the incorporation in 2017 of AUMUND Group Field Service GmbH, to secure a globally standardised commitment to quality in installation and commissioning of our own AUMUND, SCHADE and SAMSON machinery, as well as equipment of other manufacturers, with an internationally established network of about 60 supervisors.

Our service concept PREMAS 4.0 is currently setting another emphasis. Its name reflects its programme, standing for "preventive" and in the style of Industry 4.0, our 4.0 stands for "Predictive Maintenance Service" meaning proactive, digitally supported maintenance instead of just precautionary maintenance. These activities are fully supported by our pool of inspectors and supervisors, and this is

PREMAS® 4.0 Predictive Maintenance Service (source Google)

yet another important advantage within the AUMUND family.

In the AUMUND Group, people of approximately 30 nationalities are employed. How do you manage solidarity and the required efficiency?

Aumund: The knowledge and experience of our employees is for me the most important asset of the company, which is why we invest continually in education and training. In recruitment we build on qualified personnel from our own ranks as well as from outside. Our concept of lifelong learning starts off with opportunities for school pupils, and continues with our technical and commercial apprentices and students.

What’s more, a new AUMUND seminar centre is currently being established in Leipzig, where courses on specially selected subjects will be held.

For staff development, in particular for managerial roles, we use our globally integrated network of AUMUND locations. In order to encourage international exchanges within the AUMUND Group, high achievers get many fixedterm transfer opportunities to gain valuable experience in other countries and get to know other cultures.

As an example, Germany is of course the technological centre of AUMUND, but our colleagues in India support us in a very valuable way by developing for example also software programmes.

As well as the sales activities of AUMUND India, we practically have our own software company there too.

Almost two thirds of our staff members have been with us for over five years, many for well over 15 years. Overseas postings at AUMUND subsidiaries

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COMPANY PROFILE such as Hong Kong and India or at SAMSON in England are also possible for participants in the scholarship programme that I initiated in 2009. To date we have sponsored almost 50 full-time mechanical and industrial engineering students, some of whom, as well as several dual work-study students, have since been taken on as employees.

We also work closely with the universities of Aachen, Bochum, Münster and Freiberg and with many other technical universities, taking advantage of their research activities in conveying technology. In addition we partner up with engineering firms and cooperate with other companies with similar strategies.

The AUMUND Foundation In decades of travelling through more than 100 countries, Franz-W. Aumund has had “some amazingly rewarding experiences, but at other times I have been left with a very negative impression.” With the mission statement “Training and education of young people is the most valuable investment in the future”, the Franz-W. Aumund-Stiftung and the companies of the AUMUND Group help for example children and young people from underprivileged backgrounds to find their place in society, by giving them a chance through education.

In 2018 the Aumund-Stiftung, AUMUND Fördertechnik and the AUMUND Group companies supported projects for education and social issues in Germany and abroad to the tune of more than EUR 600,000. Alongside international projects in education and science the Aumund Foundation, which AUMUND established in 2018, also pursues initiatives in the medical field.

37

Scholarship Students and Alumni Meeting 2019 in Rheinberg

When you look back on a career spanning over 50 years at AUMUND, what has had the biggest impact on you?

Aumund: From the very beginning, my contact with customers and the many different people all over the world is what has made its mark on me most strongly. One of my first trips took me to the cement industry in Brazil, where in 1975 I established the first AUMUND subsidiary. This was followed by USA, France, China, India, Hong Kong, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubai and now also Poland. I have been exposed to the most varied of cultures and characters, but one thing has always stayed with me: I do not have to embrace "different", but I do need to respect it unconditionally.

In 2022 AUMUND will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Aumund: For over forty years the AUMUND Group has exported more than 80 percent of its production. For decades we have known for certain what globalisation means, where opportunities and risks lie, and what effects geopolitical influences can have.

Therefore we are always vigilant, and try to recognise any changes in our sales markets, and political or eco-

nomic uncertainties at an early stage, and take precautionary countermeasures.

A further prerequisite for success, is that AUMUND Fördertechnik be led by a new and young management team.

The managing directors, Dr Pietro de Michieli (Sales), Reiner Furthmann (Technology) and Dr Volker Brandenburg (Finance) have many years of international experience, which they have gained in leading positions with AUMUND and in other notable career postings. These are complemented by our experienced managers in the overseas subsidiaries who all have excellent knowledge of their markets.

Recently you celebrated your 75th birthday. What are your personal goals for the future?

Aumund: I will gradually step back from business operations, and adjust to a future consulting role in the group.

Principally I will concentrate more fully on the activities of my foundations.

Currently I am also working on the extended new edition of the AUMUND company chronicles, "3 Generations 3 Emphases", which documents the eras of my grandfather, father, and in my time the growing the international AUMUND Group.

Franz-W. Aumund with the managing directors of AUMUND Fördertechnik GmbH, Reiner Furthmann, Dr Pietro de Michieli, and Dr Volker Brandenburg MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› BUSINESS

Control methods to reduce coke oven pressure variations This paper presents a novel approach to the control of coke oven pressure control, applied to coke plant 2 at Tata Steel, IJmuiden. The coke pressures used to be controlled

by PI controllers. We applied a systematic model based tuning method using the PID Tuning tool. This tool obtains its model from a simple black-box open loop identification method, during production. Better PID tuning led to a considerable reduction in pressure variations of 30%. In addition, we added self-learning feedforward control to the PID loops that output their feedforward actions when ovens are charged. Measurements of the controlled pressures in the cokes ovens of Tata Steel, before and after application show that pressure variations reduced by 50%.

1. Introduction While heating coal in coke furnace, the coal releases poisonous gasses that are sucked off via valves and ventilators to chemical cleaning installations.

The cokes pressure control system adjusts these valves and ventilators based on measured pressures. The pressure inside the coke furnace must be maintained (as well as possible) at a fixed setpoint value just above the environmental air pressure. If the cokes oven pressure drops too low, too much air is sucked in and the furnace walls are damaged. If the pressure rises too much, poisonous coke gas escapes into the environment.

The standard control method for coke oven control is PI control. One may wonder if there are algorithms that perform better. In literature, various alternative controller (tuning) algorithms have been proposed, including fuzzy control1,2, and model predictive control3. In most cases, the authors

Tata Steel Europe's plant at IJmuiden, The Netherlands

show simulations only which makes it hard to judge the effectiveness of the approach. This paper presents research and development work done on the control of coke oven pressure control at Tata Steel, coke plant 2. The main question, posed in this paper, is: whether it

is possible to improve over PI controlled coke oven pressure control.

The paper is structured as follows.

Section 2 describes the process. Section 3 presents the process model, that was used for control algorithm development. Section 4 discusses the various sources of pressure disturbances.

Section 5 presents control developments, based on the model of section 3. Section 6 presents the results. Finally, section 7 presents the conclusions.

2. Description of the process Authors: J. Schuurmans (DotX Control Solutions) with A. Besseling, E. ten Napel, J. Dekker, P.P.G. de Jong (Tata Steel Europe) Contact: J. Schuurmans, DotX Control Solutions, Email: j.schuurmans@dotxcontrol.com

MPT International 6 / 2019

Figure 1: Piping & Instrumentation Diagram of coke ovens with control systems.

Figure 1 shows a schematic Piping & Instrumentation Diagram of (a part of) the Cokes ovens with the pressure control system. The coal that is heated in the ovens, produces gasses that are transported to a gas refinery plant via valves and gas suction ventilators. The

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BUSINESS

39

valves and ventilators are automatically adjusted by pressure controllers (like PC8) that try to maintain the upstream pressure at setpoint.

3. Process model We first tried physical modelling, but there were too many unknown parameters to create a useful model. Instead, we applied a generic black-box approach. For modelling (and for controller tuning), we use the DotX PID Tuner software. It appeared the pressure P, could be related to valve position M using:

K e –TdtS P = M (1) Tp S + 1 with s = Laplace variable, P = pressure difference between cokes oven pressure and ambient air, K = process gain, Tp the process time constant, Tdt the time delay, M the desired valve position (%). For instance, for the pressure controlled by PC10, the parameters were identified as K = -0.1, Tp = 3.2 s, Tdt= 2.9 s. The process time constant Tp and the time delay Tdt hardly vary

Figure 2: Cokes pressure deviations from setpoint, and trigger signal that is 1 if an oven is charged.

with time, but the process gain K can vary with time. Perhaps, this is due to build-up of tar around the valve.

4. Disturbances Figure 2 shows a plot of typical pressure deviations from setpoint (of control loop PC10 in this case).

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››› BUSINESS

More dramatic variations (peaks) in pressure occur when ovens are charged. We created a trigger signal in the PLC for this event. Figure 2 shows this signal too. It jumps to 1 as soon as one oven is charged, and falls back to 0 when charging has finished.Finally, stick-slip and hysteresis in the valve position also cause pressure variations.

5. Control developments The coke oven pressures used to be controlled by PID controllers, defined by: 1 M = K P (1 + S + Td S) (Pf – SP) T i

with Kp = proportional gain, Ti = integration time (s), Td = derivative time (s), Pf = filtered pressure, SP = setpoint. The pressure Pf is obtained from the pressure P, by filtering this pressure through a low pass filter.

Before the control development work started, the derivative time (Td) was always set to 0, the integration time constant was usually set to 30 seconds and the filter bandwidth was set to 0.5 rad/s.

A first major control improvement was realised by removing the filtering of the pressure (by setting the bandwidth of the filter relatively high, to e.g. 10 rad/s). The filtering introduces unnecessary ‘delay’ in the dynamics, and therefore limits the control bandwidth. A second improvement was realised by introducing derivative action in the PID controller. Thirdly, we introduced a systematic PID tuning method, based on the identified mod-

Figure 3: Coke pressure deviations from setpoint, and trigger signal that is 1 if an oven is charged.

el, given by equation 1. We applied a slightly adapted version of the SIMC PID tuning rules4. The adaption consisted of an additional safety factor of 2 on both the proportional gain and integration time. This led to an integration time (Ti) of 10 seconds and a differential time (Td) of 1 second.

The above mentioned control changes led to a considerable reduction of the variations (of around 30%). However, the largest pressure variations, occurring during coke charging, were hardly reduced. These pressure peaks are

Figure 4: Performance of coke pressure control over a period of 12 months.

MPT International 6 / 2019

caused by coks charging actions. Unfortunately, we cannot apply normal feedforward to coke charging since we cannot measure the disturbance variable(s) that cause these pressure peaks.

It is possible though to apply Self-Learning Feedforward (SLF), also known as Iterative Learning Control [5]. We combined SLF with PID control in the following way. We changed the computation of M (the desired valve position) to: M = MPID + MSLF

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BUSINESS with MSLF the output of the Self-learning feedforward controller, given by: F (k) if trigger = 1 MSLF = if trigger = 0' 0 with: F = array of stored feedforward control signals, k = discrete time counter, starting from 0 as soon as the trigger jumps to 1, and increasing at a regular sample time interval.

The array of stored feedforward control signals F is updated each time after the trigger signal goes back to 0 (from 1), according to:

Fj+1(k – d) = Q(s)(Fj(k) + L(s) e(k))

4. Results Figure 4 shows the performance of the Cokes pressure control system, over a period of 12 months. Control performance was measured as the percentage of time where the pressure deviations from setpoint were less than 0.4 mbar.

Before the control improvements, performance varied between 30 and 90%, and was, on average, around 80%.

After changing to PID control, with improved tuning, the performance increased to 85%. After applying Self learning Feedforward, performance improved to 90% approximately.

Conclusions and further investigations Returning to the main questions, posed in this paper, whether it was possible to improve Cokes oven pressure control, the answer is affirmative. We were able to reduce the variations in pressure (measured in terms of standard deviation) by more than 50%.

Further control improvements may be achieved by taking the interactions (between the pressure controllers) into account, and by tuning the PID controllers more tightly, combined with an automatic check of the closedloop response.

with subscript j referring to ‘batch’ number j (where a batch is defined as the time when trigger =1), and: d = discretized process delay (= rounded value of Tdt / sample-period), Q(s) = low pass filter, L(s) = filter, e (k) = P – SP = pressure deviation from setpoint at time k.

The filters Q and F are selected on the basis of the identified process model in equation 1, and the PID control parameters. They are chosen such that stability is ensured, using the PID Tuning tool.

For the array F we chose a sample period of 0.5 seconds, and a size of 500 elements. The array F is initialized by zeros, and converges to its final elements within approximately 10 batches. The learning process is never stopped though (unless an operator pushes the reset button).

The SLF algorithm was programmed in standard PLCs (Allen Bradleys).

Figure 3 shows the effect of the Self Learning Feedforward on the pressure peaks: the peaks are reduced by approximately 50%.

References [1] Nia, A. R. J.; Shabaninia, F. : Intelligent Control for Gas Collector Pressure of Coke Oven, International Journal of Engineering and Technology Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2014 [2] Xin-ming L. et al : Survey on coke oven gas collector pressure control, Chinese Control and Decision Conference (CCDC), 2011 [3] K. Li, et al : Model Predictive Control with Feed-

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forward Strategy for Gas Collectors of Coke Ovens, Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering Volume 22, Issue 7, July 2014, Pages 769-773 [4] S. Skogestadt : Probably the best simple PID tuning rules in the world, Submitted to Journal of Process Control July 3, 2001 [5] R.W. Longman : Iterative learning control and repetitive control for engineering practice, Int. J. control, 2000, Vol 73, No. 10, pp 930 - 954

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››› METALLURGY

Pushing performance to new limits It is in our nature to stick with what we know and to be cautious. As the saying goes: "If it’s not broken why fix it?" But, if we never push the boundaries of what we can achieve we will never make progress. “At Uddeholm we believe in the process of constant improvement and development, which is why we have been able to manufacture tool steel that performs far beyond any known toughness and performance levels: Uddeholm Dievar 25 Joules,” the company states.

Uddeholm Dievar has been approved and included in the new NADCA #2072018 document. The new steel has been developed for the automotive industry with new e-mobility and structural parts as the main focus. Yet, even though Uddeholm Dievar can offer a much better performance, most die makers, foundries and OEM’s in HPDC still select AISI H13 or AISI H11. Amazingly, both these grades pre-date the middle of the last century. Can these steels really help solve the biggest problems faced by tool users today and how does Uddeholm Dievar compare?

What about the problems faced in production with new structural and e-mobility parts with the growth of Hybrid and EVs (electric vehicles)? Are the failures in structural and e-mobility parts the same as in the more traditional castings such as powertrain and transmission?

Structural parts pushing new limits To answer the above questions, we need to first figure out what the main die failures in automotive die inserts are. There are 4 main failures (Figure 2) in HPDC dies that you will see in every

Figure 1 shows the impressive growth of toughness in the new Uddeholm Dievar.

casting plant in the world: erosion, soldering, heat checking and gross cracking. "From our experience, we can say with confidence that the most common die failure is heat checking. This failure mechanism varies from foundry to foundry but an average of 80% is a near accurate figure with the other failures making up the rest."

What about the new growth areas in HPDC of structural and e-mobility cast parts, do they have the same main failure? Yes, they do and interestingly enough heat checking seems to appear sooner and harder on structural cast

parts than with more traditional cast parts. Often a die made in H13 within powertrain has to last around 80-150K shots (depending on the design and press used) but in structural parts, this can be under 75K shots. For example, some types of shock tower dies have been known to produce under 30K shots due to their operation, design and complex geometry. Some have even been known to prematurely crack if the die has poor process control combined with insufficient material properties. But this poor performance is not just limited to shock tower dies. All

Richard Oliver Uddeholms AB Product Manager Hot Work Krister Axelsson Uddeholms AB Application Engineer Hot Work Sebastian Sivertsen Uddeholms AB Hot Work Customer Service Technician

MPT International 6 / 2019

Figure 2 shows the breakdown of typical die failure (percentage) in HPDC

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METALLURGY structural parts are often complex in design and push the older die materials to the limit of their functioning.

When we look at this longitudinal bridge part and die, we can see that it has a very large surface area with many thin and thick sections. As these castings will make up the structural elements of the vehicle, it is important that the injection process is optimal to avoid porosity and other internal defects. Hence, gate speeds are often very high to fill the die as fast as possible. A typical structural-part die has many more gates than the traditional powertrain die, 14 gates in this example! This means extra heat is generated in the gates and when you combine that with the general heating and cooling of the casting cycle, along with spraying of the die, you get high levels of thermal fatigue, or heat checking.

Many of these new structural parts are safety-critical and if the vehicle is to perform as designed in a crash situation, the panel must be clear of potential crack initiation marks. Heat-checking damage would class as a potential crack initiation area and hence becomes a big problem on these structural parts. A trend is also for bigger and bigger parts and presses, which means that the inserts for the tool are also getting bigger. In some cases split lines and inserts are not allowed in the design which presents a problem as the bigger the insert, the higher the risk of gross cracking. Now the die steel you select not only requires the ability to solve the main production problem of heat checking but also needs to be very tough and ductile in operation.

Heat Checking and the current tool steels In applications such as HPDC, there will be a large temperature difference on the tool’s work surface as the casting goes through its cycle. The difference in maximum and minimum temperature will create stresses in the material and eventually fatigue cracks will develop.

A bigger temperature difference, coupled with full production, will increase the thermal fatigue resulting in a shorter die life. The heat checking pattern that forms on the die’s surface will also make marks on the castings that will lower the aesthetic and toler-

ance of the product. Cracks will appear very rapidly if the cooling channels in the die are inefficient and cooling is applied directly on the die’s work surface.

This will result in a big temperature difference and stresses will result in cracks instantly occurring.

To minimize the risk of this failure mechanism (heat checking), superior material properties are an advantage.

For example, better heat conductivity will result in less temperature difference and therefore less stress build up in the material. Additionally, a good temper-back resistance is desirable, to prevent the surface of the material from losing hardness due to heat exposure.

High ductility is also important in or-

43

der to lower the risk of crack initiation.

The material also needs a good toughness, both at room temperature and higher temperature, in order to reduce the rate of crack growth.

H13 has a higher alloy content than H11 and therefore H13 will have a slightly better temper-resistance and hot strength due to the precipitation of fine alloy carbides. This can be seen in some production results where heat checking resistance is slightly better over H11 but not a significant advantage. H11 has a lower content of Vanadium, which lowers the risk of primary carbide formations thus promoting higher toughness and ductility. Therefore, it is a reverse of the result for H13 with H11 slightly

Figure 3 clearly illustrates that Uddeholm Dievar has far superior resistance to heat

>>

checking cracks over premium H13 MPT International 6 / 2019

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Figure 4 clearly shows Uddeholm Dievar is

Figure 5 shows just one of the multiple advantages of Dievar chemistry over

tougher at higher hardness to premium H13

H13 to fight heat checking, superior temper

tougher compared to H13. But again, not a significant difference in both grades, not when compared to a tool steel grade like Uddeholm Dievar.

Optimized for heat checking Is Uddeholm Dievar the solution to heat checking? Uddeholm customer feedback and case studies have reported that Dievar provides excellent results compared to H13 & H11 tool steels when heat checking is the main failure. Laboratory tests (Figure 3) have also shown that Uddeholm Dievar has better heat-checking depth resistance than premium H13 grades as we see in the below chart where we see the depth of crack is much greater in the H13 material than in the Dievar material at the same hardness levels.

Important material properties for heat-checking resistance are hotyield strength, temper resistance, creep strength, ductility and toughness. Uddeholm Dievar outperforms premium H13 grades in all these properties. Ductility and toughness are especially of interest because the biggest difference lies in these areas.

High toughness is needed to protect the die from a catastrophic failure and now Uddeholm Dievar has the answer here rated at 25 Joules Min/ Avg giving the die user peace of mind in production. High ductility is also important because it delays the initiation of cracks. Recent testing of Uddeholm Dievar at 44-46HRC in unnotched testing showed over 400 Joules impact value.

High ductility and toughness also facilitate the possible use of a higher hardness level in the die as it is a known fact that higher hardness contributes to improved heat-checking resistance (Figure MPT International 6 / 2019

3). Customers recently asked Uddeholm to test the new Dievar above 44/46HRC to see just how tough Uddeholm Dievar is compared to high-quality ESR H13.

These customers recognized that if you can go up in hardness you will extend heat checking resistance, but the concern is a drop in toughness.

Testing showed that even at 51HRC (Figure 4) Dievar had superior toughness to an ESR H13 grade in comparable sizes. If you are intending to raise your hardness in a die we strongly recommend that you ask your local Uddeholm technician to view your die and processes first so the optimal performance level can be reached.

Molybdenum and vanadium The hot-yield strength, temper resistance (Figure 5), creep strength, thermal conductivity and the thermal expansion are all properties that depend on the chemical composition of the material.

Uddeholm Dievar shows superior results in all these areas, mainly linked to the higher amount of molybdenum in combination with the vanadium content.

Uddeholm Dievar’s ductility and toughness reflect the quality of the steel and how the steel is produced.

This, in turn, means that the whole production path is of great importance for the quality, from the melting shop to electro slag refining, to forging/rolling and heat-treatment. Especially important is the ESR (Electro slag refining) process, which results in increased cleanliness, homogeneity and equal properties in all directions of the block. The ESR process is when you take the conventional cast ingot and re-melt this through a slag bath, which then forms a new purified ingot with superior properties.

The ESR furnaces at Uddeholms AB are equipped with protective gas atmosphere and pressurized gas atmosphere that improve the cleanliness of the process and increase the steel properties. After re-melting, the new ingot is heavily forged, which efficiently breaks down the solidified structure into a finer-grained and more ductile structure.

Specialized heat-treatment processes further improve the quality.

The cleanliness of the steel highly influences the ductility. Non-metallic inclusions, primary carbides and a network of coarse secondary carbides have a significantly negative impact on the ductility of the material. Poor toughness, on the other hand, is caused by a microstructure containing coarse grain size, grain-boundary precipitations and the presence of bainite and pearlite. When Uddeholm Dievar was developed, the aim was mainly to improve the ductility, toughness, hardenability and heatchecking resistance of dies.

"Today we see an increasing demand for Uddeholm Dievar and in sizes which no one could have imagined when Dievar was originally developed, with some dies as big as 18 tons in weight. On blocks this big, we have produced quality as high as 28 Joules and fine grain sizes of ASTM 7 and above."

However, using the best material available is no guarantee against early heat-checking problems. The focus must also be on other critical parameters such as design, die making, heat-treatment, surface treatment and casting parameters etc. However, if you have heat-checking problems with your tooling when using H11 or H13 then using Uddeholm Dievar is a great start to a successful die life improvement.

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››› METALLURGY

Solid State Subtractive Metallurgy How a coal-based DRI process inspired the development of a battery recycling technology.

Introduction Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are globally among the most widely used battery types, which traditionally gained importance in the consumer electronics industry. Over the last 5 years, there has been a strong increase in electric vehicles (EVs) powered by LIBs. It is estimated that there were more than 2 million EVs (including hybrid plugins) manufactured and sold in 2018, and the growth is expected to continue into the near and longer term. According to the IEA’s Global EV Outlook (2019), the number of EVs on roads is globally expected to exceed 145 million vehicles by 20301, with China contributing to over 50% of new EVs manufactured.2 With current battery technology, the usable life of LIBs for EV applications is in the range of 5-7 years, resulting in a large number of spent LIBs after the battery packs in EVs are retired.

The wave of retiring batteries represents the amount of batteries requiring appropriate recycling.3 Recycling is vital for a number of reasons: • Environmental: if not properly handled and recycled, spent EV batteries can be toxic and hazardous • Economic return: potential for highly profitable recovery of valuable metals (Cobalt, Nickel and Lithium) • Social impact: closing the loop with reuse of battery materials. Image promotion of the EV industry and brand recognition through engagement in battery recycling

Sankha Mukherjee, Donghui Li, Xintong Liu, Nishit Patel, Kinnor Chattopadhyay XProEM Ltd., Canada http://www.xproem.com

MPT International 6 / 2019

• Supply chain: without recycling, a shortage of supply in several key raw materials could be faced • Regulatory: market players are assigned or delegated with the responsibility of EV battery recycling by government regulations globally • Sustainable: closed loop economy enabled by innovative clean technology There are currently two dominant process routes for full processing / recycling of LIBs: hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes. The hydrometallurgical process consumes acidic / basic / industrial solvents, which are expensive and require additional processing to treat the toxic wastewater. It is also limited by a low reaction speed and a complicated process route. The pyrometallurgical process involves melting at high temperatures, which translates into high energy consumption (and cost), and high environmental emissions. The resulting extracted metal requires subsequent hydrometallurgical processing to further separate the products.4 The major drawbacks of current LIB recycling technologies can be summarized as a low product value from partial processing (physical separation) and a high operating cost for full pro-

cessing (physical + chemical separation), which requires chemical conversion and metallurgical separation.

The current high operating cost of the chemical separation processes naturally invites interest to develop a process that can avoid both the high temperature operations involving melting of metals or oxides, as well as the operating expenses associated with usage of solvent extraction (and to a degree hydrometallurgical altogether). 5 Given these unique design requirements, solid state processes involving conversion of elements of interest into desired forms in a solid solid or solid gas reaction regime become ideal candidates to achieve the required chemical separation in the EV LIB recycling exercise.

One of the most notable and well developed solid state processes used in modern metallurgical operations is the production of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) for use in steelmaking, which can shed much light on the design concept of a solid state process for EV LIB recycling.

What can we learn from the production of DRI? DRI is produced from the direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps,

‹‹‹

METALLURGY pellets, or fines) into iron by a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal. Many ores are suitable for direct reduction. Direct reduction processes can be broadly categorized into two categories: gas-based and coal-based. In both cases, the objective of the process is to remove the oxygen contained in various forms of ore, converting it to metallic form in solid state.

The direct reduction process is comparatively energy efficient as no melting is involved, with the reduction reactions taking place below the melting point of the metal in question (iron, in this case). Today, direct reduction processes have been developed to specifically overcome the difficulties of conventional blast furnaces, the major production route for primary steel production worldwide.

The initial capital investment and operating costs of direct reduction plants are generally lower than integrated steel plants and are more suitable in locations where supplies of high-grade coking coal are limited but steel scrap is generally available for recycling and charging at an electric arc furnace.

In gas-based DRI processes, the charge mix is introduced into a cylindrical refractory-lined shaft furnace, where it descends by gravity flow and is contacted by upward flowing reducing gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide), which reacts with it to reduce the material prior to producing DRI for discharge.6 In various forms of coal based DRI processes, the iron-bearing charge materials to the DR reactor consist of a mixture of pellets and/or lump ore, fluxes such as limestone and/or dolomite and high volatile coal or lignite.

There are two major temperature zones: the preheating zone and the reduction + metallization zone. The feed material is heated by a burner in the rotary kiln. The burner fuel is com-

busted with a deficiency of air so that a reducing atmosphere is maintained.

In the reduction zone, combustion of coal provides heat for the endothermic reduction reactions. Axial airflow through inlet tubes spaced along the length of the kiln is adjusted to control the combustion of the CO formed from the reduction zone and volatile matter in the coal. Metallization of the product occurs in the discharge half of the kiln.

The principles of producing DRI from iron ore under reducing conditions in these processes have applicability to other metallurgical products that can utilize a similar process setup to achieve reduction of metal oxides into their valuable constituent components.

Inspiration and Challenges Inspired by the simple yet ingenious technology of DRI, XProEM’s process design incorporates unit operations similar to those used in DRI processes, such as agglomeration, reduction, grinding, magnetic separation, etc.

The most important unit operation is the reduction step, which is where key learnings from DRI processes need to be translated. There are several key technical challenges to overcome to achieve successful reduction for LIB materials applications: • Achieving a high reaction efficiency depends on the fine-tuned control of several key reaction conditions and process parameters, including temperature, residence time and reagent stoichiometric ratio, etc.

• For different LIB types, the amount of reducing agents and gas composition need to be adjusted to account for the change in composition of the feed material to achieve optimal efficiency. If the system is operated in a sub-optimal state, the conversion ratio will decrease considerably and negatively impact the economics.

47

• It is critical to control the fuel combustion at the burner so it can both provide sufficient heat for reaction to occur as well as generate a gas mixture with the required stoichiometric ratio for the conversion to occur readily and properly.

• It is fundamentally important to optimize the reaction time and temperature together so that a high reaction rate can be achieved as well as high product purity.

The XProEM Process XProEM's patented and proprietary Solid-State Subtractive Metallurgy (S3M) process provides a unique and sustainable solution to tackle the imminent problem of recycling spent EV LIBs by directly recovering cobalt and nickel into their metallic powder forms via a solid-state dominant pyro-metallurgical technology.

The feedstock is agglomerated into the appropriate particle sizing to withstand the heating and avoid excessive dusting against the overboard gas flow in a countercurrent solid/gas reaction setting. These agglomerated pellets of feedstock, solid reductant and binder are then sent to the reduction reactor for heating and reduction. The first section of the reduction reactor, the heating zone, increases the temperature of the incoming pellets to its expected temperature. The atmosphere in this zone is oxidative and incompletely combusted fuel is fully oxidized before leaving the heating zone.

Once the pellets move into the reduction zone, metal oxides react steadily with gaseous reducing agents such as CO and H2 and are reduced to their pure metallic form such as cobalt or nickel. Solid reductant such as coal or char can also produce the desired gaseous reducing agents to react the adjacent metal oxide to promote the reaction efficiency. Metallization occurs

>> MPT International 6 / 2019

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››› METALLURGY

gradually as the pellets travel through the reduction reactor.

The reduced solid-state mixture is then cooled in inert gas and sent for wet grinding, and the slurry stream is subsequently classified and gravity separated to remove carbon and other lighter materials. Anti-oxidizing agents are added to the washing water to prevent re-oxidation of metallic cobalt and nickel. The nickel and cobalt are then separated from the non-magnetic gangue through a magnetic separation circuit using a combination of high and medium intensity magnetic separators. The head streams collected from each stage of the circuit are then sent for cleaning and upgrading into high purity metallic products using a proprietary refining technique.

Any re-oxidation that may have occurred during the earlier steps is reduced during subsequent steps of the process.

XProEM Advantages In comparison to the existing hydrometallurgical and melting pyrometallurgical process routes, the XProEM process provides an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and cost-effective LIB recycling technology, with the following key advantages: • Closed loop recycling: transform LIB waste into high value materials • Environmentally friendly: solving the LIB recycling problem without acidic/basic/organic solvents MPT International 6 / 2019

• Low cost operation: high profit margin due to low operating costs and capital expenditures The abovementioned advantages are developed based on the technical leadership in the following key areas: Firstly, the XProEM process is operated without any consumption of acidic/ basic/organic solvents, which is fundamentally environmentally friendly, as opposed to replacing acidic solvents by other organic substitutions that are as or more harmful to the environment per many self-claimed "green" technologies currently under development. Secondly, since the conversion step keeps reactants in a solid state, the XProEM process minimizes the overall energy consumption and reduces its carbon footprint. In addition, the consolidated design employed by the XProEM process with multifunctional unit operations offers a more compact and manageable process flowsheet.

Lastly, the XProEM process is able to accept feed materials with a wide range of elemental compositions and high levels of impurities – a highly sought feature lacking in currently existing technologies.

Thanks to these outstanding technical features, the economic performance of XProEM process also shows clear advantages compared to other technologies: • Significantly lower operating cost due to:

• Savings on consumption of expensive solvents as well as wastewater treatment • Lower usage of energy and utilities • Lower maintenance requirements • Lower expected capital expenditure due to: • Condensed flowsheet and fast reaction dynamics • Ability to recycle without costly equipment such as acid leaching / extraction circuits • Process units being based on proven technologies already in use at industrial scale • Low technology development risk: • XProEM technology is derived from traditional base metal processing routes, combined with a unique innovative design.

• Most process units are based on proven technologies already in use, resulting in a low overall technical risk profile.

A Valuable Opportunity The XProEM process recovers valuable battery metals (Ni, Co) from spent LIBs, which have considerably higher historical average product prices, on a per tonne basis, compared to steel7: A high-level operating cost analysis was developed based on DRI plant’s operations, and a breakdown of the individual cost items for each processing area for the XProEM process technology flowsheet for conversion, processing and purification steps. Unit con-

‹‹‹

METALLURGY

49

sumptions used for each area are based on the results of a mass & energy balance (e.g. for process flows, key reagents, fuel requirements) and in-house factored / benchmarked estimates from similar projects for items such as labour and maintenance.

The operating cost structure above shows the clear applicability of direct reduction technology to battery metals and the anticipated margins for the XProEM process.

Conclusion Due to the high similarities of chemical and metallurgical properties between Fe in DRI process and Co and Ni in XProEM process, the direct reduction system using appropriate reductants can readily reduce the transition metals back to their metallic forms with high metallization and yield, enabling subsequent processing for refining and upgrading to final products for their respective process route. The development of XProEM technology has built its success on the essence of the design concept from the DRI process to achieve better operation efficiency and economics. In the near future, the XProEM technology can be expected to become an integral part of the solution framework to tackle the imminent problem of EV LIB recycling.

References 1 IEA (2019), "Global EV Outlook 2019", IEA, Paris, www.iea.org/publications/reports/globalevoutlook2019/ 2 Lithium-ion Battery Costs and Market. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Research (2017).

3 The Future of Battery Production for Electric Vehicles (2018). Boston Consulting Group (BCG). https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/future-battery-production-electric-vehicles.aspx 4 Zhang, Xihua & Xie, Yongbing & Li, Haitao & Cao, Hongbin. (2013). An overview on the processes and technologies for recycling cathodic active materials from spent lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management. 15. 10.1007/s10163013-0140-y.

5 European Li-Ion Battery Advanced Manufacturing (ELIBAMA) Batteries End of Life Management: batteries recycling (2014). https:// elibama.wordpress.com/ 6 Midrex Process Brochure (2018). https://www.midrex.com/news-resources/ 7

InfoMine: Prices and Price Charts (2019). http://www.infomine.com/investment/

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››› ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Additive manufacturing in bridge construction On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, the scientists working on the AM Bridge 2019 research project at the TU Darmstadt reached a milestone, the completion of the first steel bridge to be built on site using additive manufacturing. This was made possible by the Cycle Step variant of the CMT (Cold Metal Transfer) welding process by Fronius Perfect Welding.

3D printing is one of the most exciting technologies today, and it is increasingly finding its way into industrial production. However, the process is still in the experimental phase in the building industry. The Institute for Steel Construction and Mechanics of Materials (IFSW) at the Technical University (TU) in Darmstadt has two welding robots which scientists use to research the various possibilities of additive manufacturing in steel construction. Encouraged by the example of a Dutch company which is building a bridge in an industrial hall with the help of robots, scientists Christopher Borg Costanzi, Maren Erven and Thilo Feucht worked on a concept that enables cantilevered bridge printing over running water. "Printed bridges were always produced vertically because the liquid weld metal dripped downwards but our process allows us to print on an incline," explains Thilo Feucht.

While searching for a suitable process for horizontal material application, the three scientists came across the CMT Cycle Step variant from Fronius. "It allows researchers to precisely control the number of individual drops and the pause time between welding cycles,"

The additively manufactured bridge has a span of around 2.80 meters. When finished, it will be 1.50 meters wide and will weigh around 220 kilograms.

explains Ingo Pfeiffer, Regional Sales Manager at Fronius Germany. These pause times are particularly important for horizontal buildup welding, as they give each spot weld sufficient time to cool down. In combination with the active protective gas – in this case a mixture of argon and CO2 – the result is a heat-reduced weld bead with a high degree of reproducibility.

It’s research, after all The CMT Cycle Step is integrated into the WAAM process (Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing), in which the wire electrode serves as the printing material. WAAM can also be used to print large bridge components. The bridge in Darmstadt has a span of around 2.80 meters. When finished, it will be 1.50 meters wide and weigh around 220 kilograms. Theoretically, MPT International 6 / 2019

the welding robot can add 1 meter per week to the bridge if no problems arise.

"However, problems are an inherent part of the process," explains Professor Jörg Lange, head of the department.

"After all, it’s research. If everything worked out, it would be engineering."

The challenges included the selection of the correct welding parameters and the marked temperature differences that caused component distortion.

The result? At this point, the researchers cannot answer the question whether or not steel bridges will be printed on site by robots in the future.

However, the knowledge gained from this research project and Fronius’ experience with the welding process make it possible to use additive manufacturing processes on a smaller scale, such as adjusting the tolerance of steel components directly on the construction site.

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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

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Oerlikon, Linde and TU Munich to develop high-strength aluminium-based alloy

Source: panthermedia.net/MVmaster

The research partnership was born out of the additive manufacturing collaborative announced in early October.

TUM, Oerlikon, GE Additive and Linde announced the establishment of a Bavarian additive manufacturing cluster and an Additive Manufacturing Institute to promote higher levels of collaboration and cross-disciplinary research amongst the companies and the university. Having a wide variety of expertise in one location is expected to accelerate advances in additive manufacturing.

The Oerlikon-Linde-TUM consortium is unique as each of the three members brings its own high-tech expertise to the table. Producing the optimum aluminium alloy with a high content of lightweight elements like magnesium through an AM process requires a deep understanding of chemistry, thermo and fluid dynamics. During the manu-

Photo: TU Munich

Global technology group Oerlikon has entered into an additive manufacturing (AM) research alliance with Linde, the world’s largest industrial gases company, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The partners aim to develop new high-strength, lightweight aluminiumbased alloys that can serve the safety and weight reduction needs of the aerospace and automotive industries. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs is funding 50% of the EUR 1.7 million research project.

Light weight structures enabled by additive manufacturing

facturing process, the metal powder is applied one layer at a time on a build plate and melted using a laser beam. This fuses the metal powder together and forms the desired complex, three-dimensional geometries. The process takes place in a well-defined shielding gas atmosphere.

"There are significant challenges during the additive manufacturing of aluminium alloys because the temperatures reached in the melt pool create an extreme environment that leads to evaporation losses of alloying elements that have comparatively low boiling temperatures, such as magnesium," says Marcus Giglmaier, Project Manager and AM Institute and Research Funding Manager.

"Additionally, the cooling rates of more than 1 million °C per second create high

stresses during the solidification process, which can cause micro cracks in the solid material."

Linde’s expertise in gas atmosphere control and evaporation suppression during the AM process – including the processing of aluminium-based alloys – overcomes impurities within the print chamber, helping manufacturers to achieve optimal printing conditions.

Partnership with Siemens path to a digital factory Oerlikon has also struck a strategic agreement with Siemens AG, which will provide Oerlikon AM with digital enterprise solutions that will help the company accelerate the industrialisa>> tion of additive manufacturing.

MPT International 6 / 2019

››› ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

The long-term objective is to create a digital factory in which Oerlikon AM can see the impact of change in any part of the process, from material selection to engineering design to printing and post-processing, and adapt accordingly. "At the moment we have a variety of special tools that we use for different steps of the value chain," said Sven Hicken, Head of Oerlikon’s Additive Manufacturing Business Unit.

"Developing a more integrated system that gives us increased visibility and puts all of our manufacturing sites on the same page will allow us more flexibility and speed in responding to customer requests."

The two companies will begin by focusing on tools used in the engineering part of the AM process. The project is expected to take about two years to complete, but individual modules will go into operation as completed.

Collaboration with Oerlikon Hirtenberger

Source: RUAG

52

3-D printed antenna bracket for a Sentinel-1 satellite.

Status Report: 3D printing is becoming industrial in German engineering Additive manufacturing (AM) keeps growing up and finding its way into companies, according to The Association of German Engineers (VDI). "German industry has recognised the enormous potential of 3D printing processes," says Gerd Witt, chairman of the VDI technical committee on Additive Manufacturing. According to the new VDI status report "Additive Manufacturing", there have been many advances in the last three years that are important for more intensive industrial use.

The status report deals with three innovation drivers in particular detail: New AM processes: With new production concepts, multi-material solutions - plastic-plastic, plastic-metal, metal-metal, ceramic-metal - or a higher production speed are possible, for example.

Material development: additive manufacturing enables the production and processing of alloys whose use was previously impracticable. The rapid heating and cooling during laser beam melting creates completely new microstructures. Impressive successes have already been achieved in the field of carbide alloys.

New software tools as innovation drivers: The possible number of variations in complexity poses a challenge for designers and developers, as conventional 3D CAD systems offer hardly any assistance. New software and simulation tools support developers at many points in the digital process chain.

A further important step towards greater use in industry: AM machines are no longer only to be found in the development departments, but increasingly also in the production halls. If components are designed in such a way that they fully exploit the potential of additive manufacturing, then, conversely, manufacturing with other processes is no longer possible.

Oerlikon has also joined up with Hirtenberger Engineered Services to further industrialise series production and prototyped parts. Oerlikon AM and Hirtenberger began working together early this year to evaluate the Hirtisation Process, a post-processing technology for additive manufacturing that allows three-dimensional surface treatment, including the removal of support structures and automatisation of the post-processing steps. Oerlikon AM is part of Oerlikon’s surface solutions business.

The Hirtisation Process is now proven to allow parts to be made that were previously unrealisable, Oerlikon says. The new process results in smoother surface textures. It also allows for the production of complex parts that require interior support structures during production, but which need those structures removed after completion, without impacting the integrity of the part. The industries that can benefit most from this collaboration are those with complex parts, such as turbomachinery, the oil and gas, automotive and general industries.

Oerlikon AM and Hirtenberger Engineered Surfaces are working on applying the Hirtisation Process to the prototyping business, which is expected to improve productivity by eliminating extra finishing steps. The two companies intend to bring this technology jointly to the North American market in 2020.

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