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TWO ITALIAN COMPANIES– ARLENICO AND FERALPI RELY ON SMS GROUP MEERDRIVE®PLUS TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF REBAR AND WIRE ROD

Arlenico SpA and Feralpi Siderurgica SpA, two key Italian wire rod producers, have each ordered a four-stand MEERdrive®PLUS finishing block from SMS group within one week. Both wire-rod finishing blocks will be integrated in the companies’ existing plants.

Arlenico, part of the Duferco Italia Holding, a special quality wire rod producer located beside the Lecco Lake, chose the four-stand MEERdrive®PLUS block to be installed in the existing wire rod line at its Caleotto plant. This will allow the company to serve the market with products of the tightest tolerances ever produced, as thanks to the heavy-duty machine supplied by SMS group and a sophisticated water cooling line included in the project, it will for the first time be able to apply the thermomechanical rolling process.

Feralpi, producer of rebar and wire rod for construction in Italy, located beside the Garda Lake, is investing in the four-stand MEERdrive®PLUS block in order to increase production and the rolling speed and be able to extend the size range produced and achieve enhanced final mechanical properties. Also in this case a sophisticated water cooling line will serve the four-passes wire rod sizing block.

MEERdrive®PLUS is a variant of the MEERdrive® technology, a revolutionary drive concept for modern wire rod production. It uses individual drives with small low-voltage motors for each stand. Since all finished sizes are rolled in the MEERdrive®PLUS block, it is possible to realize “one-family rolling” in the rolling mill reducing the otherwise required mill downtimes for size and ring changing.

The MEERdrive®PLUS blocks, which will both be installed after an existing ten-passes block, will be four-stand “oval-round-round-round” sizing blocks, capable of rolling wire rod diameters from 4.5 milli­meters up to 27 millimeters at speeds up to 120 meters per second – also at a temperature as low as 750 degrees centigrade. Excellent tolerances down to 0.05 millimeters and 50 percent ovality can be achieved.

These two new finishing blocks to be supplied to Arlenico and Feralpi are references number eleven and twelve, documenting the long success story of the MEERdrive® technology which started with block number one supplied to Sinobras in 2007. Arlenico and Feralpi will benefit from a wide range of outstanding economical and operational advantages. For example, it will be possible to reduce the required roll inventory to a minimum.

SMSgroup Image
From left: Marco Giacomuzzi, SMS group Vice President Bar & Wire Rod Mills; Domenico Campanella, Duferco CEO; Nicola Redolfi, SMS group General Manager Sales; Giovanni Dugoni, Duferco CTO; Filippo Verlezza, SMS group Sales Manager.

SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It has some 13,500 employees who generate worldwide sales of more than EUR 3 billion. The sole owner of the holding company SMS GmbH is the Familie Weiss Foundation.

Source: SMS Group

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Steel Mill

SMS Group High-Speed Wire Rod Mills at Guangdong Guoxin

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Chinese Guangdong Guoxin Industrial Co., Ltd. has awarded SMS group the Final Acceptance Certificate after successful commissioning of the two single-strand wire rod mills for its Jieyang works, Guangdong province.

Smooth commissioning and safe operation

The works is designed for an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons (700,000 tons per year per wire rod mill). The two single-strand high-speed mills roll wire rod in diameters from 5.5 to 25 millimeters and rebars in diameters between 6 and 14 millimeters. The originally planned rolling speed of up to 105 meters per second has been exceeded; wire rod sizes have already been rolled at speeds of 120 meters per second. The steel grades to be rolled comprise cold-heading, alloyed, spring and stainless steels as well as tire cord and welding wire.

SMS group supplied the high-speed area mechanical equipment starting from the four-stand pre-finishing mill, shear system in front of the finishing block, 6+4-stand finishing block arrangement, pinch roll, loop laying head and all related water boxes. Due to the well proven 6+4-stand arrangement, all final dimensions can be finish-rolled in a maximum of four passes and thus be rolled thermomechanically, i.e. at low temperatures and with close dimensional tolerances.

Besides the mechanical equipment, SMS group provided the electrical and automation system for the complete line (including motors, drives and sensors), and was responsible for the supervision services for erection and commissioning.

SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It has some 13,500 employees who generate worldwide sales of more than EUR 3 billion. The sole owner of the holding company SMS GmbH is the Familie Weiss Foundation.

Source: SMS Group

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Steel Industry News, Steel Mill, Steel Production News

Tangshan orders two continuous galvanizing lines from Primetals Technologies

  • Continuous galvanizing lines will expand cold rolling mill supplied by Primetals Technologies
  • Production capacity of high-strength metal sheeting to be increased by 650,000 metric tons per annum
  • Processed grades produced for use in the automotive industry
  • Special aluminum-silicon coating technology package to be installed

Tangshan Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd., a Chinese steel producer, has awarded Primetals Technologies an order to supply two continuous galvanizing lines to expand cold rolling mill no. 2 at its Tangshan plant in Hebei Province. This will increase the production capacity for high-strength, coated metal sheets by 650,000 metric tons per annum. The sheets will mainly be used by the automotive industry. Continuous galvanizing lines nos. 5 and 6 will be constructed in a new hall alongside the existing cold rolling mill. This was also supplied by Primetals Technologies, and has been in production since the beginning of 2015. The two new continuous galvanizing lines are scheduled to come into operation in 2017. A special aluminum-silicon coating technology package will be implemented on one line.

Tangshan Iron and Steel is part of the Hebei Iron and Steel Group. With an annual production of around 47 million metric tons in 2014, it is the largest steel producer in China. Cold rolling mill no. 2 comprises a coupled tandem pickling line, a continuous annealing line and a galvanizing line. The mill has an annual capacity of 1.8 million metric tons of high-strength cold strip, and also produces high-quality steels for the Chinese automotive industry. The two galvanizing lines now ordered from Primetals Technologies are part of the second expansion stage intended to create production capacities for these high-quality steel grades. The lines will process not only grades for vehicle body parts but also aluminum-coated hot-forming steel.

Primetals Technologies is responsible for the engineering, manufacturing and supply of the mechanical, electrical and process technology equipment for the lines. Galvanizing line no. 5 will have a capacity of some 250,000 metric tons per annum. It will process cold strip in widths ranging from 850 to 1,300 millimeters, and thicknesses from 0.18 to 1.5 millimeters. Galvanizing line no. 6 will be able to galvanize 400,000 metric tons of cold strip per annum in widths ranging from 850 to 1,600 millimeters, and thicknesses from 0.5 to 3 millimeters. There will also be the possibility of coating the cold strip with an aluminum-silicon alloy. The new lines will be integrated into the existing quality control system of the cold rolling mill plant. Primetals Technologies will also supervise the assembly and commissioning of the lines.

The existing galvanizing line supplied by Primetals Technologies in the cold rolling mill of Tangshan Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd. The company has now ordered two further lines.

Source: Primetals Technologies

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Steel Mill, Steel Production, Steel Production News

ArcelorMittal Montreal invests CAD27m in the Longueuil bar mill

To strengthen its position as a local producer of high-quality steel, ArcelorMittal Montreal has announced a CAD27m investment to update the finishing line at its Longueuil bar mill. The project, to be completed in 2017, will boost the mill’s production capacity to 500,000 metric tonnes per year and make new added-value products available to customers.

The funding will come from ArcelorMittal’s global capital expenditure fund for strategic projects at its best-performing facilities. “Approval of this investment is a mark of ArcelorMittal senior management’s confidence in our business unit,” said Sujit Sanyal, ArcelorMittal Montreal vice president, operations.

“This is a direct consequence of ongoing improvements in health and safety, quality, productivity and profitability, as well as our good labour relations. These factors have contributed to our past success and are more than ever necessary if we are to continue to stand out from the crowd,” said Luc Lacerte, Longueuil plant manager.

The Longueuil bar mill currently converts about 400,000 tonnes of steel billets per year. They are made into special quality and merchant quality bars, rebar and various other semi-finished products for customers in North America and Mexico. The bar mill is the world’s largest supplier of steel for leaf springs for the major automakers’ light and heavy trucks. The new finishing line will secure additional outlets for billets from the two ArcelorMittal Montreal steelworks in Contrecoeur and will increase the bar mill’s capacity by 100,000 tonnes per year.

Design engineering is currently underway and work on the finishing line will begin in the second quarter of 2016. The new line should be operational by the end of the second quarter of 2017.

The project constitutes an addition to the CAD220m in capital expenditures at ArcelorMittal Montreal facilities in Quebec and Ontario since 2008. Despite the volatile economy, the company is maintaining its position as a world-class Canadian steel producer.

Renewed commitment to Longueuil and the community

The investment will consolidate the 200 jobs at the Longueuil plant, a strategic location for ArcelorMittal Montreal which has been in the municipality’s industrial park since 1974. In 2013, the bar mill underwent a CAD24m upgrade with the installation of a new reheat furnace. That project improved the mill’s performance while reducing its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to being a major employer in the area, ArcelorMittal Montreal is committed to the Longueuil community. One example is the company’s support for the sculpture called “La force ouvrière” (the workers’ strength) by Quebec artist Armand Vaillancourt. The colossal work of art is a tribute to union leader Michel Chartrand currently being built in a park bearing Mr. Chartrand’s name in Longueuil. It requires over 500 tonnes of steel, all donated by ArcelorMittal Montreal. Mr. Vaillancourt’s initiative will garner worldwide attention for the City of Longueuil. “Our company has a rich history in Longueuil and our recent decisions show that we are securely anchored here, both economically and culturally”, added Mr. Sanyal.

Source: ArcelorMittal

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Steel Mill, Steel Production News

NEW BF5 AT TARANTO WILL USE BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES

In March 2015, following a decision of the Government of Italy, ILVA had to shut down No. 5 Blast Furnace, the largest one at Taranto works. The plant shall be upgraded by EU-defined Best Available Technologies in order to match latest environmental standards.

As a result of the bidding process, the Paul Wurth group has been awarded several packages for engineering, supply and installation of technologies which will make up a state-of-the-art ironmaking facility.

On the side of hot blast generation, the four existing Krupp-Koppers units will be completely replaced by a group of three one-dome hot blast stoves with external combustion chamber. This sub-plant will also feature Paul Wurth’s patented waste gas heat recovery system and a complete EIC system.

Performance and maintainability of the BF top gas cleaning plant will be improved by replacement of the existing dust catcher, and by modification of the scrubber system.

At the slag granulation plant, a new, sea-water based steam condensation system will eliminate the release of sulphur-laden steam to the atmosphere.

Finally, the furnace’s stockhouse gets a brand new de-dusting system with equipment rated for a 2,000,000 m3/h suction capacity and ensuring a maximum of 5 mg/Nm3 dust content in the air leaving the stack.

A challenging schedule foresees project completion by Paul Wurth within 12 months.

After completion of this large-scale reline project, Taranto’s steel plant will be able to operate its new BF5 in compliance with the latest environmental and safety standards.

Source: Paul Wurth

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Steel Mill, Steel Production News

The blast furnace in Luleå is ignited

After more than three months’ renovation work, blast furnace 3 in Luleå has been ignited. This will be followed by several days’ start-up work before the furnace can commence production.

“I’m pleased to be able to announce that we’ve ignited the blast furnace. It will now take a few days before the entire blast furnace process has stabilized and the production of slabs can get underway,” says Nils Edberg, SSAB’s site manager in Luleå.

Starting up a blast furnace is a protracted process involving great sensitivity which is carried out in several stages. First of all the furnace is filled with birch wood logs coke, slag formers and pellets, and yesterday the blast compressor ((which can be likened to the furnace’s gas pedal)) was started to supply the furnace with blast air. Today, the blast furnace was ignited by site manager Nils Edberg, using an oxygen torch.

In addition to the renovation of the blast furnace, two new LD ovens have been installed at the steel mill, while the coking plant has obtained a new quenching tower within the scope of the extensive investment and renovation program at SSAB in Luleå during the summer.

“With the investments we have now made, we are ensuring Luleå’s efficiency and slab production for a long time into the future,” says Nils Edberg.

Source: SSAB
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