Steelmaking resumes at Redcar - Teesside in UK - Ansaldo Sistemi ...

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Steelmaking resumes at Redcar - Teesside in UK
Fig. 2 - First slab produced on April 18th 2012
Fig. 3 - Redcar Plant
Fig. 4 - Teesside Plant
IndustrIal Plants - may 2012
site was eventually partially nationalized.
The Teesside steelworks was made what it is today by
British Steel at the beginning of the 1970s and, by
1978, Redcar was the size of a giant steel mill, which
alone could produce more steel than that produced
by all the blast furnaces on the banks of the river Tees
over the past century. By 1997, the production of
steel in Teesside had reached an annual rate of 50
million, and the site ranked among the largest in the
world.
After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the site
was taken over by the Indian group Tata in 2007 and
the decision of the owners to close the plant in 2010
resulted in the loss of 1600 jobs and put at risk a
stronghold of the British steel industry. The decision
caused anger and indignation, but just as people
were beginning to give up hope, the site was taken
over by the Thai owners of the Sahaviriya Steel
Industries (SSI) group, who decided to re-employ the
same workers and technicians who had worked there
before.
Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali, among those in charge of
the modernization process, received an order to
revamp the electrics and the “Level 1” automation
units of the three main plants (the sinter and BOS
plants and the blast furnace). Their work also included
upgrading the main control room of the blast furnace,
where operators can now check and monitor the state
of the plant by means of the six large 62” monitors
mounted on the main wall and at the other 10 work
stations that replaced the old equipment. The team of
Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali is currently working shifts
around the clock, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week,