LONG PRODUCTS BULLETIN - SMS Meer GmbH
LONG PRODUCTS BULLETIN - SMS Meer GmbH
LONG PRODUCTS BULLETIN - SMS Meer GmbH
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<strong>LONG</strong> <strong>PRODUCTS</strong> <strong>BULLETIN</strong><br />
Special Edition 2011<br />
Extracts from NewsLetters,<br />
editions 2008 to 2011
2 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
New order from ArcelorMittal<br />
MEERdrive®– more flexi bility<br />
and less costs<br />
New order<br />
Loup Cooling Conveyor (LCC®).<br />
The layout, in accordance with local requirements.<br />
In spring 2012, ArcelorMittal Hochfeld <strong>GmbH</strong> with headquarters<br />
in Duisburg, Germany, will commence production of a<br />
complete new wire rod mill in Duisburg-Ruhrort enabling a<br />
wire rod production of 690,000 tpy with only one rolling<br />
strand. Tailored accordingly, the wire rod blocks in this highperformance<br />
production line are equipped with the individual<br />
drive technology (MEERdrive®) developed by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.
The new wire rod mill has been designed<br />
to roll technically demanding grades,<br />
which are therefore of extremely high<br />
quality, to the closest tolerances. This line<br />
is characterized by compactness and efficiency<br />
and achieves an annual capacity of<br />
690,000 t.<br />
Furnace, roughing<br />
and intermediate train<br />
The walking-beam furnace for the heating<br />
of billets measuring 155 mm square will<br />
have an output rate of 120 t/h. This is followed<br />
by a four-stand roughing train comprising<br />
HL (HousingLess) stands with<br />
downstream free runout and an intermediate<br />
train consisting of 14 CL (CantiLever)<br />
stands, each in horizontal and vertical<br />
arrangement.<br />
Equalizing section<br />
in loop arrangement<br />
The core element of the mill begins with<br />
the cooling and equalizing section in loop<br />
arrangement. Owing to this arrangement,<br />
an optimal run-in temperature for each<br />
steel grade can be preset in front of the<br />
wire rod blocks.<br />
Wire rod blocks with innovative<br />
MEERdrive® technology<br />
The wire rod finishing block with six rolling<br />
units and the FRS® block with four units<br />
(Flexible Reduction and Sizing) – both in<br />
UHD (Ultra-Heavy Duty) arrangement – are<br />
provided with our innovative individual<br />
MEERdrive® technology offering numerous<br />
benefits. The most important ones are:<br />
n total flexibility in roll pass designing<br />
n essentially simplified rolling ring<br />
management<br />
n reduced operational costs<br />
High-speed loop laying head.<br />
MEERdrive® technology in<br />
the wire rod finishing block<br />
with six rolling units.<br />
Cooling lines for high-quality<br />
finished products<br />
With the water cooling lines downstream<br />
of the wire rod block and the FRS® block as<br />
well as the 104-m-long LCC® (Loop Cooling<br />
Conveyor) for intensive and retarded cooling,<br />
all the requirements for the production<br />
of high-quality finished products are<br />
fulfilled. Furthermore, the required cooling<br />
strategies based on the CCT® model (Controlled<br />
Cooling Technology) developed by<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> can be simulated, and then adjusted<br />
and controlled online during operation.<br />
The entire coil handling equipment<br />
designed to be particularly protective to<br />
the finished material is also adapted to the<br />
high-quality finished products.<br />
»<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
3
Horizontal coil compactor.<br />
4 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
ArcelorMittal Hochfeld orders wire rod mill<br />
Temperature-controlled maximum rolling speed of 120 m/s<br />
These facilities allow wire rod to be produced over the full size range from 5.5 to 25.0 mm<br />
by means of temperature-controlled rolling and at a maximum rolling speed of 120 m/s<br />
for 5.5-mm wire rod. This enables ArcelorMittal Hochfeld to acquire a leading position as<br />
supplier of wire rod for the following fields of application: automotive manufacture, mechanical<br />
engineering, offshore technology, plants for renewable energies and connective<br />
elements.<br />
Opportunities and benefits<br />
n Rolled metallurgical properties such as conventionally annealed wire rod<br />
n Wire rod with characteristics comparable with quenched and tempered steel,<br />
but with improved formability<br />
n Scale which can be easily removed mechanically or chemically<br />
n Closer tolerances of 1 /4 DIN<br />
n Reduced spreading width of mechanical properties<br />
n Coil weight up to 3 t
Commissioning<br />
Stahlwerk Annahütte with new cut-to-length group<br />
Faultless bars at any diameter<br />
Stahlwerk Annahütte, Germany, the oldest existing steel pant<br />
in Europe, is pleased about a new versatile and needs-based<br />
cut-to-length group from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> fully meeting the demands<br />
of the manufacturer of high-quality steel bars.<br />
Constant quality<br />
The new cut-to-length group has been put into operation in<br />
the bar mill at the Hammerau site in Southern Germany.<br />
Ralf Becker, Head of Hot Rolling Mill Divi-<br />
sion at Annahütte: ”The shear works flaw-<br />
lessly and we have had good experiences<br />
working with bars with very different diam-<br />
eters cut.”<br />
The cut-to-length group comprises a pinch<br />
roll unit and a combined drum-type/twocrank<br />
shear as well as a scrap deflector and<br />
is able to cut round bars with temperatures<br />
up to 1,000 °C. For threaded bars i.e.<br />
rebars with a ribbing designed as thread,<br />
the temperature is approx. 200 °C and the<br />
maximum tensile strength of the bars is<br />
1,800 N/mm2 .<br />
High requirements met<br />
The shear operates optionally as crank<br />
shear or as rotary shear with knife arms<br />
and cuts round bars with diameters from<br />
12 to 50 mm.<br />
The new shear unit prior to delivery.<br />
”The machines supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> are<br />
highly versatile and exactly meet our high<br />
requirements which we are having as supplier<br />
of the automotive and tool manufacturing<br />
industry. These bar steels are suited<br />
for numerous applications and range from<br />
alloyed and non-alloyed steels for casehardened<br />
steel grades up to and including<br />
steels for springs, chains and ball bearings.<br />
The range also includes Q & T, cold upsetting<br />
and cold working steels,” Ralf Becker<br />
stresses.<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
5
New order<br />
Southwest Siberian Metallurgical Plant Novokuznetsk, a company<br />
of the EVRAZ Group, modernizes its production facilities<br />
for heavy sections in the city of the same name. To achieve<br />
this, the plant operator has placed an order with <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>,<br />
Germany, for the supply of a new universal mill for rails and<br />
other sections. To set up Russia’s most advanced rail and section<br />
mill, the production with the old equipment will only be<br />
stopped for four months. Thereafter, the steel company will<br />
be able to produce 100-m-long rails.<br />
As the largest rail producer in Russia, the customer intends to manufacture<br />
the rails with state-of-the-art processes which meet all<br />
current needs. Therefore, rail rolling operation will be modernized<br />
with a comprehensive program. By using our new rolling methods<br />
and advanced mill stand concepts, the productivity, flexibility and<br />
availability of the plant will be increased. In addition to that, topquality<br />
finished products can be produced.<br />
6 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
Universal mill for Novokuznetsk<br />
Russia’s most modern rail mill<br />
Two-high reversing roughing stand in CCS® design. Use of a laser profile gage.<br />
Altogether, 1.3 million t of sections per year. The new mill with<br />
a total capacity of then 1.3 million t of sections per year is scheduled<br />
to go into production in October 2012. 950,000 t of the annual<br />
production are rails, including 400,000 t with a maximum length<br />
of 100 m. Such long rails can be used for high-speed rail tracks or,<br />
with hardened rail heads, also for high axle loads on heavy goods<br />
trains. In addition, the new mill produces beams, channels, rounds<br />
and sections.<br />
Latest CCS® technology in the rolling mill<br />
Upgrading is realized in several sub-projects. For the rolling area<br />
of the section mill, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplies the rolling technology, the<br />
complete mechanical and electrical equipment and the automation<br />
system. The latest CCS® stands will be used in the universal<br />
mill. This stand type is characterized by high rigidity, hydraulic roll<br />
gap adjustment and fully automated stand changing devices. With<br />
the tandem reversing rolling group, it is possible to produce not<br />
only rails but also beams and channels in the universal rolling<br />
process. This cost-efficient beam production is performed by<br />
means of our proven XH® reversing rolling method.
The core element of a modern heavy-section mill: Tandem reversing rolling group in CCS® design.<br />
With inline measurement, the quality of rolled rails can be checked.<br />
The new universal mill produces rails for highly<br />
demanding applications.<br />
Extensive additional supplies. The key<br />
components of the mill also include manipulators,<br />
grip-type tilters upline and<br />
downline the tandem stand group, transport<br />
facilities and a hot saw. For the quality<br />
check, a laser profile gage (Propgauge) is<br />
employed for inline measurement of the<br />
finished profiles. The supply package from<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> also includes the supervision of<br />
erection and commissioning, the training<br />
of customer’s personnel, and spare parts.<br />
Novokuznetsk on the Tom River is a large<br />
Russian city in the Coal Basin of Kusbass<br />
in the Kemerowo Oblast in Southwest<br />
Siberia. The city has a population of<br />
about 560,000 (as of 2009) and is situated<br />
approx. 300 km south of the regional<br />
capital Kemerowo.<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
7
8 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
Ebros® system installed in rebar mill<br />
At Hmisho: New technology<br />
increases production by 5 percent<br />
Modernization<br />
At Hmisho Trading Group, Syria, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has modernized the<br />
existing rebar rolling mill. Our engineers employed the Ebros®<br />
system for the endless rolling of sections, leading to a significant<br />
increase of the overall annual production by 5 %.<br />
A further benefit of the new system is: less crop-end losses and a<br />
reduced number of short bars, whereby the metal yield is improved<br />
by 1.5 %. Moreover, less labor is required since fewer cobbles<br />
means less transports of non-conforming products.<br />
The new Ebros® system pays off for Hmisho: higher productivity, improved material<br />
yield and constant quality.<br />
Technology from rail construction. <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> has developed the Ebros® system<br />
under a license agreement with Steel<br />
Plantech, Japan. It is based on the welding<br />
technology employed in the construction<br />
of tracks for high-speed trains. The two<br />
companies have transferred this technology<br />
to steelworks construction: to weld together<br />
consecutive hot billets (1,100 °C) as<br />
they come out of the furnace.<br />
Benefits of endless rolling. This process<br />
makes ”endless rolling” of sections possible,<br />
whereby productivity and material<br />
yield are increased and a higher plant utilization<br />
factor is achieved. At the same<br />
time it ensures a constant product quality.<br />
In the Hmisho mill, billets of 130 mm x 130<br />
mm square and 12 m length are welded<br />
and the billet throughput is 60 t per hour.<br />
Market leader in Syria. The complete rebar<br />
rolling mill of Hmisho equipped with HSD®<br />
(High-Speed Delivery) system was supplied<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> in 2007. The annual capacity is<br />
350,000 t and it is the fourth plant which has<br />
been supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to Syria.
Celsa’s section mill: preventing downtimes<br />
”Technical Control System” –<br />
in top form thanks to service contract<br />
Section steel producer Celsa, Barcelona,<br />
Spain, has signed a service agreement<br />
with <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> ensuring reliable functionality<br />
of the ”Technical Control System”<br />
(in short TCS) and offering optimal<br />
support during rolling. The TCS provides<br />
an exact roll position and, consequently,<br />
allows top product quality.<br />
In future, the section mill of Celsa will be taken care of properly by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
The aim: Error prevention. The modules<br />
of the service contract with <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> have<br />
been customized in cooperation with Celsa.<br />
The main goal is to make sure that problems<br />
on the plant are prevented in the first<br />
place. Should a fault occur despite all the efforts<br />
to prevent this, it will be eliminated<br />
quickly and expertly in a very short time.<br />
Fast fault diagnosis. Thanks to advanced<br />
technology – per email, phone and internet<br />
system (VPN) – you can look at the<br />
plant directly. A fault diagnostics can thus<br />
be generated rapidly by our experts. Regular<br />
checks, maintenance measures and<br />
local staff training are rounding off the<br />
range of services.<br />
Annual system check. The second module<br />
includes the annual system check. For<br />
this purpose, a technician from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
is on site for at least three days, installs new<br />
computer systems and then informs customer’s<br />
staff on their handling. Moerover,<br />
he also provides training.<br />
Other customers. Besides Celsa, other<br />
customers rely on our service for TCS<br />
equipment, including among others Gerdau<br />
Ameristeel and Steel Dynamics in the<br />
U.S.A. as well as Changzhi in China.<br />
The TCS system provides an exact roll position.<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
New contract<br />
9
Joining forces: Experts from <strong>SMS</strong> and Tung Ho Steel.<br />
10 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Minimills<br />
Every year 72,000 t less carbon dioxide (CO 2)<br />
Tung Ho Steel, Taiwan:<br />
Minimill sets new standards<br />
for rebars<br />
In mid-2010, Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corpora-<br />
tion, Taiwan, has successfully taken a minimill for<br />
rebars into operation which has been built by<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> and <strong>SMS</strong> Concast. What is so special is<br />
that the new minimill in Taoyuan near Taipei can<br />
be operated without a conventional reheating<br />
furnace. Instead, an inductive heating plant from<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> Elotherm has been integrated.<br />
Consequently, Tung Ho saves energy and the environment is less<br />
polluted, since 72,000 t less carbon dioxide (CO2) are produced.<br />
And the operational costs are also substantially lower.<br />
The works bays.<br />
Minimal energy consumption. For the generation of energy, Taiwan<br />
depends almost 100 percent on oil and gas imported from abroad.<br />
The country generates high emissions of greenhouse gases, and as a<br />
result of this, the government is making efforts to reduce energy consumption<br />
and the emission rate. In response to these efforts, we<br />
have materialized an innovative approach for the new minimill of<br />
Tung Ho in order to reach a minimum energy consumption.<br />
Reheating furnace dispensed with. The new plant optimally implements<br />
the basic minimill concept: short ways and a direct linkage<br />
of the rolling mill to the steel plant. The hot billets running out<br />
of the continuous caster (with a capacity of 40 to 45 t/h per strand)<br />
are immediately brought to a uniform temperature in the inductive<br />
heating plant. Then, the billets run directly into the rebar<br />
rolling mill. In this way, a gas- or oil-fired reheating furnace upstream<br />
of the rolling mill could be dispensed with. Under certain<br />
conditions, even an inductive heating is not required since the billets<br />
are shaped in such a way that they hardly lose any heat during<br />
the subsequent production process.
Good for the environment and for returns. Eyery year the steel<br />
plant with electric arc furnace, ladle furnace and a five-strand billet<br />
caster from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast is producing 1.2 million t of billets and<br />
the rebar mill from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has a capacity of 800,000 tpy. Due<br />
to the innovative energy concept, Tung Ho Steel every year reduces<br />
the emission rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 72,000 t, of sulfur<br />
dioxide (SO2) by 410 t and of nitrogen (Nox) by 225 t. In addition<br />
to this, the investment costs for the inductive heating plant are approx.<br />
25 to 30 % less than with conventional furnace concepts. At<br />
the same time, the operational costs for each t of rebars are reduced<br />
by approx. 25.00 US dollars.<br />
Excellent references. Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President and CEO<br />
of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>: ”This mill shows yet again that our customers benefit<br />
from integrated all-inclusive solutions of the <strong>SMS</strong> group. Two plant<br />
manufacturers which are leaders in their respective fields, <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Concast and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>, join together their innovative concepts<br />
within a seamless process chain. In doing so, they spare our business<br />
partners from time-consuming and costly interface problems – and<br />
thus allow the mill to be put into operation early.”<br />
Reliable and smooth casting.<br />
The innovative energy concept with inductive heating reduces the carbon dioxide rate every year by 72,000 t.<br />
In the minimill segment, <strong>SMS</strong> is one of the worldwide<br />
leading plant manufacturers with refer-<br />
»<br />
ences in the whole world. Currently, we are building<br />
large plants in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
11
120-t EAF with Conso-Oxygen technology for reduced energy consumption.<br />
The EAF has a tap-to-tap time of 43 minutes.<br />
12 Newsletter 1/2011<br />
Minimills<br />
Layout of the minimill at Tung Ho Steel<br />
Steel plant with 120-t EAF<br />
The electric steelworks built by <strong>SMS</strong> Concast provides a 120-t electric<br />
arc furnace with dedusting system. The power consumption<br />
of the furnace is 120 MVA. To supply additional energy, we apply<br />
our Conso oxygen technology (oxygen/gas burner) which reduces<br />
power consumption and increases productivity at the same time.<br />
The tap-to-tap time is 43 min.<br />
Downstream of this is a ladle furnace which is used for exact temperature<br />
setting providing liquid steel for secondary-metallurgical<br />
miroalloying.<br />
Furnace tapping. The continuous casting plant has five strands and is expandable by a sixth strand.
Five-strand billet caster<br />
The casting machine has five strands with a<br />
casting radius of 10.25 m. An expansion to six<br />
strands has been considered in the layout. The<br />
range of dimensions comprises square billets<br />
in the formats of 130, 150, 160 and 200 mm. The<br />
special equipment includes among others the<br />
Invex® mold tube technology for high-speed<br />
casting and the hydraulic mold oscillation systems.<br />
The casting machine is able cast billets in<br />
various sizes in a parallel mode.<br />
Rebar mill for bars with diameters<br />
from 10 to 43 mm<br />
In front of the rebar mill the billets are heated to<br />
an uniform temperature by the inductive heating<br />
plant, if necessary. The downstream rolling<br />
mill includes 14 mill stands in horizontal/vertical<br />
and tiltable configuration. A compact design<br />
of the ”HL” stands ensures that close tolerances<br />
of the finished products are maintained. Bars<br />
with small diameters are finish-rolled in two finish-rolling<br />
blocks with six rolling units in V<br />
arrangement.<br />
Straight bars are transported with up to 40 m/s<br />
to the cooling bed by the H.S.D.® (High-Speed<br />
Delivery) system. Then they pass through the<br />
finishing facilities.<br />
The roughing train of the rolling mill.<br />
Induction heating section.<br />
The minimill is designed for 800,000 tpy of rebars.<br />
Newsletter 1/2011<br />
13
14 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Steelworks<br />
for Long Products<br />
600,000 tpy of blooms/beam blanks and heavy sections<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> Concast and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
supply steel complex to Bahrain<br />
From left: Saad Rashid Al-Mohannadi, General Manager of Qatar Steel; Khalid<br />
Al Qadeeri, Chairman & Managing Director of Sulb; Hiroyuki Inoue, President<br />
of Yamato Kogyo; Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>; Kiseok<br />
Park, Chairman & CEO of Samsung Engineering; Jacques-Frédéric Zuber, President<br />
& CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> Concast.<br />
United Steel Company (Sulb) in the Kingdom<br />
of Bahrain awarded <strong>SMS</strong> Concast and <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> the order to design and supply on a<br />
turnkey basis a steelworks for blooms/beam<br />
blanks and heavy sections. The minimill will<br />
be part of the new, fully integrated steel complex<br />
in Al Hidd, a town on a sand spit on the<br />
south-eastern extremety of Muharraq Island.<br />
The contract is for the construction and supply of one 120-t<br />
electric arc furnace, one ladle furnace, one bloom/beam<br />
blank casting plant and one heavy-section rolling mill. The<br />
order will be realized in cooperation with Samsung Engineering<br />
as EPC partner (Engineering, Procurement & Construction).<br />
Commissioning of the overall plant is planned for the<br />
second half of 2012.<br />
With the awarding of the order for the technological core equipment<br />
including the complete automation system to <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> and<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> Concast, United Steel selected best performing production<br />
technology for long products.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> Concast will supply a state-of-the-art steelworks with an annual<br />
capacity of 850,000 t. It will comprise one 120-t Ultra-High-<br />
Power EAF for continuous DRI charging, a ladle furnace and a<br />
three-strand continuous casting machine for various near-to-netshape<br />
bloom and beam blank sections. The delivery also includes<br />
the material handling system for ferroalloys addition and a powerful<br />
dedusting system.
The here realized beam blank casting technology was launched<br />
onto the market by <strong>SMS</strong> Concast, a pioneer in continuous casting<br />
technology.<br />
The heavy-section rolling mill to be supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will<br />
feature the latest state of the art in rolling mill technology. The<br />
mill stands will come with hydraulic roll adjustment systems,<br />
while the roller straightener will be equipped with hydraulic roller<br />
adjustment. Designed for an initial capacity of 600,000 tpy, the<br />
plant will boast high flexibility in terms of product mix and format<br />
changes. For example, a program change will be realizable within<br />
20 minutes.<br />
Planning and civil engineering, erection and ancillary equipment<br />
will be provided and coordinated by Samsung Engineering. For<br />
many years, Samsung Engineering has been active in the region<br />
as a project partner.<br />
Together with Foulath’s existing pellet plant, which will be further<br />
expanded for the new steelworks project, and the DRI plant<br />
awarded to Kobe/Midrex, a remarkable fully integrated steel complex<br />
will be established at Al Hidd, covering the complete production<br />
chain from pelletizing to the finish-rolled product. This<br />
excellent setup allows highly efficient production at low operating<br />
costs.<br />
Furthermore, this investment will create 1,000 new jobs in the<br />
Kingdom of Bahrain. The total order volume for the project<br />
amounts to some EUR 1.2 billion. With the new steel facility, United<br />
Steel plans to cover about 15 % of the current imports of steel<br />
beams and sections into the countries of the Middle East.<br />
Conclusion of the contract by Khalid Al Qadeeri, Chairman & Managing<br />
Director of Sulb, and Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>,<br />
in the presence of Hiroyuki Inuoe, President of Yamato Kogyo.<br />
On the occasion of the signing ceremony, Dr. Joachim Schönbeck,<br />
President & CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>, stated:<br />
“We feel honored to have been selected by United Steel<br />
and its shareholders Foulath and Yamato Kogyo for this<br />
important project. Together with our sister company <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Concast, we will deliver a true benchmark plant, which will<br />
set new standards. With Foulath’s existing pelletizing<br />
plant, this will be one of the most efficient production sites<br />
in the GCC region.”<br />
Jacques F. Zuber, President & CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> Concast, added:<br />
“As pioneer and market leader in the field of continuous<br />
casting technology, <strong>SMS</strong> Concast is pleased to have the<br />
opportunity to provide its latest melting and casting technology<br />
to this outstanding project. We view the award of<br />
the contract as recognition of our competence in the key<br />
markets for our products.”<br />
Khalid Al Qadeeri and Jacques Zuber (President & CEO of Concast AG).<br />
Newsletter 2/2010<br />
15
16 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Minimills<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> and <strong>SMS</strong> Concast<br />
Siam Yamato, Thailand:<br />
Minimill for<br />
maximum benefits<br />
Highly praised by the customer<br />
Piya Chairat, Plant Manager of Siam Yamato, is full of praise:<br />
“<strong>SMS</strong> enjoys worldwide a distinguished reputation and we benefit<br />
from this every day especially when our customers visit us. They<br />
see the company signs from <strong>SMS</strong> on the plant and are positive<br />
right away: German and Swiss technologies sell extremely well<br />
also in Thailand.“<br />
The mill of Siam Yamato, south of Bangkok.
Piya Chairat, Plant Manager of Siam<br />
Yamato and his colleagues, remain convinced<br />
of the decision in favor of <strong>SMS</strong>:<br />
”With the minimill for medium sections<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong> at the Map Tha Put location<br />
we have bought the right equipment,”<br />
said the manager of the Thai/Japanese<br />
steel enterprise. ”My customers believe<br />
in technology from <strong>SMS</strong> and we had to<br />
invest significantly less money than for<br />
a conventional plant. In this way, we are<br />
able to produce at lower cost and even<br />
the ecological values are excellent.”<br />
Since several months, this perfectly producing<br />
mill has been in operation.<br />
40-year-old idea more<br />
relevant than ever<br />
”Minimill” – this 40-year-old idea is today<br />
more relevant than ever. Germany’s Willy<br />
Korff had designed the mill in the sixties.<br />
In 1968, he inaugurated his steel plant in<br />
Kehl, Baden, Germany, the first of its kind<br />
with electric arc furnaces and an associated<br />
rolling mill for the production of rebars<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong>, at that time worldwide an<br />
absolute novelty.<br />
The idea was revolutionary. From then on,<br />
steel could no longer be only produced<br />
where the coal was located but at any location.<br />
The Kehl port area with easy access<br />
to waterway, rail and highway was ideal to<br />
deliver scrap as starting material.<br />
The finishing train.<br />
Just one year later, nearly 149,000 t of steel<br />
were produced in Kehl. Meanwhile, annual<br />
production is more than 2.2 million t which<br />
corresponds to 23,500 charges per year. In<br />
the early years, the smelting staff required<br />
a few hours for a charge but today the time<br />
required for loading scrap up to liquid<br />
steel takes just 38 minutes.<br />
Good for ecology<br />
and “green“ steel<br />
In the age of ecology and “green“ steel,<br />
Korff’s idea which was realized by applying<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> technology has considerably regained<br />
attraction. Steel production and<br />
further processing in an integrated factory<br />
saves energy. At the same time, the customers<br />
benefit from highly flexible <strong>SMS</strong><br />
plants which can be revamped within very<br />
short periods of time and thus the demand<br />
is correspondingly high.<br />
Successful minimill team<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> has reacted to the market demands<br />
with a comprehensive team. Under the direction<br />
of Paolo Cancian from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>,<br />
Italy, colleagues from all over the world<br />
closely cooperate with each other, whether<br />
they are from the Business Area <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
or from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast.<br />
The success justifies the concept: large and<br />
significant reference plants such as those<br />
at Siam Yamato (medium sections), Tung<br />
Ho in Thailand (bar mill) or a combined<br />
plant from SSM in Košice are already running<br />
at full speed just like a mill in the USA.<br />
With a planned works for heavy beams in<br />
Sulb, Bahrain, another milestone will be<br />
added soon and also in Saudi Arabia a mill<br />
is under construction.<br />
Newsletter 2/2010<br />
»<br />
17
18 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Cost-efficient solution<br />
for growth regions<br />
Especially when a project needs to be completed<br />
”on a greenfield site” the customers<br />
often choose a cost-efficient minimill solution.<br />
This type of plant pays off particularly<br />
for steel producers in the growth regions<br />
of Asia, the Middle East or South America,<br />
but also in the established markets of Europe<br />
and the USA the minimills are becoming<br />
more and more important.<br />
Next to the sector of tourism, the heavy industry<br />
in Thailand has developed in recent<br />
years to the most important source of income<br />
for the Thai population. Economies<br />
such as the USA, Australia and Japan use the<br />
favorable conditions in the country of orchids<br />
to invest in new production facilities.<br />
Minimills<br />
Advanced <strong>SMS</strong> technology ensures smooth production. Eric Hetzel (left), Site Manager,<br />
assists in the control room.<br />
Two steel plants<br />
already realized<br />
Such is the case also for the Japanese Siam Yamato Group, a joint<br />
venture between the Thai family-owned Siam Group and the<br />
Japanese Yamato Group. Two large steel plants have been built in<br />
the Map Tha Put Industrial Zone, 100 km south of Bangkok. Plant<br />
No. 2 has been planned and constructed together with <strong>SMS</strong> as<br />
general contractor. 400,000 t per year of medium sections will be<br />
produced. The minimill technology from <strong>SMS</strong> ensures favorable<br />
production costs, high productivity and necessary flexibility for<br />
the production of different sizes and products.<br />
Most modern plant<br />
of its kind in South East Asia<br />
In close cooperation between Swiss and German experts from <strong>SMS</strong><br />
the most modern plant of its kind was built in South East Asia. <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Concast realized a steel plant with state-of-the-art technology. The<br />
associated section mill from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> features different levels and<br />
has a capacity of 400,000 t. Sections with edge lengths between<br />
100 x 50 and 350 mm x 175 mm are predominantly produced.
The minimill for medium sections<br />
of Siam Yamato<br />
Steel plant. The steel plant from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast has been designed<br />
for a capacity of 700,000 tpy and it comprises an 80-t electric arc<br />
furnace, a ladle furnace as well as a combined continuous caster.<br />
Various auxiliary plants such as scrap transport, dedusting system<br />
and material feed are also included in the supply package.<br />
Continuous casting plant. The continuous bloom caster features<br />
five casting strands and allows for a production of a wide format<br />
range from 150 x 150 mm up to 230 x 450 mm. Simultaneous casting<br />
of various formats is possible.<br />
Medium section mill. The semi-continuous medium section mill<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> produces beams from 100 x 50 up to 350 x 175 as<br />
well as channels and angles. The annual capacity of finished products<br />
is approx. 400,000 t. A future expansion of the mill to rounds<br />
and flats and an increase in production at the same time is possible<br />
in a further expansion stage. The mill comprises a walking beam<br />
furnace with a capacity of 130 t/h, a two-high reversing stand as<br />
well as a continuous finishing train with nine stands, of which six<br />
stands are equipped as universal/two-high stands.<br />
The mill stands. The mill stands are modular compact stands of<br />
the CS type. The stands are interchangeable and can be used alternatively<br />
as horizontal/vertical or universal stand. A quick stand<br />
change can be executed without the need for a crane.<br />
The finishing line. It consists of a rake-type cooling bed, a nineroller<br />
straightening machine with adjustable pitch, a sawing line<br />
with three cold saws, five stacking machines, binding and loading<br />
devices.<br />
Most modern mill in Asia. The mini steel mill is the most modern<br />
plant in Asia for the production of medium sections and it takes<br />
the latest technologies into account.<br />
The breakdown stand.<br />
The cooling bed.<br />
The binding machine.<br />
Newsletter 2/2010<br />
19
New order<br />
Annual capacity of 450,000 t<br />
Daehan Steel, South Korea:<br />
Rebar mill with<br />
VCC® ordered<br />
The South Korean steel producer Daehan Steel has commissioned<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to supply a rebar mill with a VCC® installation<br />
(Vertical Compact Coiler) for compact coils. The mill with<br />
an annual capacity of 450,000 t will be the first rolling mill<br />
worldwide which concentrates exclusively on the production<br />
of compact coils. The plant is scheduled to go on stream in<br />
April 2011.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplies the key equipment for the rebar mill which includes<br />
six housingless mill stands each in H/V arrangement for the<br />
roughing and intermediate trains, a finishing block with eight<br />
rolling units in V arrangement, facilities for the heat treatment, the<br />
VCC® installation as well as the electrics and the automation. In addition<br />
to this, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> is responsible for the coordination of erection<br />
and commissioning.<br />
The production line processes square billets with an edge length<br />
of 130 mm. It is planned to expand the mill for the processing of<br />
billets 150 mm x 150 mm in size. The rebar dimensions comply<br />
with D10 to D16 (according to Korean standard) and the production<br />
of the corresponding round bars is also possible.<br />
For hot coiling, the VCC® installation is presently regarded as stateof-the-art<br />
procedure. The VCC® technology is also ideally suited for<br />
older mills with wire rod blocks and loop laying heads since it is<br />
possible to produce compact and stable coils.<br />
The Vertical Compact Coiler (VCC®) from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> is able to coil<br />
the bars directly in vertical position. Owing to this technology, the<br />
customers can do without turning manipulators in the future. The<br />
throughput time is considerably reduced by the VCC® system since<br />
the coils are already formed in their natural final position.<br />
20 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
Commissioning<br />
300,000 tpy of round bars<br />
ICSR in Hassia, Syria:<br />
Bar mill put<br />
into operation<br />
The International Company for Steel Rolling (ICSR) in Hassia,<br />
Syria, has successfully taken the bar mill supplied by <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> into operation. On this plant, surface heat-treated reinforcing<br />
bars are produced with speeds of up to 36 m/s in the<br />
exit section. The mill is designed for reinforcing steel with low<br />
and medium carbon content. The annual capacity is 300,000 t<br />
of round bars with diameters from 8 to 40 mm.<br />
Structure of rolling line. The pusher-type furnace for the heating<br />
of square billets supplies a one-strand continuous rolling line comprising<br />
roughing, intermediate and finishing trains. The roughing<br />
train consists of six stands and the intermediate train operates with<br />
multiple-pass mill stands in HL design and H/V arrangement. The<br />
finishing block in V arrangement is equipped with eight rolling<br />
units and two more units can be retrofitted. In this way, the customer<br />
has the option to reconstruct the plant into a combined bar<br />
and wire rod mill at a later date.<br />
Cooling bed with HSD® system. On the entry side of the cooling<br />
bed a high-speed delivery system HSD® (High-Speed Delivery) has<br />
been installed. The system is equipped with a double rotating<br />
launder transporting the straight bars to the cooling bed with<br />
speeds of up to 36 m/s.<br />
The scope of supply. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplied the complete rolling mill<br />
including electrics and automation. The supply package included<br />
also the supervision of erection and commissioning. In addition<br />
to this, the scope of supply comprised a fully automated bundling<br />
plant and a tying station.
Service<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> (UK) Ltd.:<br />
Service & advice for wire-rod producers<br />
Managing Director<br />
Stephen Lidgate,<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> (UK) Ltd.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has further developed its<br />
standard and high-speed roller guides<br />
for the wire rod and bar mills area. Complete<br />
systems are now available to our<br />
customers for the first time which are<br />
characterized by robustness and reliability.<br />
In this way, the roller guides have<br />
a longer useful life resulting in reduced<br />
costs for the plant users.<br />
OEM know-how, short reaction times<br />
and communication in the local language<br />
– all this is part of the services offered<br />
by our service company <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
(UK) Ltd. which was founded in England<br />
at the beginning of 2009. These services<br />
are not only gladly accepted by the<br />
users of wire rod mills in Great Britain<br />
but also by the plant operators in Central<br />
Europe. Company headquarters are<br />
in Chesterfield near Sheffield. With 10<br />
employees in the meantime, this location<br />
has grown steadily and it offers extensive<br />
technical services and advice for<br />
all plant users in Europe.<br />
E-mail: serviceinfo@sms-meer.co.uk<br />
Robust and reliable at lower costs<br />
New roller guides<br />
the replacement of wearing parts is considerably<br />
easier.<br />
Owing to a central adjustment, all guides<br />
can be aligned in a quick and simple way.<br />
With high-speed guides, sections up to a<br />
diameter of 40 mm can be safely guided.<br />
The novel systems have been particularly<br />
developed for the high-speed finishing<br />
Core competencies of the service specialists are targeted and innovative<br />
modernization measures to increase the plant availability.<br />
Owing to the process know-how and with due regard to technical<br />
innovations, the existing equipment is updated by the service<br />
experts in an investment-friendly manner. A sustainable safeguarding<br />
of customer’s competitiveness is thus always in the<br />
focus. Stephen Lidgate, Managing Director of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> (UK) Ltd.,<br />
assures: “The wishes and the satisfaction of our customers are particularly<br />
important to us. For this reason, we always offer marketdriven<br />
and individually tailored solutions.” In addition to the execution<br />
and further development of service features, the latest<br />
standard and high-speed guides are also developed and planned<br />
at the Chesterfield location. Thanks to an extensive know-how and<br />
many years of experience, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> (UK) Ltd. has established itself<br />
as a principal contact for all services in the wire rod mill sector.<br />
Plant users worldwide benefit from this knowledge and seek advice<br />
and support from the Chesterfield location.<br />
Mono-Block roller guide.<br />
By the use of identical parts with various blocks from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. However, they can<br />
dimensions significantly fewer spare parts also be used in older plants and are com-<br />
are required by the customers. Moreover, patible with the wire rod blocks of other<br />
the roller guides consist of only a few sin- manufacturers, provided that correspond -<br />
gle components so that the assembly or ing guide holders are available.<br />
Standard two-roller guide.<br />
Newsletter 2/2010<br />
21
New order<br />
22 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Service<br />
High-speed guides and innovative guide holders<br />
South Steel, Saudi Arabia:<br />
New guide series ordered<br />
The South Steel Company, an enterprise<br />
based in Jizan Economic City, Saudi Arabia,<br />
has commissioned <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to<br />
equip the bar mill of its new minimill<br />
with our newly developed guide series.<br />
The order comprises the design, construction<br />
and supply of standard and<br />
high-speed guides.<br />
Scope of supply<br />
In detail, we supply three complete sets of<br />
guides as well as the equipment for the assembly<br />
and the adjustment of the guides.<br />
The roughing and the intermediate trains are<br />
provided with our newly developed entry<br />
and exit guides as well as with Mono-Block<br />
and two-roller guides. The finishing block is<br />
equipped with the latest series of high-speed<br />
guides and with our innovative guide holders.<br />
Steelworks of <strong>SMS</strong> Concast<br />
Bar mill of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
High-speed guide.<br />
The order is part of a minimill project which is<br />
currently handled by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> and <strong>SMS</strong> Concast.<br />
The new minimill is yet another example<br />
for a successful cooperation between the individual<br />
companies within the <strong>SMS</strong> group. <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Concast supplies the steel plant and the continuous<br />
caster, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> is building the 22stand<br />
bar mill with an annual capacity of nearly<br />
500,000 t. The mill processes square billets with<br />
an edge length of 150 mm to round bars with<br />
diameters between 8 and 32 mm. The rolling<br />
mill is scheduled to be put into operation soon.
Commissioning<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has modernized a finishing<br />
mill for Nucor Steel Darlington, South<br />
Carolina, USA, in just five weeks. The<br />
new continuous finishing mill allows<br />
much shorter stand changing times and<br />
also much reduced setup and adjustment<br />
times. This consequent modernization<br />
has yielded a real competitive<br />
edge.<br />
Bar mill modernized in record time<br />
Nucor Steel Darlington, USA:<br />
New finishing mill with benefits<br />
The new intermediate/finishing mill consists<br />
of four horizontal, one vertical and<br />
three convertible type HL stands. The convertible<br />
stands are of dual-drive arrangement,<br />
with motors and gears keeping their<br />
position regardless of the stand configuration<br />
(either H or V), with benefits for maintenance<br />
and plant usability, easier access<br />
to these facilities while minimizing depth<br />
and amount of required foundation work.<br />
A flying shear, inter-stand equipment,<br />
quick change devices and tools, hydraulic<br />
and lubrication units as well as twelve additionally<br />
provided exchangeable cassettes<br />
are also part of the new setup.<br />
This modernization in such a short time<br />
was only possible by close cooperation between<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> and Nucor Steel. The<br />
modular pre-assembly of equipment and<br />
extensive pretests by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s production<br />
team reduced the number of opera-<br />
Bildunterschrift.<br />
The finishing line.<br />
tions on site, thereby allowing this record<br />
revamping time to be accomplished.<br />
Nucor Steel Darlington, a company of the<br />
Nucor Bar Mill Group, is a well-known producer<br />
of steel bars in the USA.<br />
Newsletter 2/2010<br />
23
24 Newsletter 2/2010<br />
Minimills<br />
Kolkata, India: April 28 thru 29, 2010<br />
”Minimill“ – The highlight at the<br />
Wire-Rod Symposium in Kolkata<br />
The symposium was well frequented.<br />
Detailed information package for the participants.<br />
In-depth discussions in the breaks.<br />
Ulrich Svejkovsky, Vice-President<br />
Long-Product Area, held the opening speech.<br />
Mills for the production of wire rod hold<br />
huge growth potential for <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>, especially<br />
in countries with constantly<br />
growing economies. To take advantage<br />
of this potential, we launched our own<br />
series of symposiums on this issue earlier<br />
this year. After the successful launch<br />
in Mönchengladbach, the next event<br />
took place in Kolkata, India, from April<br />
28 to 29.<br />
Huge interest. 250 representatives from<br />
68 Indian firms attended the lectures presented<br />
at the Hyatt Conference Center in<br />
Kolkata during the two-day symposium.<br />
The presentations focused on new products<br />
and technical innovations contributing<br />
to higher productivity in wire-rod<br />
rolling.<br />
Minimill for small production volumes.<br />
In his introductory talk, Bimal Sarkar, Managing<br />
Director and CEO of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> India,<br />
presented a detailed overview of the Indian<br />
steel market. The technical papers<br />
that followed focused on the rolling of<br />
wire rod, bars and sections. A topic lively<br />
discussed was the ”Minimill“ concept for<br />
small production volumes which combines<br />
an EAF steelworks from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast<br />
with a rolling mill from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. ”Owing<br />
to the relatively low investment costs,<br />
plant owners in countries such as India are<br />
seeing great future potential for this concept,”<br />
is how Bimal Sarkar explains the importance<br />
of this concept.<br />
Further topics. Further papers dealt with<br />
the development of a high-speed looper,<br />
coil compactors for wire rod, and the new<br />
wire-roll mill in Duisburg-Hamborn built<br />
and supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
In addition, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s subsidiary <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Schumag presented its machines for the<br />
processing of cold-finished steel and copper.<br />
The state of the art in inductive heating<br />
was presented by <strong>SMS</strong> Elotherm. And the<br />
services and products of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s “Service<br />
Division” also aroused lively interest.<br />
The <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> staff used the breaks between<br />
the papers for in-depth discussions<br />
with our visitors. According to Sarkar “it is<br />
obvious that our symposium comes at the<br />
right time and tackles the right issues“.<br />
Another wire-rod symposium took place<br />
in São Paulo, Brazil, where <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> recently<br />
founded a new subsidiary.
Commissioning<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
About 1 million t of rebars per year<br />
Hamriyah Steel, UAE:<br />
Bar mill taken into service<br />
Furnace area.<br />
Intermediate train.<br />
Finishing area.<br />
In January 2010, the new bar mill of Hamriyah Steel, United<br />
Arab Emirates, has been successfully started up. The mill in<br />
the Emirate of Sharjah is a joint venture between the Russian<br />
Metalloinvest Group and Sheik Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed<br />
Al Nahyan.<br />
The order for the supply of a turnkey plant was placed with <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> in June 2007. Construction work began in March 2008 and in<br />
November 2009 about 95 % of the construction measures were<br />
completed. In summer 2009, long-term contracts for water, power<br />
and gas supply of the mill were concluded. This was a crucial prerequisite<br />
for the success of the project since large projects often fail<br />
in the Gulf region when such guarantees have not been provided.<br />
Gradual increase in production<br />
Prior to commissioning and during initial tests, the bar mill had already<br />
produced 4,000 t of salable bars. Sale takes place through<br />
Ural Steel. The mill of Hamriyah Steel has a capacity of 1 million t of<br />
bars per year. For 2010 a production rate of 660,000 t is planned<br />
and production shall be increased gradually: from 10,000 t in January<br />
to 80,000 t in December. According to estimates by Hamriyah<br />
Steel, the annual demand for rebars in the United Arab Emirates is<br />
approx. 4 to 5 million t. Therefore, Hamriyah could cover 20 % of<br />
the market. In addition to this, there are plans for exporting bar<br />
products into the neighboring Gulf States, to Iran and Egypt.<br />
Advanced cooling and<br />
thermo-strengthening technology<br />
Bars manufactured at a diameter range from 10 to 40 mm meet the<br />
national and international standards BS4449, ASTM A615 and DIN<br />
488. Owing to an advanced cooling and thermo-strengthening<br />
technology, bars can be produced with low carbon and hardened<br />
surfaces. The bars feature yield strengths up to 550 MPa and<br />
achieve good values in terms of elongation and weldability.<br />
Newsletter 1/2010<br />
25
Commissioning<br />
26 Newsletter 1/2010<br />
Minimills for Long Products<br />
Combi-caster casts several formats at the same time<br />
Siam Yamato, Thailand: Minimill for<br />
medium steel sections in operation<br />
Commissioning of five-strand combi-caster for<br />
seven different billet/bloom formats and beam blanks.<br />
In October/November 2009, Siam Yamato Steel Company (SYS) started production<br />
of medium steel sections at its new minimill in Rayong, Thailand. First, the mediumsection<br />
rolling mill supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> was commissioned, followed by the meltshop<br />
and the five-strand combi-caster supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> Concast. The first heat was<br />
cast on all five strands with a common casting size of 200 mm x 230 mm. After that<br />
also blooms of 230 mm x 450 mm casting size were successfully produced on the<br />
new combi-caster.<br />
Steelworks for 700,000 tpy. The steelworks<br />
and rolling mill have been designed<br />
in such a way that the billets and blooms<br />
produced in the steelworks can be directly<br />
hot-charged into the rolling mill. The new<br />
steelworks has a production capacity of<br />
700,000 tpy. It features an 80-t electric arc<br />
furnace, a ladle furnace and a combination<br />
caster.<br />
Low energy consuming EAF. The electric<br />
arc furnace is equipped with the latest<br />
generation of Conso oxygen technology.<br />
This technology reduces electrical energy<br />
consumption while enhancing the productivity<br />
of the furnace. The dedusting<br />
system for the meltshop conforms with<br />
the high applicable clean-air standards.<br />
Seven billet/bloom formats plus beam<br />
blanks. The combi-caster is a new development<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> Concast. This is the first casting<br />
machine enabling different billet and<br />
bloom formats to be cast at the same time.<br />
A total of seven different billet/bloom formats<br />
can be cast, ranging from 130 mm x<br />
130 mm to 230 mm x 450 mm. If required,<br />
the plant can even be converted to beam<br />
blank production.<br />
Medium section mill for 400,000 tpy. The<br />
semi-continuous medium section mill supplied<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>, for an annual production<br />
of 400,000 t of final products, is intended to<br />
produce steel sections from 100 mm x 50<br />
mm to 350 mm x 175 mm as well as channels<br />
and angles. Adding rounds and flats to<br />
the product range at a later stage is possible<br />
within the framework of a future expansion<br />
project. The mill features a 130-t/h walkingbeam<br />
furnace, a two-high reversing roughing<br />
stand as well as a continuous finishing<br />
train made up of nine roll stands, six of<br />
which being universal/two-high stands. The<br />
roll stands are modular compact stands in<br />
CS design. They are interchangeable and<br />
can be used alternatively as horizontal/vertical<br />
or universal stands.<br />
Overall planning. The overall planning of<br />
the works was realized jointly by <strong>SMS</strong> Concast<br />
and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. The successful commissioning<br />
of the meltshop and the rolling mill<br />
is a demonstration of the <strong>SMS</strong> group’s competence<br />
and innovative power in the longproducts<br />
sector.
New order<br />
About 1 million t of steel and 500,000 t of rebars<br />
South Steel, Saudi Arabia:<br />
Minimill order for rebar production<br />
Last year <strong>SMS</strong> Concast and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
were contracted by South Steel Company<br />
of Saudi Arabia, which is part of<br />
Pan Kingdom Invest, for the construction<br />
of a minimill for rebars. The volume<br />
of this steelworks order amounts to<br />
over EUR 90 million. The new minimill<br />
will be designed for an annual production<br />
of 1 million t and is intended to<br />
supply the downstream rebar rolling<br />
mill with billets. The rolling mill will<br />
have an annual production capacity of<br />
500,000 t. Commissioning is scheduled<br />
for the middle of 2011.<br />
Electric steelworks for up to 100 % HBI<br />
charging (hot briquetted iron). The meltshop<br />
will feature a 140-t AC electric arc furnace<br />
as meltdown unit. The melting rate<br />
will be around 24 heats/day. The EAF will<br />
be of the full-platform eccentric-bottomtapping<br />
design. A highlight of this project<br />
is that it will be <strong>SMS</strong> Concast’s first minimill<br />
with an EAF and LF which can be operated<br />
with up to 100 % HBI (hot briquetted iron)<br />
charging, if required. Special focus will be<br />
laid on the fine-tuning of the relationship<br />
between the melting process and the HBI<br />
rate with the objective in mind to achieve<br />
a homogeneous process running at maximum<br />
productivity.<br />
Power will be supplied by a 150-MVA transformer<br />
used in conjunction with the Consotech<br />
equipment for chemical power<br />
input. The melting unit will be equipped<br />
with the latest generation of electrode con-<br />
trol and process automation. This makes for<br />
maximum flexibility in furnace operation,<br />
providing the basis for the desired variable<br />
composition of the charge while ensuring a<br />
constant and reproducible melting process.<br />
In the design, special emphasis is placed on<br />
aspects critical to the continuous charging<br />
of the furnace and the meltdown behavior,<br />
namely material-flow management, EAF<br />
technology and melting profiles.<br />
Secondary metallurgy. Secondary-metallurgy<br />
treatment will take place in a 140-t<br />
ladle furnace supplied by an own 26-MVA<br />
transformer.<br />
The billet caster. The continuous casting<br />
plant will feature five strands and a casting<br />
radius of 9 m. It will produce billets in the<br />
size range from 130 mm x 130 mm to 150<br />
mm x 150 mm. The casting machine will be<br />
equipped with Convex® mold technology,<br />
mold stirrers and a hydraulic mold oscillation<br />
system.<br />
The rebar rolling mill. The rebar rolling<br />
mill supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will include a<br />
walking-beam furnace with several control<br />
zones. The fuel/air ratios can be monitored<br />
separately for each zone. This minimizes<br />
fuel consumption and provides high flexi-<br />
bility in furnace operation for all production<br />
quantities. The fully automated rolling<br />
mill will comprise 16 housingless stands in<br />
horizontal and vertical arrangement, followed<br />
by a six-stand Mono-Block finishing<br />
stand for high-speed rolling of bars, as well<br />
as a bar-quenching system. Downstream<br />
of these units, a cooling bed and the finishing<br />
and bundling facilities will be<br />
arranged. The compact design of the “HL”<br />
mill housings will ensure finished products<br />
with close tolerances.<br />
The High-Speed Delivery System will enhance<br />
plant productivity, enabling the mill<br />
to achieve a maximum finish-rolling speed<br />
to the cooling bed of 41 m/s for 8- to 10mm-diameter<br />
rebars. The overall plant<br />
concept meets all requirements on efficiency,<br />
flexibility and reduced maintenance.<br />
At the same time it will provide<br />
high operational reliability and high productivity.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s scope of supply also<br />
includes the level-2 automation system<br />
and the complete electrical equipment.<br />
Newsletter 1/2010<br />
27
Commissioning<br />
Upgrading the mill train at Hoesch Schwerter Profile <strong>GmbH</strong>,<br />
Germany, was a special challenge for both the operator and<br />
the machine builder <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. What made this job so special<br />
was the three-stage modernization concept, enabling shutdown<br />
periods to be minimized to the greatest possible extent<br />
and ongoing production of the mill between short shutdown<br />
periods.<br />
Ambitious goals. In August 2007, Hoesch Schwerter Profile<br />
<strong>GmbH</strong>, a member of Calvi Holding, Italy, had commissioned <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> to upgrade the mill train for special sections. The goal was<br />
to increase the availability, the yield and the flexibility as well as<br />
to improve the quality of the finished products.<br />
New CS® mill stands. The modernization concept perfectly tailored<br />
to customer’s demands comprised an exchange of the existing<br />
universal and two-high mill stands with the CS® mill stands<br />
(Compact Stands) developed by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. These stands offer automatic<br />
quick changing for an increase in flexibility and a reduction<br />
of setup times as well as a compact design, very high stand<br />
rigidity and high adjusting accuracy. Key assembly groups such as<br />
the adjusting equipment could be standardized for all stand types.<br />
Customized mill stand solution. The CS® concept enables a high<br />
flexibility and is optimally suited for the requirements when rolling<br />
special sections. For this customized mill stand solution it was considered<br />
that the existing rolls and guides could be re-used. As a result,<br />
the special section mill became notably efficient. In total, four<br />
universal and four two-high stands as well as one edger were supplied<br />
and an existing edger was upgraded. The four universal<br />
stands were pre-assembled in our workshop and the complete<br />
stand piping was mounted.<br />
28 Newsletter 1/2010<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
”Just like an open-heart surgery”<br />
Hoesch Schwerter Profile:<br />
Modernization in three steps<br />
Universal stand pre-assembled in the Mönchengladbach workshop.<br />
Extensive ancillary facilities. Likewise modernized were descaling<br />
and centering devices as well as grip-type tilters ensuring optimal<br />
conditions of the rolled material when special sections are<br />
rolled. Our scope of supply included also the mill stand changing<br />
devices and the assembly area in a new pre-assembly workshop<br />
for stands and the required supply systems as well as the electrical<br />
equipment and the automation for the new facilities. The IBA-<br />
Logic system in version 4 was applied first for the whole control.<br />
The implementation was realized by Fest, our electrical equipment<br />
partner, on our behalf.
The new pre-assembly bay.<br />
Component installation. Foundation and media platform construction.<br />
Pre-assembled universal stand in the workshop.<br />
The three upgrading stages. The threestage<br />
modernization concept consisted of<br />
the following stages:<br />
Stage 1: It mainly comprised the preparation<br />
of the foundations, the installation of<br />
new stand bedplates, the media facilities<br />
and the assembly of the media platform<br />
for the accommodation of the valve<br />
stands, the local control pulpits, the electric<br />
cabinets and the cables and piping and<br />
eventually the resumption of production<br />
with the existing mill stands.<br />
Stage 2: Installation of new stand changing<br />
devices and assembly area. Assembly and<br />
resumption of production with new and existing<br />
stands on place P2 and the edger.<br />
Stage 3: Installation of the new centering<br />
and descaling devices and the grip-type<br />
tilters as well as the completion of place<br />
P3. Resumption of production with the<br />
new stands P2, edger, P3 in tandem rolling<br />
operation.<br />
After the completion of stage 3 the mill train has been put back<br />
into operation in fall. The tandem rolling operation was realized<br />
shortly afterwards. On October 12, 2009, a 16-week trial operation<br />
with optimization phase finally started.<br />
Such complex modernization steps executed in an extremely confined<br />
space require a high degree of professionalism and cooperation of<br />
the project teams from Hoesch Schwerter Profile <strong>GmbH</strong> and <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong>. With this upgrading measure the company in Schwerte, Germany,<br />
has further expanded its leading position in the production<br />
field of special sections.<br />
Rolls with new mill stands.<br />
Newsletter 1/2010<br />
29
Commissioning<br />
At Peiner Träger <strong>GmbH</strong>, Germany, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has modernized<br />
the medium-section mill which was re-opened on September<br />
1, 2009. After the restart, the mill could be ramped up very<br />
rapidly whereby a large number of sections were rolled at<br />
various dimensions in ”running-in mode” from the very beginning.<br />
In the first 18 days already 25,000 t of salable sections<br />
were produced. An extended product range now comprises<br />
beams with a web height of up to 450 mm and a flange<br />
width of 260 mm as well as channels up to 400 mm, equal<br />
and unequal angles up to 250 mm and a large number of special<br />
steel sections.<br />
Long-product Mills<br />
Production increased very quickly<br />
Peiner Träger:<br />
Medium-section mill upgraded<br />
Following an operating time of 35 years and about 16.8<br />
million t of beams and other steel sections, the continuous<br />
finishing train of the universal medium-section mill<br />
(UMIT) has been upgraded in Peine at the end of 2009<br />
within a period of just six weeks. Thanks to the installed<br />
universal tandem-reversing rolling technology instead of<br />
continuous finish-rolling, smaller lots can now be produced<br />
more quickly and efficiently, and specific customer<br />
demands can be even better satisfied. Since the modernization,<br />
already 258,000 t of finished products have been<br />
rolled on the mill until the end of February 2010. About<br />
50 staff members of Peiner Träger and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> jointly<br />
celebrated this good result in January 2010.<br />
30 Newsletter 1/2010<br />
Owing to a very detailed planning and partial pre-assembly of the<br />
mill stands during production, the modernization and cold commissioning<br />
could be completed during a standstill period of only<br />
six weeks. In such a short time, the mill equipment weighing a total<br />
of approx. 3,000 t had to be handled for the purpose of disassembly<br />
or re-assembly and tests. In addition, a large number of supply<br />
systems were mounted still during rolling operation and almost<br />
60 km piping was installed. Parallel to dismantling, cleaning work<br />
had already been carried out, new foundations were laid, anchor<br />
holes drilled as well as new bedplates installed.<br />
A good performance: 25,000 t in 18 days.<br />
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The CRS® roller straightener.<br />
To minimize storage requirements on the<br />
site and to save costs we have delivered<br />
the materials and mill components required<br />
for erection ”just-in-time”. In the<br />
peak phase almost 100 specialists worked<br />
around the clock.<br />
Together with the CRS® roller straightener<br />
supplied by us which already went on<br />
stream in 2008, the mill train is now able to<br />
fulfill increased market demands with regard<br />
to flexibility, profitability and quality.<br />
Due to the modernizations by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>,<br />
the modernization project ”UMIT 2010”<br />
has been completed and the technological<br />
leadership of Peiner Träger <strong>GmbH</strong> has<br />
been strengthened.<br />
A four-crank shear weighing almost 50 t was placed<br />
onto the bedplate by means of two shop cranes and<br />
one lifting-beam attachment.<br />
Congratulations<br />
40th anniversary<br />
of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> S.p.A.<br />
On September 25, 2009, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
S.p.A. in Tarcento, Italy, has celebrated<br />
its 40th anniversary. A gala evening at<br />
Castello Susanna in the mountains<br />
above the city and a family celebration<br />
on the works premises gave the event a<br />
worthy setting.<br />
Founded in September 1969 as a limited liability<br />
company under the name of ”Industrie<br />
Meccanche Attrezzature Carpentiere”,<br />
the company changed its name in 1973 to<br />
S.I.M.A.C. S.p.A. In 1991, <strong>SMS</strong> Schloemann-<br />
Siemag took over 50 % of the capital funds<br />
and in 1995 the other half. In April 2005, the<br />
company changed its name to now <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> S.p.A., responsible for the Light Section<br />
Mills Product Division. The company stands<br />
for a whole series of significant technical innovations<br />
which have contributed to an excellent<br />
reputation of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> worldwide.<br />
Our guidelines are: focusing on value-creating<br />
technologies, a high level of innovation<br />
and further development of products and<br />
services.<br />
Newsletter 1/2010<br />
31
New order<br />
Slovakia Steel Mills a.s. placed an<br />
order with <strong>SMS</strong> Concast AG and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
<strong>GmbH</strong> for the supply of a complete mini steel<br />
mill consisting of an electric steel plant, a continuous<br />
caster and a rolling mill for the production<br />
of bar steel and wire rod at an annual<br />
production rate of 500,000 t. The new plant in<br />
Strážske with a total area of almost 37 ha is<br />
the first mini mill to be built in Slovakia and<br />
production is scheduled to start in Q4 2010.<br />
Electric steel plant with 60-t AC electric arc furnace. The key element<br />
of the steelworks is a 60-t AC electric arc furnace from <strong>SMS</strong><br />
Concast designed for 100% scrap charging. The electric arc furnace<br />
has an eccentric bottom taphole and a full platform design. A 60-<br />
MVA transformer together with chemical energy input provided by<br />
the equipment from Consotech ® guarantees an optimized power<br />
input. The latest-generation electrode control system and the<br />
process automation regulate all the functions of the electric arc<br />
furnace and guarantee the repeatability of the performance parameters<br />
even with differing charge scrap compositions. An efficient<br />
automation system monitors the overall performance and<br />
guarantees constant operating and melting costs.<br />
60-t ladle furnace provides secondary metallurgical treatment.<br />
The facility from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast ensures that non-metallic<br />
inclusions are avoided and guarantees outstanding castability and<br />
32 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Minimills<br />
for long products<br />
All production facilities from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
SSM, Slovakia: Minimill for bar steel<br />
and wire rod ordered<br />
optimized product properties. The transformer employed has a<br />
rated power of 16 MVA + 20% overload reserve. The process<br />
control systems offer the operator a possibility of communication,<br />
including laboratory and steelworks planning. The process status<br />
is documented. Calculations for assessment of temperature and<br />
additives for alloying and slag formation simplify the achievement<br />
of the target parameters.<br />
Three-strand billet caster. In the development of the continuous<br />
caster the production demands with respect to steel grade and annual<br />
production were taken into consideration by the engineers<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong> Concast. Attention was additionally given to the demands<br />
for the quality steels to be produced in future SBQ applications<br />
for the automotive and machine engineering industries.<br />
Against this background, a continuous caster with three strands<br />
having a radius of eight meters and equipped with Convex ® technology<br />
was selected. Its extremely high level of automation meets<br />
all process requirements and quality demands.<br />
Hot charging. The direct link between continuous<br />
caster and rolling mill using roller tables and a billet<br />
hoist permits hot charging for the majority of the production.<br />
Square billets of 130 mm x 130 mm and a<br />
maximum length of 12 m are used for all<br />
rolled products.
The new metallurgical complex will be equipped with BAT eco-technologies to meet European directives.<br />
Rolling mill with three finishing lines. The rolling mill has three<br />
finishing lines consisting of wire rod outlet, bar outlet with highspeed<br />
delivery (HSD ® ) system and the patented vertical compact<br />
coiler (VCC) for particularly compact rebar coils.<br />
Scope of supply from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplies a walking-hearth<br />
furnace for a capacity of 60 t/h with cold charging and<br />
80 t/h for hot charging, the mechanical and electrical equipment<br />
for the rolling mill, the supply systems for hydraulics and lubricating<br />
oil, and is also responsible for the supervision of erection<br />
and commissioning.<br />
Production of steel bars. The six-stand roughing mill, followed by<br />
a cropping and chopping shear, and the eight-stand bar finishing<br />
train both have housingless stands arranged alternately horizontally<br />
and vertically. The finishing mill is equipped with a quick-change<br />
platform for quick program changing.<br />
Production of wire rod. In the wire delivery section, the shear<br />
group and a wire rod block with ten rolling units are arranged<br />
downstream of a water box on which sizes from 5.5 to 16 mm<br />
can be rolled with a maximum speed of 105 m/s. Two further<br />
water boxes, a pinch roll unit, a loop laying head, an 82 m long<br />
loop cooling conveyor (LCC ® ), a coil forming chamber, a vertical<br />
coil transport facility and the vertical coil compactor complete the<br />
wire rod outlet section.<br />
Production of rebars. For the production of rebars, the wire rod<br />
block supplies the dimensions from 8 to 16 mm via a cooling section<br />
at speeds of up to 36 m/s to the proven high-speed delivery<br />
(HSD ® ) system. The larger dimensions up to 36 mm are produced<br />
on the bar finishing mill and are also delivered to the HSD ® system<br />
via a water cooling section. Downstream of the 66 m long cooling<br />
bed is a cold shear, an automatic bar counter, a bundler, two wire<br />
tying machines and the coil loading station.<br />
VCC coiler. A further special feature is the patented VCC coiler<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. This proven technology produces extremely compact<br />
coils in the size range from 8 to 16 mm at speeds of up to 35<br />
m/s. In the first planned development stage, only one coiler will be<br />
installed. For this, the switch behind the cooling section diverts the<br />
products alternately either to the VCC coiler or to the HSD ® system.<br />
The later installation of a second coiler is planned.<br />
Layout of minimill.<br />
The new steelworks and the<br />
rolling mill of Slovakia Steel<br />
Mills will be installed on an<br />
area of 36.7 ha in the industrial<br />
zone of Strážske, East Slovakia.<br />
Investments amount to EUR<br />
178 million. For the production<br />
of high-grade structural steel<br />
state-of-the-art technologies<br />
are applied. Thanks to the investment,<br />
350 jobs are directly<br />
created for this region and<br />
about 250 indirect jobs will be<br />
available plus approx. 700 work<br />
places during erection.<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 33
The new medium-section mill at Steel Dynamics<br />
Inc. (SDI) in Columbia City, Indiana, USA, is<br />
becoming the standard for continuous mills<br />
producing structural steel in the 6 to 15 inch<br />
range. The main new features of the mill supplied<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>, which came on stream in<br />
mid-2008, are the 15 stands based on the new<br />
compact mill stand (CS design), characterized<br />
by high rigidity and low deflection under load<br />
coupled with simplicity of design and reduced<br />
weight.<br />
Layout of medium-section mill.<br />
34 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Broad product spectrum<br />
SDI, Columbia City, USA:<br />
The new medium-section mill<br />
The flexibility of the design, with three convertible<br />
stands, allows for a wide production<br />
range. The quick-change platform limits<br />
change time to 20 minutes. Attention<br />
has been given to product quality, with inline<br />
laser profile gages and hydraulic gage<br />
control in the last two stands.<br />
Starting material and finished products. The mill will be fed<br />
by three billet sizes: two square ones at an edge length of 6” and<br />
7”, one rectangular shape of 10” x 8”, and one beam blank size<br />
of 430 mm x 260 mm. The maximum length is 15 m (50’). The<br />
mill is designed to roll a variety of structural shapes: W beams,<br />
from 4” to 14”; S beams up to 15”; channels up to 15”; equal<br />
and unequal angles up to 8”; M beams up to 12”. Product<br />
lengths are from 20’ to 120’.<br />
The mill is predisposed for future equipment additions to be able to<br />
add smaller products and flats up to 12”. In addition, the equipment<br />
is designed also to allow increasing the product range up to 18”.<br />
Bird’s-eye view of the SDI works in Columbia City, with the new medium-section<br />
mill in the background.
Furnace and rolling mill<br />
Reheat furnace.<br />
Reheat furnace. The stock re-heating to<br />
rolling temperature is performed by a 200<br />
t/h walking-beam reheating furnace. With<br />
dimensions of 52’ wide by 76’ long, the<br />
furnace is equipped with a total of 64 ultralow<br />
NOx burners providing a maximum total<br />
330 mmBTU/h (BTU = British Thermal<br />
Unit), corresponding to 83 Gcal/h. In order<br />
to simplify the control system and to increase<br />
the efficiency at the same time, the<br />
furnace is divided into seven independently<br />
controlled heating zones plus one unfired<br />
zone. The combustion air is supplied<br />
to the furnace by two centrifugal fans via<br />
an air recuperator where it is heated up to<br />
a maximum temperature of 550 °C. A dilution<br />
air blower provides safety cold air in<br />
case of overheating. Furnace charging is<br />
through a frontal door while discharge is<br />
laterally.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplied the furnace inclusive<br />
of the level 1 and level 2 controls. The latter<br />
includes several heating curves (related<br />
to the different product mix of size and<br />
lengths), the control of the digital operation<br />
of the burners and the furnace operation.<br />
At the exit of the furnace, a high-pressure descaler (210 bar)<br />
prepares the stock for rolling. The roller table feeding the mill<br />
is provided with insulating covers to minimize temperature<br />
losses. Shaping takes place in a continuous mill made of 15<br />
stands, in horizontal, convertible and universal positions. All<br />
stands are of the same size and are based on the innovative<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> CS stand design.<br />
Structure of rolling mill<br />
Roughing mill with stand changing car.<br />
n Roughing mill: made up of five stands, with stands 1, 3 and 5<br />
being convertible and 2 and 4 in two-high (horizontal) design. A<br />
flying crop shear follows the roughing mill.<br />
n Finishing mill: composed by the final ten stands, in two-high<br />
or universal stands. A crop shear is installed downstream of<br />
stand No.11, a final dividing shear is installed at the end of the<br />
mill. A laser profile gage immediately precedes the dividing<br />
shear.<br />
The mill is equipped with quick-changing cars that allow a complete<br />
size change in 20 minutes. The mill is characterized by a high<br />
degree of flexibility thanks to: convertible stand design on the<br />
roughing mill (Pos. 1, 3 and 5), possibility of using universal rolls in<br />
eight of the ten finishing mill positions, availability of several initial<br />
material sizes.<br />
»<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 35
CS mill stands<br />
Convertible stand. The core technology of the continuous mill is<br />
the innovative <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> CS stand design. Made of fabricated and<br />
non-cast components, this design merges high rigidity with low<br />
weight and reduced manufacturing and operational cost.<br />
Benefits of the CS design<br />
n Closed-type housing and small window design made from<br />
rolled slab steel, 50 % higher yield point, free of inclusions<br />
and shrink holes for the housing material (compared with<br />
conventional cast steel), i.e. higher wear resistance<br />
n Compact, simple and rigid stand design due to<br />
FEM-optimized design and prestressed tie rod system<br />
n Limited deflection under rolling loads due to improved<br />
mill spring values<br />
n Improved stand stiffness compared with housingless<br />
(HL) stands, especially for the vertical rolls<br />
n High screw-down accuracy due to zero-gap calibration<br />
(zeroing)<br />
n Modular design, suitable for universal, horizontal and<br />
vertical mode<br />
n Different stand types completely interchangeable<br />
n Each stand is shiftable for use of multi-grooved rolls<br />
(max. 1,500 mm)<br />
n Increased diameter ranges for roll redressing,<br />
i.e. longer roll life<br />
n Use of different roll barrel lengths possible by easy exchange<br />
of the tying elements of the housing parts<br />
n Short changing time through pre-adjustment of rolls and<br />
guides in the preparation area<br />
n Possibility of easy exchange of single housing parts in case<br />
of wear after long operating time, due to identical and<br />
interchangeable parts<br />
n No additional coupling during stand change through<br />
automatic media couplings<br />
n Individual or synchronized adjustments for top and bottom rolls<br />
n Hydraulic balancing of top roll<br />
n Backlash-free axial adjustment of top roll<br />
n Integration of roll-pass control or mechanical adjustment<br />
system possible without major modifications<br />
36 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Compact stand.<br />
Finishing area<br />
Cooling bed and straighteners. The cooling<br />
bed is a combination rake-type and<br />
chain conveyor and has a quick delivery<br />
system for lighter products. The rake-type<br />
initial area ensures proper material straightening.<br />
The chain conveyor area is equipped<br />
with water spray cooling, operating in the<br />
low temperature range, to improve the capacity<br />
of the cooling bed. The cooling bed<br />
length is (82 m) 270’ and it is (22 m) 72’<br />
wide.<br />
The single-line horizontal straightener is<br />
of cantilever design of the newest generation.<br />
The machine is equipped with eight
Magnetic stacker.<br />
Saw in operation.<br />
Stand change in the continuous mill. Straightener.<br />
straightening rolls and has a pitch of<br />
1,400/1,250/1,100 mm, ideal for straightening<br />
the wide product range. All rolls are<br />
individually powered. The material is guided<br />
in the straightener by two vertical<br />
guide rollers at the entry and exit sides.<br />
All straightener rolls can accommodate<br />
two or three straightening discs. The distance<br />
between the straightening discs is<br />
adjustable. Thus, for beams and channel<br />
series with the same inner radius, straightening<br />
roll changes can be waived with<br />
great improvement in flexibility and plant<br />
availability. A quick-changing system with<br />
changing crane is provided.<br />
Finishing area. At the exit of the straightener,<br />
the beams are side transferred by a<br />
chain conveyor. At the entry side, a turn-up<br />
device allows inspection of the straightened<br />
bars. The layer collecting bed is 75 m<br />
long and 14 m wide. The layer is then<br />
transferred by roller table to the cutting<br />
area. Provisions were made for a future installation<br />
of a multi-strand straightener and<br />
cold shear in order to guarantee higher production<br />
rates also for smaller and lighter<br />
products.<br />
The cut to length is performed by two<br />
fixed saws, each equipped with stop-gage.<br />
Provisions were made for a future third<br />
movable saw. After cutting, the material is<br />
piled by magnetic stackers and transferred<br />
to the shipping bays after strapping. The<br />
cooling bed and finishing area have space<br />
allowance for future capacity increases.<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 37
38 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Universal medium-section mill – faster and more flexible<br />
Large-scale modernization at<br />
Peiner Träger completed<br />
Commissioning<br />
After a standstill period of only six<br />
weeks at Peiner Träger <strong>GmbH</strong>, Germany,<br />
the universal medium-section<br />
mill upgraded by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has been<br />
re-opened on September 1, 2009.<br />
New CCS ® mill stand in the medium-section mill. (Source: Salzgitter AG).<br />
Production of tandem reversing mill in full swing.
For this modernization the<br />
continuous finishing train of<br />
the universal medium-section<br />
mill (UMIT) has been adapted<br />
to modern market requirements<br />
following an operating<br />
time of 35 years and approx.<br />
16.8 million t of rolled beams<br />
and structural-steel sections.<br />
Advantageous state-of-the-art rolling<br />
technology using CCS ® mill stands. The<br />
novel universal tandem-reversing rolling<br />
technology is now applied also on this<br />
rolling plant instead of continuous finishrolling<br />
which ensures that also smaller<br />
rolling lots can be quickly and efficiently<br />
produced and that specific customer demands<br />
are fulfilled. A replacement of the<br />
rolls is easier so that beams of different dimensions<br />
and grades can be produced in<br />
succession without much loss of time.<br />
The beams will be more accurate to size<br />
and feature a very smooth surface. In the<br />
future it is possible to also roll high-grade<br />
special steel sections on the UMIT mill and<br />
to therefore gain new potential customers.<br />
All this could be achieved by applying the<br />
tandem reversing rolling technology developed<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> with universal twohigh<br />
rolling stands in CCS ® design and automatic<br />
hydraulic roll-gap control inclusive<br />
of an automatic quick program change.<br />
Flying shear and elevated roller tables.<br />
The existing flying shear for cutting the<br />
rolling stock in cooling-bed lengths has additionally<br />
been replaced by a more powerful<br />
four-crank shear. Owing to the use of<br />
elevated roller tables up- and downstream<br />
of the tandem reversing mill group, bars at<br />
a length of more than 200 m can be rolled<br />
out in spite of a limited bay length.<br />
Supply including planning and supervision. The scope of supply<br />
of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> included in addition to the supply and startup of<br />
all mechanical equipment also the supply of piping, auxiliaries and<br />
safety equipment as well as the disassembly and assembly of the<br />
facilities and the foundations. Included in our scope of supply are<br />
planning and supervision services as well as customer’s training.<br />
Altogether 3,000 t of equipment dismantled. Thanks to an extensive<br />
detail planning and partial pre-building of the roll stands on<br />
site during production, the modernization and the cold commissioning<br />
could be realized during a shutdown period of six weeks.<br />
During this time about 3,000 t of equipment was dismantled and<br />
the new facilities were mounted and tested.<br />
25,000 t of salable products rolled after only 18 days. After the<br />
mill had been taken into operation on September 1, 2009, it could<br />
be ramped up very rapidly while a number of beams and dimensions<br />
were “entered” from the very beginning. During an initial 18<br />
days already 15,000 t of salable products were rolled.<br />
Now, large beams with a web height of up to 450 mm. An extended<br />
product range comprises beams with a web height of up to<br />
450 mm and a flange width of 260 mm. Channels up to 400 mm,<br />
equal and unequal angles up to 250 mm and a number of special<br />
steel sections can additionally be rolled.<br />
Modernization project of the last two years completed. In connection<br />
with the startup of the CRS ® roller straightener in 2008 the<br />
upgraded mill train is able to fulfill today’s and future market demands<br />
with regard to flexibility, profitability and quality. Due to the<br />
upgrade and the modernization of key facilities of the mill train by<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> over the last two years, the modernization project<br />
“UMIT 2010“ has been completed and the technological leadership<br />
of Peiner Träger <strong>GmbH</strong> has been guaranteed.<br />
CRS ® roller straightener during commissioning.<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 39
World record<br />
40 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Unique rolling mill for 700,000 tpy of rebars<br />
Stefana, Italy: World record<br />
for rolling of straight bars<br />
The bar mill of Stefana S.p.A., Italy, built by<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> came on stream in mid-2008 and<br />
is unique in view of productivity and product<br />
quality. The mill reaches full capacity at all<br />
dimensions of the product mix. Now, the<br />
production line at Ospitaletto in northern<br />
Italy has set a new world record on July 2009<br />
for the rolling of straight bars on the cooling<br />
bed: the new mill produced salable coils<br />
made of rebars at a diameter of 8 mm and an<br />
average real speed of 40 m/s over several<br />
hours during shift operation.<br />
This performance is equivalent to a production of single bars at<br />
double speed, i.e. as if 80 m/s would have been achieved. A target<br />
limit value which had formerly only been planned has now<br />
actually been reached and further improvements can soon be expected.<br />
At a production of 8-mm rebars with slitting and the two-strand<br />
HSD ® system and at a rolling speed of 40 m/s billets are required<br />
to such an extent that the maximum furnace capacity of 106 t/h<br />
is almost reached.<br />
VCC station. Coil bundling and tying system.<br />
Two-strand HSD ® system for supreme performances. The facilities<br />
for a high performance of this future-oriented mill are<br />
mainly two slitting lines in combination with a two-strand HSD ®<br />
system as well as the control system with software developed<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
The basic principle of a two-strand HSD ® system is to finish-roll<br />
bars in two six-stand and V-shaped finishing blocks and to cut<br />
them with two state-of-the-art high-speed disc type dividing<br />
shears. Then, the bars are processed over their entire length in<br />
four braking pinch-roll units (two for each strand) and two dual-rotating<br />
channels installed on top of the entry table of the cooling<br />
bed. Only one bar per tooth is deposited on the cooling-bed<br />
rakes to make sure that a clean layer is available for the bundling<br />
and tying systems.<br />
Largest furnace of its class. Other mill components worth mentioning<br />
are a walking-hearth furnace for the heating of 16-m-long<br />
square billets at a cross-section of 160 mm x 160 mm, which is<br />
one of the largest of its class, as well as two of our patented VCC<br />
(Vertical Compact Coiler) facilities.
Yield improved by 30 %. A benefit of the unusual furnace<br />
length is a yield improved by 30 % compared to furnaces for<br />
12-m billets. Compact coils can additionally be produced with<br />
weights up to 3.2 t. This coil size is advantageous for downstream<br />
transport, storage, further handling and other tasks.<br />
Production mode selectable: only straight bars or only<br />
compact coils or both mixed. Alternatively to a restriction of<br />
straight bars produced without exception via the HSD ® system<br />
or to compact coils produced only via the VCC station, a mixed<br />
production mode can also be selected. In this case, the strand<br />
is delivered from a finishing block onto the cooling bed while<br />
the VCC system is charged at the same time by the second<br />
finishing block.<br />
Improved yield and higher productivity. Needless to say,<br />
that the new production concept at Stefana reduces the number<br />
of short bars and the accumulated scrap which on the other<br />
hand results in a reduction of the production costs. Therefore,<br />
the new bar rolling mill at Stefana S.p.A. achieves an improved<br />
production yield and higher productivity. The results<br />
also show that excellent economic results can be attained by<br />
competent and detailed advice.<br />
Finish-tied coil.<br />
VCC coiler –<br />
Vertical Compact Coiler<br />
from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
VCC facilities from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> – shown on<br />
the photo below – with outstanding technology<br />
are used for the production of steel<br />
bars. The system was developed by <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
In August 2009, the Court of Appeals in<br />
Trieste, Italy, rejected all contestations of<br />
our competitors pending further notice<br />
(N295/09 Sent).<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 41
42 Newsletter No. 3/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Thermomechanical rolling of all wire-rod dimensions<br />
New cost-efficient<br />
wire-rod mill concept<br />
A wire-rod finishing block consisting of a sixstand<br />
plus a four-stand rolling unit enables<br />
thermomechanical rolling of wire rod in all<br />
standard dimensions at low costs and high<br />
productivity. This innovative concept has<br />
been successfully implemented by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
in two wire rod mills for Weifang Iron & Steel,<br />
China, which have meanwhile been put on<br />
stream.<br />
Six-stand and four-stand rolling units. Thermomechanical<br />
rolling of wire rod at small dimensions and high productivity cannot<br />
be attained with a conventional ten-stand finishing block. Due to<br />
the required number of passes, the heating up is too much to realize<br />
the desired metallurgical properties. By separating the conventional<br />
wire-rod finishing block into a six-stand and a four-stand<br />
unit, a wire rod of any dimension can be finish-rolled on the second<br />
unit at a maximum number of four passes.<br />
Loop technology reaches temperature reduction down to<br />
750 °C. By means of sufficient cooling and perfect temperature<br />
equalization over the cross-section, thermomechanical rolling can<br />
also be achieved with a high production volume, and the loop<br />
technology from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> which we have successfully applied<br />
already in several wire rod mills also offers a good precondition.<br />
Consequently, the temperature can be reduced to 750 °C when<br />
the wire rod enters the first finishing block i.e. at temperature deviations<br />
of less than 50 °C.<br />
This is a significant precondition to reach<br />
again 750 °C prior to the last four shaping<br />
passes in the case of dimensions which<br />
still have to be produced in a total of ten<br />
passes. This enables a normalizing or thermomechanical<br />
rolling even for smaller<br />
cross-sections.<br />
View on both wire rod mills at Weifang Iron & Steel.<br />
Loop on a wire rod mill.
Temperature progression for wire rod at a diameter of 5.5 mm;<br />
rolling speed V=105 m/s; steel grade: cold-upsetting grade.<br />
Temperature progression for wire rod at a diameter of 16 mm;<br />
rolling speed V=26.5 m/s; steel grade: cold-upsetting grade.<br />
The two temperature charts are examples of the excellent functioning<br />
of the new concept. Our updated wire rod mill concept enables<br />
the customers to enter a new quality sphere for wire rod at<br />
small cross-sections and with a comparatively low capital expenditure.<br />
The successful startup of the two wire rod mills based on this<br />
concept implemented at Weifang Iron & Steel which have attained<br />
excellent tolerance values and high productivity furnishes<br />
proof of this efficient concept.<br />
Six-stand finishing block, opened.<br />
Four-stand block during mill operation.<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2009 43
44 Newsletter No. 2/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
SBQ round bars produced in the range from 25 to 127 mm<br />
Timken, USA: PSM ® and bar finishing<br />
section put into operation<br />
Commissioning<br />
Control desk ahead of the PSM ® block<br />
with E+A supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
In September 2008, the Timken Company in<br />
Canton, Ohio, USA, has commissioned new<br />
facilities jointly with <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to extend its<br />
existing Harrison Steel bar mill. “The facility<br />
will reach full capacity in August 2009,“ says<br />
Tom Moline, Steel Manufacturing Vice-President<br />
of Timken.<br />
The expansion increases the mill capacity, extends the product<br />
size range and improves product quality for the production of SBQ<br />
round bars in the range from 25 to 127 mm. Shortly after commissioning,<br />
tolerances of ½ ASTM were already being achieved reflecting<br />
the high performance ability of the mill and documenting<br />
the precision of the hydraulic roll adjustment systems.<br />
Operation in full swing on the PSM ® block.<br />
One-Family rolling<br />
and free-size rolling<br />
The scope of supply from <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> includes<br />
a 3-roll precision sizing mill (PSM ® )<br />
as well as a bar finishing section with cooling<br />
bed, cut-off and loading facilities. The<br />
PSM ® is arranged downstream of the existing<br />
rolling mill and allows both a standardized<br />
groove to be employed in the<br />
roughing and intermediate trains (one-family<br />
rolling) and the infinitely variable production<br />
of finished sizes by means of roll adjustment<br />
(free-size rolling).
Automatic gage control<br />
and monitor control<br />
The precision sizing mill consists of five roll<br />
cassettes, each with three rolls which can<br />
even be hydraulically adjusted under load.<br />
This also permits automatic gage control<br />
(AGC) as well as monitor control in connection<br />
with a laser measuring unit for<br />
product size measurement installed downline<br />
of the PSM ® . A CARTA ® process model<br />
serves for setting of the process parameters.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> also supplied the complete<br />
electrical equipment and realized the<br />
automation in cooperation with Timken.<br />
Cooling bed for 78-m-long bars. The first rolled bars on the cooling bed.<br />
Newsletter No. 2/2009 45
Commissioning<br />
The new combined plant which was supplied<br />
by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> including the electrical<br />
equipment and the automation system<br />
was designed for low- and medium-carbon<br />
steels with an annual capacity of 250,000<br />
t. The whole mill train comprises a 50-t/h<br />
reheating furnace for square billets at a<br />
cross section of 130 mm x 130 mm and a<br />
length up to 12 m, followed by a 14-stand<br />
roughing and intermediate mill.<br />
The bar outlet essentially consists of a<br />
high-speed delivery system (HSD ® ) with<br />
cooling bed for the finished sizes (rebars)<br />
diameter 6.35 to 25.0 mm and a bar finishing<br />
line.<br />
46 Newsletter No. 2/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
In January 2009, the first wire rod was produced by means of<br />
a finishing block with the new MEERdrive technology in the<br />
combined wire rod and bar mill of Siderúrgica Norte Brasil<br />
S.A., Brazil.<br />
Combined wire rod and bar mill at Siderúrgica Norte Brasil<br />
Successful commissioning<br />
of wire rod and bar mill<br />
The commissioning team.<br />
Operator side of finishing block with MEERdrive technology.<br />
The intermediate mill.
The wire outlet starts with a cropping<br />
and chopping shear, followed by a finishing<br />
block and 10 mill stands (MEERdrive)<br />
with standard module sizes of 200<br />
and 160, producing wire rod at a diameter<br />
range 5.5 to 16 mm and rolling<br />
speeds up to 90 m/s. Two water cooling<br />
systems, one pinch roll set, a laying<br />
head and a 65-m-long Loop Cooling Conveyor<br />
(LCC ® ) ensure optimum controlled<br />
cooling, laying pattern and coil shape.<br />
The compact and efficient plant with innovative<br />
plant technology for producing<br />
rebars and wire rod provides huge benefits<br />
with regard to flexibility and quality<br />
and offers low conversion costs.<br />
A primary key element is the rod finishing<br />
block with MEERdrive technology.<br />
Extensive investigation by means of<br />
simulation processes combined with our<br />
experiences for years in the construction<br />
of rolling plants has been made to ensure<br />
a stabilized rolling operation and a<br />
reliable control of the mill stands of the<br />
finishing block.<br />
Our experiences made during the successful<br />
and rapid commissioning have<br />
given a proven basis for the next step,<br />
the application of the MEERdrive technology<br />
at high-speed wire rod mills up to<br />
130 m/s.<br />
Thanks to the latest technologies especially<br />
regarding the applied drive<br />
train design, innovative concepts can<br />
now be realized.<br />
China, USA, Great Britain and India<br />
For wire rod and bar mills:<br />
Increased presence<br />
To boost our business transactions for new<br />
plants and equipment as well as to expand our<br />
after-sales service for wire rod and bar mills<br />
we have intensified our local presence in several<br />
countries. This new orientation aims at an<br />
expansion of our product range and an improved<br />
marketing success due to our local<br />
presence.<br />
Shanghai, China<br />
In Shanghai, we have established <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> Engineering Ltd.,<br />
producing predominantly equipment for wire rod and bar<br />
mills for the local and international markets. Thanks to setting<br />
up a service crew, we are able to offer local service as well as<br />
to supply the market with spare parts.<br />
Worchester, USA<br />
In Massachusetts, USA, we have launched a design office<br />
which provides as center of competence coil handling systems<br />
and wire coil compactors.<br />
Chesterfield, Great Britain<br />
To intensify our services in Europe as well as to upgrade wire<br />
mills we have recently opened a British office.<br />
Kolkata, India<br />
In Kolkata, we have strengthened our local presence by setting<br />
up our own office. In addition to supporting our sales<br />
projects within <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s complete market program the<br />
office serves also for order implementation.<br />
Newsletter No. 2/2009 47
48 Newsletter No. 1/2009<br />
Long-product mills<br />
For heavier and larger steel sections<br />
Stahlwerk Thüringen orders<br />
new roughing stand<br />
New order<br />
The old roughing stand.<br />
Responding to an order from Stahlwerk<br />
Thüringen <strong>GmbH</strong>, a company of the Spanish<br />
Grupo Alfonso Gallardo, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will supply<br />
a new roughing stand for the long-product<br />
mill in Unterwellenborn. This powerful rougher<br />
will replace the existing breakdown stand<br />
which no longer meets today’s requirements<br />
owing to the heavier and larger sections<br />
which the customer has added to the mill’s<br />
product spectrum. Commissioning is scheduled<br />
for December 2010.<br />
The new mill stand will be designed for a<br />
rolling force of 10,000 kN and will have a<br />
drive power of 4,400 kW. Further special<br />
features include automatic roll-gap opening<br />
in case of overload, partly automated axial<br />
shifting of the top roll for groove or pass<br />
adjustment and facilitated roll changing.<br />
In addition to the new roughing stand, the<br />
modernization scope includes the renewal<br />
of the whole drive train, the work roller tables,<br />
the sideguard manipulators and the<br />
complete electrical and automation equipment.<br />
On this rolling mill which <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplied<br />
in 1985 Stahlwerk Thüringen <strong>GmbH</strong><br />
produces more than 200 different steel<br />
sections. The long-product mill has an annual<br />
capacity of over 900,000 t.<br />
The finishing mill modernized in 2003 with our<br />
patented CCS ® mill stands in tandem arrangement.
Annual capacity: 690,000 t of wire rod<br />
Wire rod mill with FRS ® equipment<br />
for ArcelorMittal Hochfeld<br />
New order<br />
LCC ® Loop Cooling Conveyor.<br />
ArcelorMittal Hochfeld <strong>GmbH</strong>,<br />
with head office in Duisburg,<br />
Germany, has placed an order<br />
with <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> for the<br />
supply of a high-capacity<br />
wire rod mill with FRS ® equipment<br />
for high-grade steels.<br />
The annual capacity will be<br />
690,000 t of which the major<br />
portion will be wire rod products<br />
of cold-heading steel<br />
grades. The mill boasts great<br />
compactness and high efficiency<br />
and will go into production<br />
in August 2010.<br />
Scope of supply. The <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> order<br />
scope comprises a walking-beam furnace,<br />
the mechanical and electrical equipment of<br />
the rolling mill, all of the utility systems, the<br />
finishing facilities for the wire rod coils, the<br />
entire rolling and cooling equipment, and<br />
erection.<br />
Cooling and equalizing section in loop arrangement.<br />
Furnace, roughing and intermediate trains. The walking-beam<br />
furnace for 155-mm square billets has a capacity of 120 t/h. It is followed<br />
by a four-stand roughing train comprising HL (housingless)<br />
stands with free runout and an intermediate train consisting of 14<br />
CL (cantilever) stands, each in horizontal and vertical arrangement.<br />
Wire rod outlet and FRS ® block. The wire rod outlet comprises<br />
a cooling and equalizing section in loop arrangement, a wire rod<br />
block with six rolling units and an FRS ® block (Flexible Reduction<br />
and Sizing) with four rolling units, both in UHD design (ultraheavy<br />
duty).<br />
Forced and retarded cooling. The wire rod block and the FRS ®<br />
block are each followed by a water cooling line. The heart of the<br />
mill is the FRS ® block together with the proven cooling and equalizing<br />
section. In addition, our scope includes the 104-m-long<br />
LCC ® (Loop Cooling Conveyor) for forced and retarded cooling, a<br />
total of three water cooling lines and the CCT ® system (Controlled<br />
Cooling Technology) developed by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
Ultra-fine microstructures through thermomechanical<br />
rolling. These facilities will allow ArcelorMittal Hochfeld to produce<br />
wire rod of the entire dimensional range of 5.5 to 25.0 mm<br />
by means of temperature-controlled rolling. Ultra-fine micro structures<br />
can be achieved especially for cold-heading grades by thermomechanical<br />
rolling. The maximum rolling speed for 5.5-mmdiameter<br />
wire rod is 120 m/s.<br />
Newsletter No. 3/2008 49
New order<br />
Greater availability. The goals of this expansion<br />
are to increase the availability of<br />
the rolling mill by reducing the changing,<br />
set-up and tuning times, and to optimize<br />
spare-parts stocking. All these procedures<br />
will be simplified thanks to the introduction<br />
of uniform stands in one size in the intermediate<br />
and the finishing train.<br />
Uniform stands. Comprising four horizontal,<br />
one vertical and three convertible housingless<br />
stands (HL), the new continuous intermediate<br />
and finishing trains will replace<br />
the existing rolling mill. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s scope<br />
also includes the supply of all gearboxes,<br />
spindles, holders and protective equipment.<br />
A flying shear, various interstand facilities,<br />
quick-change devices and tools, hydraulic<br />
and lubrication systems as well as<br />
an additional12 change cassettes complete<br />
our scope. All equipment will be pretested<br />
in <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s shops before delivery.<br />
Automation. The automation package includes<br />
a PLC (Control Logix/Flex Logix)<br />
and the corresponding software for the<br />
HL stands.<br />
50 Newsletter No. 2/2008<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Modernization of bar mill No.1<br />
Nucor Steel, USA: New intermediate<br />
and finishing trains for Darlington<br />
Responding to an order recently received from Nucor Steel<br />
Darlington (Nucor Bar Mill Group), <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will supply a new<br />
intermediate and a new finishing train for the bar mill No. 1 in<br />
Darlington, South Carolina / USA. Delivery is scheduled for the<br />
end of 2009 / beginning of 2010.<br />
new stand controls. The new system will<br />
be linked to the existing system via an interface.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will also be responsible<br />
for the supervision of erection and<br />
commissioning.<br />
Comprehensive revamping. This present<br />
investment is part of an extensive modernization<br />
program launched by Nucor to<br />
bring all its facilities up to the state of the<br />
art to strengthen its competitive edge.<br />
Eleven section mills at Nucor Bar Mill<br />
Group. Nucor Steel operates as many as<br />
eleven section mills at its US locations in<br />
South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah,<br />
New York, Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi,<br />
Washington, Ohio and Connecticut. These<br />
mills produce concrete reinforcing bars,<br />
hot-rolled bars, rod, light shapes, structural<br />
angles and channels, wire mesh and<br />
guard rails of C-steels and alloyed grades.<br />
The products cover a whole range of applications<br />
in market segments such as<br />
agriculture, automotive construction, civil<br />
construction, energy, furniture, mechani-<br />
HL stand.<br />
cal engineering, metal construction, rail<br />
traffic, shipbuilding, heavy-load trucks and<br />
trailers. Four of the section mills were built<br />
by Nucor itself between 1969 and 1981.<br />
The remaining seven mills have been<br />
purchased since 2000, including the acquisitions<br />
of Marion Steel Company in<br />
2005 and of Connecticut Steel Corporation<br />
in 2006. Altogether, the eleven section<br />
mills have a total capacity of approx.<br />
8,060,000 tpy.<br />
Latest orders<br />
n Arcelor-Mittal Hochfeld <strong>GmbH</strong>,<br />
Germany. High-production wire rod<br />
mill with FRS ® block (Flexible Reduc -<br />
tion and Sizing) for quality steel grades,<br />
especially cold heading grades.<br />
n Arcelor-Mittal Monlevades S.A.,<br />
Brazil. High-production wire rod mill<br />
with the possibility of adding a second<br />
strand and an FRS ® block.
New order<br />
Capacity: 1 million t of bars annually<br />
Emirate of Sharjah<br />
receives bar mill<br />
Hamriyah Steel, a joint venture<br />
recently set up by Russian<br />
Metalloinvest Group and<br />
Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin<br />
Zayed Al Nahyan from the<br />
United Arab Emirates, chose<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to erect a bar mill<br />
in the Emirate of Sharjah<br />
(UAE). The mill will be designed<br />
for an annual production<br />
of 1 million t of bars. The<br />
main customer will be the<br />
UAE’s booming building industry.<br />
Hamriyah Steel intends<br />
to put the new mill into<br />
operation at the end of 2009.<br />
Equipment, services plus electrics and<br />
automation. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will supply the<br />
complete rolling mill including electrical<br />
and automation systems. In addition, we<br />
will be responsible for erection supervision,<br />
commissioning and training. The automation<br />
system made by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will<br />
monitor and control the whole production<br />
process.<br />
180 t of billets per hour. A 180-t/h walking-beam<br />
furnace feeds the rolling mill<br />
with square billets of 125 x 125 mm to<br />
170 x 170 mm with lengths of up to 12 m<br />
which are rolled into bars with diameters<br />
between 10 and 40 mm.<br />
Housingless stands. The rolling mill will<br />
be equipped with horizontal and vertical<br />
housingless stands, some of which can<br />
be used as both horizontal and vertical<br />
units. The stands come with quick-changing<br />
devices. The smallest sizes will be<br />
rolled by means of the four-slit rolling<br />
method. A water box for quenching and<br />
tempering the bars ensures the specific<br />
mechanical properties for the building industry.<br />
The fully automated cooling bed,<br />
the separating devices as well as the<br />
bundling and tying station will likewise be<br />
supplied by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
Newsletter No. 2/2008 51
Commissioning<br />
In the spring of 2008, Stefana<br />
S.p.A., located in Ospitaletto, province of<br />
Brescia, northern Italy, successfully commissioned<br />
a completely new bar mill from <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong>. Featuring a whole range of high-tech<br />
equipment, the new mill can produce some<br />
120 t / h of rebars or plain rounds, in case of<br />
hot charging 140 t / h, conforming to a total<br />
annual output of 700,000 t of sections. It<br />
hence ranks among the most productive<br />
rolling mills in southern Europe.<br />
Stefana and <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> had signed the contract for this project<br />
named “Dream Steel” in 2005 to boost the production of<br />
straight bars and spools. The original layout of the mill reserved<br />
space for later installation of a billet welding machine to enable<br />
endless rolling, as well as for mill extension to enable the production<br />
of wire rod.<br />
Walking-hearth furnace. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s package included a walking-hearth<br />
furnace for 160 mm x 160 mm square billets up to 16<br />
m long. A connection to the existing casting machine permits the<br />
billets to be cold- or hot-charged. The furnace is equipped with all<br />
required charging and discharging facilities.<br />
Rolling mill with 16 roll stands and two finishing blocks. The<br />
rolling mill comprises 16 housingless roll stands – six roughing<br />
stands in horizontal and vertical arrangement plus ten intermediate/finishing<br />
stands in horizontal, vertical and convertible design.<br />
In addition, two finishing blocks, each with six rolling units, three<br />
cooling sections for rebar quenching and tempering from rolling<br />
heat, two cooling-bed shears and the patented HSD ® High-Speed<br />
Delivery system belong to the mill’s equipment.<br />
HSD ® system for maximum production rates. The HSD ® system<br />
with four rotating channels permits high-speed two-slit rolling<br />
to attain maximal production rates for the smallest bar sizes.<br />
52 Newsletter No. 2/2008<br />
Long-product mills<br />
700,000 t of rebars and plain rounds per year<br />
Stefana, Italy: Bar mill<br />
successfully started up
Finishing area with 90-m cooling bed.<br />
The finishing area comprises a 90-m-long<br />
cooling bed, various transport systems, a<br />
cold shear, bundling equipment, four automatic<br />
tying machines with automatic labeling<br />
system, bundle conveyors, and all<br />
required auxiliary facilities. The two VCC ®<br />
Vertical Compact Coilers consist of cooling<br />
boxes, shears, spooling equipment, a<br />
spool manipulator, two strapping machines,<br />
transport facilities and a weighing<br />
station.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> as full-line supplier. In addition<br />
to all mechanical equipment, <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> supplied the complete electric and<br />
electronic equipment, controls as well as<br />
the software for the automation of the<br />
rolling mill. Erection, supervision of rollingmill<br />
commissioning and training of customer’s<br />
personnel were also included in<br />
our scope.<br />
Technical data<br />
n Annual capacity 700,000 t<br />
n Product mix: rebars and plain rounds<br />
n Diameters: 8 to 16 mm,<br />
2-slit rolling<br />
n Diameters: 18 to 40 mm,<br />
normal rolling<br />
n Discharge by means of the HSD ®<br />
system with rolling speeds of<br />
up to 40 m/s onto the cooling bed<br />
n Two VCC ® Vertical Compact Coilers<br />
for rebar spools with a diameter of<br />
700 mm, a height of 700 mm and<br />
a weight of up to 3.2 t<br />
n Rebars have diameters between<br />
8 and 16 mm and are coiled on the<br />
two VCC ® facilities at speeds of up<br />
to 35 m/s<br />
Newsletter No. 2/2008 53
Commissioning<br />
54 Newsletter No. 2/2008<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Productivity of long-product mill boosted by up to 50 %<br />
Hellenic Halyvourgia: HSD ® High-Speed<br />
Delivery system successful<br />
HSD ® High-Speed<br />
Delivery system<br />
for the cooling bed.<br />
Cooling bed.<br />
In July 2007, Athens-based<br />
Hellenic Halyvourgia S.A.<br />
started up a new High-Speed<br />
Delivery system (HSD ® ) from<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>. Since then, the<br />
Greek steelmaker’s productivity<br />
has risen distinctly.<br />
Today, almost one year later,<br />
a long-term evaluation confirms<br />
the excellent production<br />
figures: with the new<br />
equipment, Hellenic Haly -<br />
vourgia’s productivity for 8mm-diameter<br />
rebars is 50 %<br />
higher than with the former<br />
mill configuration.
Revamp with just<br />
minor production losses<br />
To modernize the long-product mill, the<br />
patented HSD ® High-Speed Delivery system<br />
was installed during the scheduled<br />
annual maintenance shutdown so that revamping<br />
did not cause any major production<br />
losses. Parallel to the installation of<br />
the HSD ® system, the rolling mill was<br />
modernized and all measures for dismantling<br />
the old machines and ancillary facilities<br />
were carried out.<br />
FAC issued after<br />
just 10 months<br />
In spite of the tense delivery situation<br />
worldwide for plant components, <strong>SMS</strong><br />
<strong>Meer</strong> succeeded to supply, erect and commission<br />
the complete facility on schedule,<br />
just six months after contract signing in<br />
January 2007. In November 2007, around<br />
10 months after the signing of the contract,<br />
Hellenic Halyvourgia officially accepted<br />
the mill and issued the FAC.<br />
HSD ® system.<br />
Newsletter No. 2/2008 55
Innovative CS roll stands<br />
56 Newsletter No. 1/2008<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Hoesch Schwerter Profile:<br />
revamp of rolling mill for special sections<br />
New order<br />
Hoesch Schwerter Profile<br />
<strong>GmbH</strong>, a company of the Italian<br />
Calvi Holding S.r.l., selected<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to modernize<br />
its rolling mill for special sections.<br />
The goals of this proj -<br />
ect are to increase the mill’s<br />
availability, yield and flexibility<br />
and to improve the quality<br />
of the finished products.<br />
Tailor-made modernization concept.<br />
The existing roll stands will be replaced<br />
with modern compact stands. Grip-type<br />
tilters and centering devices will ensure<br />
the optimal material entry conditions<br />
which are indispensable for the rolling of<br />
special sections. Special investments in<br />
areas of the continuous finishing line and<br />
the further processing facilities are also<br />
essential parts of the entire modernization<br />
concept.<br />
Innovative CS roll stands. The special<br />
sections produced by Hoesch Schwerter<br />
Profile <strong>GmbH</strong> are tailored to the needs and<br />
requirements of the end users and have to<br />
meet highest standards in terms of precision<br />
and surface quality. Therefore, the<br />
customer decided to employ <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s<br />
innovative CS stands (Compact Stands)<br />
with automatic high-speed stand changing.<br />
High stand rigidity. The new change<br />
stands feature maximum rigidity and require<br />
little maintenance. Offering great<br />
flexibility, the CS change-stand concept is<br />
ideally suited for the rolling of special sections.<br />
The made-to-measure stand solution<br />
provides for the re-use of existing rolls and<br />
guides, making the revamp of the specialsection<br />
mill highly cost-efficient.<br />
Scope of supply. <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will supply<br />
the mechanical and electrical equipment<br />
as well as the automation for the new CS<br />
stands, descaling devices and grip-type<br />
tilters, stand-changing and assembly area<br />
equipment as well as the required utility<br />
systems. Training of customer’s personnel<br />
and supervision of erection and commissioning<br />
are likewise included in our<br />
package.<br />
This revamp measure will help Hoesch<br />
Schwerter Profile <strong>GmbH</strong> expand its leading<br />
position as a producer of special sections<br />
and strengthen its market position.<br />
New order<br />
Jiexiu Xintai Iron & Steel Co.,<br />
based in the Chinese pro v -<br />
ince of Shanxi, has contracted<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to supply a section<br />
mill for the rolling of<br />
beams with web heights between<br />
200 and 1,000 mm.<br />
Designed for an annual capacity of 1.2 million<br />
t, the mill will further increase China’s<br />
production capacity for parallel-flanged<br />
beams to meet the high domestic demand.<br />
Hot commissioning of the mill is<br />
scheduled for the fall of 2009.<br />
CS reversing stand during erection.<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> supplies eighth section mill to China<br />
Beam mill for Jiexiu Xintai<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s supply package includes the<br />
planning and engineering, the key equipment,<br />
the training of customer’s personnel<br />
as well as the supervision of erection and<br />
commissioning.<br />
The rolling mill will be equipped with our<br />
universal stands in CCS ® design (Compact<br />
Cartridge Stand). The hydraulic adjustment<br />
control system and the high rigidity<br />
of the mill stands permit to roll finished<br />
products with close tolerances. The 9roller<br />
CRS ® compact roller straightener<br />
features straightening rollers that are<br />
mounted in bearings on both sides, hydraulic<br />
adjustment and automatic straight-
Higher yield and closer length tolerances<br />
Gerdau Açominas, Brazil:<br />
expansion of section finishing area<br />
New order<br />
Gerdau Açominas of Brazil has placed an order with<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> to expand the finishing equipment of its<br />
Ouro Branco heavy section mill. For extension of the<br />
existing mechanical equipment, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will supply<br />
a tandem cold saw, two automatic 12-m piling facilities<br />
as well as wire-tying machines. In addition,<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> will be at the head of the consortium for<br />
the electrical and automation equipment. Brazilian<br />
company Converteam will also be on board for this.<br />
Cold saw in operation.<br />
ening-roller changing, and ensures great<br />
flexibility along with top straightening results<br />
at minimum residual stresses. Program<br />
changing on the mill takes no more<br />
than 20 minutes. For dividing the rolled<br />
stock into finished lengths, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong><br />
will provide its proven cold saw technique<br />
which stands out for its low cutting costs.<br />
This is yet another heavy beam mill employing<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>’s patented XH ® universal<br />
beam rolling method. Since its introduction<br />
in the early 90s, <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong> has<br />
implemented this economical rolling<br />
method in as many as 16 new facilities.<br />
The consortium’s scope of supply also<br />
includes the supervision of erection and<br />
commissioning as well as the startup of<br />
the electrical equipment. The expansion<br />
concept provides for installation of the new<br />
equipment while rolling continues. Following<br />
expansion of the section finishing area,<br />
the rolling mill’s capacity will go up from<br />
some 400,000 to 700,000 tpy. Commissioning<br />
is scheduled for 2009.<br />
The coming expansion will increase the<br />
capacity of the finishing equipment which<br />
was completely exhausted in the past and<br />
hence represented a bottleneck. This will<br />
be achieved through installation of a second<br />
cooling bed and by changing over from<br />
dividing the sections in hot state to finishdividing<br />
by means of cold saws.<br />
Moreover, additional piling, tying and<br />
loading capacities will be created. After the<br />
expansion, the only function of the hot<br />
saws is to pre-divide the material, while<br />
the new cold saws will be used for finishcutting<br />
the material into saw layers. This<br />
will increase the yield and also improve the<br />
length tolerances of the finished material.<br />
Newsletter No. 1/2008 57
Wisco, China: rail and section mill<br />
58 Newsletter No. 1/2008<br />
Just 22 months after order<br />
award, the new rail and section<br />
mill of Wuhan Iron &<br />
Steel (Group) Corporation<br />
(Wisco), Wuhan, China, has<br />
successfully entered its hot<br />
commissioning phase. The<br />
mill which features proven<br />
key equipment was supplied<br />
and installed jointly with the<br />
customer under the technical<br />
leadership of <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.<br />
Long-product mills<br />
Commissioning underway<br />
Rolling of the first section. Rolling of beams to the XH ® rolling method.<br />
Commissioning Commissioning began at the end of December 2007 with the<br />
rolling of rails with a weight of 60 kg/m. In the weeks and months<br />
thereafter, all the products included in the product mix were, and<br />
still are, rolled.<br />
The rolling mill consists of two 2-high reversing stands and one<br />
universal tandem rolling group with hot saws and one 105-m-long<br />
and 42-m-wide cooling bed. The mill also incorporates the proven<br />
CCS ® stands (Compact Cartridge Stands) for automatic high-speed<br />
changing. The cooling bed is equipped for pre-bending of the rails.<br />
The horizontal/vertical straightening machine located downstream<br />
of the cooling bed completes our supplies.<br />
For rail rolling, the rail and section mill employs the universal rolling<br />
method. It is able to produce rails up to a length of 100 m with<br />
close tolerances for use in high-speed railway systems. Wisco is<br />
now the fourth rail producer in China using technologies and equipment<br />
made by <strong>SMS</strong> <strong>Meer</strong>.
Universal rolling in the compact stand group.<br />
The mill is able to attain a production<br />
of 1.05 million tpy, with the product mix<br />
comprising:<br />
n 550,000 tpy, various rail types of 38 to 89 kg/m<br />
n 400,000 tpy, parallel-flanged beams of 175 x 175 to<br />
600 x 300 (mm x mm)<br />
n IPN beams of 250 to 500 mm<br />
n Channels of 250 x 80 to 400 x 104 (mm x mm)<br />
n Angles of 33 to 71 kg/m<br />
n Piling sections<br />
n Mining sections<br />
n Bulb flats<br />
Horizontal /vertical straightening<br />
machine in a production plant.<br />
Horizontal straightener<br />
in the shop.<br />
Pre-bending of rails on the cooling bed.<br />
Newsletter No. 1/2008 59
<strong>SMS</strong> MEER GMBH<br />
Long Products<br />
Ohlerkirchweg 66<br />
41069 Mönchengladbach, Germany<br />
P.O. Box 100645<br />
41006 Mönchengladbach, Germany<br />
Phone: +49 (0) 2161 350-0<br />
Fax: +49 (0) 2161 350-1754<br />
info@sms-meer.com<br />
www.sms-meer.com<br />
MEETING your EXPECTATIONS<br />
<strong>SMS</strong> MEER S.P.A.<br />
Long Products<br />
Via Udine, 103<br />
33017 Tarcento (Udine), Italy<br />
Phone: +39 (0) 432 799 111<br />
Fax: +49 (0) 432 784 556<br />
info@sms-meer.it<br />
www.sms-meer.com<br />
“The information provided in this brochure contains a general description of the performance characteristics of the products concerned. The actual products may not always have<br />
these characteristics as described and, in particular, these may change as a result of further developments of the products. The provision of this information is not intended to have<br />
and will not have legal effect. An obligation to deliver products having particular characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of the contract.”<br />
500/03/11 . Ky . Printed in Germany