RUSSULA NEWSLETTER No. 11

RECENT PROJECTS
Successful startup of Gerdau Corsa´s section mill drive
and controls upgrade
Russula upgraded the automation system and drives
for Gerdau Corsa´s section mill. The mill was successfully
started up at the end of October, early November
2014. Gerdua Corsa´s 150,000 tpy section mill is located
in Tlalnepantla, Mexico.
As an independent provider, Russula has the flexibility
to integrate the ideal combination of hardware and software,
mutually agreed upon with the customer for their
particular mill. For this project, Russula integrated the
control system and drive hardware from four different
suppliers.
The Russula Automation and Service solution for this
mill includes:
- Siemens S7-400 PLCs
- DC Drive Rebuilds - ABB DCS800
- New DC drives - ABB DCS800
- New AC Drives - ABB ACS800
- HMI - Wonderware
- Electrical, Software and HMI Engineering
- Main operator control station
- 3 Simotion controllers for the shears
- Iba high speed data acquisition system
Russula was responsible for the installation supervision,
commissioning, operator/maintenance training
and three months of production assistance.
The Russula Mill Control Scope:
- Rolling mill configuration and mill tuning
- Cascade mill control
- Inter-Stand manual control
- Mill speed references and management of start
and stop of each section
- Tension control
- Tracking and cobble detection
- Shear cut control
- Rest cut removal
- Cooling bed entry and exit sequencing
- Phantom billet
- Alarm and Interlocking
Even after many years of operation, DC motors
are often in an excellent shape. Since the technology for
power stacks and power circuits does not change
rapidly, upgrading the drive electronics will often give
the same result as replacing the entire drive. This is an
attractive upgrade path for mills as the installation is
quicker and the equipment less expensive than buying
complete new drives.
This is the fourth project Russula has implemented for
Gerdau Corsa in Mexico in the past two years. With the
successful startup of the section mill, Russula strengthens
its relationship with Gerdau Corsa.
Billet exiting the reheat furnace at Gerda Corsa section mill
in Tlalnepantla, Mexico
The small section mill produces 150,000 tons per year of 1-6
inch steel strip, squares, rounds and channels
11 Russula Newsletter No. 11 April 2015 - Copyright © by RUSSULA S.A.