Long Products Bulletin 2011
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Transcript of Long Products Bulletin 2011
LONG PRODUCTS BULLETINLONG PRODUCTS BULLETINSpecial Edition 2011
Extracts from NewsLetters, editions 2008 to 2011
Long-product Mills
2 Newsletter 1/2011
In spring 2012, ArcelorMittal Hochfeld GmbH with headquar-
ters in Duisburg, Germany, will commence production of a
complete new wire rod mill in Duisburg-Ruhrort enabling a
wire rod production of 690,000 tpy with only one rolling
strand. Tailored accordingly, the wire rod blocks in this high-
performance production line are equipped with the individual
drive technology (MEERdrive®) developed by SMS Meer.
New order from ArcelorMittal
MEERdrive®– more flexi bility and less costs
New
ord
er
The layout, in accordance with local requirements.
Loup Cooling Conveyor (LCC®).
3Newsletter 1/2011
The new wire rod mill has been designed
to roll technically demanding grades,
which are therefore of extremely high
quality, to the closest tolerances. This line
is characterized by compactness and effi-
ciency and achieves an annual capacity of
690,000 t.
Furnace, roughing and intermediate train
The walking-beam furnace for the heating
of billets measuring 155 mm square will
have an output rate of 120 t/h. This is fol-
lowed by a four-stand roughing train com-
prising HL (HousingLess) stands with
downstream free runout and an interme-
diate train consisting of 14 CL (CantiLever)
stands, each in horizontal and vertical
arrangement.
Equalizing section in loop arrangement
The core element of the mill begins with
the cooling and equalizing section in loop
arrangement. Owing to this arrangement,
an optimal run-in temperature for each
steel grade can be preset in front of the
wire rod blocks.
Wire rod blocks with innovativeMEERdrive® technology
The wire rod finishing block with six rolling
units and the FRS® block with four units
(Flexible Reduction and Sizing) – both in
UHD (Ultra-Heavy Duty) arrangement – are
provided with our innovative individual
MEERdrive® technology offering numer-
ous benefits. The most important ones are:
n total flexibility in roll pass designing
n essentially simplified rolling ring
management
n reduced operational costs
Cooling lines for high-qualityfinished products
With the water cooling lines downstream
of the wire rod block and the FRS® block as
well as the 104-m-long LCC® (Loop Cooling
Conveyor) for intensive and retarded cool-
ing, all the requirements for the produc-
tion of high-quality finished products are
fulfilled. Furthermore, the required cooling
strategies based on the CCT® model (Con-
trolled Cooling Technology) developed by
SMS Meer can be simulated, and then ad-
justed and controlled online during oper-
ation. The entire coil handling equipment
designed to be particularly protective to
the finished material is also adapted to the
high-quality finished products.
»High-speed loop laying head.
MEERdrive® technology inthe wire rod finishing blockwith six rolling units.
Long-product Mills
4 Newsletter 1/2011
Temperature-controlled maximum rolling speed of 120 m/s
These facilities allow wire rod to be produced over the full size range from 5.5 to 25.0 mm
by means of temperature-controlled rolling and at a maximum rolling speed of 120 m/s
for 5.5-mm wire rod. This enables ArcelorMittal Hochfeld to acquire a leading position as
supplier of wire rod for the following fields of application: automotive manufacture, me-
chanical engineering, offshore technology, plants for renewable energies and connective
elements.
Opportunities and benefits
n Rolled metallurgical properties such as conventionally annealed wire rod
n Wire rod with characteristics comparable with quenched and tempered steel,
but with improved formability
n Scale which can be easily removed mechanically or chemically
n Closer tolerances of 1/4 DIN
n Reduced spreading width of mechanical properties
n Coil weight up to 3 t
ArcelorMittal Hochfeld orders wire rod mill
Horizontal coil compactor.
5Newsletter 1/2011
Stahlwerk Annahütte, Germany, the oldest existing steel pant
in Europe, is pleased about a new versatile and needs-based
cut-to-length group from SMS Meer fully meeting the de-
mands of the manufacturer of high-quality steel bars.
Constant quality
The new cut-to-length group has been put into operation in
the bar mill at the Hammerau site in Southern Germany.
Ralf Becker, Head of Hot Rolling Mill Divi-
sion at Annahütte: ”The shear works flaw-
lessly and we have had good experiences
working with bars with very different diam-
eters cut.”
Co
mm
issi
on
ing
Stahlwerk Annahütte with new cut-to-length group
Faultless bars at any diameter
The new shear unit prior to delivery.
The cut-to-length group comprises a pinch
roll unit and a combined drum-type/two-
crank shear as well as a scrap deflector and
is able to cut round bars with tempera-
tures up to 1,000 °C. For threaded bars i.e.
rebars with a ribbing designed as thread,
the temperature is approx. 200 °C and the
maximum tensile strength of the bars is
1,800 N/mm2.
High requirements met
The shear operates optionally as crank
shear or as rotary shear with knife arms
and cuts round bars with diameters from
12 to 50 mm.
”The machines supplied by SMS Meer are
highly versatile and exactly meet our high
requirements which we are having as sup-
plier of the automotive and tool manufac-
turing industry. These bar steels are suited
for numerous applications and range from
alloyed and non-alloyed steels for case-
hardened steel grades up to and including
steels for springs, chains and ball bearings.
The range also includes Q & T, cold upset-
ting and cold working steels,” Ralf Becker
stresses.
Long-product Mills
6 Newsletter 1/2011
Southwest Siberian Metallurgical Plant Novokuznetsk, a com-
pany of the EVRAZ Group, modernizes its production facilities
for heavy sections in the city of the same name. To achieve
this, the plant operator has placed an order with SMS Meer,
Germany, for the supply of a new universal mill for rails and
other sections. To set up Russia’s most advanced rail and sec-
tion mill, the production with the old equipment will only be
stopped for four months. Thereafter, the steel company will
be able to produce 100-m-long rails.
As the largest rail producer in Russia, the customer intends to man-
ufacture the rails with state-of-the-art processes which meet all
current needs. Therefore, rail rolling operation will be modernized
with a comprehensive program. By using our new rolling methods
and advanced mill stand concepts, the productivity, flexibility and
availability of the plant will be increased. In addition to that, top-
quality finished products can be produced.
Universal mill for Novokuznetsk
Russia’s most modern rail mill
New
ord
er Altogether, 1.3 million t of sections per year. The new mill with
a total capacity of then 1.3 million t of sections per year is sched-
uled to go into production in October 2012. 950,000 t of the annual
production are rails, including 400,000 t with a maximum length
of 100 m. Such long rails can be used for high-speed rail tracks or,
with hardened rail heads, also for high axle loads on heavy goods
trains. In addition, the new mill produces beams, channels, rounds
and sections.
Latest CCS® technology in the rolling mill
Upgrading is realized in several sub-projects. For the rolling area
of the section mill, SMS Meer supplies the rolling technology, the
complete mechanical and electrical equipment and the automa-
tion system. The latest CCS® stands will be used in the universal
mill. This stand type is characterized by high rigidity, hydraulic roll
gap adjustment and fully automated stand changing devices. With
the tandem reversing rolling group, it is possible to produce not
only rails but also beams and channels in the universal rolling
process. This cost-efficient beam production is performed by
means of our proven XH® reversing rolling method.
Two-high reversing roughing stand in CCS® design. Use of a laser profile gage.
7Newsletter 1/2011
Extensive additional supplies. The key
components of the mill also include ma-
nipulators, grip-type tilters upline and
downline the tandem stand group, trans-
port facilities and a hot saw. For the quality
check, a laser profile gage (Propgauge) is
employed for inline measurement of the
finished profiles. The supply package from
SMS Meer also includes the supervision of
erection and commissioning, the training
of customer’s personnel, and spare parts.
Novokuznetsk on the Tom River is a large
Russian city in the Coal Basin of Kusbass
in the Kemerowo Oblast in Southwest
Siberia. The city has a population of
about 560,000 (as of 2009) and is situ-
ated approx. 300 km south of the re-
gional capital Kemerowo.
The new universal mill produces rails for highlydemanding applications.
The core element of a modern heavy-section mill: Tandem reversing rolling group in CCS® design.
With inline measurement, the quality of rolled rails can be checked.
Long-product Mills
8 Newsletter 1/2011
At Hmisho Trading Group, Syria, SMS Meer has modernized the
existing rebar rolling mill. Our engineers employed the Ebros®
system for the endless rolling of sections, leading to a signifi-
cant increase of the overall annual production by 5 %.
A further benefit of the new system is: less crop-end losses and a
reduced number of short bars, whereby the metal yield is im-
proved by 1.5 %. Moreover, less labor is required since fewer cob-
bles means less transports of non-conforming products.
Ebros® system installed in rebar mill
At Hmisho: New technology increases production by 5 percent
Technology from rail construction. SMS
Meer has developed the Ebros® system
under a license agreement with Steel
Plantech, Japan. It is based on the welding
technology employed in the construction
of tracks for high-speed trains. The two
companies have transferred this technol-
ogy to steelworks construction: to weld to-
gether consecutive hot billets (1,100 °C) as
they come out of the furnace.
Benefits of endless rolling. This process
makes ”endless rolling” of sections possi-
ble, whereby productivity and material
yield are increased and a higher plant uti-
lization factor is achieved. At the same
time it ensures a constant product quality.
In the Hmisho mill, billets of 130 mm x 130
mm square and 12 m length are welded
and the billet throughput is 60 t per hour.
Market leader in Syria. The complete rebar
rolling mill of Hmisho equipped with HSD®
(High-Speed Delivery) system was supplied
by SMS Meer in 2007. The annual capacity is
350,000 t and it is the fourth plant which has
been supplied by SMS Meer to Syria.
The new Ebros® system pays off for Hmisho: higher productivity, improved materialyield and constant quality.
Mod
ern
izat
ion
9Newsletter 1/2011
Section steel producer Celsa, Barcelona,
Spain, has signed a service agreement
with SMS Meer ensuring reliable func-
tionality of the ”Technical Control Sys-
tem” (in short TCS) and offering optimal
support during rolling. The TCS pro-
vides an exact roll position and, conse-
quently, allows top product quality.
Celsa’s section mill: preventing downtimes
”Technical Control System” – in top form thanks to service contract
The aim: Error prevention. The modules
of the service contract with SMS Meer have
been customized in cooperation with Celsa.
The main goal is to make sure that prob-
lems on the plant are prevented in the first
place. Should a fault occur despite all the ef-
forts to prevent this, it will be eliminated
quickly and expertly in a very short time.
In future, the section mill of Celsa will be taken care of properly by SMS Meer.
Fast fault diagnosis. Thanks to advanced
technology – per email, phone and inter-
net system (VPN) – you can look at the
plant directly. A fault diagnostics can thus
be generated rapidly by our experts. Reg-
ular checks, maintenance measures and
local staff training are rounding off the
range of services.
Annual system check. The second mod-
ule includes the annual system check. For
this purpose, a technician from SMS Meer
is on site for at least three days, installs new
computer systems and then informs cus-
tomer’s staff on their handling. Moerover,
he also provides training.
Other customers. Besides Celsa, other
customers rely on our service for TCS
equipment, including among others Ger-
dau Ameristeel and Steel Dynamics in the
U.S.A. as well as Changzhi in China.
The TCS system provides an exact roll position.
New
con
trac
t
Minimills
10 Newsletter 1/2011
Minimal energy consumption. For the generation of energy, Taiwan
depends almost 100 percent on oil and gas imported from abroad.
The country generates high emissions of greenhouse gases, and as a
result of this, the government is making efforts to reduce energy con-
sumption and the emission rate. In response to these efforts, we
have materialized an innovative approach for the new minimill of
Tung Ho in order to reach a minimum energy consumption.
Reheating furnace dispensed with. The new plant optimally im-
plements the basic minimill concept: short ways and a direct link-
age of the rolling mill to the steel plant. The hot billets running out
of the continuous caster (with a capacity of 40 to 45 t/h per strand)
are immediately brought to a uniform temperature in the induc-
tive heating plant. Then, the billets run directly into the rebar
rolling mill. In this way, a gas- or oil-fired reheating furnace up-
stream of the rolling mill could be dispensed with. Under certain
conditions, even an inductive heating is not required since the bil-
lets are shaped in such a way that they hardly lose any heat during
the subsequent production process.
Every year 72,000 t less carbon dioxide (CO2)
Tung Ho Steel, Taiwan: Minimill sets new standardsfor rebars
In mid-2010, Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corpora-
tion, Taiwan, has successfully taken a minimill for
rebars into operation which has been built by
SMS Meer and SMS Concast. What is so special is
that the new minimill in Taoyuan near Taipei can
be operated without a conventional reheating
furnace. Instead, an inductive heating plant from
SMS Elotherm has been integrated.
Consequently, Tung Ho saves energy and the environment is less
polluted, since 72,000 t less carbon dioxide (CO2) are produced.
And the operational costs are also substantially lower.
The works bays.Joining forces: Experts from SMS and Tung Ho Steel.
11Newsletter 1/2011
Good for the environment and for returns. Eyery year the steel
plant with electric arc furnace, ladle furnace and a five-strand billet
caster from SMS Concast is producing 1.2 million t of billets and
the rebar mill from SMS Meer has a capacity of 800,000 tpy. Due
to the innovative energy concept, Tung Ho Steel every year re-
duces the emission rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 72,000 t, of sul-
fur dioxide (SO2) by 410 t and of nitrogen (Nox) by 225 t. In addition
to this, the investment costs for the inductive heating plant are ap-
prox. 25 to 30 % less than with conventional furnace concepts. At
the same time, the operational costs for each t of rebars are re-
duced by approx. 25.00 US dollars.
Excellent references. Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President and CEO
of SMS Meer: ”This mill shows yet again that our customers benefit
from integrated all-inclusive solutions of the SMS group. Two plant
manufacturers which are leaders in their respective fields, SMS
Concast and SMS Meer, join together their innovative concepts
within a seamless process chain. In doing so, they spare our business
partners from time-consuming and costly interface problems – and
thus allow the mill to be put into operation early.”
In the minimill segment, SMS is one of the world-
wide leading plant manufacturers with refer-
ences in the whole world. Currently, we are build-
ing large plants in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. »
The innovative energy concept with inductive heating reduces the carbon dioxide rate every year by 72,000 t.
Reliable and smooth casting.
Minimills
12 Newsletter 1/2011
Layout of the minimill at Tung Ho Steel
Steel plant with 120-t EAF
The electric steelworks built by SMS Concast provides a 120-t elec-
tric arc furnace with dedusting system. The power consumption
of the furnace is 120 MVA. To supply additional energy, we apply
our Conso oxygen technology (oxygen/gas burner) which reduces
power consumption and increases productivity at the same time.
The tap-to-tap time is 43 min.
Downstream of this is a ladle furnace which is used for exact tem-
perature setting providing liquid steel for secondary-metallurgical
miroalloying.
Furnace tapping. The continuous casting plant has five strands and is expandable by a sixth strand.
120-t EAF with Conso-Oxygen technology for reduced energy consumption.
The EAF has a tap-to-tap time of 43 minutes.
13Newsletter 1/2011
Five-strand billet caster
The casting machine has five strands with a
casting radius of 10.25 m. An expansion to six
strands has been considered in the layout. The
range of dimensions comprises square billets
in the formats of 130, 150, 160 and 200 mm. The
special equipment includes among others the
Invex® mold tube technology for high-speed
casting and the hydraulic mold oscillation sys-
tems. The casting machine is able cast billets in
various sizes in a parallel mode.
Rebar mill for bars with diametersfrom 10 to 43 mm
In front of the rebar mill the billets are heated to
an uniform temperature by the inductive heat-
ing plant, if necessary. The downstream rolling
mill includes 14 mill stands in horizontal/verti-
cal and tiltable configuration. A compact design
of the ”HL” stands ensures that close tolerances
of the finished products are maintained. Bars
with small diameters are finish-rolled in two fin-
ish-rolling blocks with six rolling units in V
arrangement.
Straight bars are transported with up to 40 m/s
to the cooling bed by the H.S.D.® (High-Speed
Delivery) system. Then they pass through the
finishing facilities.
The roughing train of the rolling mill.
The minimill is designed for 800,000 tpy of rebars.
Induction heating section.
14 Newsletter 2/2010
Steelworks for Long Products
600,000 tpy of blooms/beam blanks and heavy sections
SMS Concast and SMS Meer supply steel complex to Bahrain
The contract is for the construction and supply of one 120-t
electric arc furnace, one ladle furnace, one bloom/beam
blank casting plant and one heavy-section rolling mill. The
order will be realized in cooperation with Samsung Engineer-
ing as EPC partner (Engineering, Procurement & Construc-
tion). Commissioning of the overall plant is planned for the
second half of 2012.
With the awarding of the order for the technological core equip-
ment including the complete automation system to SMS Meer and
SMS Concast, United Steel selected best performing production
technology for long products.
SMS Concast will supply a state-of-the-art steelworks with an an-
nual capacity of 850,000 t. It will comprise one 120-t Ultra-High-
Power EAF for continuous DRI charging, a ladle furnace and a
three-strand continuous casting machine for various near-to-net-
shape bloom and beam blank sections. The delivery also includes
the material handling system for ferroalloys addition and a pow-
erful dedusting system.
United Steel Company (Sulb) in the Kingdom
of Bahrain awarded SMS Concast and SMS
Meer the order to design and supply on a
turnkey basis a steelworks for blooms/beam
blanks and heavy sections. The minimill will
be part of the new, fully integrated steel com-
plex in Al Hidd, a town on a sand spit on the
south-eastern extremety of Muharraq Island.
From left: Saad Rashid Al-Mohannadi, General Manager of Qatar Steel; KhalidAl Qadeeri, Chairman & Managing Director of Sulb; Hiroyuki Inoue, Presidentof Yamato Kogyo; Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of SMS Meer; KiseokPark, Chairman & CEO of Samsung Engineering; Jacques-Frédéric Zuber, President& CEO of SMS Concast.
15Newsletter 2/2010
On the occasion of the signing ceremony, Dr. Joachim Schön-
beck, President & CEO of SMS Meer, stated:
“We feel honored to have been selected by United Steeland its shareholders Foulath and Yamato Kogyo for thisimportant project. Together with our sister company SMSConcast, we will deliver a true benchmark plant, which willset new standards. With Foulath’s existing pelletizingplant, this will be one of the most efficient production sitesin the GCC region.”
Jacques F. Zuber, President & CEO of SMS Concast, added:
“As pioneer and market leader in the field of continuouscasting technology, SMS Concast is pleased to have theopportunity to provide its latest melting and casting tech-nology to this outstanding project. We view the award ofthe contract as recognition of our competence in the keymarkets for our products.”
Conclusion of the contract by Khalid Al Qadeeri, Chairman & Managing Director of Sulb, and Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of SMS Meer,in the presence of Hiroyuki Inuoe, President of Yamato Kogyo.
Khalid Al Qadeeri and Jacques Zuber (President & CEO of Concast AG).
The here realized beam blank casting technology was launched
onto the market by SMS Concast, a pioneer in continuous casting
technology.
The heavy-section rolling mill to be supplied by SMS Meer will
feature the latest state of the art in rolling mill technology. The
mill stands will come with hydraulic roll adjustment systems,
while the roller straightener will be equipped with hydraulic roller
adjustment. Designed for an initial capacity of 600,000 tpy, the
plant will boast high flexibility in terms of product mix and format
changes. For example, a program change will be realizable within
20 minutes.
Planning and civil engineering, erection and ancillary equipment
will be provided and coordinated by Samsung Engineering. For
many years, Samsung Engineering has been active in the region
as a project partner.
Together with Foulath’s existing pellet plant, which will be further
expanded for the new steelworks project, and the DRI plant
awarded to Kobe/Midrex, a remarkable fully integrated steel com-
plex will be established at Al Hidd, covering the complete pro-
duction chain from pelletizing to the finish-rolled product. This
excellent setup allows highly efficient production at low operat-
ing costs.
Furthermore, this investment will create 1,000 new jobs in the
Kingdom of Bahrain. The total order volume for the project
amounts to some EUR 1.2 billion. With the new steel facility, United
Steel plans to cover about 15 % of the current imports of steel
beams and sections into the countries of the Middle East.
16 Newsletter 2/2010
Minimills
SMS Meer and SMS Concast
Siam Yamato, Thailand:Minimill for maximum benefits
Highly praised by the customer
Piya Chairat, Plant Manager of Siam Yamato, is full of praise:
“SMS enjoys worldwide a distinguished reputation and we benefit
from this every day especially when our customers visit us. They
see the company signs from SMS on the plant and are positive
right away: German and Swiss technologies sell extremely well
also in Thailand.“
The mill of Siam Yamato, south of Bangkok.
17Newsletter 2/2010
Piya Chairat, Plant Manager of Siam
Yamato and his colleagues, remain con-
vinced of the decision in favor of SMS:
”With the minimill for medium sections
from SMS at the Map Tha Put location
we have bought the right equipment,”
said the manager of the Thai/Japanese
steel enterprise. ”My customers believe
in technology from SMS and we had to
invest significantly less money than for
a conventional plant. In this way, we are
able to produce at lower cost and even
the ecological values are excellent.”
Since several months, this perfectly pro-
ducing mill has been in operation.
40-year-old idea more relevant than ever
”Minimill” – this 40-year-old idea is today
more relevant than ever. Germany’s Willy
Korff had designed the mill in the sixties.
In 1968, he inaugurated his steel plant in
Kehl, Baden, Germany, the first of its kind
with electric arc furnaces and an associ-
ated rolling mill for the production of re-
bars from SMS, at that time worldwide an
absolute novelty.
The idea was revolutionary. From then on,
steel could no longer be only produced
where the coal was located but at any lo-
cation. The Kehl port area with easy access
to waterway, rail and highway was ideal to
deliver scrap as starting material.
Just one year later, nearly 149,000 t of steel
were produced in Kehl. Meanwhile, annual
production is more than 2.2 million t which
corresponds to 23,500 charges per year. In
the early years, the smelting staff required
a few hours for a charge but today the time
required for loading scrap up to liquid
steel takes just 38 minutes.
Good for ecology and “green“ steel
In the age of ecology and “green“ steel,
Korff’s idea which was realized by applying
SMS technology has considerably re-
gained attraction. Steel production and
further processing in an integrated factory
saves energy. At the same time, the cus-
tomers benefit from highly flexible SMS
plants which can be revamped within very
short periods of time and thus the demand
is correspondingly high.
Successful minimill team
SMS has reacted to the market demands
with a comprehensive team. Under the di-
rection of Paolo Cancian from SMS Meer,
Italy, colleagues from all over the world
closely cooperate with each other, whether
they are from the Business Area SMS Meer
or from SMS Concast.
The success justifies the concept: large and
significant reference plants such as those
at Siam Yamato (medium sections), Tung
Ho in Thailand (bar mill) or a combined
plant from SSM in Košice are already run-
ning at full speed just like a mill in the USA.
With a planned works for heavy beams in
Sulb, Bahrain, another milestone will be
added soon and also in Saudi Arabia a mill
is under construction.
The finishing train.
»
18 Newsletter 2/2010
Minimills
Cost-efficient solutionfor growth regions
Especially when a project needs to be com-
pleted ”on a greenfield site” the customers
often choose a cost-efficient minimill solu-
tion. This type of plant pays off particularly
for steel producers in the growth regions
of Asia, the Middle East or South America,
but also in the established markets of Eu-
rope and the USA the minimills are becom-
ing more and more important.
Next to the sector of tourism, the heavy in-
dustry in Thailand has developed in recent
years to the most important source of in-
come for the Thai population. Economies
such as the USA, Australia and Japan use the
favorable conditions in the country of or-
chids to invest in new production facilities.
Two steel plants already realized
Such is the case also for the Japanese Siam Yamato Group, a joint
venture between the Thai family-owned Siam Group and the
Japanese Yamato Group. Two large steel plants have been built in
the Map Tha Put Industrial Zone, 100 km south of Bangkok. Plant
No. 2 has been planned and constructed together with SMS as
general contractor. 400,000 t per year of medium sections will be
produced. The minimill technology from SMS ensures favorable
production costs, high productivity and necessary flexibility for
the production of different sizes and products.
Most modern plant of its kind in South East Asia
In close cooperation between Swiss and German experts from SMS
the most modern plant of its kind was built in South East Asia. SMS
Concast realized a steel plant with state-of-the-art technology. The
associated section mill from SMS Meer features different levels and
has a capacity of 400,000 t. Sections with edge lengths between
100 x 50 and 350 mm x 175 mm are predominantly produced.
Advanced SMS technology ensures smooth production. Eric Hetzel (left), Site Manager, assists in the control room.
19Newsletter 2/2010
The minimill for medium sections of Siam Yamato
Steel plant. The steel plant from SMS Concast has been designed
for a capacity of 700,000 tpy and it comprises an 80-t electric arc
furnace, a ladle furnace as well as a combined continuous caster.
Various auxiliary plants such as scrap transport, dedusting system
and material feed are also included in the supply package.
Continuous casting plant. The continuous bloom caster features
five casting strands and allows for a production of a wide format
range from 150 x 150 mm up to 230 x 450 mm. Simultaneous cast-
ing of various formats is possible.
Medium section mill. The semi-continuous medium section mill
from SMS Meer produces beams from 100 x 50 up to 350 x 175 as
well as channels and angles. The annual capacity of finished prod-
ucts is approx. 400,000 t. A future expansion of the mill to rounds
and flats and an increase in production at the same time is possible
in a further expansion stage. The mill comprises a walking beam
furnace with a capacity of 130 t/h, a two-high reversing stand as
well as a continuous finishing train with nine stands, of which six
stands are equipped as universal/two-high stands.
The mill stands. The mill stands are modular compact stands of
the CS type. The stands are interchangeable and can be used al-
ternatively as horizontal/vertical or universal stand. A quick stand
change can be executed without the need for a crane.
The finishing line. It consists of a rake-type cooling bed, a nine-
roller straightening machine with adjustable pitch, a sawing line
with three cold saws, five stacking machines, binding and loading
devices.
Most modern mill in Asia. The mini steel mill is the most modern
plant in Asia for the production of medium sections and it takes
the latest technologies into account.
The breakdown stand.
The cooling bed.
The binding machine.
20 Newsletter 2/2010
Long-product Mills
The South Korean steel producer Daehan Steel has commis-
sioned SMS Meer to supply a rebar mill with a VCC® installa-
tion (Vertical Compact Coiler) for compact coils. The mill with
an annual capacity of 450,000 t will be the first rolling mill
worldwide which concentrates exclusively on the production
of compact coils. The plant is scheduled to go on stream in
April 2011.
SMS Meer supplies the key equipment for the rebar mill which in-
cludes six housingless mill stands each in H/V arrangement for the
roughing and intermediate trains, a finishing block with eight
rolling units in V arrangement, facilities for the heat treatment, the
VCC® installation as well as the electrics and the automation. In ad-
dition to this, SMS Meer is responsible for the coordination of erec-
tion and commissioning.
The production line processes square billets with an edge length
of 130 mm. It is planned to expand the mill for the processing of
billets 150 mm x 150 mm in size. The rebar dimensions comply
with D10 to D16 (according to Korean standard) and the produc-
tion of the corresponding round bars is also possible.
For hot coiling, the VCC® installation is presently regarded as state-
of-the-art procedure. The VCC® technology is also ideally suited for
older mills with wire rod blocks and loop laying heads since it is
possible to produce compact and stable coils.
The Vertical Compact Coiler (VCC®) from SMS Meer is able to coil
the bars directly in vertical position. Owing to this technology, the
customers can do without turning manipulators in the future. The
throughput time is considerably reduced by the VCC® system since
the coils are already formed in their natural final position.
Annual capacity of 450,000 t
Daehan Steel, South Korea:
Rebar mill withVCC® ordered
300,000 tpy of round bars
ICSR in Hassia, Syria:
Bar mill put into operationThe International Company for Steel Rolling (ICSR) in Hassia,
Syria, has successfully taken the bar mill supplied by SMS
Meer into operation. On this plant, surface heat-treated rein-
forcing bars are produced with speeds of up to 36 m/s in the
exit section. The mill is designed for reinforcing steel with low
and medium carbon content. The annual capacity is 300,000 t
of round bars with diameters from 8 to 40 mm.
Structure of rolling line. The pusher-type furnace for the heating
of square billets supplies a one-strand continuous rolling line com-
prising roughing, intermediate and finishing trains. The roughing
train consists of six stands and the intermediate train operates with
multiple-pass mill stands in HL design and H/V arrangement. The
finishing block in V arrangement is equipped with eight rolling
units and two more units can be retrofitted. In this way, the cus-
tomer has the option to reconstruct the plant into a combined bar
and wire rod mill at a later date.
Cooling bed with HSD® system. On the entry side of the cooling
bed a high-speed delivery system HSD® (High-Speed Delivery) has
been installed. The system is equipped with a double rotating
launder transporting the straight bars to the cooling bed with
speeds of up to 36 m/s.
The scope of supply. SMS Meer supplied the complete rolling mill
including electrics and automation. The supply package included
also the supervision of erection and commissioning. In addition
to this, the scope of supply comprised a fully automated bundling
plant and a tying station.
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21Newsletter 2/2010
Service
SMS Meer (UK) Ltd.:
Service & advice for wire-rod producersOEM know-how, short reaction times
and communication in the local lan-
guage – all this is part of the services of-
fered by our service company SMS Meer
(UK) Ltd. which was founded in England
at the beginning of 2009. These services
are not only gladly accepted by the
users of wire rod mills in Great Britain
but also by the plant operators in Cen-
tral Europe. Company headquarters are
in Chesterfield near Sheffield. With 10
employees in the meantime, this loca-
tion has grown steadily and it offers ex-
tensive technical services and advice for
all plant users in Europe.
Core competencies of the service specialists are targeted and in-
novative modernization measures to increase the plant availabil-
ity. Owing to the process know-how and with due regard to tech-
nical innovations, the existing equipment is updated by the serv-
ice experts in an investment-friendly manner. A sustainable safe-
guarding of customer’s competitiveness is thus always in the
focus. Stephen Lidgate, Managing Director of SMS Meer (UK) Ltd.,
assures: “The wishes and the satisfaction of our customers are par-
ticularly important to us. For this reason, we always offer market-
driven and individually tailored solutions.” In addition to the exe-
cution and further development of service features, the latest
standard and high-speed guides are also developed and planned
at the Chesterfield location. Thanks to an extensive know-how and
many years of experience, SMS Meer (UK) Ltd. has established it-
self as a principal contact for all services in the wire rod mill sector.
Plant users worldwide benefit from this knowledge and seek ad-
vice and support from the Chesterfield location.
SMS Meer has further developed its
standard and high-speed roller guides
for the wire rod and bar mills area. Com-
plete systems are now available to our
customers for the first time which are
characterized by robustness and relia-
bility. In this way, the roller guides have
a longer useful life resulting in reduced
costs for the plant users.
By the use of identical parts with various
dimensions significantly fewer spare parts
are required by the customers. Moreover,
the roller guides consist of only a few sin-
gle components so that the assembly or Standard two-roller guide.
Mono-Block roller guide.
the replacement of wearing parts is con-
siderably easier.
Owing to a central adjustment, all guides
can be aligned in a quick and simple way.
With high-speed guides, sections up to a
diameter of 40 mm can be safely guided.
The novel systems have been particularly
developed for the high-speed finishing
blocks from SMS Meer. However, they can
also be used in older plants and are com-
patible with the wire rod blocks of other
manufacturers, provided that correspond -
ing guide holders are available.
Robust and reliable at lower costs
New roller guides
Managing Director Stephen Lidgate,SMS Meer (UK) Ltd.
E-mail: [email protected]
22 Newsletter 2/2010
Service
High-speed guides and innovative guide holders
South Steel, Saudi Arabia:New guide series orderedN
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The South Steel Company, an enterprise
based in Jizan Economic City, Saudi Ara-
bia, has commissioned SMS Meer to
equip the bar mill of its new minimill
with our newly developed guide series.
The order comprises the design, con-
struction and supply of standard and
high-speed guides.
Scope of supply
In detail, we supply three complete sets of
guides as well as the equipment for the as-
sembly and the adjustment of the guides.
The roughing and the intermediate trains are
provided with our newly developed entry
and exit guides as well as with Mono-Block
and two-roller guides. The finishing block is
equipped with the latest series of high-speed
guides and with our innovative guide holders.
Steelworks of SMS ConcastBar mill of SMS Meer
The order is part of a minimill project which is
currently handled by SMS Meer and SMS Con-
cast. The new minimill is yet another example
for a successful cooperation between the indi-
vidual companies within the SMS group. SMS
Concast supplies the steel plant and the con-
tinuous caster, SMS Meer is building the 22-
stand bar mill with an annual capacity of nearly
500,000 t. The mill processes square billets with
an edge length of 150 mm to round bars with
diameters between 8 and 32 mm. The rolling
mill is scheduled to be put into operation soon.
High-speed guide.
23Newsletter 2/2010
Bar mill modernized in record time
Nucor Steel Darlington, USA:New finishing mill with benefits
SMS Meer has modernized a finishing
mill for Nucor Steel Darlington, South
Carolina, USA, in just five weeks. The
new continuous finishing mill allows
much shorter stand changing times and
also much reduced setup and adjust-
ment times. This consequent modern-
ization has yielded a real competitive
edge.
The new intermediate/finishing mill con-
sists of four horizontal, one vertical and
three convertible type HL stands. The con-
vertible stands are of dual-drive arrange-
ment, with motors and gears keeping their
position regardless of the stand configura-
tion (either H or V), with benefits for main-
tenance and plant usability, easier access
to these facilities while minimizing depth
and amount of required foundation work.
A flying shear, inter-stand equipment,
quick change devices and tools, hydraulic
and lubrication units as well as twelve ad-
ditionally provided exchangeable cas-
settes are also part of the new setup.
This modernization in such a short time
was only possible by close cooperation be-
tween SMS Meer and Nucor Steel. The
modular pre-assembly of equipment and
extensive pretests by SMS Meer’s produc-
tion team reduced the number of opera-
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The finishing line.
Bildunterschrift.
tions on site, thereby allowing this record
revamping time to be accomplished.
Nucor Steel Darlington, a company of the
Nucor Bar Mill Group, is a well-known pro-
ducer of steel bars in the USA.
24 Newsletter 2/2010
Minimills
Kolkata, India: April 28 thru 29, 2010
”Minimill“ – The highlight at theWire-Rod Symposium in Kolkata
Mills for the production of wire rod hold
huge growth potential for SMS Meer, es-
pecially in countries with constantly
growing economies. To take advantage
of this potential, we launched our own
series of symposiums on this issue ear-
lier this year. After the successful launch
in Mönchengladbach, the next event
took place in Kolkata, India, from April
28 to 29.
Huge interest. 250 representatives from
68 Indian firms attended the lectures pre-
sented at the Hyatt Conference Center in
Kolkata during the two-day symposium.
The presentations focused on new prod-
ucts and technical innovations contribut-
ing to higher productivity in wire-rod
rolling.
Minimill for small production volumes.
In his introductory talk, Bimal Sarkar, Man-
aging Director and CEO of SMS Meer India,
presented a detailed overview of the In-
dian steel market. The technical papers
that followed focused on the rolling of
wire rod, bars and sections. A topic lively
discussed was the ”Minimill“ concept for
small production volumes which com-
bines an EAF steelworks from SMS Concast
with a rolling mill from SMS Meer. ”Owing
to the relatively low investment costs,
plant owners in countries such as India are
seeing great future potential for this con-
cept,” is how Bimal Sarkar explains the im-
portance of this concept.
The symposium was well frequented.
Detailed information package for the participants.
Further topics. Further papers dealt with
the development of a high-speed looper,
coil compactors for wire rod, and the new
wire-roll mill in Duisburg-Hamborn built
and supplied by SMS Meer.
In addition, SMS Meer’s subsidiary SMS
Schumag presented its machines for the
processing of cold-finished steel and cop-
per. The state of the art in inductive heating
was presented by SMS Elotherm. And the
services and products of SMS Meer’s “Ser-
vice Division” also aroused lively interest.
The SMS Meer staff used the breaks be-
tween the papers for in-depth discussions
with our visitors. According to Sarkar “it is
obvious that our symposium comes at the
right time and tackles the right issues“.
Another wire-rod symposium took place
in São Paulo, Brazil, where SMS Meer re-
cently founded a new subsidiary.
Ulrich Svejkovsky, Vice-President Long-Product Area, held the opening speech.
In-depth discussions in the breaks.
25Newsletter 1/2010
Long-product Mills
About 1 million t of rebars per year
Hamriyah Steel, UAE:Bar mill taken into serviceC
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In January 2010, the new bar mill of Hamriyah Steel, United
Arab Emirates, has been successfully started up. The mill in
the Emirate of Sharjah is a joint venture between the Russian
Metalloinvest Group and Sheik Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed
Al Nahyan.
The order for the supply of a turnkey plant was placed with SMS
Meer in June 2007. Construction work began in March 2008 and in
November 2009 about 95 % of the construction measures were
completed. In summer 2009, long-term contracts for water, power
and gas supply of the mill were concluded. This was a crucial pre-
requisite for the success of the project since large projects often fail
in the Gulf region when such guarantees have not been provided.
Gradual increase in production
Prior to commissioning and during initial tests, the bar mill had al-
ready produced 4,000 t of salable bars. Sale takes place through
Ural Steel. The mill of Hamriyah Steel has a capacity of 1 million t of
bars per year. For 2010 a production rate of 660,000 t is planned
and production shall be increased gradually: from 10,000 t in Jan-
uary to 80,000 t in December. According to estimates by Hamriyah
Steel, the annual demand for rebars in the United Arab Emirates is
approx. 4 to 5 million t. Therefore, Hamriyah could cover 20 % of
the market. In addition to this, there are plans for exporting bar
products into the neighboring Gulf States, to Iran and Egypt.
Advanced cooling and thermo-strengthening technology
Bars manufactured at a diameter range from 10 to 40 mm meet the
national and international standards BS4449, ASTM A615 and DIN
488. Owing to an advanced cooling and thermo-strengthening
technology, bars can be produced with low carbon and hardened
surfaces. The bars feature yield strengths up to 550 MPa and
achieve good values in terms of elongation and weldability.
Finishing area.
Intermediate train.
Furnace area.
26 Newsletter 1/2010
Minimills for Long Products
Combi-caster casts several formats at the same time
Siam Yamato, Thailand: Minimill formedium steel sections in operation
Steelworks for 700,000 tpy. The steel-
works and rolling mill have been designed
in such a way that the billets and blooms
produced in the steelworks can be directly
hot-charged into the rolling mill. The new
steelworks has a production capacity of
700,000 tpy. It features an 80-t electric arc
furnace, a ladle furnace and a combina-
tion caster.
Low energy consuming EAF. The electric
arc furnace is equipped with the latest
generation of Conso oxygen technology.
This technology reduces electrical energy
consumption while enhancing the pro-
ductivity of the furnace. The dedusting
system for the meltshop conforms with
the high applicable clean-air standards.
In October/November 2009, Siam Yamato Steel Company (SYS) started production
of medium steel sections at its new minimill in Rayong, Thailand. First, the medium-
section rolling mill supplied by SMS Meer was commissioned, followed by the melt-
shop and the five-strand combi-caster supplied by SMS Concast. The first heat was
cast on all five strands with a common casting size of 200 mm x 230 mm. After that
also blooms of 230 mm x 450 mm casting size were successfully produced on the
new combi-caster.
Seven billet/bloom formats plus beam
blanks. The combi-caster is a new develop-
ment by SMS Concast. This is the first cast-
ing machine enabling different billet and
bloom formats to be cast at the same time.
A total of seven different billet/bloom for-
mats can be cast, ranging from 130 mm x
130 mm to 230 mm x 450 mm. If required,
the plant can even be converted to beam
blank production.
Medium section mill for 400,000 tpy. The
semi-continuous medium section mill sup-
plied by SMS Meer, for an annual production
of 400,000 t of final products, is intended to
produce steel sections from 100 mm x 50
mm to 350 mm x 175 mm as well as chan-
nels and angles. Adding rounds and flats to
the product range at a later stage is possible
within the framework of a future expansion
project. The mill features a 130-t/h walking-
beam furnace, a two-high reversing rough-
ing stand as well as a continuous finishing
train made up of nine roll stands, six of
which being universal/two-high stands. The
roll stands are modular compact stands in
CS design. They are interchangeable and
can be used alternatively as horizontal/ver-
tical or universal stands.
Overall planning. The overall planning of
the works was realized jointly by SMS Con-
cast and SMS Meer. The successful commis-
sioning of the meltshop and the rolling mill
is a demonstration of the SMS group’s com-
petence and innovative power in the long-
products sector.
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Commissioning of five-strand combi-caster for seven different billet/bloom formats and beam blanks.
27Newsletter 1/2010
Last year SMS Concast and SMS Meer
were contracted by South Steel Com-
pany of Saudi Arabia, which is part of
Pan Kingdom Invest, for the construc-
tion of a minimill for rebars. The volume
of this steelworks order amounts to
over EUR 90 million. The new minimill
will be designed for an annual produc-
tion of 1 million t and is intended to
supply the downstream rebar rolling
mill with billets. The rolling mill will
have an annual production capacity of
500,000 t. Commissioning is scheduled
for the middle of 2011.
Electric steelworks for up to 100 % HBI
charging (hot briquetted iron). The melt-
shop will feature a 140-t AC electric arc fur-
nace as meltdown unit. The melting rate
will be around 24 heats/day. The EAF will
be of the full-platform eccentric-bottom-
tapping design. A highlight of this project
is that it will be SMS Concast’s first minimill
with an EAF and LF which can be operated
with up to 100 % HBI (hot briquetted iron)
charging, if required. Special focus will be
laid on the fine-tuning of the relationship
between the melting process and the HBI
rate with the objective in mind to achieve
a homogeneous process running at maxi-
mum productivity.
Power will be supplied by a 150-MVA trans-
former used in conjunction with the Con-
sotech equipment for chemical power
input. The melting unit will be equipped
with the latest generation of electrode con-
About 1 million t of steel and 500,000 t of rebars
South Steel, Saudi Arabia: Minimill order for rebar production
trol and process automation. This makes for
maximum flexibility in furnace operation,
providing the basis for the desired variable
composition of the charge while ensuring a
constant and reproducible melting process.
In the design, special emphasis is placed on
aspects critical to the continuous charging
of the furnace and the meltdown behavior,
namely material-flow management, EAF
technology and melting profiles.
Secondary metallurgy. Secondary-metal-
lurgy treatment will take place in a 140-t
ladle furnace supplied by an own 26-MVA
transformer.
The billet caster. The continuous casting
plant will feature five strands and a casting
radius of 9 m. It will produce billets in the
size range from 130 mm x 130 mm to 150
mm x 150 mm. The casting machine will be
equipped with Convex® mold technology,
mold stirrers and a hydraulic mold oscilla-
tion system.
The rebar rolling mill. The rebar rolling
mill supplied by SMS Meer will include a
walking-beam furnace with several control
zones. The fuel/air ratios can be monitored
separately for each zone. This minimizes
fuel consumption and provides high flexi-
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bility in furnace operation for all produc-
tion quantities. The fully automated rolling
mill will comprise 16 housingless stands in
horizontal and vertical arrangement, fol-
lowed by a six-stand Mono-Block finishing
stand for high-speed rolling of bars, as well
as a bar-quenching system. Downstream
of these units, a cooling bed and the fin-
ishing and bundling facilities will be
arranged. The compact design of the “HL”
mill housings will ensure finished products
with close tolerances.
The High-Speed Delivery System will en-
hance plant productivity, enabling the mill
to achieve a maximum finish-rolling speed
to the cooling bed of 41 m/s for 8- to 10-
mm-diameter rebars. The overall plant
concept meets all requirements on effi-
ciency, flexibility and reduced mainte-
nance. At the same time it will provide
high operational reliability and high pro-
ductivity. SMS Meer’s scope of supply also
includes the level-2 automation system
and the complete electrical equipment.
28 Newsletter 1/2010
Long-product Mills
Upgrading the mill train at Hoesch Schwerter Profile GmbH,
Germany, was a special challenge for both the operator and
the machine builder SMS Meer. What made this job so special
was the three-stage modernization concept, enabling shut-
down periods to be minimized to the greatest possible extent
and ongoing production of the mill between short shutdown
periods.
Ambitious goals. In August 2007, Hoesch Schwerter Profile
GmbH, a member of Calvi Holding, Italy, had commissioned SMS
Meer to upgrade the mill train for special sections. The goal was
to increase the availability, the yield and the flexibility as well as
to improve the quality of the finished products.
New CS® mill stands. The modernization concept perfectly tai-
lored to customer’s demands comprised an exchange of the exist-
ing universal and two-high mill stands with the CS® mill stands
(Compact Stands) developed by SMS Meer. These stands offer au-
tomatic quick changing for an increase in flexibility and a reduc-
tion of setup times as well as a compact design, very high stand
rigidity and high adjusting accuracy. Key assembly groups such as
the adjusting equipment could be standardized for all stand types.
Customized mill stand solution. The CS® concept enables a high
flexibility and is optimally suited for the requirements when rolling
special sections. For this customized mill stand solution it was con-
sidered that the existing rolls and guides could be re-used. As a re-
sult, the special section mill became notably efficient. In total, four
universal and four two-high stands as well as one edger were sup-
plied and an existing edger was upgraded. The four universal
stands were pre-assembled in our workshop and the complete
stand piping was mounted.
”Just like an open-heart surgery”
Hoesch Schwerter Profile: Modernization in three stepsC
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Extensive ancillary facilities. Likewise modernized were descal-
ing and centering devices as well as grip-type tilters ensuring op-
timal conditions of the rolled material when special sections are
rolled. Our scope of supply included also the mill stand changing
devices and the assembly area in a new pre-assembly workshop
for stands and the required supply systems as well as the electrical
equipment and the automation for the new facilities. The IBA-
Logic system in version 4 was applied first for the whole control.
The implementation was realized by Fest, our electrical equipment
partner, on our behalf.
Universal stand pre-assembled in the Mönchengladbach workshop.
29Newsletter 1/2010
The three upgrading stages. The three-
stage modernization concept consisted of
the following stages:
Stage 1: It mainly comprised the prepara-
tion of the foundations, the installation of
new stand bedplates, the media facilities
and the assembly of the media platform
for the accommodation of the valve
stands, the local control pulpits, the elec-
tric cabinets and the cables and piping and
eventually the resumption of production
with the existing mill stands.
Stage 2: Installation of new stand changing
devices and assembly area. Assembly and
resumption of production with new and ex-
isting stands on place P2 and the edger.
Stage 3: Installation of the new centering
and descaling devices and the grip-type
tilters as well as the completion of place
P3. Resumption of production with the
new stands P2, edger, P3 in tandem rolling
operation.
After the completion of stage 3 the mill train has been put back
into operation in fall. The tandem rolling operation was realized
shortly afterwards. On October 12, 2009, a 16-week trial operation
with optimization phase finally started.
Such complex modernization steps executed in an extremely confined
space require a high degree of professionalism and cooperation of
the project teams from Hoesch Schwerter Profile GmbH and SMS
Meer. With this upgrading measure the company in Schwerte, Ger-
many, has further expanded its leading position in the production
field of special sections.
The new pre-assembly bay.
Foundation and media platform construction.
Rolls with new mill stands.
Component installation. Pre-assembled universal stand in the workshop.
Long-product Mills
At Peiner Träger GmbH, Germany, SMS Meer has modernizedthe medium-section mill which was re-opened on September1, 2009. After the restart, the mill could be ramped up veryrapidly whereby a large number of sections were rolled atvarious dimensions in ”running-in mode” from the very be-ginning. In the first 18 days already 25,000 t of salable sec-tions were produced. An extended product range now com-prises beams with a web height of up to 450 mm and a flangewidth of 260 mm as well as channels up to 400 mm, equaland unequal angles up to 250 mm and a large number of spe-cial steel sections.
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Peiner Träger:Medium-section mill upgraded
Owing to a very detailed planning and partial pre-assembly of the
mill stands during production, the modernization and cold com-
missioning could be completed during a standstill period of only
six weeks. In such a short time, the mill equipment weighing a total
of approx. 3,000 t had to be handled for the purpose of disassem-
bly or re-assembly and tests. In addition, a large number of supply
systems were mounted still during rolling operation and almost
60 km piping was installed. Parallel to dismantling, cleaning work
had already been carried out, new foundations were laid, anchor
holes drilled as well as new bedplates installed.
Following an operating time of 35 years and about 16.8
million t of beams and other steel sections, the continu-
ous finishing train of the universal medium-section mill
(UMIT) has been upgraded in Peine at the end of 2009
within a period of just six weeks. Thanks to the installed
universal tandem-reversing rolling technology instead of
continuous finish-rolling, smaller lots can now be pro-
duced more quickly and efficiently, and specific customer
demands can be even better satisfied. Since the modern-
ization, already 258,000 t of finished products have been
rolled on the mill until the end of February 2010. About
50 staff members of Peiner Träger and SMS Meer jointly
celebrated this good result in January 2010.
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A good performance: 25,000 t in 18 days.
30 Newsletter 1/2010
Congratulations
40th anniversary of SMS Meer S.p.A.
To minimize storage requirements on the
site and to save costs we have delivered
the materials and mill components re-
quired for erection ”just-in-time”. In the
peak phase almost 100 specialists worked
around the clock.
Together with the CRS® roller straightener
supplied by us which already went on
stream in 2008, the mill train is now able to
fulfill increased market demands with re-
gard to flexibility, profitability and quality.
Due to the modernizations by SMS Meer,
the modernization project ”UMIT 2010”
has been completed and the technological
leadership of Peiner Träger GmbH has
been strengthened.
The CRS® roller straightener.
On September 25, 2009, SMS Meer
S.p.A. in Tarcento, Italy, has celebrated
its 40th anniversary. A gala evening at
Castello Susanna in the mountains
above the city and a family celebration
on the works premises gave the event a
worthy setting.
Founded in September 1969 as a limited li-
ability company under the name of ”Indus-
trie Meccanche Attrezzature Carpentiere”,
the company changed its name in 1973 to
S.I.M.A.C. S.p.A. In 1991, SMS Schloemann-
Siemag took over 50 % of the capital funds
and in 1995 the other half. In April 2005, the
company changed its name to now SMS
Meer S.p.A., responsible for the Light Section
Mills Product Division. The company stands
for a whole series of significant technical in-
novations which have contributed to an ex-
cellent reputation of SMS Meer worldwide.
Our guidelines are: focusing on value-creat-
ing technologies, a high level of innovation
and further development of products and
services.
A four-crank shear weighing almost 50 t was placedonto the bedplate by means of two shop cranes andone lifting-beam attachment.
31Newsletter 1/2010
Minimills
for long products
32 Newsletter No.3/2009
Slovakia Steel Mills a.s. placed an
order with SMS Concast AG and SMS Meer
GmbH for the supply of a complete mini steel
mill consisting of an electric steel plant, a con-
tinuous caster and a rolling mill for the pro-
duction of bar steel and wire rod at an annual
production rate of 500,000 t. The new plant in
Strážske with a total area of almost 37 ha is
the first mini mill to be built in Slovakia and
production is scheduled to start in Q4 2010.
Electric steel plant with 60-t AC electric arc furnace. The key el-ement of the steelworks is a 60-t AC electric arc furnace from SMSConcast designed for 100% scrap charging. The electric arc furnacehas an eccentric bottom taphole and a full platform design. A 60-MVA transformer together with chemical energy input provided bythe equipment from Consotech® guarantees an optimized powerinput. The latest-generation electrode control system and theprocess automation regulate all the functions of the electric arcfurnace and guarantee the repeatability of the performance para-meters even with differing charge scrap compositions. An effi-cient automation system monitors the overall performance andguarantees constant operating and melting costs.
60-t ladle furnace provides secondary metallurgical treat-
ment. The facility from SMS Concast ensures that non-metallicinclusions are avoided and guarantees outstanding castability and
All production facilities from SMS Concast and SMS Meer
SSM, Slovakia: Minimill for bar steeland wire rod ordered
optimized product properties. The transformer employed has arated power of 16 MVA + 20% overload reserve. The processcontrol systems offer the operator a possibility of communication,including laboratory and steelworks planning. The process statusis documented. Calculations for assessment of temperature andadditives for alloying and slag formation simplify the achievementof the target parameters.
Three-strand billet caster. In the development of the continuouscaster the production demands with respect to steel grade and an-nual production were taken into consideration by the engineersfrom SMS Concast. Attention was additionally given to the de-mands for the quality steels to be produced in future SBQ applica-tions for the automotive and machine engineering industries.Against this background, a continuous caster with three strandshaving a radius of eight meters and equipped with Convex® tech-nology was selected. Its extremely high level of automation meets
all process requirements and quality demands.
Hot charging. The direct link between continuouscaster and rolling mill using roller tables and a billethoist permits hot charging for the majority of the pro-duction. Square billets of 130 mm x 130 mm and a
maximum length of 12 m are used for allrolled products.
New order
Layout of minimill.
Newsletter No.3/2009 33
Rolling mill with three finishing lines. The rolling mill has threefinishing lines consisting of wire rod outlet, bar outlet with high-speed delivery (HSD®) system and the patented vertical compactcoiler (VCC) for particularly compact rebar coils.
Scope of supply from SMS Meer. SMS Meer supplies a walk-ing-hearth furnace for a capacity of 60 t /h with cold charging and80 t /h for hot charging, the mechanical and electrical equipmentfor the rolling mill, the supply systems for hydraulics and lubri-cating oil, and is also responsible for the supervision of erectionand commissioning.
Production of steel bars. The six-stand roughing mill, followed bya cropping and chopping shear, and the eight-stand bar finishingtrain both have housingless stands arranged alternately horizontallyand vertically. The finishing mill is equipped with a quick-changeplatform for quick program changing.
Production of wire rod. In the wire delivery section, the sheargroup and a wire rod block with ten rolling units are arrangeddownstream of a water box on which sizes from 5.5 to 16 mmcan be rolled with a maximum speed of 105 m/s. Two furtherwater boxes, a pinch roll unit, a loop laying head, an 82 m long
loop cooling conveyor (LCC®), a coil forming chamber, a verticalcoil transport facility and the vertical coil compactor complete thewire rod outlet section.
Production of rebars. For the production of rebars, the wire rodblock supplies the dimensions from 8 to 16 mm via a cooling sec-tion at speeds of up to 36 m/s to the proven high-speed delivery(HSD®) system. The larger dimensions up to 36 mm are producedon the bar finishing mill and are also delivered to the HSD® systemvia a water cooling section. Downstream of the 66 m long coolingbed is a cold shear, an automatic bar counter, a bundler, two wiretying machines and the coil loading station.
VCC coiler. A further special feature is the patented VCC coilerfrom SMS Meer. This proven technology produces extremely com-pact coils in the size range from 8 to 16 mm at speeds of up to 35m/s. In the first planned development stage, only one coiler will beinstalled. For this, the switch behind the cooling section diverts theproducts alternately either to the VCC coiler or to the HSD® system.The later installation of a second coiler is planned.
The new metallurgical complex will be equipped with BAT eco-technologies to meet European directives.
The new steelworks and the
rolling mill of Slovakia Steel
Mills will be installed on an
area of 36.7 ha in the industrial
zone of Strážske, East Slovakia.
Investments amount to EUR
178 million. For the production
of high-grade structural steel
state-of-the-art technologies
are applied. Thanks to the in-
vestment, 350 jobs are directly
created for this region and
about 250 indirect jobs will be
available plus approx. 700 work
places during erection.
Long-product mills
34 Newsletter No.3/2009
The new medium-section mill at Steel Dynam-
ics Inc. (SDI) in Columbia City, Indiana, USA, is
becoming the standard for continuous mills
producing structural steel in the 6 to 15 inch
range. The main new features of the mill sup-
plied by SMS Meer, which came on stream in
mid-2008, are the 15 stands based on the new
compact mill stand (CS design), characterized
by high rigidity and low deflection under load
coupled with simplicity of design and reduced
weight.
Broad product spectrum
SDI, Columbia City, USA: The new medium-section mill
The flexibility of the design, with three con-vertible stands, allows for a wide produc-tion range. The quick-change platform lim-its change time to 20 minutes. Attentionhas been given to product quality, with in-line laser profile gages and hydraulic gagecontrol in the last two stands.
Starting material and finished products. The mill will be fedby three billet sizes: two square ones at an edge length of 6” and7”, one rectangular shape of 10” x 8”, and one beam blank sizeof 430 mm x 260 mm. The maximum length is 15 m (50’). Themill is designed to roll a variety of structural shapes: W beams,from 4” to 14”; S beams up to 15”; channels up to 15”; equaland unequal angles up to 8”; M beams up to 12”. Productlengths are from 20’ to 120’.
The mill is predisposed for future equipment additions to be able toadd smaller products and flats up to 12”. In addition, the equipmentis designed also to allow increasing the product range up to 18”.
Bird’s-eye view of the SDI works in Columbia City, with the new medium-section
mill in the background.
Layout of medium-section mill.
Newsletter No.3/2009 35
Reheat furnace. The stock re-heating torolling temperature is performed by a 200t/h walking-beam reheating furnace. Withdimensions of 52’ wide by 76’ long, thefurnace is equipped with a total of 64 ultra-low NOx burners providing a maximum to-tal 330 mmBTU/h (BTU = British ThermalUnit), corresponding to 83 Gcal/h. In orderto simplify the control system and to in-crease the efficiency at the same time, thefurnace is divided into seven independent-ly controlled heating zones plus one un-fired zone. The combustion air is suppliedto the furnace by two centrifugal fans viaan air recuperator where it is heated up toa maximum temperature of 550 °C. A dilu-tion air blower provides safety cold air incase of overheating. Furnace charging isthrough a frontal door while discharge islaterally.
SMS Meer supplied the furnace inclusiveof the level 1 and level 2 controls. The lat-ter includes several heating curves (relatedto the different product mix of size andlengths), the control of the digital operationof the burners and the furnace operation.
Reheat furnace.
Furnace and rolling mill
At the exit of the furnace, a high-pressure descaler (210 bar)
prepares the stock for rolling. The roller table feeding the mill
is provided with insulating covers to minimize temperature
losses. Shaping takes place in a continuous mill made of 15
stands, in horizontal, convertible and universal positions. All
stands are of the same size and are based on the innovative
SMS Meer CS stand design.
Structure of rolling mill
n Roughing mill: made up of five stands, with stands 1, 3 and 5being convertible and 2 and 4 in two-high (horizontal) design. Aflying crop shear follows the roughing mill.
n Finishing mill: composed by the final ten stands, in two-highor universal stands. A crop shear is installed downstream ofstand No.11, a final dividing shear is installed at the end of themill. A laser profile gage immediately precedes the dividingshear.
The mill is equipped with quick-changing cars that allow a com-plete size change in 20 minutes. The mill is characterized by a highdegree of flexibility thanks to: convertible stand design on theroughing mill (Pos. 1, 3 and 5), possibility of using universal rolls ineight of the ten finishing mill positions, availability of several initialmaterial sizes.
Roughing mill with stand changing car.
»
Long-product mills
36 Newsletter No.3/2009
Cooling bed and straighteners. The cool-ing bed is a combination rake-type andchain conveyor and has a quick deliverysystem for lighter products. The rake-typeinitial area ensures proper material straight-ening. The chain conveyor area is equippedwith water spray cooling, operating in thelow temperature range, to improve the ca-pacity of the cooling bed. The cooling bedlength is (82 m) 270’ and it is (22 m) 72’wide.
The single-line horizontal straightener isof cantilever design of the newest gener-ation. The machine is equipped with eight
Convertible stand. The core technology of the continuous mill isthe innovative SMS Meer CS stand design. Made of fabricated andnon-cast components, this design merges high rigidity with lowweight and reduced manufacturing and operational cost.
Benefits of the CS design
n Closed-type housing and small window design made fromrolled slab steel, 50 % higher yield point, free of inclusions and shrink holes for the housing material (compared with conventional cast steel), i.e. higher wear resistance
n Compact, simple and rigid stand design due to FEM-optimized design and prestressed tie rod system
n Limited deflection under rolling loads due to improved mill spring values
n Improved stand stiffness compared with housingless (HL) stands, especially for the vertical rolls
n High screw-down accuracy due to zero-gap calibration (zeroing)
n Modular design, suitable for universal, horizontal and vertical mode
n Different stand types completely interchangeablen Each stand is shiftable for use of multi-grooved rolls
(max. 1,500 mm)n Increased diameter ranges for roll redressing,
i.e. longer roll lifen Use of different roll barrel lengths possible by easy exchange
of the tying elements of the housing partsn Short changing time through pre-adjustment of rolls and
guides in the preparation arean Possibility of easy exchange of single housing parts in case
of wear after long operating time, due to identical and interchangeable parts
n No additional coupling during stand change through automatic media couplings
n Individual or synchronized adjustments for top and bottom rollsn Hydraulic balancing of top rolln Backlash-free axial adjustment of top rolln Integration of roll-pass control or mechanical adjustment
system possible without major modifications
CS mill stands
Compact stand.
Finishing area
Newsletter No.3/2009 37
straightening rolls and has a pitch of1,400/1,250/1,100 mm, ideal for straight-ening the wide product range. All rolls areindividually powered. The material is guid-ed in the straightener by two verticalguide rollers at the entry and exit sides.
All straightener rolls can accommodatetwo or three straightening discs. The dis-tance between the straightening discs isadjustable. Thus, for beams and channelseries with the same inner radius, straight-ening roll changes can be waived withgreat improvement in flexibility and plantavailability. A quick-changing system withchanging crane is provided.
Finishing area. At the exit of the straight-ener, the beams are side transferred by achain conveyor. At the entry side, a turn-updevice allows inspection of the straight-ened bars. The layer collecting bed is 75 mlong and 14 m wide. The layer is thentransferred by roller table to the cuttingarea. Provisions were made for a future in-stallation of a multi-strand straightener andcold shear in order to guarantee higher pro-duction rates also for smaller and lighterproducts.
The cut to length is performed by twofixed saws, each equipped with stop-gage.Provisions were made for a future thirdmovable saw. After cutting, the material ispiled by magnetic stackers and transferredto the shipping bays after strapping. Thecooling bed and finishing area have spaceallowance for future capacity increases.
Stand change in the continuous mill. Straightener.
Saw in operation.
Magnetic stacker.
Long-product mills
38 Newsletter No.3/2009
After a standstill period of only six
weeks at Peiner Träger GmbH, Ger-
many, the universal medium-section
mill upgraded by SMS Meer has been
re-opened on September 1, 2009.
Commissioning
Universal medium-section mill – faster and more flexible
Large-scale modernization at Peiner Träger completed
New CCS® mill stand in the medium-section mill. (Source: Salzgitter AG).Production of tandem reversing mill in full swing.
Newsletter No.3/2009 39
For this modernization the
continuous finishing train of
the universal medium-section
mill (UMIT) has been adapted
to modern market require-
ments following an operating
time of 35 years and approx.
16.8 million t of rolled beams
and structural-steel sections.
Advantageous state-of-the-art rolling
technology using CCS® mill stands. Thenovel universal tandem-reversing rollingtechnology is now applied also on thisrolling plant instead of continuous finish-rolling which ensures that also smallerrolling lots can be quickly and efficientlyproduced and that specific customer de-mands are fulfilled. A replacement of therolls is easier so that beams of different di-mensions and grades can be produced insuccession without much loss of time.The beams will be more accurate to sizeand feature a very smooth surface. In thefuture it is possible to also roll high-gradespecial steel sections on the UMIT mill andto therefore gain new potential customers.
All this could be achieved by applying thetandem reversing rolling technology devel-oped by SMS Meer with universal two-high rolling stands in CCS® design and au-tomatic hydraulic roll-gap control inclusiveof an automatic quick program change.
Flying shear and elevated roller tables.
The existing flying shear for cutting therolling stock in cooling-bed lengths has ad-ditionally been replaced by a more power-ful four-crank shear. Owing to the use ofelevated roller tables up- and downstreamof the tandem reversing mill group, bars ata length of more than 200 m can be rolledout in spite of a limited bay length.
Supply including planning and supervision. The scope of sup-ply of SMS Meer included in addition to the supply and startup ofall mechanical equipment also the supply of piping, auxiliaries andsafety equipment as well as the disassembly and assembly of thefacilities and the foundations. Included in our scope of supply areplanning and supervision services as well as customer’s training.
Altogether 3,000 t of equipment dismantled. Thanks to an ex-tensive detail planning and partial pre-building of the roll stands onsite during production, the modernization and the cold commis-sioning could be realized during a shutdown period of six weeks.During this time about 3,000 t of equipment was dismantled andthe new facilities were mounted and tested.
25,000 t of salable products rolled after only 18 days. After themill had been taken into operation on September 1, 2009, it couldbe ramped up very rapidly while a number of beams and dimen-sions were “entered” from the very beginning. During an initial 18days already 15,000 t of salable products were rolled.
Now, large beams with a web height of up to 450 mm. An ex-tended product range comprises beams with a web height of up to450 mm and a flange width of 260 mm. Channels up to 400 mm,equal and unequal angles up to 250 mm and a number of specialsteel sections can additionally be rolled.
Modernization project of the last two years completed. In con-nection with the startup of the CRS® roller straightener in 2008 theupgraded mill train is able to fulfill today’s and future market de-mands with regard to flexibility, profitability and quality. Due to theupgrade and the modernization of key facilities of the mill train bySMS Meer over the last two years, the modernization project“UMIT 2010“ has been completed and the technological leader-ship of Peiner Träger GmbH has been guaranteed.
CRS® roller straightener during commissioning.
Long-product mills
40 Newsletter No.3/2009
Unique rolling mill for 700,000 tpy of rebars
Stefana, Italy:World record for rolling of straight bars
Two-strand HSD® system for supreme performances. The fa-cilities for a high performance of this future-oriented mill aremainly two slitting lines in combination with a two-strand HSD®
system as well as the control system with software developedby SMS Meer.
The basic principle of a two-strand HSD® system is to finish-rollbars in two six-stand and V-shaped finishing blocks and to cutthem with two state-of-the-art high-speed disc type dividingshears. Then, the bars are processed over their entire length infour braking pinch-roll units (two for each strand) and two dual-ro-tating channels installed on top of the entry table of the coolingbed. Only one bar per tooth is deposited on the cooling-bedrakes to make sure that a clean layer is available for the bundlingand tying systems.
Largest furnace of its class. Other mill components worth men-tioning are a walking-hearth furnace for the heating of 16-m-longsquare billets at a cross-section of 160 mm x 160 mm, which isone of the largest of its class, as well as two of our patented VCC(Vertical Compact Coiler) facilities.
The bar mill of Stefana S.p.A., Italy, built by
SMS Meer came on stream in mid-2008 and
is unique in view of productivity and product
quality. The mill reaches full capacity at all
dimensions of the product mix. Now, the
production line at Ospitaletto in northern
Italy has set a new world record on July 2009
for the rolling of straight bars on the cooling
bed: the new mill produced salable coils
made of rebars at a diameter of 8 mm and an
average real speed of 40 m/s over several
hours during shift operation.
This performance is equivalent to a production of single bars atdouble speed, i.e. as if 80 m/s would have been achieved. A tar-get limit value which had formerly only been planned has nowactually been reached and further improvements can soon be ex-pected.
At a production of 8-mm rebars with slitting and the two-strandHSD® system and at a rolling speed of 40 m/s billets are requiredto such an extent that the maximum furnace capacity of 106 t /his almost reached.
VCC station. Coil bundling and tying system.
World record
Newsletter No.3/2009 41
Yield improved by 30 %. A benefit of the unusual furnacelength is a yield improved by 30 % compared to furnaces for12-m billets. Compact coils can additionally be produced withweights up to 3.2 t. This coil size is advantageous for down-stream transport, storage, further handling and other tasks.
Production mode selectable: only straight bars or only
compact coils or both mixed. Alternatively to a restriction ofstraight bars produced without exception via the HSD® systemor to compact coils produced only via the VCC station, a mixedproduction mode can also be selected. In this case, the strandis delivered from a finishing block onto the cooling bed whilethe VCC system is charged at the same time by the secondfinishing block.
Improved yield and higher productivity. Needless to say,that the new production concept at Stefana reduces the num-ber of short bars and the accumulated scrap which on the oth-er hand results in a reduction of the production costs. There-fore, the new bar rolling mill at Stefana S.p.A. achieves an im-proved production yield and higher productivity. The resultsalso show that excellent economic results can be attained bycompetent and detailed advice.
VCC facilities from SMS Meer – shown on
the photo below – with outstanding tech-
nology are used for the production of steel
bars. The system was developed by SMS
Meer.
In August 2009, the Court of Appeals in
Trieste, Italy, rejected all contestations of
our competitors pending further notice
(N295/09 Sent).
VCC coiler –Vertical Compact Coilerfrom SMS Meer
Finish-tied coil.
Long-product mills
42 Newsletter No.3/2009
Thermomechanical rolling of all wire-rod dimensions
New cost-efficient wire-rod mill concept
A wire-rod finishing block consisting of a six-
stand plus a four-stand rolling unit enables
thermomechanical rolling of wire rod in all
standard dimensions at low costs and high
productivity. This innovative concept has
been successfully implemented by SMS Meer
in two wire rod mills for Weifang Iron & Steel,
China, which have meanwhile been put on
stream.
Six-stand and four-stand rolling units. Thermomechanicalrolling of wire rod at small dimensions and high productivity cannotbe attained with a conventional ten-stand finishing block. Due tothe required number of passes, the heating up is too much to re-alize the desired metallurgical properties. By separating the con-ventional wire-rod finishing block into a six-stand and a four-standunit, a wire rod of any dimension can be finish-rolled on the secondunit at a maximum number of four passes.
Loop technology reaches temperature reduction down to
750 °C. By means of sufficient cooling and perfect temperatureequalization over the cross-section, thermomechanical rolling canalso be achieved with a high production volume, and the looptechnology from SMS Meer which we have successfully appliedalready in several wire rod mills also offers a good precondition.Consequently, the temperature can be reduced to 750 °C whenthe wire rod enters the first finishing block i.e. at temperature de-viations of less than 50 °C.
This is a significant precondition to reachagain 750 °C prior to the last four shapingpasses in the case of dimensions whichstill have to be produced in a total of tenpasses. This enables a normalizing or ther-momechanical rolling even for smallercross-sections.
Loop on a wire rod mill.
View on both wire rod mills at Weifang Iron & Steel.
Newsletter No.3/2009 43
Temperature progression for wire rod at a diameter of 5.5 mm;
rolling speed V=105 m/s; steel grade: cold-upsetting grade.
Temperature progression for wire rod at a diameter of 16 mm;
rolling speed V=26.5 m/s; steel grade: cold-upsetting grade.
Four-stand block during mill operation.
Six-stand finishing block, opened.
The two temperature charts are examples of the excellent func-tioning of the new concept. Our updated wire rod mill concept en-ables the customers to enter a new quality sphere for wire rod atsmall cross-sections and with a comparatively low capital expendi-ture.
The successful startup of the two wire rod mills based on this
concept implemented at Weifang Iron & Steel which have at-
tained excellent tolerance values and high productivity fur-
nishes proof of this efficient concept.
Long-product mills
44 Newsletter No.2/2009
In September 2008, the Timken Company in
Canton, Ohio, USA, has commissioned new
facilities jointly with SMS Meer to extend its
existing Harrison Steel bar mill. “The facility
will reach full capacity in August 2009,“ says
Tom Moline, Steel Manufacturing Vice-Presi-
dent of Timken.
The expansion increases the mill capacity, extends the productsize range and improves product quality for the production of SBQround bars in the range from 25 to 127 mm. Shortly after commis-sioning, tolerances of ½ ASTM were already being achieved re-flecting the high performance ability of the mill and documentingthe precision of the hydraulic roll adjustment systems.
SBQ round bars produced in the range from 25 to 127 mm
Timken, USA: PSM® and bar finishingsection put into operation
One-Family rolling
and free-size rolling
The scope of supply from SMS Meer in-cludes a 3-roll precision sizing mill (PSM®)as well as a bar finishing section with cool-ing bed, cut-off and loading facilities. ThePSM® is arranged downstream of the ex-isting rolling mill and allows both a stan-dardized groove to be employed in theroughing and intermediate trains (one-fam-ily rolling) and the infinitely variable produc-tion of finished sizes by means of roll ad-justment (free-size rolling).
Control desk ahead of the PSM® block
with E+A supplied by SMS Meer.
Commissioning
Operation in full swing on the PSM® block.
Newsletter No.2/2009 45
Cooling bed for 78-m-long bars. The first rolled bars on the cooling bed.
Automatic gage control
and monitor control
The precision sizing mill consists of five rollcassettes, each with three rolls which caneven be hydraulically adjusted under load.This also permits automatic gage control(AGC) as well as monitor control in con-nection with a laser measuring unit forproduct size measurement installed down-line of the PSM®. A CARTA® process modelserves for setting of the process parame-ters. SMS Meer also supplied the com-plete electrical equipment and realized theautomation in cooperation with Timken.
Long-product mills
46 Newsletter No.2/2009
Combined wire rod and bar mill at Siderúrgica Norte Brasil
Successful commissioning of wire rod and bar mill
In January 2009, the first wire rod was produced by means of
a finishing block with the new MEERdrive technology in the
combined wire rod and bar mill of Siderúrgica Norte Brasil
S.A., Brazil.
Commissioning
The new combined plant which was sup-plied by SMS Meer including the electricalequipment and the automation systemwas designed for low- and medium-carbonsteels with an annual capacity of 250,000t. The whole mill train comprises a 50-t/hreheating furnace for square billets at across section of 130 mm x 130 mm and alength up to 12 m, followed by a 14-standroughing and intermediate mill.
The bar outlet essentially consists of ahigh-speed delivery system (HSD®) withcooling bed for the finished sizes (rebars)diameter 6.35 to 25.0 mm and a bar finish-ing line.
The commissioning team. Operator side of finishing block with MEERdrive technology.
The intermediate mill.
Newsletter No.2/2009 47
To boost our business transactions for new
plants and equipment as well as to expand our
after-sales service for wire rod and bar mills
we have intensified our local presence in sev-
eral countries. This new orientation aims at an
expansion of our product range and an im-
proved marketing success due to our local
presence.
Shanghai, China
In Shanghai, we have established SMS Meer Engineering Ltd.,
producing predominantly equipment for wire rod and bar
mills for the local and international markets. Thanks to setting
up a service crew, we are able to offer local service as well as
to supply the market with spare parts.
Worchester, USA
In Massachusetts, USA, we have launched a design office
which provides as center of competence coil handling sys-
tems and wire coil compactors.
Chesterfield, Great Britain
To intensify our services in Europe as well as to upgrade wire
mills we have recently opened a British office.
Kolkata, India
In Kolkata, we have strengthened our local presence by set-
ting up our own office. In addition to supporting our sales
projects within SMS Meer’s complete market program the
office serves also for order implementation.
China, USA, Great Britain and India
For wire rod and bar mills: Increased presence
The wire outlet starts with a croppingand chopping shear, followed by a fin-ishing block and 10 mill stands (MEER-drive) with standard module sizes of 200and 160, producing wire rod at a diame-ter range 5.5 to 16 mm and rollingspeeds up to 90 m/s. Two water coolingsystems, one pinch roll set, a layinghead and a 65-m-long Loop Cooling Con-veyor (LCC®) ensure optimum controlledcooling, laying pattern and coil shape.
The compact and efficient plant with in-novative plant technology for producingrebars and wire rod provides huge bene-fits with regard to flexibility and qualityand offers low conversion costs.
A primary key element is the rod finish-ing block with MEERdrive technology.Extensive investigation by means ofsimulation processes combined with ourexperiences for years in the constructionof rolling plants has been made to en-sure a stabilized rolling operation and areliable control of the mill stands of thefinishing block.
Our experiences made during the suc-cessful and rapid commissioning havegiven a proven basis for the next step,the application of the MEERdrive tech-nology at high-speed wire rod mills up to130 m/s.
Thanks to the latest technologies es-
pecially regarding the applied drive
train design, innovative concepts can
now be realized.
Long-product mills
48 Newsletter No.1/2009
Responding to an order from Stahlwerk
Thüringen GmbH, a company of the Spanish
Grupo Alfonso Gallardo, SMS Meer will supply
a new roughing stand for the long-product
mill in Unterwellenborn. This powerful rougher
will replace the existing breakdown stand
which no longer meets today’s requirements
owing to the heavier and larger sections
which the customer has added to the mill’s
product spectrum. Commissioning is sched-
uled for December 2010.
For heavier and larger steel sections
Stahlwerk Thüringen ordersnew roughing stand
The old roughing stand.
The new mill stand will be designed for arolling force of 10,000 kN and will have adrive power of 4,400 kW. Further specialfeatures include automatic roll-gap openingin case of overload, partly automated axialshifting of the top roll for groove or passadjustment and facilitated roll changing.
In addition to the new roughing stand, themodernization scope includes the renewalof the whole drive train, the work roller ta-bles, the sideguard manipulators and thecomplete electrical and automation equip-ment.
On this rolling mill which SMS Meer sup-plied in 1985 Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbHproduces more than 200 different steelsections. The long-product mill has an an-nual capacity of over 900,000 t.
The finishing mill modernized in 2003 with our
patented CCS® mill stands in tandem arrangement.
New order
Newsletter No.3/2008 49
Annual capacity: 690,000 t of wire rod
Wire rod mill with FRS® equipmentfor ArcelorMittal Hochfeld
ArcelorMittal Hochfeld GmbH,
with head office in Duisburg,
Germany, has placed an or-
der with SMS Meer for the
supply of a high-capacity
wire rod mill with FRS® equip-
ment for high-grade steels.
The annual capacity will be
690,000 t of which the major
portion will be wire rod prod-
ucts of cold-heading steel
grades. The mill boasts great
compactness and high effi-
ciency and will go into pro-
duction in August 2010.
Scope of supply. The SMS Meer orderscope comprises a walking-beam furnace,the mechanical and electrical equipment ofthe rolling mill, all of the utility systems, thefinishing facilities for the wire rod coils, theentire rolling and cooling equipment, anderection.
New order
Furnace, roughing and intermediate trains. The walking-beamfurnace for 155-mm square billets has a capacity of 120 t/h. It is fol-lowed by a four-stand roughing train comprising HL (housingless)stands with free runout and an intermediate train consisting of 14CL (cantilever) stands, each in horizontal and vertical arrangement.
Wire rod outlet and FRS® block. The wire rod outlet comprisesa cooling and equalizing section in loop arrangement, a wire rodblock with six rolling units and an FRS® block (Flexible Reductionand Sizing) with four rolling units, both in UHD design (ultra-heavy duty).
Forced and retarded cooling. The wire rod block and the FRS®
block are each followed by a water cooling line. The heart of themill is the FRS® block together with the proven cooling and equal-izing section. In addition, our scope includes the 104-m-longLCC® (Loop Cooling Conveyor) for forced and retarded cooling, atotal of three water cooling lines and the CCT® system (Con-trolled Cooling Technology) developed by SMS Meer.
Ultra-fine microstructures through thermomechanical
rolling. These facilities will allow ArcelorMittal Hochfeld to pro-duce wire rod of the entire dimensional range of 5.5 to 25.0 mmby means of temperature-controlled rolling. Ultra-fine micro struc-tures can be achieved especially for cold-heading grades by ther-momechanical rolling. The maximum rolling speed for 5.5-mm-diameter wire rod is 120 m/s.
Cooling and equalizing section in loop arrangement.LCC® Loop Cooling Conveyor.
Long-product mills
50 Newsletter No.2/2008
Responding to an order recently received from Nucor Steel
Darlington (Nucor Bar Mill Group), SMS Meer will supply a new
intermediate and a new finishing train for the bar mill No.1 in
Darlington, South Carolina/USA. Delivery is scheduled for the
end of 2009/beginning of 2010.
Modernization of bar mill No.1
Nucor Steel, USA: New intermediate
and finishing trains for DarlingtonNew order
cal engineering, metal construction, railtraffic, shipbuilding, heavy-load trucks andtrailers. Four of the section mills were builtby Nucor itself between 1969 and 1981.The remaining seven mills have beenpurchased since 2000, including the ac-quisitions of Marion Steel Company in2005 and of Connecticut Steel Corpora-tion in 2006. Altogether, the eleven sec-tion mills have a total capacity of approx.8,060,000 tpy.
HL stand.
HL stands.
Latest orders
n Arcelor-Mittal Hochfeld GmbH,
Germany. High-production wire rod mill with FRS® block (Flexible Reduc -tion and Sizing) for quality steel grades,especially cold heading grades.
n Arcelor-Mittal Monlevades S.A.,
Brazil. High-production wire rod millwith the possibility of adding a secondstrand and an FRS® block.
Greater availability. The goals of this ex-pansion are to increase the availability ofthe rolling mill by reducing the changing,set-up and tuning times, and to optimizespare-parts stocking. All these procedureswill be simplified thanks to the introductionof uniform stands in one size in the inter-mediate and the finishing train. Uniform stands. Comprising four horizon-tal, one vertical and three convertible hous-ingless stands (HL), the new continuous in-termediate and finishing trains will replacethe existing rolling mill. SMS Meer’s scopealso includes the supply of all gearboxes,spindles, holders and protective equip-ment. A flying shear, various interstand fa-cilities, quick-change devices and tools, hy-draulic and lubrication systems as well asan additional12 change cassettes completeour scope. All equipment will be pretestedin SMS Meer’s shops before delivery.Automation. The automation package in-cludes a PLC (Control Logix /Flex Logix)and the corresponding software for the
new stand controls. The new system willbe linked to the existing system via an in-terface. SMS Meer will also be responsi-ble for the supervision of erection andcommissioning.Comprehensive revamping. This presentinvestment is part of an extensive mod-ernization program launched by Nucor tobring all its facilities up to the state of theart to strengthen its competitive edge. Eleven section mills at Nucor Bar Mill
Group. Nucor Steel operates as many aseleven section mills at its US locations inSouth Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah,New York, Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi,Washington, Ohio and Connecticut. Thesemills produce concrete reinforcing bars,hot-rolled bars, rod, light shapes, structur-al angles and channels, wire mesh andguard rails of C-steels and alloyed grades.The products cover a whole range of ap-plications in market segments such asagriculture, automotive construction, civilconstruction, energy, furniture, mechani-
Newsletter No.2/2008 51
Hamriyah Steel, a joint ven-
ture recently set up by Russ-
ian Metalloinvest Group and
Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan from the
United Arab Emirates, chose
SMS Meer to erect a bar mill
in the Emirate of Sharjah
(UAE). The mill will be de-
signed for an annual produc-
tion of 1 million t of bars. The
main customer will be the
UAE’s booming building in-
dustry. Hamriyah Steel in-
tends to put the new mill into
operation at the end of 2009.
Capacity: 1million t of bars annually
Emirate of Sharjah
receives bar millNew order
Equipment, services plus electrics and
automation. SMS Meer will supply thecomplete rolling mill including electricaland automation systems. In addition, wewill be responsible for erection supervi-sion, commissioning and training. The au-tomation system made by SMS Meer willmonitor and control the whole productionprocess.
180 t of billets per hour. A 180-t /h walk-ing-beam furnace feeds the rolling millwith square billets of 125 x 125 mm to170 x 170 mm with lengths of up to 12 mwhich are rolled into bars with diametersbetween 10 and 40 mm.
Housingless stands. The rolling mill willbe equipped with horizontal and verticalhousingless stands, some of which canbe used as both horizontal and verticalunits. The stands come with quick-chang-ing devices. The smallest sizes will berolled by means of the four-slit rollingmethod. A water box for quenching andtempering the bars ensures the specificmechanical properties for the building in-dustry. The fully automated cooling bed,the separating devices as well as thebundling and tying station will likewise besupplied by SMS Meer.
Long-product mills
52 Newsletter No.2/2008
In the spring of 2008, Stefana
S.p.A., located in Ospitaletto, province of
Brescia, northern Italy, successfully commis-
sioned a completely new bar mill from SMS
Meer. Featuring a whole range of high-tech
equipment, the new mill can produce some
120 t/h of rebars or plain rounds, in case of
hot charging 140 t/h, conforming to a total
annual output of 700,000 t of sections. It
hence ranks among the most productive
rolling mills in southern Europe.
Stefana and SMS Meer had signed the contract for this projectnamed “Dream Steel” in 2005 to boost the production ofstraight bars and spools. The original layout of the mill reservedspace for later installation of a billet welding machine to enableendless rolling, as well as for mill extension to enable the pro-duction of wire rod.
Walking-hearth furnace. SMS Meer’s package included a walk-ing-hearth furnace for 160 mm x 160 mm square billets up to 16m long. A connection to the existing casting machine permits thebillets to be cold- or hot-charged. The furnace is equipped with allrequired charging and discharging facilities.
Rolling mill with 16 roll stands and two finishing blocks. Therolling mill comprises 16 housingless roll stands – six roughingstands in horizontal and vertical arrangement plus ten intermedi-ate/finishing stands in horizontal, vertical and convertible design.In addition, two finishing blocks, each with six rolling units, threecooling sections for rebar quenching and tempering from rollingheat, two cooling-bed shears and the patented HSD® High-SpeedDelivery system belong to the mill’s equipment.
HSD® system for maximum production rates. The HSD® sys-tem with four rotating channels permits high-speed two-slit rollingto attain maximal production rates for the smallest bar sizes.
700,000 t of rebars and plain rounds per year
Stefana, Italy: Bar mill
successfully started upCommissioning
Newsletter No.2/2008 53
Technical data
n Annual capacity 700,000 t n Product mix: rebars and plain rounds n Diameters: 8 to 16 mm,
2-slit rollingn Diameters: 18 to 40 mm,
normal rollingn Discharge by means of the HSD®
system with rolling speeds of up to 40 m/s onto the cooling bed
n Two VCC® Vertical Compact Coilers for rebar spools with a diameter of 700 mm, a height of 700 mm and a weight of up to 3.2 t
n Rebars have diameters between 8 and 16 mm and are coiled on the two VCC® facilities at speeds of up to 35 m/s
Finishing area with 90-m cooling bed.
The finishing area comprises a 90-m-longcooling bed, various transport systems, acold shear, bundling equipment, four au-tomatic tying machines with automatic la-beling system, bundle conveyors, and allrequired auxiliary facilities. The two VCC®
Vertical Compact Coilers consist of cool-ing boxes, shears, spooling equipment, aspool manipulator, two strapping ma-chines, transport facilities and a weighingstation.
SMS Meer as full-line supplier. In addi-tion to all mechanical equipment, SMSMeer supplied the complete electric andelectronic equipment, controls as well asthe software for the automation of therolling mill. Erection, supervision of rolling-mill commissioning and training of cus-tomer’s personnel were also included inour scope.
Long-product mills
54 Newsletter No.2/2008
In July 2007, Athens-based
Hellenic Halyvourgia S.A.
started up a new High-Speed
Delivery system (HSD®) from
SMS Meer. Since then, the
Greek steelmaker’s produc-
tivity has risen distinctly.
Productivity of long-product mill boosted by up to 50 %
Hellenic Halyvourgia: HSD® High-Speed
Delivery system successfulCommissioning
Today, almost one year later,
a long-term evaluation con-
firms the excellent produc-
tion figures: with the new
equipment, Hellenic Haly -
vourgia’s productivity for 8-
mm-diameter rebars is 50 %
higher than with the former
mill configuration.
Cooling bed.
HSD® High-Speed
Delivery system
for the cooling bed.
Newsletter No.2/2008 55
Revamp with just
minor production losses
To modernize the long-product mill, thepatented HSD® High-Speed Delivery sys-tem was installed during the scheduledannual maintenance shutdown so that re-vamping did not cause any major produc-tion losses. Parallel to the installation ofthe HSD® system, the rolling mill wasmodernized and all measures for disman-tling the old machines and ancillary facili-ties were carried out.
FAC issued after
just 10 months
In spite of the tense delivery situationworldwide for plant components, SMSMeer succeeded to supply, erect and com-mission the complete facility on schedule,just six months after contract signing inJanuary 2007. In November 2007, around10 months after the signing of the con-tract, Hellenic Halyvourgia officially accept-ed the mill and issued the FAC.
HSD® system.
Long-product mills
56 Newsletter No.1/2008
CS reversing stand during erection.
Jiexiu Xintai Iron & Steel Co.,
based in the Chinese pro v -
ince of Shanxi, has contract-
ed SMS Meer to supply a sec-
tion mill for the rolling of
beams with web heights be-
tween 200 and 1,000 mm.
Designed for an annual capacity of 1.2 mil-lion t, the mill will further increase China’sproduction capacity for parallel-flangedbeams to meet the high domestic de-mand. Hot commissioning of the mill isscheduled for the fall of 2009.
Hoesch Schwerter Profile
GmbH, a company of the Ital-
ian Calvi Holding S.r.l., select-
ed SMS Meer to modernize
its rolling mill for special sec-
tions. The goals of this proj -
ect are to increase the mill’s
availability, yield and flexibili-
ty and to improve the quality
of the finished products.
Tailor-made modernization concept.
The existing roll stands will be replacedwith modern compact stands. Grip-typetilters and centering devices will ensurethe optimal material entry conditionswhich are indispensable for the rolling ofspecial sections. Special investments inareas of the continuous finishing line andthe further processing facilities are alsoessential parts of the entire moderniza-tion concept.
Innovative CS roll stands. The specialsections produced by Hoesch SchwerterProfile GmbH are tailored to the needs andrequirements of the end users and have tomeet highest standards in terms of preci-sion and surface quality. Therefore, thecustomer decided to employ SMS Meer’sinnovative CS stands (Compact Stands)with automatic high-speed stand changing.
High stand rigidity. The new changestands feature maximum rigidity and re-quire little maintenance. Offering greatflexibility, the CS change-stand concept isideally suited for the rolling of special sec-tions. The made-to-measure stand solutionprovides for the re-use of existing rolls andguides, making the revamp of the special-section mill highly cost-efficient.
SMS Meer supplies eighth section mill to China
Beam mill for Jiexiu Xintai
Innovative CS roll stands
Hoesch Schwerter Profile:
revamp of rolling mill for special sections
Scope of supply. SMS Meer will supplythe mechanical and electrical equipmentas well as the automation for the new CSstands, descaling devices and grip-typetilters, stand-changing and assembly areaequipment as well as the required utilitysystems. Training of customer’s person-nel and supervision of erection and com-missioning are likewise included in ourpackage.
This revamp measure will help HoeschSchwerter Profile GmbH expand its lead-ing position as a producer of special sec-tions and strengthen its market position.
New order
New order
SMS Meer’s supply package includes theplanning and engineering, the key equip-ment, the training of customer’s personnelas well as the supervision of erection andcommissioning.
The rolling mill will be equipped with ouruniversal stands in CCS® design (CompactCartridge Stand). The hydraulic adjust-ment control system and the high rigidityof the mill stands permit to roll finishedproducts with close tolerances. The 9-roller CRS® compact roller straightenerfeatures straightening rollers that aremounted in bearings on both sides, hy-draulic adjustment and automatic straight-
Newsletter No.1/2008 57
Gerdau Açominas of Brazil has placed an order with
SMS Meer to expand the finishing equipment of its
Ouro Branco heavy section mill. For extension of the
existing mechanical equipment, SMS Meer will sup-
ply a tandem cold saw, two automatic12-m piling fa-
cilities as well as wire-tying machines. In addition,
SMS Meer will be at the head of the consortium for
the electrical and automation equipment. Brazilian
company Converteam will also be on board for this.
Higher yield and closer length tolerances
Gerdau Açominas, Brazil:
expansion of section finishing area
The consortium’s scope of supply alsoincludes the supervision of erection andcommissioning as well as the startup ofthe electrical equipment. The expansionconcept provides for installation of the newequipment while rolling continues. Follow-ing expansion of the section finishing area,the rolling mill’s capacity will go up fromsome 400,000 to 700,000 tpy. Commis-sioning is scheduled for 2009.
The coming expansion will increase thecapacity of the finishing equipment whichwas completely exhausted in the past andhence represented a bottleneck. This willbe achieved through installation of a sec-ond cooling bed and by changing over fromdividing the sections in hot state to finish-dividing by means of cold saws.
Moreover, additional piling, tying andloading capacities will be created. After theexpansion, the only function of the hotsaws is to pre-divide the material, whilethe new cold saws will be used for finish-cutting the material into saw layers. Thiswill increase the yield and also improve thelength tolerances of the finished material.
New order
ening-roller changing, and ensures greatflexibility along with top straightening re-sults at minimum residual stresses. Pro-gram changing on the mill takes no morethan 20 minutes. For dividing the rolledstock into finished lengths, SMS Meerwill provide its proven cold saw techniquewhich stands out for its low cutting costs.
This is yet another heavy beam mill em-ploying SMS Meer’s patented XH® univer-sal beam rolling method. Since its intro-duction in the early 90s, SMS Meer hasimplemented this economical rollingmethod in as many as 16 new facilities.
Cold saw in operation.
Long-product mills
58 Newsletter No.1/2008
Just 22 months after order
award, the new rail and sec-
tion mill of Wuhan Iron &
Steel (Group) Corporation
(Wisco), Wuhan, China, has
successfully entered its hot
commissioning phase. The
mill which features proven
key equipment was supplied
and installed jointly with the
customer under the technical
leadership of SMS Meer.
Wisco, China: rail and section mill
Commissioning underway
Commissioning Commissioning began at the end of December 2007 with therolling of rails with a weight of 60 kg/m. In the weeks and monthsthereafter, all the products included in the product mix were, andstill are, rolled.
The rolling mill consists of two 2-high reversing stands and oneuniversal tandem rolling group with hot saws and one 105-m-longand 42-m-wide cooling bed. The mill also incorporates the provenCCS® stands (Compact Cartridge Stands) for automatic high-speedchanging. The cooling bed is equipped for pre-bending of the rails.The horizontal/vertical straightening machine located downstreamof the cooling bed completes our supplies.
For rail rolling, the rail and section mill employs the universal rollingmethod. It is able to produce rails up to a length of 100 m withclose tolerances for use in high-speed railway systems. Wisco isnow the fourth rail producer in China using technologies and equip-ment made by SMS Meer.
Rolling of the first section. Rolling of beams to the XH® rolling method.
Newsletter No.1/2008 59
The mill is able to attain a production
of 1.05 million tpy, with the product mix
comprising:
n 550,000 tpy, various rail types of 38 to 89 kg/mn 400,000 tpy, parallel-flanged beams of 175 x 175 to
600 x 300 (mm x mm)n IPN beams of 250 to 500 mmn Channels of 250 x 80 to 400 x 104 (mm x mm)n Angles of 33 to 71kg/mn Piling sectionsn Mining sectionsn Bulb flats
Universal rolling in the compact stand group.
Horizontal straightener
in the shop.
Horizontal /vertical straightening
machine in a production plant.
Pre-bending of rails on the cooling bed.
MEETING your EXPECTATIONS
500
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“The information provided in this brochure contains a general description of the performance characteristics of the products concerned. The actual products may not always havethese 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 haveand 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.”
SMS MEER GMBH
Long Products
Ohlerkirchweg 6641069 Mönchengladbach, Germany
P.O. Box 10064541006 Mönchengladbach, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 2161 350-0Fax: +49 (0) 2161 350-1754
SMS MEER S.P.A.
Long Products
Via Udine, 10333017 Tarcento (Udine), Italy
Phone: +39 (0) 432 799 111Fax: +49 (0) 432 784 556