The Chinese steel producer Shougang Group Co. awarded Siemens VAI Metals Technologies projects for the supply of three new continuous-casting machines, including a caster capable of casting ultra-thick slabs of up to 400 millimeters. The casters will be installed at the new facility of Tangshan Shougang Baoye Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Shougang Baoye) and will be successively started up beginning in September 2009. The orders were received shortly after the order from the Shougang Group for the supply of a 400-millimeter-thick-slab caster at Qinhuangdao ShouQin Metals Material Co. Ltd.
The scope of supply of Siemens VAI for the three new continuous slab casters at Shougang Baoye includes detail engineering for core systems and equipment, basic engineering for the run-out area and maintenance facilities, and the basic and process automation systems. The casters will also be equipped with a wide range of technology packages, including an automatic mold-level control, early breakout detection and quick-changing of worn copper plates in the mold. The scope of supply also includes online adjustment of mold-oscillation parameters, flexible and online adjustment of the slab width and thickness, dynamic secondary cooling and strand-thickness reduction in the area of final strand solidification to improve internal steel quality. The order also includes the supply of special parts and components for the tundish and strand-guidance equipment, package units such as the mold-powder feeder, marking machine and roll-gap checker, as well as spare parts for one year of operation. Advisory services for local manufacturing, erection, start-up and commissioning will also be provided in addition to training for operating personnel.
Continuous Casting Machine No. 1 (CCM 1) is designed to cast up to a total of 1.4 million tons of steel which will be directly fed into a plate mill. Slab thicknesses will range from 250 to 400 millimeters and at widths from 1,600 to 2,400 millimeters. The casting-bow radius will be eleven meters and the metallurgical length 45 meters. The vertical length of this caster will be extended by one meter, as compared to the conventional Siemens VAI design, in order to facilitate the removal of steel inclusions and thus to improve the steel quality. CCM1 will be additionally equipped with a three-dimensional spray system for optimized cooling of slabs of different widths, as well as with I STAR Revolver rollers requiring only a minimum of spray water cooling compared to conventional rollers, thus reducing the risk of slab surface overcooling.
CCM 2 will produce slabs with thicknesses from 220 to 300 millimeters and at widths from 1,600 to 2,500 millimeters. The casting-bow radius will be ten meters and the metallurgical length 34.5 meters. The CCM 3, with a casting bow radius of nine meters and a metallurgical length of 34.5 meters, will cast slabs at thicknesses between 230 and 250 millimeters and at widths varying between 1,600 and 2,150 millimeters.
The Shougang Group is one of the leading steel producers in China and produced more than 12.4 million tons of finished steel products in 2007. These include high-quality wire and bar, heavy plates, hot- and cold-rolled strip and sheets, as well as galvanized products which are primarily sold to the domestic market. Because of environmental concerns as well as to increase its overall steel output, the Beijing-based Shougang Group relocated the liquid phase of its iron and steel production to production sites outside of the Beijing region. A new facility named Tangshan Shougang Baoye Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Shougang Baoye) is therefore being built in Tangshan City in Hebei Province, approximately 150 kilometers east of Beijing. The steel works will be capable of producing approximately 4.2 million tons of a wide range of carbon and low-alloyed steel grades.
An essential reason for receipt of the order was the positive experience at Shougang with the completion of two 2-strand slab casters that were installed by Siemens VAI at the Qianan site and went into operation in December 2006 and January 2007, respectively.
Additional information on solutions for steel works, rolling mills and processing lines is available at http://www.siemens.com/metals
The scope of supply of Siemens VAI for the three new continuous slab casters at Shougang Baoye includes detail engineering for core systems and equipment, basic engineering for the run-out area and maintenance facilities, and the basic and process automation systems. The casters will also be equipped with a wide range of technology packages, including an automatic mold-level control, early breakout detection and quick-changing of worn copper plates in the mold. The scope of supply also includes online adjustment of mold-oscillation parameters, flexible and online adjustment of the slab width and thickness, dynamic secondary cooling and strand-thickness reduction in the area of final strand solidification to improve internal steel quality. The order also includes the supply of special parts and components for the tundish and strand-guidance equipment, package units such as the mold-powder feeder, marking machine and roll-gap checker, as well as spare parts for one year of operation. Advisory services for local manufacturing, erection, start-up and commissioning will also be provided in addition to training for operating personnel.
Continuous Casting Machine No. 1 (CCM 1) is designed to cast up to a total of 1.4 million tons of steel which will be directly fed into a plate mill. Slab thicknesses will range from 250 to 400 millimeters and at widths from 1,600 to 2,400 millimeters. The casting-bow radius will be eleven meters and the metallurgical length 45 meters. The vertical length of this caster will be extended by one meter, as compared to the conventional Siemens VAI design, in order to facilitate the removal of steel inclusions and thus to improve the steel quality. CCM1 will be additionally equipped with a three-dimensional spray system for optimized cooling of slabs of different widths, as well as with I STAR Revolver rollers requiring only a minimum of spray water cooling compared to conventional rollers, thus reducing the risk of slab surface overcooling.
CCM 2 will produce slabs with thicknesses from 220 to 300 millimeters and at widths from 1,600 to 2,500 millimeters. The casting-bow radius will be ten meters and the metallurgical length 34.5 meters. The CCM 3, with a casting bow radius of nine meters and a metallurgical length of 34.5 meters, will cast slabs at thicknesses between 230 and 250 millimeters and at widths varying between 1,600 and 2,150 millimeters.
The Shougang Group is one of the leading steel producers in China and produced more than 12.4 million tons of finished steel products in 2007. These include high-quality wire and bar, heavy plates, hot- and cold-rolled strip and sheets, as well as galvanized products which are primarily sold to the domestic market. Because of environmental concerns as well as to increase its overall steel output, the Beijing-based Shougang Group relocated the liquid phase of its iron and steel production to production sites outside of the Beijing region. A new facility named Tangshan Shougang Baoye Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Shougang Baoye) is therefore being built in Tangshan City in Hebei Province, approximately 150 kilometers east of Beijing. The steel works will be capable of producing approximately 4.2 million tons of a wide range of carbon and low-alloyed steel grades.
An essential reason for receipt of the order was the positive experience at Shougang with the completion of two 2-strand slab casters that were installed by Siemens VAI at the Qianan site and went into operation in December 2006 and January 2007, respectively.
Additional information on solutions for steel works, rolling mills and processing lines is available at http://www.siemens.com/metals
