OMK, Russia, recently signed a contract with Danieli to supply technological equipment and engineering, supervise erection, and train personnel for a new Casting Rolling Complex.

The new casting rolling complex will be constructed at the Vyksa facility in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, near the biggest pipe producer in Russia. It will produce hot rolled coils that will be used to produce 21 to 530 mm diameter pipes in the OMK Group production facilities of Vyksa and Almetyevsk.

The new facility will comprise a steel meltshop with a 174-tonne/hour EAF, twin ladle furnace and twin-tank VD station; thin slab caster; and tunnel heating and soaking furnace. The rolling mill will incorporate a two-stand rougher with attached vertical edger, intermediate cooling and heating transfer table; vertical edger; five finishing stands; laminar cooling section; and a downcoiler and coil handling equipment. The facility will utilize flexible Thin Slab Rolling technology (fTSR) developed by Danieli Wean United.

Dynamic soft reduction technology will be utilized to facilitate excellent as-cast slab surface and central quality. Descaling stations will be incorporated throughout the hot strip mill to provide effective scale removal, and vertical edgers will be utilized to provide improved strip width and edge quality. The mill will also incorporate advanced control of strip thickness, profile, flatness and finishing temperature to enable achievement of strict dimensional tolerances and severe demands for metallurgical and mechanical properties.

In addition to production of light gauges, the minimill’s technological equipment will allow OMK to produce and extended range of steel grades including microalloyed steels such as API 5L X65 and X70. These grades can be used for pipes that can be used at temperatures down to -60°C and in aggressive atmospheres.

Danieli Automation will supply electricals, automation and process control systems up to Level 3 for the entire casting-rolling complex.

The new OMK steel plant will enter into industrial production by the second half of 2007.