March 2007 — Sidenor Basauri, Spain, part of the Gerdau Group, will install a 4-strand bloom caster that will allow the producer to eliminate its existing ingot-casting process.

The existing steelmaking plant, located in Bilbao, comprises a 130-tonne EAF, LF/VD secondary metallurgy station, and six-strand billet caster, as well as an ingot casting line and billet inspection facilities. The billet caster was completely revamped by Danieli in 1999.

The new state-of-the-art bloom caster will incorporate the most advanced Danieli technologies, such as hydraulic oscillation, dynamic soft reduction, high bath-level tundish, tubular copper tube molds, mold EMS, mold powder measuring device, and water/air-mist secondary cooling system. Normal cooling on a walking beam or else slow cooling in the pits are foreseen for the bloom discharge area.

With the new caster, Sidenor Basauri is targeting improved plant productivity, efficiency, product quality, lower production costs. It will produce 300- x 400-mm blooms in a wide range of engineering, micro-alloyed and stainless steels. In the future, the caster can be expanded to produce 350- x 470-mm blooms.

Danieli Automation will supply a complete Level 1 and Level 2 automation and process control system.

The new machine’s startup is scheduled for June 2008.

Sidenor Basauri, one of the world leaders in production of automotive and stainless steels, is part of the Brazilian Gerdau Group.

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