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Siemens Commissions Second Converter and Caster for ThyssenKrupp CSA

11/29/2010 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies recently started up the LD (BOF) converter and continuous slab caster for the second production line at ThyssenKrupp CSA’s Siderùrgica do Atlântico steel mill in Rio de Janeiro.

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies recently started up the LD (BOF) converter and continuous slab caster for the second production line at ThyssenKrupp CSA’s Siderùrgica do Atlântico steel mill in Rio de Janeiro. The facility, which is designed to produce some five million tons of slabs per annum, had cast its first slab on the first line in September.
 
“The efficiency and safety of the plant configuration is impressive,” said Dr. Eichelkraut, CEO of ThyssenKrupp CSA. “Even the slabs produced immediately after commissioning were already of extraordinarily high quality.”
 
Siemens VAI supplied two basic oxygen furnace plants and secondary metallurgical facilities for the new steel works, along with primary and secondary dust-cleaning systems, two continuous slab casters and the associated electrical and automation equipment.
 
Steel is produced in two 330-tonne LD (BOF) converters that are equipped with ConLink vessel-suspension systems, quick-change oxygen lances, pneumatic slag stoppers, sublances and bottom-stirring systems. The secondary metallurgical plant includes two ladle-blowing stands for steel homogenization, as well as a chemical-heating stand and RH vacuum-degassing plant. The RH tank has a combined oxygen-blowing (COB) lance for decarburization and precise adjustment of the steel quality.
 
The plant employs a dry-type primary dust-cleaning system, the first such use in South America. The primary system is designed to recover and clean 282,600 Nm3 of converter offgas per hour, while the secondary dust-cleaning system has a capacity of more than 2.2 million m3/hour. Waste heat from the converter offgas is also used to generate steam in a boiler plant.
 
The facility’s slab casters are capable of casting slabs with widths of 800 to 2000 mm, thicknesses of 200 to 260 mm and lengths from 6 to 12 meters. A number of technological packages optimize the production process and ensure product quality, including LevCon automatic mold-level control; DynaWidth for online adjustment of slab width; MoldExpert system for monitoring strand-shell friction and automatic breakout prevention; and DynaFlex mold oscillator for flexible setting of oscillation parameters. Easy-to-maintain Smart segments are used in the caster’s straightening zone and horizontal section, with intermediately supported strand rollers to ensure a long service life. The Dynacs secondary cooling system provides optimum slab cooling, and the VAI-Q system is the basis for quality assurance.
 
Siemens VAI also installed the casters’ automation and process-control systems, which enable operating parameters to be optimally harmonized throughout the entire production process. The entire plant ran in the fully-automatic mode right from the first cast.
 
Located near Brazilian iron ore deposits, ThyssenKrupp CSA’s highly efficient new steel production facility will ship around 40% of its slabs to be rolled at ThyssenKrupp’s German facilities. The company anticipates the remaining 60% of produced slabs will be further processed at the new ThyssenKrupp works in Calvert, Ala.
 
The Siemens Industry Sector is a leading supplier of environmentally friendly production, transportation, building and lighting technologies. The Sector consists of six divisions: Building Technologies, Drive Technologies, Industry Automation, Industry Solutions, Mobility and Osram. With around 204,000 employees worldwide (September 30), Siemens Industry achieved in fiscal year 2010 total sales of approximately €34.9 billion.
 
The Siemens Industry Solutions Division is one of the world's leading solution and service providers for industrial and infrastructure facilities comprising the business activities of Siemens VAI Metals Technologies, Water Technologies and Industrial Technologies. With around 29,000 employees worldwide (September 30), Siemens Industry Solutions posted sales of €6.0 billion in fiscal year 2010.