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Siemens Starts up World’s Largest DR Plant at Hadeed

11/27/2007 - Siemens Metals Technologies starts up a 1.76 million tonnes/year direct-reduction plant for Saudi Iron & Steel. Hot DRI from the new DR plant is charged directly to the EAF for an energy savings of up to 20%.

Siemens Metals Technologies has started up the world's largest direct-reduction plant for Saudi Arabian steel producer Saudi Iron & Steel Co. (Hadeed). The plant has an annual production capacity of 1.76 million tonnes of direct-reduced iron (DRI).
 
This facility, located in Al-Jubail on the eastern seaboard of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, is part of a recently started up Siemens-supplied steel mill that is capable of producing 1.4 million tonnes of flat products per year. In addition to featuring the world’s largest direct-reduction (DR) plant, the facility also incorporates the hot transport of DRI from the DR plant to EAF via a hot-transport system. Hot charging the DRI directly into the EAF will help to reduce electric steelmaking costs as well as tap-to-tap times.
 
The new DR plant is the fifth direct-reduction plant in operation at Hadeed. It is a Midrex-type module of the Megamod series. The shaft furnace, with a 7.0-meter inner diameter, is the largest shaft furnace built to date. The plant has a production capacity of about 220 tonnes of DRI per hour, all of which is consumed in Hadeed’s steel-production facilities.
 
Hot DRI is mechanically transported by conveyor to two EAF hot-DRI storage bins via a so-called hot-transport system. The conveyor is covered with an insulated steel hood to minimize temperature loss and oxidation of the hot DRI during transport. With this solution, it is possible to charge DRI into the electric arc furnace at a temperature exceeding 650°C, reducing the electrical energy consumption required for melting by up to 20%. The hot charge also allows Hadeed to achieve shorter tap-to-tap times and a corresponding higher productivity as compared to a cold-DRI based process.
 
Steel production at Hadeed is based on the melting of scrap and DRI in a ratio of approximately 25% scrap and 75% DRI. As part of the so-called Steel Plant Expansion Project, Hadeed commissioned Siemens Metals Technologies with projects for the turnkey expansion of the flat-products facility to enable the additional production of 1.4 million tons of steel per year. This additional output would increase the total annual steel-production capacity at Hadeed to approximately five million tonnes.
 
This entire project comprised the supply of the 1.76-million tonne/year direct-reduction plant, a 150-tonne electric arc furnace (EAF), a 150-tonne ladle furnace, and single-strand slab caster, plus the related dedusting, automation and auxiliary facilities. The new steel mill was built adjacent to the existing flat-steel production facility and production commenced in March 2007, followed by the subsequent startup of the DR plant.
 
Hadeed, a company of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), is one of the largest steel producers in the Middle East. The company produces a wide range of long and flat steel products, comprising rebars, wire rods, hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized coils which are primarily used in the construction, petroleum, pipe and household-appliance industries.
 
Metals Technologies (MT), a division of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) Group, is one of the world's leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-rolling sector of the aluminum industry and for open-cast mining. MT, which was created from the integration of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Linz/Austria, plus the electrical engineering product business and automation solutions of Siemens, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.
 
The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. In fiscal 2007 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 37,000 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 8.894 billion, according to U.S. GAAP.