Tuesday, December 14, 2010

ArcelorMittal  Monlevade  S.A. Orders two-strand high-capacity wire rod mill.

 

In 2008, ArcelorMittal Monlevade S.A., Brazil, had placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of a single-strand high-performance wire rod mill with the option of expansion to two strands. In view of the world economic crisis, the order was subsequently suspended. It was reinstated in summer 2010 and the original expansion option for two strands is to be implemented immediately. The plant is scheduled to go into production in the second quarter of 2012.

Within the framework of this order, SMS Meer is to supply a walking beam furnace, the mechanical and electrical equipment for the mill train, the complete media supply systems, the finishing facilities for the wire-rod coils and the cooling technology.

The wire rod mill will have an annual capacity of 1,000,000 t. The main equipment consists of a walking-beam furnace with a capacity of 180 t/h. The billet dimensions are 160 ,160 mm or 155, 155 mm.  This is followed by a four-stand, single-strand roughing mill of HL (HousingLess) stands in horizontal and vertical  arrangement  with downline free runout.

The intermediate train consists of the six horizontal HL stands that are designed for the two-strand operation. The two single-strand wire rod outlets comprise four HL and four CL (CantilLever) stands in H/V arrangement. a cooling and equalizing section, a ten-stand wire rod block and a water cooling section downstream of the wire rod block. The CL stands and the wire rod  block are of UHD (Ultra Heavy Duty) design. The stand cassettes for the CL stands and the wire rod block are identical.  In addition, space has been planned in each line for a four-stand FRS (Flexible Reduction and Sizing) mill in order to enable an increase in the efficiency of the plant in the future. The maximum rolling speed for 5.5mm wire rod is 120 m/s.

The scope of supply for each wire rod outlet includes a 96-m-long Loop Cooling Conveyor (LCC) for accelerated and delayed cooling and two water cooling sections. The plant is completed by the Controlled Cooling Technology (CCT) developed by SMS Meer. The equipment supplied by SMS Meer permits the temperature-controlled rolling of all steel grades in the size range from 5.5 up to 15.9 mm. The coil handling equipment with two coil tying presses completes the overall solution.

The secondary metallurgical center with ladle furnace and continuous caster for the production of Special Bar Quality (SBQ) billets with six strands upstream of the wire rod mill was ordered from Concast AG in Zurich, Switzerland.

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