core sector communique

SMS MEER

Bhilai Steel Plant: Rail mill for high-speed train tracks

Bhilai Steel Plant, a company of the Indian SAIL Group, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of a new universal rail mill. The mill will enable Bhilai Steel Plant to produce rails for high-speed trains. Furthermore, rails for goods transport with high weights and rail head-hardened products for special applications can also be produced. The rolling mill has an annual capacity of 1.2 million t. Rails with a maximum  length of up to 130 m will be produced.

Bhilai Steel Plant will thus take on a leading role in the manufacturer market for special rails. The company benefits i.a.from fully automated stand changing which allows fast size changes. Another advantage: the RailCool system that can be used inline for rail head hardening. The rolling mill forms part of a modernization and capacity expansion program. Rolling of the first rails is scheduled for spring 2013.

The rail mill is to be supplied by a consortium headed by SMS MEER. The company is to supply the whole mechanical equipment and the complete process equipment, including the rail head hardening technology.

The latest CCS  (Compact Cartridge Stand) stands are used in the universal mill. This technology is characterized by high frame rigidity, all-hydraulic roll gap adjustment and fully automated stand changing.

The CRS (Compact Roller Straightener) horizontal roller straightener developed by SMS Meer will be used for straightening the whole rolling program. Thanks to the hydraulic vertical adjustment system with the straightening shafts mounted in bearings on both sides, the straightener offers optimum straightening characteristics for high-speed rails.

The complete rail finishing equipment also belongs to the SMS Meer scope of supply. This includes two automated rail testing centers, visual inspection lines, several rail sawing units, rail straightening presses, rail drilling machines and the long and short-rail loading equipment.

The RailCool system with selective water spraying is employed for the rail head hardening. SMS Elothern is to supply the induction heating equipment which allows selective temperature control in the fine pearlitizing  process.

SMS Meer delivers largest PQF seamless tube plant to China

SMS Meer, Germany, has started delivery of the world’s largest PQF plant (Premium Quality Finishing) for seamless tubes with diameters up to 20’’. The customer is a Chinese consortium consisting of the Tianjin Pipe Corporation (TPCO) and the Jiangsu Shagang Group Huaigang Special Steel Company. Erection is scheduled to start in August 2011 in the Hual’an works in Jiangsu province. Production is due to start at the beginning of 2012. The capacity of the new PQF plant is  500,000 t of seamless tubes per year. Main customers are the oil and gas industry.

SMS Meer Project Manager, Roland Preuten: ‘’The project has a signal effect for the whole tube industry. This plant will represent the largest production facility for seamless tubes are thus breaking into a new performance dimension.’’

Benefits of PQF plants include the low energy and material consumptions. The PQF process means smaller tolerance deviations in the roll gap, minimum material load and fewer disruptive influences during the rolling process. For tube mill owners this means: Tube production runs in a more stable manner and is easier to master. And: The lower material stress makes it possible for the product range to be extended to thin-walled dimensions and higher steel grades.

The Chinese consortium decided in favor of the PQF technology developed by SMS Meer because it assures not only a new spectrum of dimensions, but also a consistently high tube quality within the closest tolerances plus a dependably high productivity.

For the 20’’-tubes SMS Meer has developed the world’s largest cone-type piercer with a roll diameter of 1,700 mm. The company is also to supply the PQF mill, the components for the run-out side and the extracting and sizing mill. The engineering for the mechanical and electrical parts of the hot section of the mill also come from SMS Meer.

PQF stands for ‘’Premium Quality Finishing’’. In the PQF mill, the three rolls are positioned uniformly around the tube. As a result, the forces acting on the tube are distributed more uniformly around the circumference than with the two-roll arrangement.