Posted on 17 Feb 2016
Brazilian steel producer Gerdau has
issued the Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) for a new Steckel mill
supplied by Primetals Technologies for its Ouro Branco production site
in the state of Minas Gerais. The Steckel mill has an annual capacity of
800,000 metric tons of hot-rolled coil and was part of a major order
placed with Primetals Technologies in 2010, comprising the complete
mechanical, electrical and automation equipment.
Gerdau is
the leading long steel producer in the Americas and a leading global
supplier of special steels. Gerdau has industrial operations in 14
countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia with combined installed
production capacity of more than 25 million metric tons of steel per
year. It is also the largest recycler in Latin America and around the
world transforms millions of tons of scrap into steel each year.
The
Steckel mill is part of an investment program for the Ouro Branco Steel
Works, which is intended to establish the Gerdau as a flat carbon steel
producer in Brazil. Under the investment program, Gerdau also ordered a
plate mill and a two-strand continuous slab caster from Primetals
Technologies. The end products include not only high grade plates for
API (American Petroleum Institute) linepipes, but also for shipbuilding,
the construction industry and pressure vessels.
Primetals Technologies supplied all the mechanical equipment for the Steckel mill, including the Steckel rolling stand with coiler furnaces, a crop shear, a laminar flow cooling section, and the downcoiler with its associated coil handling devices as well as the complete electrical and automation equipment. The rolling line is designed producing steel strip ranging in width from 900 to 2,100 millimeters and in thicknesses between 2 and 20 millimeters. The main drives of both rolling mills are equipped with non-salient pole synchronous motors powered by Sinamics SM150 voltage source converters. The scope of supply also covers the complete instrumentation, the measuring system and the automation, and includes all the technological control systems and process models. The project also included the complete power supply, including high, medium and low voltage switchgear. The scope of supply was rounded off by fluids systems and the water treatment plants for the two rolling lines. Primetals Technologies also was responsible for supervising the installation and commissioning of the equipment supplied.
