Advanced slab-caster technology for India
The slab caster will be part of a green-field integrated production facility currently under construction at the Angul site where an annual steel output of approximately six million metric tons is planned. The nominal capacity of the caster will be approximately 1.5 million metric tons per year with steel grades ranging from ultra-low to high carbon steels as well as micro- and low-alloyed grades. Initially, production will concentrate on slabs for pipeline and plate applications, which will be rolled in a new Siemens VAI 5-m-wide plate mill which is currently under construction. The caster is equipped with a straight mold and the casting radius is 10.0 m. Slabs will be cast at thicknesses of 200, 260 and 300 mm and in widths from 1,000 to 2,300 mm. Cut-slab lengths will range from 4.5 to 12 m.
Siemens VAI responsibilities for this project include plant engineering, equipment design and supply, advisory services for erection, installation, start-up and commissioning in addition to personnel training. All of the major process equipment will be provided such as the main casting-floor equipment, mold, strand-guiding system and discharge facilities in addition to the torch-cutting machine, deburrer, marker, roll-gap checker and pusher/piler. Electrics, hardware and software for Level 1 automation and Level 2 process optimization as well as hydraulic, lubrication and cooling systems are also included.
A wide range of technological packages, systems and other special equipment items will be installed in the caster to ensure high machine performance, operational flexibility and product quality. Beginning with the machine head, the LevCon system, combined with the Siemens VAI VEMA stopper actuator, provides automatic and precise mold-level-control. On the basis of strand-temperature monitoring as well as friction and heat-flux calculations, MoldExpert is a decisive factor for enhanced break-out protection. The so-called Smart Mold enables the narrow sides of the mold to be hydraulically moved which, in combination with DynaWidth technology, allows slab-width adjustments to be carried out during casting. On-line adjustment of the mold-oscillation parameters for improved strand-surface quality is made possible with the well known DynaFlex oscillator.
I-STAR Rollers (intermediately supported trans-axle rollers) installed throughout the strand-guiding system provide ideal strand-shell support for minimized strand bulging. An integrated quality-management system further contributes to the consistent production of high-quality slabs. Dynacs, a Level 2 secondary-cooling model, calculates the stand-temperature profile and the required cooling-water quantities for any position along the strand. Highest internal strand quality will be assured with the installation of Smart Segments and the application of DynaGap Soft Reduction in the horizontal zone of the caster. On the basis of the Dynacs-calculated point of final strand solidification, the roller-gap settings will be automatically controlled to minimize centerline segregation. This caster project will be jointly implemented by Siemens VAI groups based in Sheffield, U.K., Linz, Austria and Kolkata, India.
Jindal Steel and Power Limited, part of the Jindal Group, is the third largest steel manufacturing company in India. In their fiscal year 2008-09, the company produced 2.4 million metric tons of steel products consisting of billets, blooms, rounds, plates, coils, heavy structural sections (including H-beam) and rails (120-m long). JSPL already operates several steel plants in India where a wide range of products are rolled and processed from billets, blooms, beam blanks and slabs. Siemens VAI has already installed a combi-caster at the JSPL steel works in Raigarh, which was the first caster in the world capable of casting beam-blanks, blooms and rounds.
Further information on solutions for steel works, rolling mills and processing lines is available at http://www.siemens.com/metals.
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