Anshan New Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., P.R. China, has successfully commissioned its second RH-recirculation degasser, delivered by SMS Mevac GmbH.

SMS Mevac’s scope of supply included engineering, delivery of key mechanical components, and a major portion of the electrical equipment and instrumentation. SMS Mevac also supplied a metallurgical model as well as supervision of installation and commissioning.

The new RH-unit will incorporate a fast vessel-exchange system with hydraulic ladle lifting. The unit will also be equipped with a metallurgical TOP-lance. Vacuum is achieved by a steam ejector vacuum pump that is designed to operate at low levels of steam and condenser cooling water consumption.

The ladle will be transported between the hand-over position and the treatment position by means of a ladle turret, thus increasing the availability of the unit while reducing crane utilization. The unit will produce a range of grades including mainly HSLA steel (high-strength low-alloy) for the automotive industry, LCAK (low carbon aluminum-killed), grain- and non-grain-oriented transformer steels, dynamo steel, API grades (pipes), ship-building steel, and boiler steel.

SMS Mevac GmbH forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group. SMS GmbH is the holding for a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, non-ferrous metals and plastics. The group is divided into the Business Areas of Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology, Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology and Plastics Technology. In the year 2004 some 9,500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 2.20 billion.