Belgo Mineira in Piracicaba, Brazil, is operating a new state-of-the-art Danieli steelmaking plant.

The meltshop is made up of a 130-tonne Danieli AC EAF, ladle furnace, and ferro-alloy charging system. Danieli’s supply also included a pulse-jet type fume treatment plant and auxiliaries, plus new hot charging facilities for billets.

The meltshop delivered its first heats on May 28th 2004, after an intensive erection and cold run stage. Three-shift operation started at the end of June, producing an average of 17 heats or 2,000 tonnes per day. During July, daily liquid steel tonnage was increased to 142 tonnes per hour (2,500 tonnes per day). Electrical energy is tracking at 355 kWh/tonne and oxygen consumption is averaging 33 Nm3/tonne.

The new 1.1 million tonne per year meltshop is part of the Piracicaba minimill, which also includes an existing rolling mill and a new 500,000 tonne per year Danieli high-speed bar mill, which started its hot run at the beginning of August this year.

The new mill produces small-size bars that are delivered onto the cooling bed through the double twin channel system at up to 32 meters per second. High-speed finishing rolling takes place at two 6-pass Delta-type blocks, fed by incoming stock two-strand slit at the upstream intermediate mill.

Product range for the bar mill is 16- to 63.5-mm diameter plain bars and 6.35- to 32-mm diameter deformed bars. Danieli Automation has supplied electricals as well as fully integrated automation and process control systems, including harmonic analyzer and Level 2.

Belgo Mineira is part of the Arcelor Group.