Jan. 4, 2007 — Nucor has selected Danieli to provide equipment for its new Special Bar Quality Minimill in Memphis, Tenn. Danieli will help Nucor revive the idled Memphis plant that the company had acquired with its purchase of Birmingham Steel Corp. in December 2002.

The new plant will incorporate the complete SBQ bar production cycle, from melting, secondary refining and continuous round bloom casting to hot rolling, in-line inspection and cold finishing.

The meltshop will be based on a 90-ton ultra high-power FastArc^™ single-charge EAF, fitted with all latest technologies to allow the highest performance level and optimized energy consumption rates. Liquid steel will be processed through a secondary refining station comprising a ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF) and a twin-tank vacuum degasser (VTD) equipped with combined steam-ejectors and water ring pumps. The three-strand FastCast^™ bloom caster will feature high-speed casting of high-quality blooms in the range of 267- to 511-mm diameter rounds.

The rolling mill upgrade will involve a major modification of the billet mill Danieli supplied in 1997, and will transform it into a modern 150 ton/hour SBQ mill for finished product. The new mill will operate as a direct hot charge process, utilizing a new 150 ton/hour Danieli Centro Combustion walking-beam reheat furnace directly connected to the new bloom caster and a new 1050-mm diameter reversing breakdown mill complete with work tables and manipulators for automatic operation.

The existing six-stand intermediate/finishing mill will be re-configured with the addition of two existing roughing stands relocated from their original position. Danieli will add a new 54 x 20.5-meter walking beam, turnover-type cooling bed, as well as a water cooling box and shot blasting station at cooling bed exit for proper cooling and cleaning of the SBQ bars.

Finishing facilities including abrasive type disc sawing, in-line straightening, NDT system for surface and internal defects detection, chamfering, marking, stacking, tying and final collection.

Nucor will use its newly upgraded rolling mill to produce 57- to 230-mm diameter finished rounds and equivalent squares, as well as 305-mm and 203-mm semi-finished squares for re-rolling. Grades will include a large variety of engineering and special steels for the automotive and mechanical construction industry.

Danieli will supply technological equipment for the meltshop and rolling mill, including an advanced Danieli Automation Level 1 and 2 automation system for the whole plant, as well as the electrical equipment for meltshop and caster.

Startup of the new steelmaking/casting facilities is scheduled for the first quarter of 2008, with the rolling mill scheduled to start up in the second quarter of 2008.