MacSteel has awarded SMS Demag Inc. a contract for the engineering and supply of a 60-ton twin tank car vacuum degasser and ladle furnace for the company’s Arkansas Division in Fort Smith, Ark.

The previous ladle metallurgy facility, a ladle furnace, was supplied in 1990. The new vacuum tank degasser facility will improve plant productivity while enhancing product quality. The primary product is SBQ steel primarily for the automotive industry and high quality round blooms for seamless tube.

SMS Demag’s scope of supply consists of two vacuum degassing tank cars connected to a common vacuum pumping system. The cars will move ladles between a vacuum treatment position located in a new building addition and a loading/arc heating position in the ladle aisle. Each vacuum treatment station will have a dedicated cover equipped with an alloy hopper, wire feeding guide and atmospheric temperature/sampling mechanism. Arc reheating will be performed by a slewing ladle furnace gantry with SMS Demag proprietary "inert gas" roof technology.

Installation and startup are scheduled to be performed in early 2006.

SMS Demag Inc. forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group. The SMS group is 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 2003 around 9500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.