The order is for Slovenian flat rolled producer Acroni's Jesenice steelworks, Primetals said. The company expects the plant’s capacity to improve by more than 20 percent through the project.   

"This will give Acroni another steel production option in addition to the existing process route," Primetals said in a statement.

"The new AOD converter will expand Acroni's product portfolio, relieve the pressure on the existing production processes in the steel works, and improve product quality. Overall, this will reduce the required amount of alloying elements and thus cut production costs as well," it said.  

The new equipment is to be put into service by the beginning of 2017. 

Primetals said Acroni, a part of Slovenian Steel Group, is Europe's leading producer of stainless quarto plates. It also specializes in electrical and special steels.  

Primetals said the plant's crude steel currently is decarburized in a 90-metic-ton VOD converter. Because the treatment time for stainless is longer than for carbon steels, the current setup creates a bottleneck in stainless production. 

However, the bottleneck will be eliminated through the project, Primetals said. 

Primetals Technologies will design and manufacture key components of the AOD converter and the de-dusting system, and it will supervise their installation and commissioning, it said. It also will supply a process automation system designed specifically for AOD converters. 

 

The converter will be equipped with the patented Drive Damper system, which reduces vibrations caused by injection processes and lowers mechanical stresses on the entire system.