In a statement, SMS group said Ilsenburger Grobblech on 23 November heated the plate in the new No. 1 furnace and then cooled it on its X-Roll®MultiFlex-Quench (MFQ) line. 

“With the extremely flexible cooling strategies enabled by the now-commissioned new quench, Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH is now able to expand its product range to also include particularly demanding grades,” SMS group said. 

“Thanks to the closely coordinated and targeted collaboration during the assembly and cold commissioning phases, production of the first plate took place eight days before the originally scheduled challenging deadline.”

The line is designed to process more than 200,000 metric tons of heavy plate annually. It is capable of treating plate in thicknesses between 5 mm and 175 mm and in widths up to 3,500 mm. It will process high-strength carbon steels, highly wear-resistant steels, steels for offshore and pressure vessel applications as well as case-hardened and quenched/tempered steels.

The X-Roll MultiFlex-Quench is SMS group’s new cooling technology that allows for a wide range of cooling parameters by means of variable pressure ranges. 

“Thanks to the variable settings, the MFQ enables a significantly larger product portfolio than conventional quenches,” the company said.