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Siemens to Supply BOFs, Degasser, LFs for New Facility at Posco’s Pohang Works

07/03/2008 - Siemens VAI Metals Technologies will supply engineering and equipment for a new BOF-based steelmaking facility at Posco's existing steelmaking facilities in Pohang, Korea.

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received an order from Posco Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. (Posco E&C) for the installation of a new steel mill at Posco's existing steelmaking facilities in Pohang, Korea.
 
For Siemens, the project entails engineering and supply of key components, equipment and systems for two 300-tonne LD (BOF) converters, a twin-station RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus) degassing plant, and two ladle-treatment stations, as well as auxiliary facilities and systems. The project will be implemented in cooperation with Posco E&C.
 
According to Posco, the Pohang facility’s new steelmaking facilities will help the company expand production to meet a continually growing local and international demand for steel. Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2010, the new facilities will be capable of producing 4.65 million tonnes of carbon-, alloyed- and special-steel grades per year, 1.3 million tonnes of which would be cast in an ultra-thick-twin-strand slab caster that Siemens VAI is currently supplying. The slabs will be subsequently rolled to plates for use in, for example, the shipbuilding industry as well as for the construction of pipelines.
 
Both converters will be equipped with the maintenance-free VAI-Con Link suspension system, a converter-tilting unit with drive, and a dry-type converter-offgas-treatment system that will cool and dedust up to 200,000 m3 of offgas per hour. Siemens will also supply an evaporation cooler, a Siemens VAI four-field, round-type ESP (electrostatic precipitator), an ID (induced draught) fan, and a gas-switchover station for directing the treated converter offgas to either the flare or to intermediate storage in a gasholder for subsequent heating applications or generation of electricity. The offgas-treatment plant features a unique plate-type cooling system that ensures a high cooling efficiency of the exhausted air by the secondary dedusting system during converter charging. Both converters will accommodate dephosphorization and conventional decarburization of the hot metal. These operations are advantageous for the production of rolled steel plates for pipelines, as the low phosphor content is a prerequisite for avoiding cracks, particularly in regions where low winter temperatures prevail.
 
The RH degassing plant will ensure a low hydrogen and nitrogen gas content of the liquid steel as required for the production of high-quality plates. Each station will be capable of degassing up to 345 tonnes of steel per treatment cycle. The ladle furnaces will provide argon purging to obtain a high degree of steel homogeneity and to enable final temperature adjustments prior to continuous casting.
 
This project represents Siemens VAI’s fifth converter project since 2000 that the two companies will be jointly implementing.
 
Posco, one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world, produced more than 30 million tonnes of steel in 2007. At its production sites in Korea and elsewhere in Asia, the company produces a wide range of carbon, stainless and electrical-steel grades which are sold as coils, sheets, plates and wire rod that are used for a multitude of industrial applications.
 
The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is a leading supplier of production, transportation and building systems. The Sector comprises six Divisions: Building Technologies, Industry Automation, Industry Solutions, Mobility, Drive Technologies and Osram. In fiscal 2007 (ended September 30), Siemens Industry generated sales of approximately EUR40 billion (pro forma, unconsolidated) with around 209,000 employees worldwide.
 
With the business activities of Siemens VAI Metal Technologies (Linz, Austria), Siemens Water Technologies (Warrendale, Pa.), and Industry Technologies (Erlangen, Germany), the Siemens Industry Solutions Division (Erlangen, Germany) is one of the world's leading solution and service providers for industrial and infrastructure facilities. Using its own products, systems and process technologies, Industry Solutions develops and builds plants for end customers, commissions them and provides support during their entire life cycle.
 
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