Announcing that it has signed a contract with voestalpine, SMS group said the order includes an electric arc furnace, an argon-oxygen decarburization unit and secondary metallurgical equipment for voestalpine’s Kapfenberg, Austria, plant.

voestalpine subsidiary voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl in April broke ground on the new special steel plant in Kapfenberg, which will replace its existing facility there. The new plant will produce stainless steels for use in aircraft components, tools for the automotive industry, equipment for oil and gas extraction, and for 3D printing of highly complex metal parts. It is being designed to produce 205,000 tons annually.

SMS group said it will supply a 55-ton electric arc furnace; a 60-ton AOD converter that combines the AOD process with vacuum decarburization and degassing; three ladle furnaces; two vacuum degassers;  one vacuum oxygen degasser; and one ladle treatment stand.

“In terms of energy efficiency and environment protection, the new stainless steel plant will set new benchmarks. Closed cooling water circuits and heat recovery systems will minimize emissions and the consumption of resources. Forward-looking air purification systems will meet the most stringent environmental requirements,” SMS group said.

voestalpine has said the new plant will be highly automated. SMS group said in its announcement that all of the plant components will be monitored from a central control station.

In addition to the equipment, SMS group will provide the basic and detail engineering and oversee installation and commissioning. It also will provide operator training on-site and at its test center in Germany. 

Hot commissioning is scheduled to take place in mid-2021.

You  can read SMS group’s full announcement here.