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SMS Mevac to Convert Second OEMK DH Plant to RH

01/01/2005 - OEMK, Russia, has contracted SMS Mevac GmbH, Germany, to revamp its existing DH plant No. 1, which SMS Mevac had supplied in the early 1980s, into a RH unit. SMS Mevac will also further upgrade the facility No. 2, which SMS Mevac had just recently converted from DH to RH.

OEMK, Russia, has contracted SMS Mevac GmbH, Germany, to revamp its existing DH plant No. 1, which SMS Mevac had supplied in the early 1980s, into a RH unit. SMS Mevac will also further upgrade the facility No. 2, which SMS Mevac had just recently converted from DH to RH.

The DH recirculation process, which uses just one snorkel in the vacuum vessel, was utilized in older generation vacuum degassing facilities.

The more efficient RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus) recirculation degassing process, by contrast, employs two snorkel tubes in the vacuum vessel.

By the mid-1980s, RH had replaced DH as the technology of choice. Today, a growing number of customers is making use of their old DH units by converting them into more powerful RH plants at relatively low cost.

SMS Mevac’s revamp at OEMK of No. 1 DH substantially comprises new RH vessel bottom sections with snorkel tubes, the inert gas system for steel recirculation, and the required control and instrumentation systems.

Both OEMK plants will be equipped with additional facilities to harmonize their designs and bring them up to the state of the art to satisfy customer demands. Additional components for both plants will include new suction lines with maintenance-free gas coolers, new TOP burners to replace the old graphite-rod heaters, and new wire feeders for optimized alloying. SMS Mevac’s scope also includes engineering and supervision of erection and commissioning for all components.

The Stary Oskol electrical steel plant mainly produces bearing steels, spring steels, and special pipe grades as well as rail steels.

SMS Mevac GmbH 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.