SMS Wraps Up Modernization Project at Nucor Strip Mill
11/19/2015 - SMS group has completed upgrades to Nucor Corp.’s Berkeley, S.C., USA, compact strip production (CSP) plant, SMS has announced.
SMS supplied the double-strand plant in 1996, and through the project, SMS increased the plant’s final strip width from 1,680 mm to 1,880 mm.
“Nucor Steel now operates one of the widest CSP plants in the world,” SMS said in a statement.
The project consisted of a revamp to one of the two CSP casters, the extension of the CSP rolling mill, renewal of the X-Pact electrical and automation systems, and the addition of an SMS Elotherm induction heating system upstream of the rolling mill.
SMS said the CSP caster was fitted with new molds, a new four-cylinder oscillation system, wider segments, and a new bending and straightening unit. With implementation of the Liquid Core Reduction (LCR 3) module in the containment zone, the thickness of the thin slabs can be infinitely adjusted between 48 and 63 millimeters.
SMS also added a seventh finishing stand to the rolling mill. The new stand features CVC plus technology, as do the other six. The rolling mill also was outfitted with a new X-Pact level-2 automation system. The system provides controls for profile, contour and flatness as well as a cooling model.
The addition of the induction heating system, which sits between the furnace and the rolling mill, gives plant operators the ability to raise temperatures of thin slabs before they are rolled. That allows for greater reductions per pass and, ultimately, an expanded range of thin-gauge products.
Additionally, SMS said, the heating system allows the plant to further reduce its energy consumption.
“By flexibly adjusting the thin slab temperature prior to rolling, the furnace temperature can now be lowered to a level suitable for rolling the major part of the steel grades and strip gauges without compromising process stability or the product quality,” the company said.
“For all strips requiring a higher entry temperature, the inductive heating systems will be there to provide the extra heating. By means of this concept, it is possible to achieve both the extensive product range typical of the CSP technology and marked savings on energy.”
“Nucor Steel now operates one of the widest CSP plants in the world,” SMS said in a statement.
The project consisted of a revamp to one of the two CSP casters, the extension of the CSP rolling mill, renewal of the X-Pact electrical and automation systems, and the addition of an SMS Elotherm induction heating system upstream of the rolling mill.
SMS said the CSP caster was fitted with new molds, a new four-cylinder oscillation system, wider segments, and a new bending and straightening unit. With implementation of the Liquid Core Reduction (LCR 3) module in the containment zone, the thickness of the thin slabs can be infinitely adjusted between 48 and 63 millimeters.
SMS also added a seventh finishing stand to the rolling mill. The new stand features CVC plus technology, as do the other six. The rolling mill also was outfitted with a new X-Pact level-2 automation system. The system provides controls for profile, contour and flatness as well as a cooling model.
The addition of the induction heating system, which sits between the furnace and the rolling mill, gives plant operators the ability to raise temperatures of thin slabs before they are rolled. That allows for greater reductions per pass and, ultimately, an expanded range of thin-gauge products.
Additionally, SMS said, the heating system allows the plant to further reduce its energy consumption.
“By flexibly adjusting the thin slab temperature prior to rolling, the furnace temperature can now be lowered to a level suitable for rolling the major part of the steel grades and strip gauges without compromising process stability or the product quality,” the company said.
“For all strips requiring a higher entry temperature, the inductive heating systems will be there to provide the extra heating. By means of this concept, it is possible to achieve both the extensive product range typical of the CSP technology and marked savings on energy.”
