ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel Improves Surface Quality at Plant in Germany
03/25/2013 - Under a €4 million investment program, ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel has carried out conversion measures and process modifications at its Gelsenkirchen, Germany, site and achieved significant improvement in the surface quality of its grain-oriented electrical steel.
Under a €4 million investment program, ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel has carried out conversion measures and process modifications at its Gelsenkirchen, Germany, site and achieved significant improvement in the surface quality of its grain-oriented electrical steel.
Based on input from the company’s research and development department, the atmosphere of a final annealing furnace and parts of the cooling zone have been modified to prevent oxygen diffusion into the electrical steel and the associated negative effects on surface quality. The furnace has been converted from gas to electricity to allow more precise temperature control.
There has also been a significant improvement in magnetic losses. In trials, core losses were up to 4% lower than with previous products.
“This investment positions Electrical Steel ideally to meet future quality requirements,” says Dr. Peter Biele, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel. “We can already offer the high-efficiency grades which will be an EU requirement in distribution transformers from 2014.”
The background to this is the EU Commission’s Ecodesign directive for improving the environmental performance of energy-related products, which sets binding efficiency requirements for electrical equipment. Under these, manufacturers of distribution transformers must meet higher efficiency criteria from 2014, which can be achieved primarily through the use of high-quality grain-oriented electrical steel. Distribution transformers are used to step down three-phase medium voltage to low voltage for power distribution. They are used mainly in urban areas, but also in industrial applications.
Grain-oriented electrical steel in stacked, wound or stamped form is an essential core material for distribution and power transformers as well as small transformers.
ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, is one of the global market leaders for grain-oriented and non-oriented high-tech electrical steel products. With its innovative PowerCore® materials, ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel helps meet increasing ecological requirements in the electrical engineering sector. In this way ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel makes an important contribution to reducing pollution and conserving energy resources worldwide.
