Primetals Technologies

Alpharetta,  GA 
United States
http://www.primetals.com

• Booth: 2035

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with offices and service centers in 14 U.S. locations, Primetals Technologies is a pioneer and world leader in the fields of engineering, plant building, and the provision of lifecycle services for the metals industry. The company offers a complete technology, product, and services portfolio that includes integrated electrics and automation, digitalization, and environmental solutions. This covers every step of the iron and steel production chain – from the raw materials to the finished product – and includes the latest rolling solutions for the nonferrous metals sector. Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners, with around 7,000 employees worldwide.

To learn more about Primetals Technologies’ comprehensive technology, product and service portfolio for every step in the iron and steel production value chain go to meta.ls/aistech2021.

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• First Coil produced on Arvedi ESP line supplied by Primetals Technologies to steel complex in Hebei Province, China (Jun 25, 2021)
  • Casting-rolling plant produces high-quality, ultra-thin strip to enter new market segments
  • Rolling of reproducible strip thicknesses down to 0.7 mm
  • Start-up 17 months after contract in force and 6 months after erection start
  • First plate and first coil milestones achieved 3 weeks ahead of schedule
  • First coil and first endless strip produced at the same time – new record

  In April, the first coil was produced on an Arvedi ESP line (Endless Strip Production) supplied by Primetals Technologies to a Chinese steel producer in Hebei Province. Even under pandemic conditions, professional collaboration of the customer’ project team and Primetals Technologies ensured a smooth project execution. Start-up took place after 17 months of contract in force and 6 months after erection start. First plate on March 17 and first coil on April 6 milestones were achieved 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Also, the first coil and the first endless strip were produced at the same time, marking a new record.

  The casting-rolling facility is part of a new integrated iron and steel works. The Arvedi ESP line is capable of rolling strip to a reproducible strip thicknesses down to 0.7 mm. This enables the company to produce high-quality, ultra-thin strip to enter new market segments. Compared to conventional casting and rolling processes, energy consumption and the related costs are reduced by up to 45%. This also results in a major reduction in CO2 and NOx emissions, minimizing environmental impact.

  The Arvedi ESP plant allows to better serve the highly attractive local and export markets for high-quality, thin-gauge strip products. The 180-meter-long plant is far more compact than conventional casting and rolling mills. The plant is designed for the production of high-quality, ultra-thin, hot-rolled strip products with widths of up to 1,600 mm and thicknesses down to 0.7 mm. Carbon steels, high-strength low alloyed (HSLA) grades and dual-phase steels will be produced.

  Primetals Technologies was responsible for the engineering of the Arvedi ESP plant and supplied mechanical equipment, media-control systems, technological packages and automation systems. The entire line is controlled by a completely integrated basic (Level 1) and process optimization (Level 2) automation, which fully controls all casting and rolling operations.

  In the Arvedi ESP process, hot-rolled coils are produced in a linked casting and rolling plant directly from liquid steel in a continuous and uninterrupted manufacturing process. The line commences with the casting of a thin strand that is subsequently rolled to an intermediate thickness of 10 to 20 mm in a 3-stand high-reduction mill positioned at the end of the caster. After reheating in an induction heater, rolling of the transfer bar to the targeted end thickness is performed in a 5-stand finishing mill followed by laminar strip cooling. Strip cutting is then carried out by means of a high-speed shear immediately prior to coiling to coil weights of up to 32 metric tons. The full range of steel grades can be flexibly produced on Arvedi ESP plants.

  As a result of the endless strip-production mode of Arvedi ESP lines, repeated threading into the individual rolling stands is not necessary. This is the basis for the production of ultra-thin strip gauges down to 0.7 mm thicknesses. The tolerance values for the required strip geometry are fully met along the entire length of the rolled product. Endless production is also decisive for assuring the homogeneity of the steel microstructure, grain size, yield strength and tensile strength. Because the strip is continually under tension, the cobble rate is below 0.1%, even when producing more than 50% below 1.2 mm thickness.

  Primetals Technologies, Limited, headquartered in London, United Kingdom, is a pioneer and world leader in the fields of engineering, plant building, and the provision of lifecycle services for the metals industry. The company offers a complete technology, product, and services portfolio that includes integrated electrics and automation, digitalization, and environmental solutions. This covers every step of the iron and steel production chain—from the raw materials to the finished product—and includes the latest rolling solutions for the nonferrous metals sector. Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners, with around 7,000 employees worldwide. To learn more about Primetals Technologies, visit the company website www.primetals.com.

• Primetals Technologies to supply second EAF Quantum electric arc furnace and expand recently ordered slab caster capacity for Tosyali in Turkey (Jun 25, 2021)
  • Second EAF Quantum also is designed to produce two million metric tons of liquid steel per year and may be operated with a mixture of scrap of varying composition and HBI
  • Low electrical energy consumption per metric ton, low operating costs and CO2 emissions
  • Two-strand continuous slab caster will be expanded to a capacity of 3.4 million metric tons of slabs per year
  • Total liquid steel capacity of nearly 4 million metric tons with two EAF Quantum furnaces

  Turkish steel producer Tosyali Demir Celik Sanayi A.S. has placed an additional order with Primetals Technologies to supply an additional, second EAF Quantum electric arc furnace with a capacity of two million metric tons of liquid steel per year, and to expand the production capacity of a recently ordered two-strand slab caster to 3.4 million metric tons per year. The new order follows an order placed in 2020, which encompassed a first EAF quantum electric arc furnace, a twin vacuum-degassing plant with oxygen blowing, and the original version of a two-strand slab caster. All plants will be erected at a flat steel greenfield project in of Tosyali in Iskenderun, Turkey. Commissioning is expected for late 2022.

  Tosyali Demir Celik A.S. is part of the Tosyali Group, which already operates another steel plant named TOSCELIK in Osmaniye, Turkey as well as a DRI direct hot-charge melting plant in Algeria named Tosyalı Iron Steel Industry Algerie. The company also runs a number of rolling mills and is well established in the markets for flat products and welded pipes. In order to increase their capacity of semi-finished products like slabs for the existing downstream facilities, Tosyali Holding decided to set up a new greenfield facility in Iskenderun, Hatay Province.

  The new EAF Quantum – as well as the one ordered in 2020 – are designed to handle metallic scrap and virgin materials such as HBI, pig iron in different composition and quality. The electrical energy requirement of the electric arc furnace is extremely low, mainly thanks to the scrap preheating system, but also due to many other features of EAF Quantum technology, such as FAST Tapping system, continuous foaming slag and continuous submerged electric arc (Flat bath operation). This reduces both the operating costs and the CO2 emissions. The EAF Quantum is a highly productive furnace that will reach lowest of possible power off times. The twin vacuum-degassing plant provides further treatment and steel quality to the production portfolio of Tosyali Demir Celik. With oxygen blowing possibility Tosyali Demir Celik steel plant will be ready to produce steel grades starting from ULC grades up to high carbon grades, peritectic grades, API grades, dual phase grades and also high strength low alloyed steel grades. The two-strand continuous slab caster will provide a capacity of 3.4 million tons of slabs per year and is able to process a wide range of steel grades.

  The EAF Quantum developed by Primetals Technologies combines proven elements of shaft furnace technology with an innovative scrap charging process, an efficient preheating system, a new tilting concept for the lower shell, and an optimized tapping system. This all adds up to very short melting cycles. The electricity consumption is considerably lower than that of a conventional electric arc furnace. Together with the lower consumption of electrodes and oxygen, this gives an overall advantage in the specific conversion cost of around 20 percent. In comparison to conventional electric arc furnaces, total CO2 emissions can also be reduced by up to 30 percent per metric ton of crude steel. An integrated dedusting system with modern automatic off gas control fulfills all environmental requirements.

  The slab caster has a machine radius of ten meters. The caster produces slabs with a thickness of 225 millimeters in widths ranging from 900 to 1,800 millimeters. The production capacity increase from two to 3.4 million metric tons per year will be achieved by adding additional segments. The maximum casting speed is 2.6 meters per minute. The plant casts ultra-low carbon to high carbon steels, peritectic, and HSLA steels, as well as API grades. The straight cassette-type Smart Mold is equipped with the Mold Expert breakout detection system, DynaWidth for automatic width adjustment, and the DynaFlex mold oscillator. LevCon automatic mold-level-control system with "autostart" casting functions and auto-adaptive dynamic bulging compensation and the Mold Expert on-line automatic breakout pre-detection will also be implemented. Bender and Smart Segments as well as I-Star rollers are used in the strand-guiding system.

  The Dynacs 3D secondary cooling system dynamically calculates and controls the temperature profile along the entire strand. DynaGap Soft Reduction 3D is used to improve the interior quality of the slabs. The roll gap is dynamically adjusted during the final solidification in accordance with the operating points calculated by Dynacs. This minimizes segregation in the center of the strand.

  Primetals Technologies, Limited, headquartered in London, United Kingdom, is a pioneer and world leader in the fields of engineering, plant building, and the provision of lifecycle services for the metals industry. The company offers a complete technology, product, and services portfolio that includes integrated electrics and automation, digitalization, and environmental solutions. This covers every step of the iron and steel production chain—from the raw materials to the finished product—and includes the latest rolling solutions for the nonferrous metals sector. Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners, with around 7,000 employees worldwide. To learn more about Primetals Technologies, visit the company website www.primetals.com.

• HYFOR pilot plant under operation – the next step for carbon free, hydrogen-based direct reduction is done (Jun 25, 2021)

  • Successful first tests of HYFOR performed at the pilot plant at the voestalpine site in Donawitz
  • Use of 100% Hydrogen as reduction agent lowers CO2 footprint close to zero
  • Low Opex and Capex cost as no agglomeration step is required
  • Only process worldwide using iron ore concentrate fines with 100% particle sizes smaller than 0.15 mm
  • Modular plant design to match individual customer requirements

  In April, the Hydrogen-based fine-ore reduction (HYFOR) pilot plant developed by Primetals Technologies was commissioned at the voestalpine site in Donawitz, Austria. First tests were successful. Test with various iron ore concentrates will continue to collect a sound data basis. Use of 100% Hydrogen as reduction agent reduces the CO2 footprint close to zero. The HYFOR pilot plant employs the world´s first direct reduction process for iron ore fines concentrates from ore beneficiation, not requiring any agglomeration like sintering or pelletizing. This reduces CAPEX and OPEX costs. HYFOR represents the only process worldwide capable of processing iron ore concentrate fines with 100% particle sizes smaller than 0.15 mm, and a wide variety of ores, e.g. hematite and magnetite, supplied by different customers of Primetals Technologies worldwide. The direct reduction plant will come in a modular design, allowing for a tailor-made scaling for customers for all sizes of steel plants.

  First tests have been successfully executed in April and May 2021 The scale of one test run is in the range of processing of 800 kg iron ore. The HYFOR pilot plant shall be operated for at least 2 years in multiple campaigns to test various ore types and to evaluate the optimal process parameters for the next scale up step. Smooth operation assumed, a hot briquetting unit will be added to verify the hot briquetting step as well as the HBI quality to be expected from the HYFOR technology.

  Primetals Technologies has developed the world´s first direct reduction process for iron ore concentrates not requiring any agglomeration like sintering or pelletizing. Primetals Technologies can resort to the comprehensive experience from the earlier Finmet/FINORED and FINEX development and plant installations. The new technology can be applied to all ore types (hematite and magnetite) and particle sizes of up to 100% smaller than 0.15 mm. As primary reduction agent, the new process uses 100% Hydrogen from renewable energy or alternatively H2-rich gases from other gas sources like natural gas pyrolysis or conventional steam reformers. This results in a low or even a zero CO2 footprint. The direct reduction plant will come in a modular design, making it available for all sizes of steel plants. The product is hot DRI for direct hot transport and feed to the downstream melting like EAF or Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) for being sold to the market.

  The use of DRI/HBI is expected to continue to grow due to the need to the strong demand to decarbonize the steel sector and the growing number of electric arc furnaces in service worldwide. Currently, all available technologies require agglomeration, like pelletizing to produce DRI or HBI. An additional challenge steel producers face, is the reduced quality of iron ore, resulting in the need to beneficiate the iron ores. In order to progress to a CO2-free steel production, a process using mainly H2 is most desirable. The new HYFOR process developed by Primetals Technologies takes care of all the above considerations.

  The HYFOR pilot plant consists of three parts: a preheating-oxidation unit, a gas treatment plant and the actual reduction unit. In the preheating-oxidation unit, fine ore concentrate is heated to approx. 900 °C and fed to the reduction unit. The reduction gas, 100% H2, is supplied over the fence from a gas supplier. A dry dedusting system takes care of dust recycling to prevent emissions from the processes involved. The hot direct reduced iron (HDRI) leaves the reduction unit at a temperature of approx. 600 °C before its cooled down and discharged from the HYFOR pilot plant. The next step will be the addition of a Hot Briquetting Testing facility to produce Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI).

  The aim of the HYFOR pilot plant is to verify this break-through process and to serve as a testing facility to provide the data basis for upscaling the plant size to an industrial-scale prototype plant as the next development step.

  This project is funded by the Climate and Energy Fund and is carried out under the program "Energieforschung". For further information: www.klimafonds.gv.at, www.energieforschung.at

  Primetals Technologies, Limited, headquartered in London, United Kingdom, is a pioneer and world leader in the fields of engineering, plant building, and the provision of lifecycle services for the metals industry. The company offers a complete technology, product, and services portfolio that includes integrated electrics and automation, digitalization, and environmental solutions. This covers every step of the iron and steel production chain—from the raw materials to the finished product—and includes the latest rolling solutions for the nonferrous metals sector. Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners, with around 7,000 employees worldwide. To learn more about Primetals Technologies, visit the company website www.primetals.com.

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