Displaying items by tag: Primetals Technologies

Brazil: ArcelorMittal has ordered a slag retention system from UK-based Primematals Technologies. This is part of a larger order for two 135t LD converters for basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) at its steel plant in Jõao Monlevade. The Vaicon Stopper slag retention system is intended to minimise the amount of slag that enters the ladle during tapping. This system ensures shorter production cycles and higher steel quality compared with conventional slag retention systems. The overall plant project also includes an upgrade of the primary dedusting systems and complete electrics and automation packages. The start-up of the new equipment is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

The Monlevade plant produces wire rod for industrial applications such as steel wool and steel cord. The site is part of ArcelorMittal Brazil’s Long Steel division and has an annual capacity of 1.2Mt/yr.

Germany: Loesche says it is continuing its research and development of a process to create a steel slag suitable for cement production following a legal dispute.

The engineering company has worked with the FA Finger-Institut für Baustoffkunde (FIB) at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar on the thermally reductive modification of steel slags for recycling iron and manufacturing ‘steelworks clinker.’ It has developed two procedures for thermally reductive conditioning of BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) slag that have been registered for a patent, which largely differ in the respective cooling process for the remaining molten metal. The individual stages of the procedure have already been tried and tested on an industrial scale. Loesche’s partner for the entire procedure is Primetals Technologies based in Linz, Austria, which has industrial-scale plants for reduction and fast cooling based on patented procedures in its product range. The remaining iron (approximately 8 - 10%) that is still in the ‘steelwork clinker’ can then be separated in a Loesche mill. The separation procedure for this, which has also been patented by Loesche, has been in operation for approximately six years to recycle stainless steel from stainless steel slags in a recycling plant in Belgium.

However, following smelting trials conducted with the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) in 2011, Loesche faced a lawsuit regarding the patents for its procedures. The legal uncertainty that this created led to the suspension of further development and implementation of the two procedures for more than three years. The legal dispute was resolved in December 2017. The second conditioning procedure – the fast cooling – was assigned as the sole property of Loesche. A third of the ownership of the first conditioning procedure - slow cooling – was conceded to the BAM, represented by the German government.

Loesche now plans to implement the second procedure into industrial practice.

Poland: Primetals Technologies has received a provisional acceptance certificate (PAC) from ArcelorMittal Poland for the replacement of the second LD (Basic Oxygen Furnace) converter at the Dąbrowa Górnicza steel works. The converter entered service in February 2018. It follows a previous project by Primetals Technologies to replace a converter at the site in 2016.

As in the case of Converter #1, Primetals Technologies supplied the vessel and the trunnion ring, including the Vaicon Link 2.0 suspension, for Converter #3. The converter bearings and the enclosure have also been renewed. The order included also removal of the existing vessel and assembly and installation of the new equipment. This had been handled by ZKS Ferrum, the Polish partner in the consortium.

ArcelorMittal Poland is the leading steel producer in Poland, operating six production plants in the south of the country. Its range of products includes profiles, rails, fittings for the construction, transport and mining industries, as well as flat products for the automotive industry and domestic appliances.