Panzhihua Steel & Vanadium Co. Ltd., China, has placed an order with SMS group for an extensive modernization of its 1,450 millimeter hot strip mill (HSM) in Panzhihua, Sichuan Province. With this extensive modernization of the plant, which has been producing since 1996, Panzhihua intends to significantly improve production capacity and expand the production spectrum to include thin strip dimensions. The annual production capacity will be increased from the current 2.4 million tons to at least 3 million tons. The flexibility of HSM with regard to the product mix, which includes carbon steels as well as silicon steels and titanium strips, will be further strengthened by the conversion.
The SMS group’s scope of supply includes a finishing train, a laminar cooling system and a reel group, each of which will be completely renewed. The SMS provides the engineering and the core components for this.
A completely new finishing line with seven rolling stands will be installed behind the existing finishing train. These are equipped with hydraulic adjustments, hydraulic loop lifters and CVC®plus bending and shifting systems (Continuously Variable Crown). The X-Pact® Profile, Contour and Flatness process model (PCFC) is also part of the delivery by SMS group. This enables the customer to roll high quality materials with the highest demands on the geometric strip dimensions and tolerances.
The design of the laminar cooling section allows Panzhihua Steel & Vanadium a high degree of flexibility in terms of cooling capacity and cooling patterns in order to be able to produce modern high-performance steels and to be prepared for future requirements. Flow meters for process monitoring ensure reproducible operation with the highest quality requirements.
The reel group consisting of two under floor reels is also completely replaced with the indeed guides. The modernization of the entire system is carried out in just two shutdowns. By using the special modernization know-how from SMS, the necessary downtimes are significantly reduced and essential modifications are carried out in parallel while production is running. During the first shutdown in September 2021, the laminar cooling line will be renewed and a bridge roller table will be installed behind the existing finishing mill. This bridge roller table enables foundation work to be carried out for the new finishing relay while the plant is in operation. In a second shutdown in July 2022, the new finishing train will be installed in line behind the existing finishing train and the reel group consisting of two stationary underfloor reels will be replaced. At the same time, the dismantling of the existing prefabricated section and the implementation of the entry area will take place. The first hot strip is scheduled to be rolled in October 2022. With this modernization, which corresponds to a new construction of the quality-influencing plant components, Panzhihua Steel & Vanadium puts itself in a position to expand its production range with thin and high-strength hot wide strip and at the same time to increase the availability – and thus the production output.
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