EP2998046B1 - Integrated plant with very low environmental impact for producing hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel strip - Google Patents

Integrated plant with very low environmental impact for producing hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel strip Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2998046B1
EP2998046B1 EP15181694.9A EP15181694A EP2998046B1 EP 2998046 B1 EP2998046 B1 EP 2998046B1 EP 15181694 A EP15181694 A EP 15181694A EP 2998046 B1 EP2998046 B1 EP 2998046B1
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section
mould
plant according
plant
rolled
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EP15181694.9A
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German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
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EP2998046A1 (en
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Giovanni Arvedi
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Arvedi Steel Engineering SpA
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Arvedi Steel Engineering SpA
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
    • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
    • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
    • B22D11/14—Plants for continuous casting
    • B22D11/141—Plants for continuous casting for vertical casting
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21B—ROLLING OF METAL
    • B21B1/00—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations
    • B21B1/46—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations for rolling metal immediately subsequent to continuous casting
    • B21B1/463—Metal-rolling methods or mills for making semi-finished products of solid or profiled cross-section; Sequence of operations in milling trains; Layout of rolling-mill plant, e.g. grouping of stands; Succession of passes or of sectional pass alternations for rolling metal immediately subsequent to continuous casting in a continuous process, i.e. the cast not being cut before rolling

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an integrated plant with low environmental impact (so-called "green factory") for the production of steel hot-rolled and cold-rolled strip in a wide dimensional range with high productivity and flexibility of the plant and a high quality of the strip.
  • the steel is then refined in a plant for degassing and processed in chemical analysis in special treatment installations.
  • the steel is then cast by continuous casting which produces slabs approximately 200-250 mm thick, 1500-2000 mm wide and 8-12 meters long.
  • the slabs leaving the continuous casting are then stored in a deposit and subsequently resumed according to the production program to be heated in a furnace which takes the slabs to the optimum temperature (about 1200°C) for the next stage of hot rolling.
  • This phase normally comprises the passage in a first series of stands that perform the roughing operations and reduce the slab to a thickness of about 35-50 mm and then the finishing rolling is performed in a train that uses up to seven stands. From here the rolled material is sent, after cooling, to the winding on the reels that generate the coils of rolled strip.
  • the hot product of this type of plant is normally in the range of thicknesses from 1,8 to 15 mm, with a great prevalence in thicknesses greater than 2,5 mm since this type of plant is unsuitable for the production of coils of thin thickness.
  • Thin thicknesses are usually produced through cold cycles that use large finishing equipment, such as pickling, cold rolling trains with five stands, annealing, galvanizing and painting installations.
  • a typical integrated plant of this type from raw material to finished products, for a capacity of 4 million tons/year occupies very large spaces, usually from 5 to 8 millions of square meters.
  • the typology of these plants is scarcely flexible and involves the need of large amounts of intermediate materials put into storage (slabs, hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils, etc.) for a few million tons overall, with a consequent increase in production costs.
  • the idea underlying the present invention is to realize a factory with very low environmental impact (green factory), with consumption per unit of product reduced by 50% for both energy and water. This result is obtained thanks to the short distance not only between the steel mill and the casting machine but especially between the continuous casting and the winding reel of the hot-rolled strip, using the continuous production technology (so-called endless) that minimizes production time and consumption thereby reducing production costs.
  • the green factory is also characterized by a considerable reduction of raw materials and emissions as well as by a high recycling ratio with recovery even of part of the heat used in the production cycle.
  • the green factory comprises a foundry section for the production of liquid steel directly connected to a continuous casting and hot rolling section, which is in turn connected to a cold rolling section that is in connection with a finishing section (galvanic treatment, coating, annealing), a longitudinal slitting section being able to receive coils from each of the three above-mentioned working sections (hot rolling, cold rolling, finishing).
  • a vehicle shredding section produces metal scrap to be used as raw material for the foundry
  • a vehicle shredding residue burning section generates current for the plant
  • a foundry slag treating section is dedicated to the recycling of the slag and to the heat recovery therefrom.
  • EP 2636761 discloses an apparatus for recovering valuable metals from molten slag of a blast furnace, converter or electric furnace.
  • a first fundamental advantage of the plant according to the present invention is to provide a factory, with a production cycle in line, of extreme compactness in terms of space and production cycle times such that it can be fully realized in spaces of less than 700.000 m 2 .
  • Such a plant allows to produce, with a single continuous casting line directly connected without solution of continuity to the finishing mill, an amount equal to 3-4 million tons/year or more of coils of very high quality and for all applications, including the inner and outer parts of cars, with a high mix of thicknesses and maximum respect for the environment.
  • a second important advantage of the factory realized with the teachings of the present invention lies in the fact that it has very competitive investment and processing costs, it is highly environmentally friendly and has a minimum environmental impact, in particular for the reduction (up to 50%) of the energy and water consumption per unit of product and for the emission of fumes and noise reduced to a minimum, thanks to the fact that the sections are housed in completely closed and soundproofed sheds.
  • a further advantage of this factory is the provision of a "human friendly" indoor work environment where the workers, thanks to the integrated automation of all plants, can supervise all production processes in ergonomic and soundproofed pulpits, with no need to be in direct contact with the steel.
  • a plant according to the present invention comprises a foundry section SF for the production of liquid steel which is fed directly to an adjacent section CCHR for the continuous casting and hot rolling to a thickness between 0,8 and 25 mm.
  • this section CCHR comprises a device for the continuous casting in thin slab with liquid core reduction (LCR) followed by a finishing mill capable of reducing the thin slab to a strip of the desired final thickness, in addition to a device for cooling the strip thus obtained and to a final winding station provided with relative shears for obtaining coils HRC.
  • LCR liquid core reduction
  • the coils HRC of hot-rolled steel strip obtained in the section CCHR can be passed for possible additional processing to an adjacent pickling and cold rolling section PCR comprising lines with different rolling trains, for example a line with three rolling stands to obtain a thickness between 0,2 and 1 mm.
  • the coils CRC of cold rolled steel strip obtained in the section PCR can then be passed for possible additional processing to a longitudinal slitting section SL or to an adjacent coil finishing section CF which may comprise lines HDGL for hot dip galvanizing treatment (typically zinc coating), lines HDGCL for hot dip galvanizing treatment combined with an additional coating (typically paint) and lines AL for annealing.
  • a longitudinal slitting section SL or to an adjacent coil finishing section CF which may comprise lines HDGL for hot dip galvanizing treatment (typically zinc coating), lines HDGCL for hot dip galvanizing treatment combined with an additional coating (typically paint) and lines AL for annealing.
  • WO 00/00317 discloses a slitter apparatus for the slitting of steel strips.
  • the wide range of finished products that can be obtained with the present plant thus comprises coils HRC of hot rolled steel strip with a thickness comprised between 0,8 and 25 mm, the maximum width being equal to the width of the mould, and coils CRC of cold rolled steel strip with a thickness comprised between 0,2 and 2 mm that can later be zinc coated (HDGC) or zinc coated and painted (HDGCC).
  • a typical mix of finished products for a production of 4 million tons/year includes 1 million of HRC and 3 millions of CRC divided in half between lower and higher thicknesses.
  • section SF the present invention adopts the most advanced melting technologies of raw materials such as metal scrap, DRI (Direct Reduced Iron), HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron) and cast iron to obtain the liquid steel which is then refined, processed and loaded with the appropriate ferroalloys in order to be ready for casting in section CCHR.
  • These melting and refining phases of the liquid steel are carried out within sheds that are closed and kept in depression, so as to prevent the escape of fumes which are sucked by a special plant and filtered prior to the emission in the atmosphere in suitable installations for reducing pollutants that use the most advanced technologies available.
  • the section SF schematized here comprises two melting electric arc furnaces EAF, three ladle furnaces LF, two vacuum decarburization furnaces VOD and a vacuum degassing system RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus).
  • the electricity generated from the thermal energy obtained from the fluff in section ASRB is fed into the plant network, thus contributing to the reduction of kWh needed to produce 1 ton of steel.
  • the calculated value, fulfilling the criteria of PAS 2050:2011, of the carbon footprint of the finished product is less than 1300 kg CO 2 /ton, in relation to 1 ton of hot-rolled carbon steel type S235 JR (low alloy) 2 mm thick and 1500 mm wide, with an hourly production of 330 tons/h.
  • This value includes the raw material (mainly steel scrap), the melting process in the EAF furnace and the endless process of continuous casting and rolling of the strip, including the water cooling system (so-called "cradle-to-gate" value).
  • slag FS in the green factory object of the present invention all activities of cooling/treatment of the slag are carried out indoors.
  • the section ST for treating slag FS is in fact contained in a shed built with soundproof panels suitable to limit the propagation of noise and contain any throwing of materials. Also the whole shed is at a slight depression to convey any emission to a centralized fumes treatment plant through a special system ECS for capturing emissions released from the slag FS being treated.
  • ECS emission-capturing emissions released from the slag FS being treated.
  • the same kind of protection of the working environment and of limitation of the emissions is preferably applied also to the other sections.
  • the slag cooling basin shown in Fig.3 , comprises a system HRS for heat recovery from the slag which is discharged in the basin at each completion of the melting cycle of a batch of steel, at intervals comprised between 35 and 60 minutes.
  • the basin accumulates a number of discharges in proportion to its size, then the basin is allowed to cool and in the meantime there is used a twin basin to continue operations and the plant proceeds so alternately.
  • the structure of the basin comprises an internal tank 1, a waterproofed external tank 2 and a layer of thermal insulation material 3 arranged between said two tanks.
  • the internal tank 1 has a bottom wear layer 4 suitable to protect the structure of the tank itself inside which pass pipes of the heat recovery system HRS.
  • the residence time of the cooling slag in the basin allows the transmission of heat to the underlying structure of the internal tank 1 and, thanks to its size, there is established a temperature regime such that the piping network of the HRS system manages to remove the additional heat resulting from each new discharge.
  • a control system automatically switches the individual cooling circuits in series/parallel configuration to adapt the flow rates/temperatures to the needs of the heat users, both inside and outside of the factory (e.g. remote heating).
  • the shed of section ST is preferably made with metal panels insulated with high-density mineral wool, of the type illustrated in Fig.4 .
  • a panel consists of an external sheet 5 with a C-shaped cross-section suitable to support an internal sheet 6, exposed to the noise, that has a micro-perforated surface behind which there is a sound-muffling floating lamina 7 elastically suspended between two layers 8, 8' of high-density (80-100 kg/m 3 ) mineral wool insulation.
  • a protective foil 9 is arranged between the micro-perforated sheet 6 and the internal layer 8 of mineral wool.
  • the factory realized with the teachings of the present invention consists of plants for the production of hot-/cold-rolled steel strips, galvanized and coated, that are characterized by being as compact as possible while respecting all the phases of transformation of steel. More specifically, the plant for the production of hot-rolled strip is based on the "endless" technological concept which involves casting and rolling directly connected in line without solution of continuity for the maximum exploitation of the enthalpy of the liquid steel.
  • Such a plant is extremely compact (length about 180 meters) and allows the production of high quality steel strips wound in coils that cannot be obtained with other conventional plants or through other thin slab technologies at a competitive cost, with more than 70% of the hot-rolled coils that may have a thickness in the range from 0,8 to 1,6 mm and a width in the range from 1560 to 1800 mm.
  • the endless configuration described for example in European patent EP 1868748 and represented in Fig.1 in section CCHR, is characterized by the important aspect consisting of the direct connection without solution of continuity of the continuous casting and rolling stages, with a single set of stands that implements the roughing and finishing steps.
  • This solution in addition to reducing the energy request practically to that regarding only the finishing, since it eliminates the wasteful heating of the slab replaced by a single temperature recovery between casting and the rolling mill, is particularly favorable in terms of yield of the steel because the losses due to oxide rather than for other wastes are minimized.
  • hot-rolled strip with a minimum thickness up to 0,8 mm with dimensional features, internal structure and quality typical of cold-rolled strips, in particular as regards planarity and very tight thickness tolerances, also on the head/tail of the strip.
  • These properties of the hot-rolled coils HRC allow to obtain, with a subsequent step of cold rolling in section PCR, strips having a minimum thickness of 0,2 mm with excellent geometric characteristics.
  • the electromagnetic brake (EMB) is an essential component in the achievement of a high flow rate in continuous casting and to achieve a flow rate of 10 tons/min it was necessary to design an innovative geometry of the terminals of the magnetic cores of the EMB, as illustrated in more detail below.
  • the electromagnetic brake There are two different construction types of the electromagnetic brake, which have the same operating principle but depending of the casting machine you can have the external arrangement or the internal one.
  • the former is preferred in case of new machines, the second is usually used in case of retrofit where the space available is smaller.
  • the moulds must be suitable for use with the EMB, mainly as regards the cooling water chambers which must be shaped to accommodate the cores of the brake and be made of nonmagnetic stainless steel, so as not to affect the passage of the magnetic field towards the mould and not decrease the effectiveness of the device.
  • the components of the EMB are mounted externally to the mould, formed by four copper plates CP that delimit the space in which there is poured the liquid steel fed through the submerged nozzle SN. These components are:
  • the solution object of this invention can be applied to both arrangement, external and internal, and consists of a particular geometry of the front surface of the terminals of the magnetic cores that are no longer made as the usual steel parallelepipeds normally used.
  • the applicant has performed tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the geometry chosen for the terminals of the EMB by analyzing the stability of the meniscus M of the molten metal through the so-called "sheet test" (dip test) which consists in dipping in the mould, parallel to the wide plates CP, a sheet of stainless steel having a thickness equal to 0,2 mm. From the analysis of the sheets it is possible to obtain an indication of the magnitude of the wave generated by the turbulence of the liquid steel introduced into the mould through the submerged nozzle SN, measuring both the difference W 1 between the points of maximum and minimum and the difference W 2 between the maximum point and the average height of the wave, as shown in Fig.8 .
  • Fig.10 similarly shows the profile of the terminals in the vertical plane, where S indicates the thickness of the terminals and the significant points of passage of the profile are again interpolated by a polynomial curve of the sixth order a *x 6 + b *x 5 + c *x 4 + d *x 3 + e *x 2 + f *x + g .
  • g ⁇ 0.
  • the DMC is a management system for the cooling water of the copper plates of mould 10 which consists in the variation of the cooling water flow rate as a function of the casting speed and of the thickness of the plates themselves. This is done through the use of variable-speed pumps 11 inserted in the cooling circuit, in addition to a conventional heat exchanger 12 and a bypass valve 13.
  • the present invention can also be applied by replacing the endless process according to the teachings of patent EP 1868748 with that of patent EP 1558408 , which comprises a roughing and finishing step with an intermediate heating between the roughing mill and the finishing mill, rather than a single rolling plant.
  • patent EP 1558408 which comprises a roughing and finishing step with an intermediate heating between the roughing mill and the finishing mill, rather than a single rolling plant.
  • integral cycle plants i.e. with the melting of mineral and coal in a blast furnace, applying the best available technologies to minimize the environmental impact.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Continuous Casting (AREA)
  • Metal Rolling (AREA)
EP15181694.9A 2014-09-12 2015-08-20 Integrated plant with very low environmental impact for producing hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel strip Active EP2998046B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITMI20141581 2014-09-12

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2998046A1 EP2998046A1 (en) 2016-03-23
EP2998046B1 true EP2998046B1 (en) 2017-11-15

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EP15181694.9A Active EP2998046B1 (en) 2014-09-12 2015-08-20 Integrated plant with very low environmental impact for producing hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel strip

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EP (1) EP2998046B1 (es)
ES (1) ES2658065T3 (es)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102020209299A1 (de) 2020-07-23 2022-01-27 Sms Group Gmbh Verfahren zum Herstellen von Stahlband

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN107338712A (zh) * 2016-12-29 2017-11-10 沧州渤海新区辰禾工程有限公司 一种路基修建用标柱及路基修建方法
CN110860685A (zh) * 2019-10-30 2020-03-06 上海宝冶集团有限公司 炼钢连铸厂房的施工方法

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IT1244295B (it) * 1990-07-09 1994-07-08 Giovanni Arvedi Processo ed impianto per l'ottenimento di nastri di acciaio avvolti, aventi caratteristiche di laminati a freddo ottenuti direttamente in linea di laminazione a caldo
AU4708699A (en) * 1998-06-30 2000-01-17 Hwb Incorporated Slitter apparatus and method of providing and maintaining a predetermined pass line
ITMI20021996A1 (it) 2002-09-19 2004-03-20 Giovanni Arvedi Procedimento e linea di produzione per la fabbricazione di nastro a caldo ultrasottile sulla base della tecnologia della bramma sottile
PT1868748E (pt) 2005-04-07 2008-12-12 Giovanni Arvedi Processo e sistema de fabrico de chapas e bandas metálicas sem solução de continuidade entre a moldagem contínua e a laminagem
KR101175479B1 (ko) * 2010-11-04 2012-08-20 고려대학교 산학협력단 용융 슬래그 미립화 및 유가금속 회수장치

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102020209299A1 (de) 2020-07-23 2022-01-27 Sms Group Gmbh Verfahren zum Herstellen von Stahlband
WO2022017733A1 (de) 2020-07-23 2022-01-27 Sms Group Gmbh Verfahren zum herstellen von stahlband

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ES2658065T3 (es) 2018-03-08
EP2998046A1 (en) 2016-03-23

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