For a new special steel mill in Dangjin, the Korean steel maker Hyundai Steel has placed an order with Siemens Metals Technologies for a continuous bloom casting machine, a large bar rolling mill and a small bar and wire rod mill. Commissioning of the plants is scheduled for the end of 2015.
Hyundai Steel, situated in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, belongs to the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group and runs three production facilities in South Korea and a further one in China. At present, the company is constructing a new plant at the Dangjin site to produce special steels for the automotive industry. In future, bar and wire are to be produced here as primary material for engine and gearbox parts. Annual production of 400,000 metric tons of wire rod and 600,000 metric tons of straight bar and bar-in-coil is planned.
The four-strand continuous bloom caster from Siemens has an annual capacity of 1.1 million metric tons. The caster is equipped with mold-level control and breakout protection. In combination with air mist spray cooling and interior-cooled rollers in the strand guidance system, further technology packages ensure uniformly high quality of the blooms cast. Still hot, these are then fed for direct use in the bar line. This saves energy during reheating and improves operating safety because there is no need for transport of blooms, for example by crane. The large bar mill encompasses a duo reversing breakdown stand and a finishing train with rolling/sizing stands. The large bar mill also provides billets to be further processed in the small bar and wire rod mill, which Siemens will also be supplying with a capacity of 800,000 tons. This will include a breakdown and intermediate mill feeding a sizing block supplied by Germany-based Friedrich Kocks GmbH & Co KG for production of bars, a rod outlet and also a bar-in-coil outlet. Designed to roll 160 tons per hour, the small bar and wire rod line will have the highest production rate for a combination mill, and is particularly designed for low-temperature rolling. This improves the metallurgical structure and mechanical properties of end products and enhances flexibility during the rolling operation.
Special mechatronics packages and an integrated automation solution ensure the necessary high product quality throughout the plant.
