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The new Arvedi ESP® (Endless Strip Production) technology, a direct evolution from ISP (In-line
Strip Production), is the first to apply a completely endless concept that connects casting and
rolling without interruption, thus allowing a very thin transfer bar to enter the rolling mill to
produce thin gauge quality steel in a very compact line (180m long) and with significantly lower
energy consumption than a traditional cast slab hot strip mill route. Following commissioning
in June 2009 the plant produced 400,000t that year. Since the start of 2010 production has
averaged 300t/hr. The minimum gauge so far obtained is 1.2mm, while development down to
0.8mm gauge is expected by June 2010.
Authors: Gerald Hohenbichler, Federico Mazzolari, Bernd Linzer and Andreas Jungbauer
Siemens VAI and Arvedi
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FORMING PROCESSES
THE ARVEDI ESP LINE – CREMONA PLANT 2 enable the rolling of strip to thicknesses between 12 and
The new cast-rolling line is made up of four main sections 0.8mm (and even thinner) at strip widths up to 1,570mm.
(see Figure 1). The installation of an advanced cooling system at the
The first section consists of a thin-slab caster followed exit of the finishing mill is an important pillar for the
by rolling in a linked 3-stand, 4-high reduction mill (HRM) production of a wide range of steel grades including HSLA
at the exit of the continuous caster. An important factor and multi-phase steels.
in the internal quality of the cast slabs is that liquid steel The fourth section consists of a high-speed dividing
core reduction is carried out with Smart® caster segments shear and downcoilers where the strip is coiled in weights
prior to the HRM. up to 32t.
The HRM rolls the slab with a special thermal thickness For ESP, the integration of technological automation
distribution (TTD), which is an inverse thermal profile, systems and packages developed by Siemens VAI is a
ie, the core is hotter than the subsurface, which in turn decisive factor for achieving excellent production and
is hotter than the surface. The low specific resistance product quality parameters.
to deformation in the core leads to improved material The core components of the plant have already been
structure, excellent isotropic material properties, reduced described in detail in various papers1–11, and can be
energy consumption and a significantly improved crown. summarised, from a technological point of view, as follows:
After the HRM the transfer bar is 8–20mm thick and mould and caster, directly connected 3-stand HRM,
already has a flatness and thickness profile as well as intermediate area with pusher piler and sample cutting,
quality parameters that fully satisfy the standards of hot- induction heater and descaler unit, 5-stand finishing train
rolled coil and plate. and laminar cooling and high speed cutting units, all of
In the second section, the temperature of the intermediate which are essential to the success of ESP technology.
strip is adjusted to the requirements of finishing rolling in In order to create a highly profitable plant that produces
an induction heater. The temperature of the strip is the key high quality hot rolled coil with minimum energy
to good process performance in a fully continuous cast- consumption, and thus minimum conversion costs, the
rolling line. Induction heating allows highly flexible and following components are of the utmost importance.
precise control of the temperature and can also provide a
high energy input within a very short space. More details PLANT COMPONENTS
are given later. Thin slab caster The desired mass flow arises from a
The third section comprises a high-pressure descaler to combination of the slab thickness (about 100mm) and
MILLENNIUM STEEL 2010
accurately remove scale and minimise temperature loss, casting speed and this determines the caster design. In
and a 5-stand finishing mill equipped with the Siemens our case only a low head bow-type caster with vertical
VAI SmartCrown technology package. It is designed to mould and appropriate slab support system with a long a
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Arvedi and Siemens VAI on plant design and technology
resulted in the design and construction of the mould
system. Key features are:
Funnel mould The mould, as the heart of caster, initiates rates enables a wide range of operation, predominantly to
the solidification process and is therefore crucial to thin provide a strand of high and adjusted internal enthalpy to
slab casting with high mass flow. Collaboration between the first HRM stand. Depending on the casting width, the
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FORMING PROCESSES
85
Parameter Value
Thickness range down coilers 0.8–12mm
Thickness range flying shear 0.8–4mm
Max strip speed 17m/s
Coil outside diameter 1,980mm
Strip temperature range 185–800°C
Max coil weight 32t (45t emergency)
used to disconnect the dummy bar from the cast strand and
to cut the transfer bar into plates discharged by means of
the pusher/piler equipment, if chosen. The design allows a
wide range of cutting thicknesses (10mm to 110mm).
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FORMING PROCESSES
bending), work-roll shifting (Smart Crown®, wear headers to be very quickly added and precisely controlled.
compensation), dynamic work roll cooling and a roll gap A high speed shear is used to determine coil size in endless
lubrication system on the early stands (see Figure 7). When operation. Positioned approximately 10m upstream of the
all these systems are combined, highly flexible and reactive downcoiler, it must be readily available and cut accurately.
control can be achieved. Siemens VAI’s Hot Planicim® Roll, The equipment is made up of an entry and exit pinch roll
a flatness measuring gauge, allows precise closed loop unit and a rotary-style shear. The shear is of single-blade
flatness control during endless operation, since the strip is design (1 per drum) and works on the principle of an
continuously under tension. eccentric drive to activate the cut.
All these together allow endless strip production in a The three downcoilers downstream of the flying shear (2
wide range of strip thicknesses with close tolerances within operational, 1 standby) are designed for ultra-thin gauge
a single casting sequence, even for hard steel grades. production (4 wrapper rolls, air blow-down system, cradle
Most important from an energy point of view is the very roll indexing).
short space occupied by the stands (4.5m), optimised work
roll diameters and specifically selected work roll materials. PRODUCTION RESULTS
Following commissioning in June 2009 the plant started
Laminar cooling, high speed shear and downcoilers production of strip for sale. For three months it worked
The main energy consideration for this equipment is with two shifts. In the 4th quarter of 2009 it moved to
related to the overall cooling strategy, in particular the use three shifts, taking production at year end to 400,000t. At
of low pressure cooling, large openings and an extra-short the start of 2010 it moved to four shifts with an average
cooling length, as well as low motor power rating for the production of 300t/hr. Figure 9 shows finished coils at the
high speed shear and limited strip tensions for thin gauge end of the compact plant.
coiling (see Figure 8 and Table 2). Basic structural and high strength steels, soft steels for
All the cooling strategies required for various products can re-rolling and galvanising grades are currently produced in
be accommodated (dual-phase, early cooling and standard large quantities, and production tests have been carried
cooling). The equipment offers tilting headers designed out with HSLA steels with positive results. The minimum
MILLENNIUM STEEL 2010
to facilitate easy removal of the product in the case of gauge so far is 1.2mm with excellent surface quality,
stoppage. In the unlikely event of speed-up at the tail end structure and dimensional tolerances. Development
during batch operation, the header design allows active down to 0.8mm is expected by June 2010, and a further a
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FORMING PROCESSES
extension of the industrially and commercially produced the descaler, a further energy saving of 10-15% will be
steel grades portfolio is expected by the end of the year. achieved, leading to conversion energy savings of more than
World record in energy saving The ESP plant’s lower 25% with respect to the ecologically and economically best
direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse and noxious available technologies. MS
gases (NOx and CO2) are strictly linked to low energy
consumption. They amount to 40-50% on normal gauges Gerald Hohenbichler is General Manager, ESP
and 65-70% on thin gauges. The new concept will achieve Technology, Bernd Linzer is with Hot Rolling Technology
the world’s lowest energy consumption for producing hot and Andreas Jungbauer is General Sales Manager ESP,
rolled coil from liquid steel. This is in part due to the all at Siemens VAI, Linz, Austria. Federico Mazzolari is
reduced demand for deformation energy as the strip is Senior Advisor at Finarvedi, Cremona, Italy.
rolled while still soft in the centre.
Arvedi ESP requires less energy when increasing line CONTACT: rainer.schulze@siemens.com
capacity and productivity, unlike other thin slab process
technologies. The slab heat is used for the first reduction REFERENCES
step in the HRM, with the advantages of the inverse 1 G Arvedi, Finarvedi, Italy, ‘The technological innovation
temperature profile. Reheating of the transfer bar is done of flat steel products’, AIM, Milan, 6 April, 2000.
by the IH to the minimum required and just in time. During 2 A Bianchi, Acciaieria Arvedi, Italy; C Mapelli, AIM,
downtimes (turnover time between production sequences, Italy, ‘Solidification and cooling patterns’, AIM – Thin and
maintenance shifts, etc) the IH is turned off. strip casting, Milan, Italy, 27 June, 2001.
Measurements have been taken during several production 3 G Arvedi, Finarvedi, Italy; A Bianchi, A Guindani, L
runs and have been compared to offline simulations for Manini, Acciaieria Arvedi, Italy, ‘Latest results from Arvedi
S235JR steel grade. After tuning of the models, reliable ISP Technology’, Stahl und Eisen, 123(3), pp57-65, 2003.
predictions can be made for different thicknesses and 4 J Siegl, G Holleis and A Angerbauer, Siemens VAI,
casting speeds. Austria, ‘The Arvedi Endless Strip Production (ESP) line –
Figure 10 shows how thinner gauges result in an From liquid steel to hot-rolled coil in seven minutes’, METEC
increase in energy consumption of 20% due to the higher InSteelCon, Düsseldorf, Germany, 11-15 June, 2007.
deformation energy required if the final thickness is 5 G Arvedi and F Mazzolari, Finarvedi, Italy; J Siegl, G
halved, whereas higher casting speeds lead to a reduction Holleis and A Angerbauer, Siemens VAI, Austria, ‘Acciaieria
in energy consumption of approximately 20% for each Arvedi Cremona Works – From ISP to ESP ultimate casting
m/min of casting speed increase. and direct rolling technology’, Rolling and Processing
Also promising is the use of thin gauge hot rolled strip Conference, Linz, Austria, 16-17 September, 2008.
instead of cold rolled strip, saving the energy needed for 6 R Shore, J Watzinger and G Holleis, Siemens VAI,
cold rolling, annealing and skin passing. The high quality Austria, ‘Casting technology and machine design solutions
thin gauges provided by the endless process will bring a for ESP plants’, Rolling and Processing Conference, Linz,
steadily growing acceptance of thin gauge hot rolled coil. Austria, 16-17 September, 2008.
Arvedi ESP offers the advantage, starting from a thin hot 7 R Burger and A Gruess, Siemens, Germany, ‘Integrated
rolled product with excellent precision, dimensional and process automation – A necessity for successful ESP process
flatness characteristics, of 0.2–0.3mm gauges with a limited implementation’, Rolling and Processing Conference, Linz,
number of cold rolling steps, resulting in reduced investment Austria, 16-17 September, 2008.
and processing costs (see Figure 11 and Table 3). 8 F Mazzolari, G Arvedi and M Calcinoni, Finarvedi, Italy,
‘ISP and ESP technology in integrated mills and mini mills –
PROSPECTS New potentials for steel producers’, Rolling and Processing
Energy savings of more than 60% against conventional Conference, Linz, Austria, 16-17 September, 2008.
production routes and up to 15% against the best available 9 A Flick, A Jungbauer, G Eckerstorfer and J Watzinger,
technologies (eg, ISP) have already been achieved in the ‘Technology and Plant design of Arvedi ESP’, Stahl und
six month start-up period. Eisen 129(11), ppS91-S101, 2009.
Energy optimisation has just started, since the start-up 10 D Rosenthal, SMS Demag, Germany, ‘CSP – compact
curve is not yet finished, and with improved operational strip production: 20 years of success of an outstanding
practice and casting speeds, further energy savings will be technology’, Proceedings of the 2009 International
obtained. We expect that by optimising roll gap lubrication Symposium on Thin Slab Casting and Rolling, Nanjing, PR
MILLENNIUM STEEL 2010
(especially beneficial in endless mode), even higher efficiency China, 13-15 May, 2009.
in the induction heater, minor improvements on the heat 11 D Springorum, VDEh, Stahl und Eisen 115(12),
conservation panels and reduced water consumption by p49, 1995.
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