ABB tech to optimize production for steelmaker thyssenkrupp

ABB has been awarded a contract by Primetals Technologies to help optimize production at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s (tkSE) Duisburg-Bruckhausen plant in Germany, using the proprietary ABB Flow Control Mold electromagnetic stirring and braking technology for higher quality steel produced faster and at lower cost, per ABB.

The construction of a casting rolling mill and the upgrade of an existing continuous-casting plant is part of a wider project awarded to Primetals Technologies, a global leader in plant engineering for the metals industry. It is part of tkSE’s Strategy 20-30 which aims to optimize operations for the requirements of automotive customers seeking improved surfaces, thinner and high-performance steels to meet crash safety standards in the growing e-mobility market.

By using FC Mold G3 (generation 3), thyssenkrupp can prevent gas bubbles and impurities from becoming trapped in the solidifying steel as the technology will offer simultaneous stirring and braking from one fixed position on the caster, the partners claim. In continuous slab casting, conditions in the meniscus area of the solidifying steel are crucial to determining end-product quality and have a major impact on productivity and overall operating costs. Integrated with the caster, FC Mold uses electromagnetic fields to control meniscus flow speed and fluctuations. It enables improved process control and increased resource efficiency, requires very little maintenance and typically has a long lifespan, says thyssenkrupp.

“By significantly reducing defects, rejects and downgrades the FC Mold will improve cost and resource-efficiency at tkSE, thereby supporting both sustainability and profitability goals, while contributing to the company’s Strategy 20-30 ambitions to meet customer requirements for higher performance steel grades,” said Zaeim Mehraban, global sales manager, metallurgy products at ABB. “Backed by decades of experience working with plant builders, like Primetals, and knowledge of metallurgical processes such as slab casting from numerous installations worldwide, ABB continues to devise solutions to solve  bottlenecks in steel and aluminum-manufacturing processes and repeatedly prove they are effective.”