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Fives Stein Helps Usiminas Increase Plate Mill Capacity
Mar. 2, 2010 To increase the capacity of the Plate Mill located in Ipatinga, Brazil, Usiminas ordered from Fives Stein Inc. in October 2009 a package consisting of one new Digit@l Furnace® and implementation of Level 2 system by Fives Stein on two existing furnaces.
The Digit@l Furnace is designed to work with various mixed gases and adapt to different calorific values. It is supplied by a consortium with Fives Stein as the leader, Combustol Industria e Comércio in Brazil, and Fives Stein Shanghai Industrial Furnace Co.
The main advantages of Level 2 system implementation, according to Fives Stein, is synchronization of the furnaces for optimum production, higher energy efficiency, and operator friendliness while improving the heating quality of the product to enable Usiminas to process various steel grade plate.
Fives Stein’s scope includes the walking beam furnace with the associated charging and discharging machines, the water plant and gas mixing station, as well as the supervision for the overall project. This furnace No.3 will reheat slabs at a nominal rate of 130 tonnes per hour for the existing plate mill.
Usiminas is one of the largest steel producers in the Americas, with major steel mills in Brazil for a total capacity of 9.5 million tonnes of steel per year. The company accounts for about 30% of total steel output in Brazil.