SteelNews.com Article
Siemens Modernizes BGH Long Rolling Mills in Germany and Poland
Mar. 6, 2013 Siemens Metals Technologies has equipped two long rolling mills belonging to BGH Edelstahlwerke GmbH with new drive and automation equipment. The wire rod mill in Freital was modernized for BGH Edelstahl Freital GmbH, and the flat bar line in Katowice, Poland, was brought up to the state-of-the-art for BGH Polska Sp.z o.o. Both BGH plants now employ end-to-end automation solutions based on Simatic S7 and Siroll LR, which enable simplified plant operation and maintenance as well as increased availability. The modernization projects were completed alongside each other in just twelve months, with conversion activities taking only three weeks in each case.
BGH Edelstahlwerke GmbH is a medium-sized steelmaker based in Freital, Saxony. The holding includes seven autonomous production locations in Germany and Poland. The company runs an EAF-based minimill meltshop in Freital, in which liquid steel can be cast either as blocks or billets. These are then further processed in a blooming mill and a wire rod line. Siemens replaced the existing automation technology on the continuous rolling mill and cooling bed with Simatic S7 programmable logic controllers, and installed new application software based on Siroll LR. The ancillary plant equipment, such as the bar handling, Garrett coiler and laying head, is now controlled by Step 7 software, and Siroll LR functions have been added for the drive control, for example. Simatic WinCC was also installed as the new operator control and monitoring system.
The BGH rolling mill in Katowice consists of a two-high reversing mill, a 5-stand flat rolling block, and a 16-stand continuous rolling mill. It also has heat treatment and finishing sections. The rolling lines produce squares and flat bars with cross-sections ranging from 15 x 15 to 250 x 70 millimeters. VAI supplied the continuous rolling mill in 1998. The automation hardware for the rolling line, cooling bed and induction furnace has been completely converted to Simatic-S7 controllers, and the existing Step-5-based application software and the GFM CNC 6000 technological control systems have been replaced with a Siroll LR solution. Simatic PCS7 is used as the process control and visualization system. The Siroll LR Tool Roll Master has been brought up to the state-of-the-art to optimize the rolling sequence control. In addition, the drive system control units were replaced with Sinamics DCM control modules, which enabled the drives to be easily integrated into the new automation environment while retaining their existing power sections, thus reducing investment costs.
Siemens was responsible for engineering, supplying, installing and commissioning the new equipment in both projects.
Pictured below: The BGH Wire rod mill modernized by Siemens in Freital