SteelNews.com Article
SMS Siemag Commissions X-Cast Slab Caster for China Steel
Jun. 29, 2009 China Steel Corp., Taiwan, has successfully commissioned a twin-strand X-Cast® continuous slab caster at its Kaohsiung facility in cooperation with SMS Siemag.
The new caster is designed for the annual production of 2.6 million tonnes of steel slabs in the gages 230 and 250 mm at a maximum casting speed of 2.2 meters/minute. SMS Siemag’s supply scope comprised basic and detail engineering as well as the supply of all mechanical core components and the entire electrical and automation system, including the technological control systems.
The new caster is equipped with a hydraulically operated resonance oscillator as well remote-controlled mold narrow faces for width change during casting, which allow the casting width to be adjusted as required between 900 and 1680 mm during operation. SMS Siemag also equipped the new caster with its own Intelligent Slab Casting® package, and integrated modules from its X-Pact® electrical and automation solution.
In addition to mold level control and a mold monitoring system, SMS Siemag also equipped the caster with Dynamic Soft Reduction as well as the metallurgical process model Dynamic Solidification Calculation to enable the production of segregation-free slabs with good internal quality.
SMS Siemag prepared and put the complete automation package into operation using its proven Plug & Work method, which simulates the production sequence and allows automation functions to be tested and optimized under realistic conditions prior to installation in the works.
This is the fifth continuous caster SMS Siemag has supplied to China Steel, which operates Taiwan’s largest integrated steel plant.
SMS group is, under the holding SMS GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It consists of the two Business Areas SMS Siemag and SMS Meer, which jointly form SMS metallurgy. In 2008, some 8900 employees worldwide generated a turnover of more than EUR 3.6 billion.
X-Cast is an SMS Siemag trademark from the Continuous Casting Division.