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SMS Siemag to Modernize CSP® Plant at Nucor Steel Berkeley
Jul. 13, 2012 Nucor Steel has awarded SMS Siemag a contract for the modernization of its CSP® plant in Berkeley in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The revamp is designed to increase the finished-strip width from 1680 to 1880 mm and to allow the production of thinner strip gages. The modernization will be completed in 2014.
“This wide, light product at Berkeley will enhance the ability of the entire Nucor Sheet Mill Group to continue to move up the value chain in flat-rolled markets”, says John J. Ferriola, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nucor to explain the motivation of the modernization project.
With the extension to 1880 mm, Nucor Steel's CSP® facility will be one of the world's widest CSP® plants. To achieve this, SMS Siemag will enlarge the width of the first casting strand and of the rolling mill. In the area of the caster this means the installation of new molds, a new four-cylinder oscillator, wider segments plus a new bending and straightening unit. The strand guide system will be equipped with Liquid Core Reduction (LCR 3). This allows the thin-slab thickness to be infinitely adjusted between 48 and 63 mm.
To produce strip with smaller final gage at Nucor Steel Berkeley, inductive heaters will be installed between the CSP® furnace and the entry into the rolling mill. With the induction heaters, Nucor Steel can increase the thin-slab temperature as required and thus achieve larger reductions in the millstands. In addition, SMS Siemag will install a seventh finishing stand. Like millstands F1 through F6, it will be equipped with the CVC® plus technology. Moreover, the whole CSP® rolling mill will receive a new level-2 automation system. With the installation of an induction heater upstream the CSP® rolling mill at Nucor Steel, SMS Siemag is for the first time implementing an innovative modernization concept designed to further reduction energy consumption in CSP® facilities. This will allow the soaking furnaces to be operated at a lower temperature level and the temperature at which the thin slab enters the rolling mill can be precisely set by the inductive heaters. The energy balance of the CSP® plant can thus be improved even further. As a result of the linking of casting and rolling, the CSP® technology is already characterized by a much lower energy demand as compared to conventional hot rolling mills.
SMS Siemag AG is a company of the SMS group which, under the roof of the SMS Holding GmbH, consists of a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. With some 11,000 employees, the group generates sales of over EUR 3 billion.