Siemens VAI Metals Technologies recently received the final acceptance certificate for the new 4.3-m plate mill in Jinan from the Chinese company Jinan Iron & Steel Group Co. (Jigang). The mill is designed to produce 1.8 million tonnes of plate per annum. Siemens handled the project engineering, and supplied mechanical equipment as well as drives and automation for the new rolling mill.
The new line can roll products ranging in thickness from 6 to 120 mm and in breadth from 1500 to 4100 mm. The maximum plate weight is approximately 22 tonnes. Such plates are used, for example, in the shipbuilding and oil & gas industries.
Jigang awarded Siemens the order for the new plate mill, which had a value in the mid-double-digit million euro range, at the beginning of 2008. The plate rolling mill in Jinan, Shandong Province, comprises three heating furnaces, a double-stand rolling mill, cooling beds, a shearing line, and a finishing shop. Siemens provided the mechanical equipment for the finishing stand, which is equipped with SmartCrown technology, the Mulpic intensive cooling system with ACDQ (accelerated cooling / direct quenching), a hot plate leveler, a double side shear, and a cold plate leveler. The other mechanical components were provided by Jigang.
Siemens was also responsible for all the process models for the heating furnaces and the rolling plant, the entire automation and instrumentation, as well as a system for tracking material from insertion into the furnace to transfer of the "ready for shipment" plates to the distribution center. Sinamics SM150 voltage source converters supply the three-phase synchronous motors that power the main drives on the roughing and finishing stands. Two motors, each with a power of 9 MW, deliver the requisite rolling forces. The entire solution is based on the integrated Siroll PM concept for plate rolling mills.
Jigang is part of the Shan Steel Group. The new rolling mill increases Jigang's production capacity to around 5 million tonnes of heavy plate per annum, which makes the company one of the largest producers in China.
The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is a leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products and solutions for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the Sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency, and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the divisions Industry Automation, Drive Technologies, and Customer Services as well as the Metals Technologies Business Unit.
The Metals Technologies Business Unit (Linz, Austria), part of the Siemens Industry Sector, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of plant construction and engineering in the iron and steel industry as well as in the flat-rolling segment of the aluminum industry. The business unit offers a comprehensive product and service portfolio for metallurgical plants and equipment as well as integrated automation and environmental solutions covering the entire lifecycle of plants.