SteelNews.com Article
Alton Steel Selects New Profile Gauging System from Siemens
Feb. 2, 2010 Alton Steel Inc. has become the world's first steel producer to use Siroll Orbis+ to measure the profile of long products, according to Siemens.
The Siroll Orbis+ fully rotating, on-line gauge for wire rod and bar mills is said by Siemens to deliver improvements in both product quality and output, while reducing waste. Unlike traditional methods that sample a single side, Siemens says that Siroll Orbis+ reviews the entire bar during the rolling process, enabling it to uncover defects when they can still be remedied.
Siroll Orbis+ is the latest version of the Orbis system; as with its predecessor, the new Orbis+ measuring system works on the shadow principle and measures the dimensions and profiles of rod steel and rebar of different shapes, including round, flat, square, octagonal, and hexagonal cross-sections.
Siemens claims that the new system can perform more profile measurements per unit of length than other systems available on the market and offers a high degree of precision.
Based in Illinois, Alton Steel Inc. has an annual production capacity of 700,000 tonnes of steel. It produces carbon steel and alloyed steel with the help of an arc furnace and downstream metallurgical equipment. The steel is then formed into billets and slabs of different sizes on a continuous caster. Part of the company's output is sold as semi-finished material. The company also has a long-product rolling line for producing Special Bar Quality steel bars with cross-sections between 7/8 and 3.5 inches.
The Siemens Industry Sector (Germany) is a leading international supplier of environmentally friendly production, transportation, building and lighting technologies. With around 207,000 employees worldwide (September 30), Siemens Industry achieved in fiscal year 2009 total sales of approximately €35 billion.
The Siemens Industry Solutions Division (Germany), one of the world's leading solution and service providers for industrial and infrastructure facilities, comprises the business activities of Siemens VAI Metals Technologies, Water Technologies and Industrial Technologies. With around 31,000 employees worldwide (September 30), Siemens Industry Solutions posted sales of €6.8 billion in fiscal year 2009.