Arvedi and Siemens Combine to Build Breakthrough Endless Liquid Steel Line

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Siemens VAI, a division of Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services, will supply mechanical, electrical and automation equipment for a new plant in Italy that will produce continuous finished steel strip from liquid steel in a non-stop process.

Acciaieria Arvedi (AA) (Cremona, Italy) will construct the Arvedi ESP (Endless Strip Production) plant which will combine what have been separate process steps enabling the integrated and continuous production of high quality steel strip with a resultant lowering of production costs. AA and Siemens (NYSE:SI ) (Munich, Germany) have established a 50/50 joint venture, Cremona Engineering, which will be dedicated to the introduction of the new ESP technology to the worldwide market. Financial details of the joint venture have not been disclosed but both companies will provide personnel for engineering, commissioning and maintenance of the plant as well as training plant personnel.

An investment of $380 million will be made at AA’s existing steel plant in Cremona for the expansion of production and the new ESP line. AA currently uses an ISP (In-line Strip Production) process. The new single ESP line will have a production capacity of over 2 million tons of rolled steel per annum and will be the reference model for future plant sales. Cold rolling will no longer be necessary for many application areas as hot-rolled thin strip, covering a wide range of steel grades will be produced. In addition to operational cost savings, energy inputs will be reduced and environmental compatibility will be improved.

AA claims that the ESP production process is a breakthrough in steelmaking and a world first for the manufacture of hot rolled quality thin gauge coils, both in economic and industry terms.

“We are ready to pass from ISP technology applied to our batch line in Cremona to Arvedi ESP, a fully-endless process that revolutionizes this slab cast-rolling. The master plant will produce large volumes of high added value steel with a rapid return of the investment,” said group Chairman Giovanni Arvedi.

AA’s strip process, protected by 20 worldwide patents, has endless casting/rolling lines and a highly-compact line arrangement of approximately 190 meters in length designed to enable the endless rolling of strip to thicknesses below one millimeter (mm). Design features, plant configuration and operational parameters all on an AA-ESP line to produce a wide range of steel grades, including HSLA (High Strength/Low Alloy) and multi-phase steels, at lower costs with a higher added value product mix plus superior mechanical properties when compared to conventional slab casting and direct rolling plants. The edge the process gives to producers is a faster return on investment.

Steelmaking is the core business of the AA group with 2006 production and sales of 1.15 million tons estimated to earn revenues of $762 million. In operation since 1992, the Cremona plant was Europe’s first mini-mill (the world’s second). Employing 1,600 people, AA has a annual turnover of about $ 1.27 billion.

Siemens VAI (Voest Alpine) provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life cycle of metallurgical plants, including engineering and construction.

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