ArcelorMittal, Ghent
Renovation for final rolling group at Ghent hot-rolling mill
With increasing pressure on the automotive industry to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, demand is growing for thinner steel plates with higher strength and good formability. The Consultancy Services Team helped ArcelorMittal with the step-by-step introduction of a new finishing train that can roll 36mm strips into steel sheets with final thicknesses of between 1.25 and 13mm.
Our on-site consultant was responsible for drafting the specifications, selecting and negotiating with suppliers, monitoring the engineering and communications, project planning and training the production crews.
Stronger steel types require greater rolling forces in the hot-rolling mill, and thus modification of existing mill stands. ArcelorMittal’s new finishing stands had to meet several requirements: higher rolling forces, primarily in the first two millstands, higher drive torques and power of the drive motors, and better control of the rolling process to ensure continued quality. That means faster basic automation and additional actuators to improve rollability.
Step by step over four years, a new finishing train with seven coupled rolling mill stands was built. For 2014, new main engines were installed for four rolling machines. In November 2014, the main motorand gearboxes for the first mill stand were replaced, and one year later the main motor for the sixth mill stand had its turn. Mill stand 3 and 4 were also upgraded, and in November 2016, their roller power was increased. In that same year, we dismantled the first two old mill stands, and new finishing train was put into use.
"The new line is now capable of successfully processing ultra-high-strength steels."
"Thanks to the new rolling line, up to 150kg of CO2 can be saved per lorry."
