You are on page 1of 12

Pressing, Cooling and Coiling China Steel HSM #1 Major Upgrade Project

Wlodzimierz Filipczyk Sr. Systems/Application Engineer TM GE Automation, Salem, VA 1501 Roanoke Blvd Salem, Va. 24153 - USA Tel. 540-387-7518, Fax. 540-387-7890 e-mail: Wlodzimierz.Filipczyk@tmeic-ge.com Lin, Chen-Hua Assistant General Superintendent Rolling Mill Dept. II China Steel Corp. 1 Chung Kang Road Hsiao Kang KAOHSIUNG 81233, Taiwan, ROC Tel. 886-(7) 802-1111 ext.2581, Fax. 886-(7) 805-1174 e-mail: linch@mail.csc.com.tw KEY WORDS: Hot Strip Mill, Sizing Press, Laminar Cooling, Coil Presentation, Automation System, Project Schedule INTRODUCTION The 1730 mm high production Hot Strip Mill #1 is a part of the China Steel Corporation (CSC) steel complex located in Kaohsiung, in southern part of Taiwan. The mill was expanded and modernized several times during last two decades. The last modernization project was conducted during the year of 2004 and fully completed in the first half of 2005. The major modifications to the mechanical and electrical equipment were implemented both on the entry and exit side of the mill. The Slab Sizing Press was installed in front of the Roughing Mill and on the other end all new Runout Tables, Laminar Cooling System, Downcoilers and Coil Handling equipment. The mechanical equipment was supplied by IHI (SSP) and MH (Coilers and ROT Cooling) from Japan. The electrical equipment and automation was supplied by TMEIC GE Automation Systems from USA. MILL CONFIGURATION AND BASIC DATA The Basic Mill Equipment: - Four (4) Walking Beam Reheating Furnaces - Slab Sizing Press (new - original stand alone Edger VE1 was removed) - Reversing Roughing Mill #1 - Reversing Roughing Mill #2 with front and back Edgers - Closed coupled RM #3 and RM #4 with front Edgers - Intermediate (Delay) Tables with Thermal Covers - Crop Shear - Seven (7) Stand Finishing Mill with Interstand Cooling - Runout Tables (new) - Laminar Cooling System (new) - Three (3) Downcoilers (new) - Coil Conveyors with Binders, Coiler shape meters, Scales and Markers (new) - Automatic Surface Inspection System (new) The Basic Mill Data: Slab dimensions range: Thickness: 150 to 270 mm; Width: 700 to 1575 mm; Length: max.9000 mm Strip dimensions range: Thickness: 1.2 to 25.4 mm, Width: 700 to 1575 mm Types of steel grades rolled: Ultra Low, Medium and High Carbon, HSLA, Stainless, DP, API X80 and TRIP

Figure 1. Simplified Mill Layout THE SCOPE OF THE MILL MODERNIZATION The whole scope of the mill revamping was split into two separate projects: - Downcoilers and Strip Cooling System Modernization - Slab Sizing Press Installation Although separate projects, they were coordinated and executed in parallel to optimize the utilization of the production shutdowns. THE DOWNCOILERS AND STRIP COOLING MODERNIZATION The Main Objectives: - To increase final strip thickness from 20 to 25.4 mm - To produce special steel grades which meet specific structural requirements such as DP, API, TRIP grades - To achieve better coil presentation and quality (telescopicity, head marks etc.) - To improve the operation of the coil handling area In order to achieve these goals the following equipment and functionality were implemented. Mechanical equipment The mill was originally equipped with three downcoilers, two identical and third one with higher power and hydraulic actuators dedicated to coil heavy products. Those were replaced by three identical universal wide- range new coilers. Each new coiler is equipped with four unit rolls and variably expanded mandrel. The Sideguides, Pinch Rolls and Unit Rolls have hydraulic gap/force actuators. In order to provide ability of coiling heavier and much harder products, the mandrel power was increased by 35% to 1100 kW per coiler. The coil diameter ranges from 1140 to 2200 mm with coil weight up to 37 tons.

The coil handling area was completely reconstructed. Three walking beam conveyors were installed to transport the coils from individual coilers to the chain driven cross conveyors. At the end of the chain conveyors the coils are picked up by the overhead crane and transported to the coil storage bay. The new shuttle car provides the coil handling between individual conveyors and new coil inspection station. The banding machine, weight scale and paint marker (actuated by robotic driven arms) are installed at each individual conveyor. In addition, at each conveyor the laser coil shapemeter was placed to measure the straightness of coil sidewalls.

Figure 2. New Coiler Area

In order to provide better thin gauge strip transport and to fit the tables geometry into the new cooling system, the FM Run Out Tables (ROT) were modified to decrease the roller pitch to 360 mm. The total number of rollers, including new carry over tables was increased to 435 rollers. The existing 295 rollers were re-used in the new ROT arrangement. The requirement for producing new steel grades with specific metallurgical properties resulted in the implementation of new laminar cooling system on ROT. The water capacity remained the same as in the original system; however the characteristics of the cooling system were significantly changed. The number of individually controlled valves was increased to provide better cooling controllability. Each header is fed directly from the overhead tank through the individual pipe, thus eliminating the interaction between the sprays (cross-talk) during turn on/off actions. The ROT spray system characteristics are as follows: 432 spray controllable units (240 top and 192 bottom) in 15 banks. o Banks 1-4 and 13-14 are intensive banks - 16 controllable units top, each 1700 lpm flow - 8 controllable units bottom, each 1700/2380 lpm at low/high flow o Banks 5-12 and 15 are fine banks - 16 controllable units top, each 850 lpm flow - 16 controllable units bottom, each 850 lpm flow Total available flow o 4 pump operation - 256 m**3/min (256,000 lpm) o 5 pump operation - 320 m**3/min (320,000 lpm)

Figure 3. ROT Laminar Cooling System Electrical Equipment and Control System New coiler electrical building was constructed on the drive side of the mill. The new control rooms host the switchgear, transformers drives and Level 1 controllers. All new motors and drives are based on variable frequency state of the art AC technology. The new control system was based on the following platforms: LEVEL 1 - GE Innovation Series Controllers HMI - Wonderware ArchestrA system LEVEL 2 - PC Windows based with Database Server LEVEL 1 controller for laminar cooling controls directly all ROT Cooling Spray valves. This controller called Spray Director is responsible for executing Coiling Temperature Control (CTC) model references in timely manner, as well as performs sample tracking and provides feedback information to the model.

LEVEL 1 Coiler Controllers perform standard functions of strip tracking, reference distribution and sequencing from FM Exit to Coil Conveyor Exit. The most important for the coil quality are however the regulating functions implemented in individual coiler controllers. These include: Various Coiler Sideguides Operating/Coiling Modes: o For Head and Tail of the Coil - Short Stroke (Head & Tail, Head Only, Off) o For Body of The Coil: Constant Force, Constant Gap, Oscillation (Zigzag) o Symmetry Selections: Symmetrical, Asymmetric Drive Side, Asymmetric Operator Side Various Coiler Pinch Roll Gap Operating/Coiling Modes: o For Tail/Head and Body: Constant Gap, Constant Force (Total or Independent) o For Tail Approach: Tail Fanning (Unipolar vs. Bipolar Force Regulator) Continuous (Step-less) Coiler Mandrel Expansion Various Unit Roll Gap Operating/Coiling Modes: o For Head End of the Coil: Constant Force Mode o For Head End of the Coil: Quick Opening Control (QOC) a.k.a. Automatic Jump Control Gap/Force Mode o For Head End of the Coil: QOC Gap/Gap Mode o For Body of The Coil: Thin/Thick Strip Mode LEVEL 2 existing HSM#1 system is based on Alpha VMS HW and includes the functionality. to control and set-up the entire mill. The functionality of CTC model as well as spray control (Spray Director) was removed from this computer. New CTC model was implemented in new PC Windows based computer, while laminar and interstand sprays control was implemented in new Innovation Controller (Spray Director). The communication between new Level 2 computer and new Level 1 is done via industrial Ethernet control network using Global Memory concept. The communication path using inter-process services messaging was established between old existing Level 2 and new CTC computer. The required reference data such as bar data, Time-Velocity-Distance profile etc. from existing Level 2 and required feedbacks (such as FTC/CTC interlocks, logging data etc.) to the existing Level 2 are transmitted via this path. Besides standard functionality to achieve desired coiling temperature CTC model supports strategies using various spray patterns, including interrupted cooling (dual phase). Some of the most important features of CTC model include: Flexibility in applying the Spray Patterns: o The activation sequence order of each top and bottom spray can be specified in each pattern database table OR o CTC will calculate the order in which sprays are used so as to achieve a target cooling rate, target air cooling time, forward or reverse activation, and differential cooling rates for top and bottom surfaces of the piece. Target rates, times, and forward or reverse order are specified in each pattern database table. Calculated patterns can be used for both interrupted cooling where an early and late quench zone are separated by an air cooling region and for non-interrupted cooling. In the case of non-interrupted cooling a target air cooling time is applied as a dry zone at the beginning of the spray pattern sequence. Flexibility in prioritization of the control targets for interrupted cooling based on the specific requirements for particular steel structures e.g. bainitic vs. martensitic. The basic priority is as follows: 1. Coiling Temperature 2. Intermediate Temperature 3. Early Zone Cooling Rate 4. Dry Zone Time Variable control sample length as a function of strip thickness Comprehensive recording of the strip status along the whole length of the ROT. In addition to temperatures, massflow and water flow such parameters like heat losses, ferrite content etc. are logged at the exit of each cooling bank. INSTRUMENTATION New pyrometers were installed in the intermediate and final control locations. Both top and bottom surface temperature is measured. The measuring range had to be expanded in the low temperature range down to 200C. At the time of the installation, single pyrometer covering full range (200 to 800C) with adequate response time was provided by Land. Double sets of pyrometers had to be used for CTC feedbacks. The laser velocimeter was installed at the coiler entry location to provide more accurate strip speed measurements which is especially important for short bars where strip tails out of the FM before entering coilers. HMI system is based on the latest Wonderware ArchestrA architecture. This is an innovative approach to application integration and data interfaces in HMI system. The centralized repository contains the definitions of process data objects (roller table, servo valve, electrical drive etc.). These can be simply instanced and then deployed for the specific application. This provides centralized management of data interfaces, which allows for easy and quick modifications and additions in the HMI system. Two sets of the control desks with HMI terminals were installed: one in the Coiler Pulpit, one in FM Pulpit (future remote operation).

SLAB SIZING PRESS INSTALLATION The Main Objectives: - To improve caster efficiency by minimizing the number different slab widths - To increase the width reduction capability of the mill resulting in faster order execution for customers - To increase the capability of slab head/tail tapering (pre-forming) for yield increase and better final width uniformity Mechanical equipment The Slab Sizing Press (SSP) was installed in front of the first RM stand (R1) in the place of old stand alone edger (VE1). This the flying type of the press which means that the slab is continuously moving while pressing is performed. Besides SSP, other mechanical devices in the RM area were added or replaced. The new mechanical equipment in RM area includes: RM Entry Descale Box SSP Main Core with feed and hold down rolls SSP Entry Table (with Table Lift) and SSP Exit Table SSP Entry, R1 Entry, R2 Entry/Exit Sideguides (Hydraulic) R2 Entry Centering Devices (2) The basic characteristics of SSP are following: Max. draft = 350 mm Pressing transport speed = 0.3 m/sec Max. Force = 2200 tons Main Motor Power = 3400 kW

Figure 4. Slab Sizing Press Electrical Equipment and Control System SSP is equipped with all AC motors and drives. The Main Motor was installed in The RM Motor Room on the elevated foundation since the main shaft is connected to gears mounted on the top of the press. SSP drives were located in the new control room inside the RM Motor Room. The Main Drive is based on the most advanced semi-conductor technology utilizing IEGT elements. LEVEL 1 controller (Innovation Series) was connected to the existing RM control network. The complete control functionality for SSP: micro-tracking, position and pressure regulators, die synchronization, sequencing and auxiliary systems control is performed by this controller. Due to the SSP mechanical capability of on-line dies reversal, several pressing modes were possible to implement: Forward Press Reverse Press Head/Tail Running Pre-forming Head/Tail Stopped Pre-forming

LEVEL 2 control for the SSP involves RM Setup Model (RSU). Existing RSU model functionality was augmented by the addition of SSP module to calculate the setup for the press and scan associated process feedbacks. RSU allocates total width reduction required among SSP and RM Edgers and then calculates the SSP setup. The references and auxiliary calculated values include: die gap opening, press draft, head, body and tail deformation forces, hold down roll force, head, body and tail width reduction ratios, head and tail pre-forming lengths, exit head, body and tail thickness, elongation ratio, travel time. Some of the process feedbacks such as the measured gap, force, temperature etc. are used for model analysis and off line tuning. The adaptive loop is based on the width feedback measured on the exit of R1 Stand. INSTRUMENTATION New width gauges with thermal profile measurement capability were installed in front of SSP and at the exit of R1 Stand. At the entry to SSP the slab width is scanned and it is used to generate the final RSU setup. The R1 Stand exit gauge is used for model feedbacks and feedforward setup. The thermal profile is used for off line analysis of furnace heating practices and correlation with bar camber. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION The two projects described above were lead separately during the bidding and contractual phase. However, the implementation in the mill was fully coordinated to take full advantage of the planned mill down time. The two projects had different mechanical suppliers, but the same electrical/automation supplier. The coordination of both products resulted also in optimum use of electrical supplier resources, thus. minimizing the installation and commissioning cost. The project started in 2003 with the contracts signed in the first half of the year. The general concepts of the implementation are shown in the Figure 5.

Figure 5. Project Implementation Concepts *Original Down coiler were equipped with three unit rolls only

General Project Schedule The contract for the Coiler Project was signed in January 2003 and for SSP Project in June 2003. The mechanical and electrical engineering started at the same times. The civil engineering work started in the Coiler area in the second half of 2003. COILERS The foundations for new Coilers and new coil handling area as well as coiler electrical building were erected by the end of 2003. The new mechanical and electrical equipment for Coilers was delivered to site in 1Q of 2004. The mounting and installation of the Coiler #4 and #5 equipment was completed in 2Q of 2004. The start up of the electrical and automation equipment commenced in June 2004. The coiler area fluids systems were commissioned first to make sure existing coilers operation is supported by new control system. The new Coilers #4 and #5 were started, checked and tuned under no-load conditions while mill was running with existing 3 coilers. Having the new equipment and control logic thoroughly checked out before putting it to rolling operation contributed to very smooth switchover. Twelve (12) days shutdown for Coiler #3(Coiler #1&#2 remain in operation) in August 2004 was used to prepare for installation of carry over table between existing Coiler #3 and new Coiler #4. The cobble catcher was moved from behind Coiler #3 to Coiler #2. For next two weeks the mill was operating with 2 existing coilers while the carry over table installation was completed. After this, the mill was shutdown one day for electrical test and the cobble catcher was moved behind Coiler #5, thus 2 new coilers were added to the mill operation. Due to the mechanical obstruction existing Coiler #3 had to be put out of service, so mill was then running with 4 active coilers. This operation continued until the main shutdown started in early December 2004. During this time the old Coiler #3 was being decommissioned and new mechanical and electrical equipment installed as much as possible during the mill operation and regular maintenance shutdowns. SSP The first step of Slab Sizing Press installation was removal of the stand alone edger (VE1) between the Furnace #1 and RM Stand #1. The edger had to be removed since the short distance from the furnace to the first stand did not allow for adding the SSP in the space available. This was done partially during rolling operation. The mill went for 14 day shutdown in January 2004. During this period, the removal of VE1 was completed, new foundation was erected and temporary bridge table section was installed. The mill then operated without VE1 for almost a year until the main shutdown in early December 2004. During this time the civil engineering and mechanical work continued and SSP equipment was put partially into place. The electrical and control equipment for SSP and RM guides was installed in 4Q 2004.
Month Contracts Signed (CLR-Jan 03, SSP- Jun03) Design, Engineering & Manufacturing (2003 +) Civil Engineering (CLR - 2003+) Equipment Delivery to Site Installation of Mechanical Equipment Installation of Electrical Equipment Tune-up. Testing and No Load Runs Operation in Hot Rolling * Without Vertical Edger 1 * With Two Old Coilers * With Two Old Coilers & Two New Coilers * With ALL New Equipment Level 1 Control and Models Tune-up Final Acceptance Shutdown 14 days Shutdown 1 day Shutdown 30 days Coilers Coilers Coilers Coilers Coilers SSP SSP/Coilers SSP SSP Coilers, ROT, Sprays, SSP Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 2004 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb 2005 Mar Apr May

Figure 6. Project Schedule

MAI N SHUTDOWN The main shutdown was scheduled initially for 40 days, and then planned for 35 days and finally due to the excellent execution of the mechanical and electrical work was shorten to 30 days. This shutdown combined the activities for both projects. The major tasks: Removal of temporary SSP bridge tables and existing RM Sideguides Installation of new SSP and RM mechanical equipment, piping and wiring SSP start-up, cold test and then hot load test Removal of old Runout Tables, Laminar Cooling System, Coiler #1, Coiler #2, Conveyor area equipment Civil engineering , mounting and installation of new ROT and laminar Cooling System Completion of mounting and installation of Coiler #3 Mounting and installation of conveyor equipment, scales, banders and markers Start-up of all new equipment and no load tests Coordinated Ghost Bar rolling MILL STARTUP The mill started regular production on December 31, 2004, 5 days ahead of the original schedule. The mill ramp-up to production was very rapid, since within FEW HOURS after start-up mill was up to the normal level of production. Taking into account the scope of the new equipment and supporting control functions, which had to perform flawlessly within such short time, this was an enormous accomplishment. The quality ramp-up was very quick as well, since within the first week, new CTC performance was at the level (or better) of the old system. The number of coils out of tolerance or coils required reclassifications (due to CT) was extremely low and far below expectations. Within first 5 weeks of rolling (ca. 12,000 coils) only 40 coils needed to be diverted as different quality but were still sellable products. The initial tune-up work has been completed by the end of January 2005 and model engineer returned to Salem. The final CTC tuning was completed in April 2005. The tune-up which required special attention included specialty steels where single coils are rolled, results are tested, and changes made as necessary with the goal of achieving the target material properties. CTC pattern and rate calculations are being configured to meet the bainitic and martensitic control priorities. The SSP was put into operation within first week of January 2005. Within 3 days of operation the drafts taken were increased to maximum of 350 mm. HIGHLIGHTS AN MILESTONES The Coiler project started in January 2003, SSP in June 2003. The delivery of mechanical equipment 16 months for Coilers, 16 months for SSP The delivery of electrical equipment 14 months for Coilers, 14 months for SSP The mill began the operation with all new equipment in January 2005 The final acceptance test was performed in May 2005 Three (3) production shutdowns in 2004 were dedicated to the project execution Total extra days of shutdowns (beyond routine maintenance shutdowns) = 24 days RESULTS AND SUMMARY Results The final results can be presented using the process measurements and production data and compare them against the objectives specified or expected for each project. CAST SLAB WIDTH RANGE The number of different slab widths ordered from the caster was reduced from 19 to 7 due to the increase in width reduction capability by SSP. The caster efficiency was significantly increased. For the HSM#1 85% of cast slab widths are 1050, 1270/1280 and 1420mm, thus the mold change frequency is extremely reduced. The financial gain for the caster department results in annual savings of about 2M$. WIDTH PERFORMANCE After implementation of SSP and retune FM width spread model, the width performance (as measured on FM Exit) is increased from 90% to 95% 4 mm of all rolled length.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES FOR NEW PRODUCTS CSC primary goal with respect to material property was to be able to use dual phase cooling to produce bainitic and martensitic steel. For bainitic product the goals are: To quench to an intermediate temperature To provide an air-cooling region (fixed and narrowly constrained; to allow ferrite formation in an approximately isothermal setting. To quench to a final temperature in the range of 400 C For martensitic product the goals are To quench to an intermediate temperature To provide the maximum amount of air cooling (the intermediate temperature can be sacrificed to provide max. air time) To quench as rapidly as possible to a final temperature in the range of 200deg C. These goals were achieved with new ROT cooling system and CTC model functionality. COILING TEMPERATURE PERFORMANCE CTC performance was improved to achieve 15 C for 97% of all rolled and evaluated products. COIL PRESENTATION New measuring devices (laser shapemeter) were installed at the exit from each coiler for automatic and tactile less measurements of coil telescopicity (side wall).

Figure 7 Coil Telescopicity Report The coil parameters related to its coiling process and coiler equipment and control performance were achieved at the following levels: Telescopicity and Wrap protrusion within 15 mm Head End marks: o 1-st wrap <=0.050 mm o 2-nd wrap <=0.030 mm o 3-rd wrap <=0.020 mm o 4-th wrap None

DECREASE IN MILL DELAYS The production delays due to the electrical equipment before and after revamp of Down Coiler area was dramatically changed. See the following table, which shows the total outage is 39 times with 4851 minutes delay in 2004 and ZERO in 2005. A ROT motor tripped twice and was replaced in Jan. 2006 due the stuck bearing. Comparison with Times of fault/Total time lost in minutes Year 2004 2005~Jan2006 Mandrel 14/747 0 Pinch Roll 3/85 0 Wrapper Roll 4/57 0 Run Out Table 18/3962 2/127 SURFACE INSPECTION SYSTEM BENEFITS The benefit of Automatic Surface Inspection System can be summarized as follows: Year 2004 2005 Coil inspected due to defect (times/per month) 39.5 6 Coil rejected resulted from roll mark defect (ton/per month) 496.73 275.5 Coil rejected owing to rolled in scale (percentage of production) 0.121% 0.077% Any surface defects are flagged from the system, thus they can be handled much more quickly than before. BENEFITS FROM SHORTENING OF ROT ROLLER PITCH Shortening of the ROT roller pitch has resulted in the possibility of reducing the hot head end of the very thin strip from minimum of 100 meters to 0 with stable coiler thread. COIL SHAPE DEFECTS All Coil shape defects (including Telescope, Protrusion, Loosely Wrapped Coil, Oval Coil, Not Matching Diameter) were reduced as shown below.

COIL SURFACE DEFECTS Coil surface defects (include Gouge, Pinch Roll Mark, Pincher, Rolled-in Object, Head Mark) were reduced from 23.6% to 15.4% due to the improvement in the coil shape. The pincher defect was increased from 3.6% to 36.2% because of changing to the hydraulic system. After improving the control of pinch roll and side guide logic, the cut length weight percentage due to pincher is reduced from 0.28% to 0.16%.

100 80
OK Yield(Coil%)

82.8

100

96.4

97.3

97.3

60 40 20 0 Gouge Pinch Pincher Roll Mark Rolled In Object Head Mark

Before Revampin g After

COIL SURFACE DEFECTS The thickness of the products was increased to 25.4 mm with excellent coil presentation results.

Thickness: 25.4mm SS400

Thickness: 20.0 mm APIX80

Summary The SSP and Coiler were large size projects providing significantly positive results on mill production both in capability and quality. The scheduled shutdowns were necessary for such large amount of mechanical and electrical equipment to be installed. Beside major configuration change at the front of the mill (SSP addition), the entire mill exit area (from last FM Stand to Coil Storage) was replaced with new equipment and control. Careful and coordinated approach to the phased implementation resulted in minimum production disturbances during startup periods after shutdowns. The ramp ups to the normal production levels were almost non-existent while quality was also quickly brought to the levels higher than before modernization.

You might also like