The new hydraulic coiler differs from the existing ones in the shop in a number of important technical characteristics, such as working with strips up to 16 mm thick, up to 1600 mm wide and maximum yield strength at a coiling temperature of 400 MPa. Also, the design provides an order of magnitude higher density of coils, an increase in their outer diameter up to 2060 mm and weight up to 32 tons. The assembled unit can demonstrate a winding speed of up to 20 m /s, and its capacity is up to 2.5 million tons of coils per year.
It was originally planned to invest $ 18 million in the project. Metinvest Group has made a decision on additional financing to make the industrial complex as modern and practical as possible in terms of staff work. We also took into account all the requirements of customers regarding product quality.
In addition to the installation of the coiler itself, a control post, premises for a hydraulic pump station, an oil basement and a booster pump station were additionally built to provide the unit with water of the required pressure, in which all auxiliary systems of hydraulics, lubrication and power supply were placed. The electrical equipment was installed in the overhauled room of the turbine hall No. 2. Fire alarms and safety fences have been installed, new networks and structures for water supply, sewerage, heat and gas supply have been installed. Additionally installed electric power and auxiliary equipment, as well as equipment for sheet-cutting. The total investment of the company amounted to $ 30 million.
Metinvest-Engineering is the general contractor for the project.
Equipment manufacturer Primetals provided training for hydraulics, mechanics, technologists, coiler operators and control personnel. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held remotely in the format of skype conferences.
At the moment, the specialists have already started hot commissioning and adjustment of the coiler parameters for various product ranges of the 1700 sheet-rolling shop.
“The implementation of this stage of modernization of the 1700 mill completes a large-scale complex of works to increase the competitiveness of our rolled metal products. The new coiler will allow to expand the production bottlenecks and expand the product range in terms of thickness and strength class with the quality parameters of the hot-rolled coil required for the customer. In addition, we will be able to increase the maximum coiled coil weight in the range from 20 to 32 tons, depending on the strip width, ”said Taras Shevchenko, General Director of Ilyich Ilyich Steel Plant of Metinvest Group.
As a reminder, in April 2020, Metinvest Group attracted a credit line in the amount of 9.8 million euros to finance this project. The facility is covered by an Austrian export guarantee issued by the export credit agency Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (“OeKB”). Raiffeisen Bank International was the sole creditor.
