Archive > Iron & Steel Review > August 2011
Iron & Steel Review August 2011 Issue
Highlights of the Issue
Mineral and Mining Solutions
VIEWPOINT
Indian refractory industry going through a complex phase
The refractory industry is small and scrappy. Indian refractory manufacturers, whose
fates are tied up to those of steel manufacturers, have revenue of around a billion
dollar. The industry's major steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited alone is
almost a 10 billion dollar company.
COVER STORY
Mineral and Mining Solutions
The journey of Hari Machines began way back in the early 70's with setting up of
Rajgangpur Engineering Works, a s m a l l m a c h i n e r y manufacturing unit at
Odisha. It catered to the steel and refractory industries around, with business
interests in east. By the beginning of the year 2000, it had an average annual turnover
of Rs. 10 crore. “The transformation came post 2000 when we reorganised to take
the most out of the changes with the opening up of the economy,” informs Mr. RH
Dalmia, the Chairman Hari Machines Ltd. diversified its product portfolio, manufactured
machinery and provided services for cement, mining and metallurgical industries
that began to grow in the eastern region.
Future is Mine
Cemtec India Pvt. Ltd. provides complete grinding solutions to the Indian cement
& mining industry. It is a joint venture with Cemtec Cement & Mining Technology
GmbH of Austria. Set-up in March 2011, it operates out of Kolkata. The Austrian
entity Cemtec entered India two years ago to provide technical know-how to Hari
Machines. However, following increasing demands from Indian customers, the Austrians
decided to be involved more through a joint venture.
Designing Progress
Hari Machines Ltd. heavy machine manufacturing set-up has diverse product portfolio.
It started operations in 1971 and grew into an ISO-9000 heavy engineering and manufacturing
company serving industries like steel, sponge iron, refractory, cement, power, etc.
Making a Mark
Allmineral Asia is a joint venture with Allmineral GmbH, Germany, is a Kolkata-based
subsidiary set-up in June 2009. It provides complete beneficiation solutions for
coal and iron ore industries and has made inroads in the mineral beneficiation sector
across India.
Exploring New Horizons
It makes sense to be in a business when you serve as its technology and service
provider. “We have some of the best know-how from Germany and a network in India
and abroad that we have serviced over years,” says Mr. Sabyasachi Mishra. “Thus,
it made prudent business decision to get into mineral processing as well-a third
leg for the manufacturing and service that we provide,” he adds.
REFRACTORY SPECIAL
An Appraisal of Vacuum Degassing Processes and Performance of Secondary Steel Ladles
in Public Sector Steel Works of India
Recent times have seen an exponential growth in the demand for high quality low
carbon aluminium killed steel sheets for use in automotive and white goods industries.
In addition to this silicon and aluminium - silicon killed long products like, plate,
rails, auto-segments, etc. are also having stringent quality parameters of end products.
Thus, there is continual emphasis on the production of clean steels using the primary
and secondary steelmaking units, and subsequently, on the prevention of exposure
of liquid steel to air at various stages during its transfer, as well as entrainment
of oxygen - rich ladle slag into the tundish. Several steps have been taken in the
Public Sector Steel Works towards production of clean steels on a consistent basis
and for this reason the secondary steelmaking processes and lining performance of
SSM ladles have been highlighted in this paper.
High performance monolithic lance for iron and steel industry
During the last decade significant improvements have been achieved in the development
and application of pre-cast products, particularly for iron and steel industry.
The compositions of these pre-cast products cover a wide range of castables from
conventional to low cement then ultra low cement to no cement. No-cement based pre-cast
products are still under development. As the low cement castable forms low melting
compounds above 1300 deg.C, the ultra low cement based pre-cast products are widely
used in high temperature-process-industry for better performance.
TOPICS & TRENDS
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SAIL employees bag 11 PM's Shram awards for 2010
Employees of Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have once again proved
their mettle. Of the 33 Prime Minister's Shram Awards announced for calendar year
2010 by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, 17 of which went to PSUs, SAIL
employees have bagged 11 awards.
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SAIL Q1 turnover jumps 20 pct
The unaudited financial results of Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)
for April-June (Q1) of the current financial year, showed 19.7% growth in sales
turnover at Rs. 11,891 crore, over the corresponding period last year (CPLY). However,
due to sharp increase in input costs, profit after tax (PAT) at Rs. 838 crore was
lower by 29% compared to CPLY.
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MEL merges with SAIL
Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Limited (MEL), the 99.12% subsidiary of Maharatna Steel
Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has been merged with SAIL.
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Another Reducing & Sizing Block for India
Indian JSW Steel Ltd. (JSW), flagship company of the JSW Group, has placed an order
with family owned Friedrich Kocks GmbH & Co KG, Hilden / Germany for the supply,
installation and commissioning of a 3-roll Reducing & Sizing Block (RSB) for their
combined 500,000 t/a wire rod and bar mill in Salem in the state of Tamil Nadu.
After the successful start-up of the 370 mm RSB at Bhushan Power & Steel early this
year, this is already the second Reducing & Sizing Block for India.
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NMDC clarify on Karnataka Lokayukta charges
NMDC strongly denies and refutes all the allegations made in the Report of Karnataka
State Lokayukta in respect of underinvoicing of its exports from 2006-07 to 2009-10.
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NMDC's remarkable Q1 performance
The unaudited financial results for the 1st quarter of 2011- 12 approved by the
Board of Directors of the company in its meeting held on 28.07.2011 reveal substantial
improvement in performance of the company.
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Larsen & Toubro eyes 20% annual growth in electrical, automation space
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's top engineering and construction company, is eyeing
20 per cent annual growth in its electrical and automation (E&A) business over the
next five years.
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JSW Steel to start Ispat's capacity expansion in 2013
India's leading steel producer JSW Steel will start the capacity expansion of its
subsidiary Ispat Industries in 2013.
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JSW Steel orders another cold rolling mill from SMS Siemag
JSW Steel Limited has placed an order with SMS Siemag, Germany, for the supply of
a pickling line/tandem cold mill at its location in Toranagallu Vidyanagar (Bellary),
India.
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Proper foundation of new BF-8 in Bhilai Steel Plant laid
A major milestone has been achieved in the important project for installation of
the modern Blast Furnace # 8 in Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) of Steel Authority of India
Ltd. with the completion of the mass-concreting of the 3-metre-high third and final
layer of the proper foundation of the furnace on the night of 1st Aug 2011.
STEEL INTERNATIONAL
Stollberg: New Flux Feeder adds casting fluxes automatically
At the Metec trade fair, Stollberg has introduced its new, extremely compact type
ST2P-3 Flux Feeder for automatic flux feeding during continuous casting. Being designed
as a standalone solution, it still provides the same dosing accuracy as electronically
controlled systems.
H&K Industrieanlagen expanding internationally
At Metec 2011 in Düsseldorf, H&K Industrieanlagen GmbH (H&K) announced the foundation
of its subsidiary H&K Industrial Technology Co., Ltd. H&K, which is based in Germany
in the Federal State of Saarland, is strengthening its local presence in the Asian
marketplace. This region is becoming increasingly important for the German rolling
plant industry.
June 2011 global steel output up 8%
According to worldsteel's most recent production report, crude steel production
for the 64 countries was 128 million metric tonnes (mmt) in June 2011, up 8 per
cent from the same month in 2010. Capacity utilization ratio for the countries in
June 2011 was 82.2 per cent, 1.2 percentage points higher than the previous month.
Compared to June 2010, the utilization ratio in June 2011 increased by 2.5 percentage
points.
Siemens to modernize main drives on hot strip mill for voestalpine Stahl in Linz
Siemens has won an order from Austrian company voestalpine Stahl GmbH to modernize
the main drives on the hot strip mill at the company's plant in Linz. The drive
control system will be integrated into the existing automation environment and reflect
the latest state-of-the-art. Modernization work will take place step-by-step during
short maintenance shutdowns and is due to be completed in the spring of 2013.
FOCUS
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Steel in Rural Sector
Steel consumption in India in the post meltdown period has been maintaining a stable
growth against the background of a stagnant or declining growth rate observed in
developed countries like U.S.A., EU and Japan. The close relationship between steel
consumption and economic growth has proved beyond doubt that economic recession
not only affects the demand for steel from the major steel intensive sectors like
construction, automobile, ship building, machinery & equipments and household appliances
but also has serious adverse implications for fresh capacity creation. Emerging
economies including India attract investment in fresh capacity addition mostly in
steel and mining and conversely even the existing capacity level is being considered
as excess in the developed countries.
FACE TO FACE
Kerneos to make industrial investment in calcium aluminate production in India
Kerneos believes in offering wide range of innovative solutions, effective standard
products and custom-made services to its customer needs. With its back-end technical
support, logistics and marketing know-how, Kerneos is pacing forward to serve the
country in an efficacious way.
NRL Sirma: a new Indo-Italian mission in the global refractories horizon
In 2010, NRL went for an assets acquisition with Sirma and NRL Sirma saw the light
of the day. With its new product range and market synergies, the company is looking
forward to expand its presence in the globe on a wide scale.
STEEL TECHNOLOGY
Rolling of railway wheels - not possible without high tech
Riding a train at 350 km/h - no longer wishful thinking, but becoming reality in
the growth regions of the world. China, in particular, is pressing ahead with this
at great speed; travellers from Shanghai to Hangzhou now only need 45 minutes for
the 200-kilometre journey. What is needed on routes like this is high tech. This
applies to rails, drive systems and especially to the railway wheels, which have
to withstand heavy loads in order to guarantee safety and comfort.
New Generation Technology - Hot Gas Filters for Simultaneous Removal of Particulate
Matter, SOx and NOx in the Steel Industry
Ceramic hot gas filter systems have been successfully used in many applications
worldwide to assist with environmental management challenges. More stringent emission
limits for particulate matter, SOx and NOx, are in conflict with increasing pressure
to reduce the flue gas cleaning costs. A new, cost-effective blowback filter system
that removes the particulate matter and NOx simultaneously is presented.
EAF STEELMAKING
Production of Quality (Low Nitrogen) Steels by Using Sponge Iron in EAF
The world steel industry experienced remarkable growth of 1.7 times with production
from 850 million tonne (Mt) in 2001 to 1413.6 Mt in 2010[1]. The year 2010 has seen
a steady recovery for steel demand that began from the second half of 2009, after
two years fall of steel demand throughout the world. India, the fifth largest steelmaker
of the world after China, Japan, U.S. and Russia, has produced around 67 Mt of steel
in 2010 and the demand for steel is expected to grow at a rate of more than 13%
this year, against a projected global increase of around 6%[2]. With increase in
the total production of steel, there has been an increase in the overall availability
of scrap, which is the primary charging material for electric arc furnace (EAF)
and induction furnace (IF).
STEEL MAKING
The evolution of preheating and the importance of hot steel in supersized Consteel®
systems
The first Consteel® system was started up in Charlotte, NC in 1989; since then,
39 other installations have been purchased worldwide. None of those installations
have been dismantled or replaced with another technology; no other innovative melting
technologies can demonstrate the same track record. The first Consteel® systems
were mainly commissioned in the U.S., but during the course of its history, the
Consteel idea has expanded at an impressive rate into Asia including; China, Vietnam,
Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
COMPANY NEWS
ISRA PARSYTEC : leading innovations from the global leader for surface quality assessment
ISRA PARSYTEC, the world's leading supplier of surface inspection systems has been
investing heavily in research and development for metals surface quality assessment.
Through a close relationship with its customers and leveraging its wide range of
industry expertise, several innovations continue to be realized that add value to
flat metal production by improving production and resulting quality.
KONECRANES introduces new Fuel-Saving RTG Crane
Fuel consumption is the critical issue in any yard where hundreds of containers
are handled each day. Konecranes has developed the technology to cut down fuel costs
of modern RTG. The objective was to come up with a solution that would allow handling
containers with a little fossil fuel as possible, thus reducing with the noise and
emissions. Simultaneously, the productivity of RTG should not be compromised. The
productivity of fuel-saving RTGs should be equal to that normal RTGs. Initially,
the idea was to use as many reasonably priced, previously used components as possible
but combine them in a new way.
COMPANY REPORT
ABB second-quarter net income rises 43% amid steady top line growth
ABB reported a 43-per cent increase in second-quarter net income to $893 million
amid strong industrial growth, higher earnings in the Power Systems division and
the contribution from recent acquisitions, especially Baldor Electric.
PRODUCT NEWS
Empyrean wins 2011 R&D 100 Award
PANalytical, the world leading supplier of analytical instrumentation and software
for X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), has announced
that Empyrean, it's newly designed X-ray diffractometer, has been recognized as
a 2011 R&D 100 award winner. In their 49th year, the R&D 100 awards are widely recognized
as the 'Oscars of Innovation' identifying and celebrating the top high technology
products of the year.
ROLLING MILL
Smooth Path to Thinner and Better
The former Hanbo Steel compact hot-strip plant, commissioned in 1995, was shut down
for several years during the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. In 2005, the
plant was restarted by INI Steel, which ultimately became part of Hyundai Steel.
STEEL PLANT
Continuous investment and the "Badische Philosophy" - key success factors for a highly
efficient mini-mill
Badische Stahlwerke GmbH (BSW) was established in 1968 by Willy Korf. Today, the
steel plant is the core of the biggest German group for the production of reinforcing
steel products - the Badische group.
WATER TREATMENT & MANAGEMENT
The critical role of water treatment and water quality management in the steelmaking
processes
In today's highly competitive global iron & steel industry, iron making and steel
plant managers are faced with many challenges and pressures to continually improve
plant performance and overall mill efficiency. As managers deal with their day-to-day
challenges, numerous priorities arise. Personnel safety, productivity, product quality
issues, raw material costs, customer orders and complaints. Downtime and operational
delays, dominate the priorities of each day with “water management” related issues
a very low priority.
OIL & LUBRICANTS
Managing Water Contamination to Maintain Effective Steel Mill Lubrication
Moisture is omnipresent in steel mills. It comes primarily from mill cooling water
entering the circulating oil system and from simple condensation during mill downtime.
Although necessary to reduce the extreme heat generated in the processing of steel,
water is among the most destructive contaminants to the circulating oil system.
Water can degrade a lubricant in a variety of ways, including dissolution of the
water into the oil, the formation of emulsions or simply the presence of free water.
SEMINAR & WORKSHOPS
ANT Steel Engineers (Asia), Pune conducts Training Program on Rolling for SAIL at
Bhilai Steel Plant
A four-day training school on Rolling and Roll Pass Design was held at Bhilai Steel
Plant from 11th to 14th July 2011. It was attended by over 50 participants from
all the units of Steel Authority of India Limited. Mr. Pankaj Gautam, CEO, Bhilai
Steel Plant inaugurated the program. In the opening remarks, he appreciated the
initiative taken by MTI Ranchi and HRD Bhilai for organizing this program.
RAMON's 1st Continuous Casting technical seminar in India concluded succesfully
Ramon Science & Technology Co. Ltd. from China held the 1st Continuous Casting technical
seminar on “Ultra efficient continuous casting & quality control” in Raipur on 16th
July, 2011.
INSDAG comes up with national-level competition on 'Structural Steel Design & Construction'
Steel has become an inevitable part of human life today. Whether it's the house
in which we reside, the utensils on which we take and eat our food or the car which
we drive. The grand usage of this entity is countless and every individual, mostly
the youth must take a note of its importance within them as they are the 'lamps
of the future'. So, to inculcate the spirit of steel in the minds of the young lot,
INSDAG (Institute for Steel Development and Growth) organized a national-level competition,
now in its 11th year, on 'Structural Steel Design & Construction' with the competition
theme - A Steel-Intensive G+6 Residential Building.