Technology >RevolutionDanieli MicroMill to be the

250 tph record production
at ESI Energiron DRI plant
and new order for 1 Mtpy
heavy section mill.
SABIC renews confidence
in Danieli: Hadeed orders
new 1 Mtpy LSTK long
product minimill.
FQM-based seamless
pipe mills: first startup
in Middle East and new
order from Venezuela.
Page 22
Page 6
Page 70
Danieli News n.158 February 2010, Danieli Group
POSTE ITALIANE
PP-ECONOMY-AUT DC/DC
UDINE/08/02-DU 13-06-02
DaNews
158
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
AUTOMATION
12 DANIELI AUTOMATION CELEBRATES
ITS 40 YEARS OF INNOVATION.
SERVICE
18 DANOIL OIL-FILM BEARINGS GAIN
APPROVAL, WORLDWIDE.
21 NEW QUALITY SPARES FOR ROLLING
MILLS AND FINISHING LINES.
IRON AND STEELMAKING
26 DANIELI INNOVATES SCRAP
SHREDDING TECHNOLOGY.
28 STARTUP OF 1-MTPY MELTSHOP
AT VOTORANTIM RESENDE, BRAZIL.
32 STARTUP OF MINIMILL FOR SPECIAL
STEELS AT DONGBEI, P.R. CHINA.
FLAT PRODUCTS
38 STARTUP OF JUMBO SLAB CASTER
AT JYXC SPECIAL STEEL, P.R. CHINA.
40 STARTUP OF 4.9-M, HI-TECH WIDE
PLATE MILL, MIDDLE EAST.
LONG PRODUCTS
60 SUPERFLEXIBLE MERCHANT MILL
INAUGURATED AT DUFERDOFINNUCOR, ITALY.
62 RH2: THE INNOVATIVE DANIELI
RAIL-HEAD HARDENING PROCESS.
TUBES
74 DANIELI BREDA PIPE UPSETTING
LINES AT TENARIS TAMSA, MEXICO.
Technology >Revolution<
Danieli MicroMill to be the most
competitive in regional markets
The continuous casting-rolling plant at CMC, Mesa, AZ, USA set another
technology milestone of Danieli, thee pioneer in the minimill concept with
70 scrap and DRI-based complete minimills supplied worldwide since 1964
C
ommercial Metals Co. - CMC,
has realized its vision with the new
generation of Danieli continuous
casting-rolling, compact, micromills (whose
brand name is MI.DA®).
The CMC plant, which has been started up
slightly over one year after groundbreaking,
has a rated capacity of 300,000 shtpy
for 12 to 36 mm rebar, although it’s capable
of producing bigger sizes up to 57 mm bars.
The mill makes use mainly of local scrap,
and supplies CMC’s local fabrication shops
as well as the Southwest regional market.
Characterized by single-strand continuous
casting-rolling process featuring ultra-highspeed FCC® “PowerMold” caster, in-line bar
quenching and tempering, and a direct rollingbundling system organized in an extremely
compact layout, the mill produces quality
products at very competitive costs. MI.DA®
completes the range of Danieli minimills and
is designed to be competitive in transformation
costs (cash + depreciation) even for
productions from 100,000 to 500,000 tpy.
→ Page 2
DANIELI MINIMILLS
DANEWS
MIDA® MIcromill DAnieli starts operation
at CMC Steel Arizona, USA
The new Micromill Danieli
that started operation at CMC
Steel Arizona (Commercial
Metals Co.), marks the
beginning of a new era
in production of commercial
steel long products.
S
tarted up in September 2009, CMC
Micromill proudly delivered its first lots
of hot rolled products in October. The
new steel complex, the first of this design
anywhere in the world, represents a formidable
step forward in technology that, thanks to its
revolutionary design concepts, applied
technologies, and the resulting remarkable
benefits, puts CMC Arizona one step ahead of
its competitors.
The Micromill Danieli (MIDA) is based on the
“regional-mill / product-focused” concept, and
with its relatively low production capacity, is
designed to serve a limited market (local or
regional), focusing on a specific product and
making extensive use of local scrap supplies.
All of this, along with the continuous
uninterrupted production cycle from raw
material to finished product, and with the
extreme compactness of the technological area,
makes CMC’s MIDA, the most cost-efficient
rebar production plant available in the world
today. The plant, with a rated capacity of
300,000 shtpy of #4 to #11 rebars (12.7 to 35.8
mm), is basically comprised of:
> Steelmaking section, featuring continuous
scrap charging with preheating system
Consteel®, 40-t side-charge AC EAF, heating
station with 40-t ladle furnace, primary and
2
DANEWS 158
Passionately create a state-of-the-art Micro-mill that exceeds
objectives using highly motivated, disciplined, and multiskilled internal and external teams coupled with leading edge
practices and processes to safely construct, commission,
operate and serve regional markets with quality products.
secondary fume treatment plant system, plus
other associated auxiliary plants and systems.
> Conticasting section, featuring a singlestrand, high-speed continuous casting machine,
directly connected to the rolling mill for
uninterrupted production cycle.
> Direct link to the rolling mill, including
insulated conveyors, descaler and induction
heater for billet temperature equalization.
> 16-stand ultra-compact rolling mill, made up
of cantilever and housingless stands, and
featuring the innovative DRB-Direct Rolling &
Bundling system for production of superior
quality bar bundles without the use of the
traditional long cooling bed for bar multiples.
The mill also includes the Quenching and
Tempering process for Bar products (QTB),
which allows for the production of low-cost
billets with considerable savings of alloys used
in the meltshop. Following the first heat, the
plant has quickly gone through performance
testing and started what may be considered a
very steep learning curve for a plant of this
kind. The learning curve is expected to be
completed by early summer of 2010 as the mill
staffing is completed and full hours of operation
are achieved. In the meantime, in terms of
finished product quality, extremely good results
have been already achieved, with production of
“…superb rebar bundles, …by far the best in the
industry, …setting a new standard in the
marketplace,” as recently stated by CMC
customers ■
3
DANIELI MINIMILLS
DANEWS
MIDA® - MIcromill DAnieli:
the breakthrough innovation
in rebars production
The idea of such a small-scale,
low-cost production unit born
20 years ago is now a reality
that combines high-tech and
ultra-compact design
with reduced investment,
to achieve extremely low
transformation costs with
extremely low environmental
impact.
Cost Advantages
vs.
Competing Mills
L
oyal to its long-standing tradition
as a front-runner in technology
development, Danieli has introduced
to the market its latest innovation in rebars
production: the Micromill. The Micromill’s
regional-mill/product-focused concept is a
development of the traditional minimill that,
along with its relatively low output (250,000 /
300,000 tpy), makes it possible to transform
local scrap into finished products for local or
near-by end-use markets, resulting therefore in
the ideal production unit for local or regional
rebar markets with full availability of local scrap
resources. The first Micromill plant started
operation successfully at Commercial Metals
Co. (CMC) Arizona-USA in Autumn 2009.
The Micromill Danieli is based on the ECR®
Endless Casting Rolling process, meaning that
melting, casting and rolling are carried out in
one continuous and uninterrupted production
process, from scrap to finished product. Based
on the present, most advanced and consolidated
processes and components, the MIDA plant
features, among others, unique innovative
characteristics, such as:
> The Direct Casting & Rolling process (ECR),
involving the direct connection of the
continuous casting strand to the first rolling mill
stand, with the “endlessly cast” billet of
indefinite length fed directly to the mill through
an induction furnace for temperature
equalization before rolling. The traditional
reheating furnace and all associated entry/exit
4
> Lower labor cost.
> Lower natural gas cost.
> Higher yield due to
continuous/continuous
process.
> Lower cost of alloys due
to use of quenching system.
> Lower cost of inventory.
facilities and auxiliaries are therefore definitely
no longer necessary, with all consequent
significant savings in investment, consumption,
and operating costs.
> The Direct Rolling & Bundling system
(DRB), the revolutionary innovation that has
made the traditional long-type cooling beds for
multiple-length bars and the cold cut-to-length
services no longer necessary in bar mills. The
patented DRB system enables cutting to final
commercial length of high-tensile rebars
directly at delivery side of the finishing mill and
right before the bundle forming and tying
station, with significant savings in investment
and production costs.
This low-cost mill (CAPEX and OPEX) concept
finds ideal application for greenfield sites, but
also for existing mills with excess liquid steel
capacity.
MIDA main highlights:
> Market-oriented plant, to cover regional or
local market demand;
> Product range focused on a single-type
product;
> Typical capacity of 250,000-350,000 tpy;
> Typical finished product range: 8 to 36-mmdia straight or spooled rebars (equivalent round
and square bars), with production campaigns
dedicated to a large amount of a single product,
resulting in minimized changes.
> Ultra-compact arrangement: covered area
approx 11,000-mq (less than half the space
required by a traditional minimill of
correspondent capacity)
> Minimized investment
> Reduced manning
> Energy saving
> Environmental friendly
> Higher yields in melting and rolling
> Reduced storage space when compared to
traditional minimills.
> Superb quality of the finished product, either
in bundles or coils (thanks of the DRB or SPO
systems)
> Shorter construction time and fast ramp-up
time
> Faster return of investment.
As a result, remarkably lower production costs
can be expected by MIDA versus conventional
minimills of similar capacity ■
DANEWS 158
305 m
12
4
3
6
5
10
7
8
11
9
1
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Scrap yard
Fume dedusting plant
Electric Arc Furnace
Ladle furnace
Meltshop maintenance area
Continuous casting plant
Induction furnace
8 16-stand rolling mill
9 QTB line
10 DRB-Direct Rolling & Bundling
system
11 Finished product collecting
services
12 Rolling mill maintenance area
5