SMS Heat Treatment Line Produces Plate at Ilsenburger Grobblech
On November 23, 2020, Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH successfully heated the first heavy plate in its heat treatment furnace No 1, followed by the subsequent successful cooling in the new X-Roll. MultiFlex Quench plant is part of a new, energy efficient heat treatment line supplied by SMS to the Salzgitter Group subsidiary. The new heat treatment line will process more than 200,000 tonnes of heavy plate per year. It is designed to handle plate in thicknesses between 5 and 175 millimetres and widths up to 3,500 millimetres. The between 4 and 24 meters-long plates will weigh up to 28 tonnes. The material grades to be processed will include high-strength carbon steels, highly wear resistant steels, steel for offshore and pressure vessel applications as well as case-hardened and quenched/tempered steels. With the extremely flexible cooling strategies enabled by the now commissioned new quench, Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH is now able to expand its product range to also include particularly demanding grades.
With the X-Roll MultiFlex Quench, SMS has established a new and innovative cooling technology in the market, providing significantly more options than conventional cooling lines. By means of switchable pressure ranges any cooling strategies from extremely slow cooling to fast quenching with freely selectable cooling-stop temperatures can be implemented. Thanks to the variable settings, the MFQ enables a significantly larger product portfolio than conventional quenches. The plates are hydraulically clamped by roller guides, ensuring optimal flatness, especially of thinner plates. A prerequisite for homogeneous cooling and optimal product properties of the plates is high temperature uniformity during both plate heating and the tempering process that follows quenching.
For this purpose, SMS supplied two state of the art roller hearth furnaces, which both feature energy efficient heating systems and modern low NOx burners for low emission operation. In addition, SMS is supplying an X-Roll MultiFlex Leveler T for the heat treatment plant. While providing proven functions, this new leveler type sets new standards in terms of final flatness and residual stress distribution in the material. Among other things, new back-up rolls for maximum load transfer were developed specially for this machine type and tested on SMS's own test stand. The quick acting leveling roller adjustment system enables, in addition to variable strategy selection to effectively remove even complex flatness deviations, the application of Extended Roll Mode, which greatly increases the leveling range of the machine. The functionality range of the X-Roll MultiFlex Leveler T is rounded out by a bending system with the possibility of specific leveling gap adjustment, a system for load balancing of the individually driven main drives as well as a highly dynamic main adjustment system.
Besides the X-Roll MultiFlex-Quench, the X-Roll MultiFlex Leveler T and the two furnaces, the SMS group supplies include a shot blaster, a primer line and a water treatment plant, all complete with X-Pact electrical and automation systems. Powerful X-Pact process models, including a material model, ensure the correct setting of the equipment and the achievement of the desired material properties. The scope of supply also includes ancillary equipment such as the plate conveyor system, the cooling beds, and the plate feeding and centering equipment.
Source - Strategic Research Institute