Ascometal, France, has awarded a contract for the supply of an automation system for a 4-strand vertical bloom caster. The contract was awarded to the automation business area of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI). The contract is for a process optimisation system, including a new cut-length optimisation system and a quality system (VAI-Q quality system). The new system should help to increase productivity by reducing the flow time. Start-up is scheduled to commence by April 2002. A number of reference plants, particularly the successful start-up of the process optimisation system of the new single-strand slab caster in the Piombino works, contributed to the award decision.
