Acciai Speciali Terni SpA (AST), an Italian subsidiary of Krupp Thyssen Stainless with facilities in Terni and Turin, has brought a new bright annealing line and a new cold rolling mill on stream, increasing its bright annealed cold strip capacity by 80,000 metric tons per year. The bright annealing line is a multi-functional unit similar to that in use since 1999 at Krupp Thyssen Nirosta GmbH’s Dillenburg facility in that it combines the annealing, skin pass and trimming processes. The resulting coils are thus ready for packing and delivery to customers. A maximum capacity of 18 tons per hour makes this line one of the most efficient of its kind for stainless steels. It can be used for the controlled-atmosphere annealing and processing of strips in thicknesses between 0.3 and 1.5 mm and widths from 800 to 1500 mm. Combining individual process steps provides quality and cost advantages in the high-quality thin stainless steel segment. Both production time from melt shop to finished strip and response time for short-notice orders are significantly reduced. Capital investment for both items of equipment totals some EUR 60 million. The bright annealing line was built by the Japanese company CHUGAI RO, with electrical and control equipment supplied by ABB. The new Sendzimir cold rolling mill is of 20-roll design. With a maximum speed of 800m per minute it can reduce hot strip to 0.2mm in widths of up to 1575mm. The mill was built by SMS Demag, and ABB was once again responsible for the electrical fittings.
