British Steel has selected Primetals Technologies to design, manufacture and install a new wire rod line and upgrade long rolling equipment in the company’s existing rod mill in Scunthorpe, UK. The expanded size range will enable British Steel to serve new markets. Mechatronic packages and smart sensor systems mark the first step towards Industry 4.0. for this rolling mill.
The project will replace two of the four strands of the existing wire rod mill with a new high production and high-speed rod outlet, plus two pre-finishing mill bypass lines that will enable rods to enter a reducing/sizing mill to produce a wider range of sizes.
The contract’s scope of supply includes modifications to the existing mill train, pre-finishing mills and high-speed trim shears, with a new 230 Vee pre-finishing mill, shear arrangement, a four-stand quick change Morgan Reducing/Sizing Mill, Morgan traversing water boxes and covered troughs, pinch roll and laying head arrangement with a quick change robot, a 10-zone Morgan Stelmor conveyor, the patented step-less reform station for coil forming, and vertical stem pallet system for coil handling. In addition, British Steel has contracted for mechatronic packages for section gauges and a laser gauge speed monitoring system with smart sensors, the first step towards Industry 4.0 digitalization of the rolling mill.
Once commissioned, the upgraded mill will produce 700,000 tons of wire rod per year, with tighter tolerances, better surface quality and microstructures, in sizes up to 28 mm in diameter.
