Name of the Project
LD basic oxygen furnace plant ladle heating stations.

Location
Duisburg-Huckingen, Germany.

Client
Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM).

Project Description
The project entails the supply of two new ladle heating stations for the LD basic oxygen furnace plant.

The heating stations are designed for a fully automated treatment capacity of 5.6-million metric tons of liquid steel a year.

The new furnaces will help to substantially reduce operating costs in the steelworks. In addition, the phosphorous content of the melts can be reduced, and higher proportions of alloying elements processed.

The main tasks of the heating stations are to reduce the consumption of refractory material in the converter by lowering the tapping temperature by up to 50 °C.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2019.

Latest Developments
HKM has awarded Primetals Technologies an order for the supply of two 285 t ladle heating stations to the LD basic oxygen furnace plant.

These plants are designed as electric arc heating stations and are intended to treat all the melts produced by the two converters without exception. The required treatment capacity is, therefore, 5.6-million metric tons a year, which depends on the ladle heating stations having very high availability. This is ensured by high-quality, copper-plated roofs and a powerful high-current system. Energy is supplied from the on-site power plant, which uses the surplus quantities of blast furnace gas and coke-oven gas to generate electricity.

Both furnaces will be equipped with a fully automated manipulator for temperature measurement and sampling. 

The inert gas systems are connected automatically.

The scope of delivery also includes the furnace transformers for the electrical supply to the heating stations, as well as the electrical, automation and control equipment. The location of the ladle heating stations directly in the production line behind the converters and the extremely limited space available in this area of the steelworks require a complex layout with a special portal construction.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Primetals Technologies (ladle heating stations).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
HKK-Duisberg, tel +49 203 999 01, fax +49 203 999 4411 or email post@hkm.de.