May 17 (SeeNews) - UK-based metals industry engineering group Primetals Technologies said it has received an order from HBIS Serbia, a unit of Chinese steelmaker HBIS, to replace a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) converter at Smederevo steel plant.
"The aim of the project is to improve the process and to raise production capacity. This will be achieved by increasing the converter vessel´s shell volume," Primetals Technologies said in a statement on Thursday.
The new converter will have a tapping weight of 105 metric tonnes and will receive a Vaicon Link 2.0 suspension system and a new tilting drive, with start-up expected for the second quarter of 2020,
Dismantling of the old BOF equipment and installation of the new one are planned to be executed within approximately 55 days. The installation will be carried out jointly with a Serbian company.
The steel mill in Smederevo produces iron at two blast furnaces, then converts blast furnace iron to raw steel at a three-furnace converter shop and continuous casting complex. Steel processing includes a hot strip mill, sheet cold reduction mill, annealing and tempering units. The converter vessel shell and trunnion ring had reached the end of their useful lifetime, Primetals explained.
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