sPeCIAL ArABAL - ALUMINIUM-Nachrichten – ALU-WEB.DE

SPECIAL ARABAL
ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY IN THE GULF
ing are one of the prerequisites
for producing the quality
demanded by the automotive
industry. To achieve these,
the unit will be equipped with
a high-performance air-cooling
facility and water cooling.
Besides continuousthroughput
strip treatment
Ma’aden-Alcoa will also be
able to heat treat single strip
coils individually. This unit is
particularly suitable for being
able to fulfil annealing
contracts flexibly and costeffectively
with a demonstrably controlled
heat treatment, as is often called for by the
automobile industry. To achieve that objective
Ma’aden-Alcoa has ordered from Tenova
LOI Thermprocess in Germany a complete
line of single-coil lifting hearth furnaces. A
number of individually loaded and operated
furnace chambers together form a furnace
battery. The overhead arrangement enables
space-saving charging by an automotive transport
system, from below.
This line allows adapted heat treatment according
to the specific needs of the individual
strip within a short time, instead of heat treatment
in batches of several coils, which would
require an average heat treatment or the assembling
of a batch of identical strip coils.
The heat treatment including cooling can be
carried out under a protective atmosphere.
The system works fully automatically from
taking the coil out of the storage area until
the heat treated coil is placed into the storage
area again.
Tenova LOI Thermprocess was the first to
invent and design this type of furnace. The
first unit was installed in 1998 by Constellium
(formerly Alcan) in Singen, Germany, for automotive
sheet applications. By now the company
has built 68 such single-coil lifting hearth
furnaces in batteries up to 17 units.
Before the rolled, heat-treated and surfacetreated
coils are sent for dispatch, they must
again be trimmed and cut to the dimensions
specified. Danieli Fröhling in Germany, one
of the noted suppliers for aluminium coldrolling
mills and a market leader for aluminium
cutting machinery, already supplied for
the first cold mill two technologically sophisticated
cutting units and two associated packaging
machines. These units are designed for the
strictest quality and quantity demands.
For the second cold mill the company is
also supplying a longitudinal slitting machine
with downstream packaging of the finished
coil, specially designed for automotive needs.
The plant’s structure and special features relating
to strip movement and equipment were
developed in close collaboration with the end
customers, in order to satisfy all the special
customer requirements. This process was
greatly influenced by the wealth of experience
gained by both Alcoa and Fröhling from
previous projects.
The plant includes the complete range of
equipment supplied, beginning from the runin
side: the conditioning machine for reducing
the coil-set, inline strip preparation by means
of drum shears, the
cutting zone with
CNC shear and
exchange station,
the strip braking
zone and the electrostatic
oiling unit,
as far as coil winding
and transfer to
the packaging unit.
Within the downstream
packaging
unit, depending on
the programme the
coils are isolated,
weighed, packed in
foil and stacked on
pallets. The work
steps throughout
the plant take place
automatically, with
attention paid to
maximum efficiency
in the design of
each unit.
The completion
of the new plant
is anticipated with
great attention not
only in Saudi Arabia.
“The rolling
mill will be a significant
milestone
Danieli Fröhling line for Ma’aden from run-in side to packaging
in the development of the first fully integrated
aluminium complex,” says Ken Wisnoski,
president of Alcoa’s Global Primary Products
Growth business.
Author
Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Rieth is a marketing specialist
and freelance technical journalist. As proprietor of
Marketing Xpertise Rieth in Meerbusch, Germany,
he advises equipment partners of the NF metals
semis industry on marketing-related matters.
Molten Metal Level Control
© Danieli Fröhling
ALUMINIUM · 9/2013 37