STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 01/2019

42 | STEEL TECHNOLOGY
100 million euros investment at Saarstahl
Implementation of the new continuous
casting plant is on track
While the whole work is coordinated with precision and executed with willingness to achieve the new billet
caster will certainly start up operation by end of the year.
S
aarstahl group with its headquarters
in Völklingen, Germany, is specialized
in the manufacture of wire rod, bar,
semi-finished long products and heavy
forgings in qualities to meet the highest
demands. Since November 2017, construction
work on the new continuous casting
plant “S1” has been running at full speed.
The project represents a total investment of
100 million euros and requires that all tasks
be coordinated with the greatest precision
to ensure that the system can go into operation
according to schedule at the end
of 2019. The new billet caster comprises
a five-strand circular arc machine followed
by a comprehensive soft reduction zone. In
this zone, the strand in the semi-solid state
is defined using upper and lower rolls thus
improving the internal microstructure of the
steel decisively.
In February, Martin Baues, chief technical
officer at Saarstahl, gave representatives of
the media a rare look behind the scenes at
the ongoing construction work: “This construction
site is particularly challenging for
us since the new continuous casting plant
is a unique system in the world designed
with mechanical soft reduction (MSR) for
casting formats of 180 mm x 180 mm and
which is also equipped with the latest automation
and communication technology.
We are glad and proud that we are precisely
on schedule with the construction work.”
The system will be erected in the location
where the predecessor plant, the “old”
S1 was decommissioned in 2010. After the
dismantling work on the old system and
work to build the functional building and in
the area of the system pit, now assembly
of the main components is being carried
out, i. e. the continuous casting machine
itself and the turnover cooling bed as well
as assembly of auxiliary aggregates and the
infrastructure. To date, around 125 partner
companies have worked on the construction
site. Of these, around 70% are based
In a few months the casting
machine will be installed here
at the construction site (Picture:
Saarstahl)
in the Saarland region and in the surrounding
area. At the same time, a maximum
of around 200 people are working on the
construction site at any one time and, in
total, 800 people will have been involved
in the completion of the project.
Martin Baues highlighted the concept and
significance of the system saying, “We are
equipping the new continuous casting plant
S1 with the latest automation and communication
technology and we already took the
approach of Industry 4.0 into account in developing
the concept. This will enable us to
monitor the processes on the new system
even better and to ensure a maximum in
quality assurance. As a result, we will be
able to manufacture steel solutions tailored
to our customers individual requirements
even more flexibly and faster in the future.”
Saarstahl operates a total of four continuous
billet casting machines. With the new
five-strand caster Saarstahl is strengthening
its position in the business fields of spring
steel (e.g. chassis springs and coupling
springs), cold-heading wire (e. g. for screws,
threaded bolts) and free-cutting steel (e. g.
for the manufacture of valves, injection elements);
products which are primarily used
in the automotive industry and in mechanical
engineering. The technical data for the
continuous casting plant S1 are as following
• billet format: 180 mm x 180 mm,
• billet length: 6 m to 13.5 m,
• production capacity: approx. 180 t per
hour,
• billet output: approx. 60 billets per hour,
• casting radius: approx.10 m,
• length of cooling bed: 100 m.
Saarstahl is investing approx. 10 million
euros in environmental protection, e.g.
measures for noise reduction in the design
of the system, closed water cooling
circulation, reduction in the consumption of
fresh water, water purification, etc.
• Saarstahl AG
STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 1 (2019) First Issue