The Silicon Steel Project Went on Stream at LY Steel

On August 18, the cold-rolling silicon steel phase I step I project of LY Steel, constructed by WISDRI in EPC mode, was officially put into production.

LY steel cold-rolled silicon steel project is a significant construction project in Hunan Province. This development plays a crucial role in accelerating the building of a world-class enterprise for the Hunan Iron and Steel Group, ultimately aiding Loudi City in establishing the largest national silicon steel production base, thereby creating a "Material Valley" in the Central China region.

In the said project, WISDRI supplied one set of 20-high rolling mill, one APL, one FACL, the ARP and the integrated control center. All process equipment involved is developed, engineered and manufactured independently by WISDRI. The advanced equipment includes:

Ø 20-high rolling mill

- One 20-high rolling mill is supplied to the client, with independent intellectual property rights of WISDRI, applicable to silicon steels of various grades.

- The upgraded emulsion spray beam engineered by WISDRI, enjoys an ampler internal space in the housing, which is easier for strip threading, roll changing and breakage handling.

- The entry and exit coilers are functioned with gripper wrapping and belt wrapping, automatic coil loading and unloading, as well as automatic sleeve loading, which are adaptive to coils with different inner diameters.

- A series of measures are taken to better control strip thickness and profile, including the push-push type shifting of the first intermediate rolls, AGC screw-down, crown and eccentricity adjustment of rolls, etc.

- The precise flow and temperature control is designed for the large-flow emulsion which is capable of heating up to 220±20°C in one pass and cooling down to below 100°C in one pass.

Ø Intelligent and efficient technologies

- Fully automatic devices, such as unstrapping robots, sampling robots, labeling robots are furnished at entry and exit positions, to ensure the line’s efficient and stable operation and reduce operators’ working intensity.

- A mathematical model for intelligent control is applied to optimize commissioning online and correct parameters through self-learning, so as to achieve stable transition between different grades, precise control of heat treatment process, and intelligent operation of heat treatment furnace.

- The line is equipped with expert diagnosis function, which is conducive to troubleshooting and present the information to operators.

Ø Annealing furnaces for FACL and APL

- Combined heating method is adopted for the heating section and soaking section, which features high heating rate and good heating uniformity, and well meets process requirements of thin-gauge, non-oriented silicon steel production. The temperature control accuracy in soaking section is ±3°C, and the accuracy of strip temperature is ±5°C.

- Combined cooling method is proposed for the cooling section, catering to different process requirements, such as uniform cooling and rapid cooling, as well as product quality of varied silicon steel grades, including high permeability and high grade non-oriented silicon steel and high permeability oriented silicon steel.

Ø Green & environmental technologies

- Independently developed by WISDRI, the High-efficiency Silicon Steel Pickling Process, which comprises a string of equipment technologies, such as turbulent pickling tanks, acid concentration models, and new acid desiliconization process, is employed in the project, targeting at higher surface quality of strip, lower production cost, together with reduced emissions.

- Coupled with ultrasonic cleaning technology, an efficient degreasing device with intellectual property rights of WISDRI works perfectly in alkali cleaning system to ensure product quality.

- Increased heating efficiency, reduced gas consumption, as well as “zero emissions” at some furnace sections are achieved through non-oxidation heating technology, various electric heating technologies and flue gas waste heat recovery technology in normalizing furnace and annealing furnace.

- Vital technologies such as automatic furnace temperature control, flue gas cooling, and wet electrostatic precipitator are adopted at ARP, displaying technical advantages such as stable system, outstanding emission indicators, and low energy consumption.