The Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), one of Russia's most important steel producers, has commissioned SMS Demag, Germany, to supply a continuous caster and a heavy plate mill with the pertaining electrical and automation systems.

The continuous caster is designed for the production of slabs with a thickness of to 300 mm and attains a casting speed of 2.0 m per minute. The maximum casting width is 2,700 mm and can be varied during the course of operation. The resonance oscillation with variable oscillation frequency, stroke length and curve shape guarantees a continuously good slab surface. Furthermore, the plant is equipped with a mold monitoring system, hydraulically adjusted cyberlink segments and an air-mist cooling system, as well as with the technology packages breakout prediction system, dynamic soft reduction and the dynamic cooling model.

These systems ensure reliable production of high-quality slabs, and make the caster highly efficient and flexible.

The new heavy plate mill will produce plates in widths of up to 4,800 mm. The planned annual capacity of the plant is around 1.5 million t. Production will focus on pipe grades (up to X120) as the starting material for large-diameter pipes in the gas and oil sector. Other areas of application are, for example, bridge construction and ship-building as well as heavy mechanical engineering.

The order covers the entire process line for plate production, with two walking beam furnaces, the mill stand, plate cooling, hot leveler, cooling and inspection bed, shear line, finishing line with cold leveler and heat treatment facilities.
The mill stand with a rolling force of 120 MN will be one the world's most powerful mills. Plate cooling is implemented by combining a pre-leveler, the newly developed inline roll-spray cooling system and the laminar-flow cooling system. The crop shear and the dividing shear are of closed design in order to ensure a clean cutting edge even in the case of extremely high-strength plates. The cold leveler can be operated in the nine-roll or five-roll mode with an extended leveling range.

The supply scope of both plants includes the entire electrical equipment, drive technology and all automation systems. The complete automation is being prepared and made operational with the aid of the proven Plug & Work procedure. Plug & Work simulates the production sequence and enables the automation functions to be tested and optimized under realistic conditions prior to installation in the works.

Commissioning of the plants is scheduled for mid-2009.