STEEL GRIPS online - Posco to expand Pohang, Korea, steel works

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Posco to expand Pohang, Korea, steel works

Jul 3, 2008

Posco E&C (Posco Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd.) awarded Siemens VAI Metals Technologies with an order for the installation of a new steel mill which will be built at Posco's existing steelmaking facilities in Pohang, Korea. The project includes the engineering and the supply of key components, equipment and systems for two LD (BOF) converters, a twin-station RH degassing plant and two ladle-treatment stations. The new plant, scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2010, will be capable of producing 4.65 million tons of carbon-, alloyed- and special-steel grades per year, 1.3 million tons of which will be cast in an ultra-thick-2-strand-slab caster which Siemens VAI is currently supplying. The slabs will be subsequently rolled to plates for use in, for example, the shipbuilding industry as well as for the construction of pipelines.

In response to the continually growing local and international demand for steel, Posco commissioned Posco E&C to install a new steel mill adjacent to its existing steel works in Pohang. Siemens Metals Technologies will provide engineering and key equipment and systems for two 300-ton-nominal-capacity LD (BOF) converters, including the offgas-treatment systems, a twin-station RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus) degassing plant - each station will be capable of degassing up to 345 tons of steel per treatment cycle - two ladle furnaces with the same capacity in addition to auxiliary facilities and systems.

Both converters will be equipped with the maintenance-free suspension system, a converter-tilting unit with drive, and a dry-type converter-offgas-treatment system which will cool and dedust up to 200,000 m3 of offgas per hour. Additionally, an evaporation cooler, a four-field, round-type ESP (electrostatic precipitator), an ID (induced draught) fan and a gas-switchover station - for directing the treated converter offgas to either the flare or to intermediate storage in a gasholder for subsequent heating applications or for the generation of electricity - will be supplied. The offgas-treatment plant features a unique plate-type cooling system which ensures a high cooling efficiency of the exhausted air by the secondary dedusting system during converter charging.

Dephosphorization and conventional decarburization of the hot metal will be possible in both converters. A low phosphor content of the rolled steel plates used in pipelines is a prerequisite for avoiding cracks - especially important in regions where low winter temperatures prevail. The RH degassing plant will ensure a low hydrogen and nitrogen gas content of the liquid steel as required for the production of high-quality plates. In the ladle furnaces argon purging will be carried out to obtain a high degree of steel homogeneity and also to enable final temperature adjustments to be made prior to continuous casting.

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