Megasider Zaragoza S.A.U., part of the Megasa Group since 2016, has placed an order with SMS group for a merchant bar mill equipped with environmentally-friendly heating technology. The new plant will replace the existing rolling mill, which was delivered by SMS in 2005 and is strategically located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula near Zaragoza, Spain, with excellent connections to major industrial areas in Spain and France. The facility will be designed to produce a wide range of merchant bar products to complement and expand the existing product portfolio.

SMS supports Megasider in its goal of achieving natural gas-free production and digitalizing the plant. As a systems supplier, SMS will provide an overall concept for operating the flexible burners with a digital control system. This will enable the plant to be operated in a particularly environmentally-friendly way.

SMS' scope of supply includes a walking beam furnace equipped with the latest reheating technology for eco-friendly operation. Specifically, the furnace, based on a capacity of 120 tons per hour, will include SMS Prometheus® Level 2 control – ensuring uniform temperature distribution and low oxidation and carbon enrichment of the steel – as well as the SMS DigiMod combustion management system and SMS ZeroFlame HY2 burners. These extra-low-NOx flameless burners are capable of operating with both natural gas and a blend of natural gas and hydrogen in any ratio, making this furnace hydrogen-ready. The combination of the SMS ZeroFlame HY2 burners, the DigiMod combustion management system, and SMS Prometheus® control will lower NOx emissions to 45 ppm, reduce scale formation to 0.4 percent, and cut fuel consumption to 27 Nm3 per ton.

The scope of supply also includes a multi-strand straightening machine with automatic bar positioning and feeding device featuring automatic roll changing system, a cold saw to be used with either abrasive or metallic disks, and a RAM (rotating-arms automatic) magnetic stacker with four independently operating four-meter sections. The high-precision profile gauge with surface defect detection capability, supplied by TBK, a company of SMS group, will allow Megasider to perform contactless precision measurements for optimal bar production processes.

The whole plant will be controlled by the X-Pact® automation system, SMS group's level 1 and level 2 solution. This holistic approach aims to integrate the company's many years of experience in automation into the rolling process, with the goal of maximizing the plant's performance. At the same time, it also enables the immediate implementation of digital solutions based on harmonized data processing.

"We are proud that Megasider is relying on the future-oriented technology of SMS and will obtain a plant that sets standards in the environmentally-friendly production of steel bars," says Luigi Barbante, Vice President Bar & Wire Rod Mills, SMS group.