Siemens VAI Metals Technologies, Linz, Austria:

J. Hofer, Eng., Product manager for cold-rolled products, juergen.hofer@siemens.at

G. Finstermann, Dr. Eng., Head of sales of cold-rolled products

A. Stabauer, Eng. (FH), Manager of cold-rolled products

The pickling and cold-rolling operations that are part of integrated flat-steel production plants are mostly perceived as having a low potential for energy saving or energy recovery measures, when compared with those processes in the chain that entail high temperature levels upstream and downstream. But there are still a number of resources within these production units that can provide remarkable contributions to energy savings and also reduce theemission output close to zero. Solutions to meet the goal of making these processes even more energy-, material-,and emission-saving, and thus more environmentally friendly are provided by Siemens VAI and presented here. At first there are observed Siemens VAI solutions for energy saving and environment technologies in the whole technological cycle, and then green potential of pickling lines and tandem cold mills is analyzed. Application of residual heat usage in the pickling process section and precise models of cold rolling process are considered. The last include optimized spray patterns and roll gap lubrication using strip blow-off system. Siroll CM design and layout toolbox is examined and typical off-gauge length distribution with and without of the Siroll off-gauge optimizer is compared. Possibilities of operating mill drive system with minimal losses in order to increase overall yield are discussed, as well as the new advanced mass flow control algorithm, soft-sensor for strip thickness and feed-forward control for the next-to-last stand.

1. Fabris, S.; Georges, S.; Stabauer, A.: Potential for continuous improvement, Metals & Mining (2010) No. 2, p. 56 ff.

2. Steinwender, L.; Salzmann, C.; Kainz, A.; Krimpelstätter, K.; Zeman, K.: A holistic modelling approach for the design of tension leveling and scale breaking processes and equipment, Proc. 14. Intern. Conf. on Sheet Metal (SheMet), Leuven, Belgium, 18–20 April 2011.