Tata Steel produces ultra-clean steels with VIM X-eed® unit from SMS group

At its Stocksbridge site, Tata Steel´s Speciality Steels, UK, has successfully commissioned the VIM X-eed^® vacuum induction melting furnace supplied by SMS Mevac.

This new tertiary metallurgy facility produces high-purity steels and specialty alloys for the aerospace industry.

The VIM unit at Tata Steel comprises an eight-ton vacuum induction melting crucible and the associated vacuum pumping, material charging and process control equipment. All core components supplied by SMS Mevac have been designed to allow Tata Steel to increase the melt size to 18 tons at a later date. Also ancillary equipment for crucible preheating and lining maintenance was included in the supply scope. The unit incorporates vacuum pouring equipment for both top poured and bottom poured ingots, in single or multiple ingot configurations.

Before the ingots are rolled or forged into products for the aerospace market, they are refined in Tata Steel’s VAR (Vacuum Arc Re-melting) and/or ESR (Electro Slag Re-melting) facilities.

Andrew Douglass, Engineering Director of Tata Steel: “Speciality Steels are delighted to have the VIM in operation and producing commercial grades for sale and customer acceptance trials”.

Jochen Schlüter, Managing Director of SMS Mevac: “We are very proud of having installed and successfully commissioned the new VIM X-eed^® facility in Stocksbridge in close collaboration with Tata. As partners of Tata Steel, we will continue to render our extensive metallurgical expertise to support Tata Steel in developing and producing innovative high-end materials with the newly installed VIM X-eed^® unit and responding successfully to the increasing requirements of this extremely exacting market.”

Based on their extensive plant engineering know-how, SMS Mevac, leading providers of hot metal pre-treatment and secondary metallurgy facilities with more than 40 years of plant engineering experience, has expanded its portfolio to include the segment of tertiary metallurgy/special steels. This strategic move into tertiary metallurgy currently incorporates three key melting and remelting technologies, namely VIM, VAR and ESR units. This product area is managed by in-house experts who boast more than twenty years of experience working with leading producers of speciality steels. This know-how and SMS Mevac’s excellent reputation as a supplier of high-performance equipment provide the basis for state-of-the-art plants designed to meet current and future market requirements.

Production of speciality steels and super alloys at Tata Steel in Stocksbridge, using the new VIM X-eed^® unit supplied by SMS group.

About SMS Mevac GmbH

SMS Mevac supplies equipment, process know-how and process automation systems for the production of high-grade steels to customers all over the world. The range of metallurgical equipment covers vacuum-type and atmospheric-type treatment processes for hot metal pre-treatment and liquid steel refining by ladle metallurgy (secondary metallurgy) and tertiary metallurgy processes.

About Tata Steel in Europe

Considering its Europe-based business activities, Tata Steel ranks second in Europe. From their steelmaking facilities in the UK and the Netherlands, Tata Steel serves demanding markets worldwide, including automotive, construction, lifting and excavating, and energy and power. Tata Steel Group is one the largest steel producers worldwide, with crude steel capacities of more than 28 million tons and 81,000 employees on five continents.

Based on SMS group information