Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine Schiene GmbH has contracted international technology group Andritz to supply a new walking beam furnace for the steelmaker's Donawitz plant. The start-up date for the new furnace is early 2016.
The Donawitz plant is a leading European supplier of railroad tracks.
Andritz will supply the turnkey furnace plant with an output of 185 tonnes/hr, including steel structure, refractory lining, transport system, combustion system, instrumentation and control system, mathematical furnace model to optimise the various thermal furnace processes, buffer bed with separating systems, feed conveyor with automatic billet identification, and a complete hot water cooling plant with recooling and emergency cooling systems.
A heat recovery plant is planned to supply the district heating system, making maximum use of residual heat from the waste gases. Heat consumption can be reduced to a minimum despite the very uniform temperature maintained, claims Andritz. According to the company, maximum reductions can be achieved in terms of NOx and CO emissions.
