German steel producer BGH Edelstahlwerke GmbH has issued a final acceptance certificate for an electric arc furnace (EAF) modernised by Primetals Technologies. The project included the optimisation of furnace movements and conversion of the tapping system, and also involved the installation of a ladle car, a new ladle heating system, and a new alloying facility. The modernisation was performed in two stages and completed during the summer shutdown in 2017.
Primetals Technologies also modernized the furnace rocker, as well as the roof raising and tilting systems of the EAF in order to speed up furnace movements and enable longer electrode segments to be used. The tapping system that empties the furnace was converted in the second phase of the project, which also saw delivery of a new ladle car, a ladle heating system, and an alloying facility for ladle alloying. Primetals Technologies was responsible for engineering and supplying the equipment, and supervised its installation and commissioning.
BGH Edelstahlwerke GmbH is a mid-sized company with several independent production sites in Germany and Poland including BGH Edelstahl Freital GmbH, the largest site in the BGH Group. The company runs a minimill melt shop in Freital with an EAF, downstream secondary metallurgy, an ingot casting plant and a horizontal continuous caster. Further processing takes place in a rough block mill and a wire rod mill. In 2013, Primetals Technologies modernised the automation and drive system in the wire rod mill.