Swedish steelmaker SSAB is to modernise its continuous annealing line (CAL) at its Borlänge plant in Sweden.
The company has contracted French industrial engineering group Fives to carry out the work and the completion date is November 2019.
According to Fives, the aim of the project is to increase the efficiency and capacity of the existing CAL in order to produce advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) with a view to meeting increasing demand from the automotive industry.
On completion, the modernised line will have the capacity to produce 650kt/yr, up from a current capacity of 500kt/yr.
Fives’ remit is to modernise the thermal element of the CAL by replacing the jet preheating furnace and installing inductors in cascade to increase efficiency. It will install a new Stein jet preheating furnace to recover the heat from the radiant tube furnace and four CELES MP inductors.
“Thanks to the optimised design of the preheating furnace blowing boxes and tightness of the new seal, more power will be recovered and the strip will be preheated to higher temperatures,” Fives explained.
“CELES MP inductors – a proven technology – will then increase the strip temperature before the strip enters into the radiant tube furnace,” the company said.
In total, 16MW of power will be installed as part of the project, which will be implemented ‘very quickly’.