The Russian iron ore and steel producing company Metalloinvest Holding (Metalloinvest) has announced its plans to construct a new vacuum degasser at its steel producing subsidiary Ural Steel.
The construction of the degasser is expected to be commenced in February 2009 and will take about three years to be completed. The main equipment supplier of the unit is German engineering company SMS Mevac, a subsidiary of SMS Group.
The commencement of production using the new vacuum degasser will allow Ural Steel to improve the quality of produced steel. The unit is designed to refine liquid steel production in the EAF, thus helping to decrease the gas content, to reduce the percentage of impurities and to decarbonize the final product.
With the commissioning of the new vacuum degasser, Ural Steel will launch the production of X-80 and X-100 strips with improved strength characteristics. The construction of the mill, which will have an annual production capacity of 1.2 million mt, was started earlier in 2008.
The construction of these two units is part of a large scale investment program directed at the modernization of Ural Steel with the aim of increasing its production capacity.