On April 28, German plantmaker SMS Group's subsidiary FOEN (Fontaine Engineering und Maschinen GmbH) announced that it has received an order from Chinese steelmaker Yichang Three Gorges (Yichang Three Gorges Quantong Colored and
Galvanized Plate Co., Ltd.) to supply six air-knife systems inclusive of electrical and automation package. The systems are to be integrated into six hot dip galvanizing lines and will allow easy and precise setting of zinc coating thickness. All of the plants are scheduled for commissioning in the second half of 2010.
The plants are designed for coating thicknesses between 40 and 275 g/m2 (zinc) and between 30 and 200 g/m2 (zinc-aluminum alloy) at a strip speed of 30 to 130 m/min. The strip widths are between 1,000 and 1,250 mm at strip gages between 0.5 and 2 mm. Each plant will have an annual
production capacity of 450,000 metric tons.