On August 23, Austria-based plantmaker Siemens VAI announced that it has received an order from Slovakia Steel Mills (SSM) in Strážské, Slovenia, to supply a water treatment plant for its new steelworks. The plant will treat the water used for direct and indirect cooling and is scheduled to come on stream by the end of 2010. The order is worth some ten million euro, Siemens VAI said.
The mini mill of SSM in Strážské is designed to produce around 600,000 metric tons of structural steel per year. It incorporates the complete process chain consisting of an electric arc furnace, a ladle metallurgy facility, a three-strand continuous casting plant and a rolling mill. Steel production requires large quantities of treated water for direct and indirect cooling, and so the central Siemens treatment plant has to supply about 7,000 cubic meters of treated water every hour. The technical equipment includes cooling towers, pumping stations, pressure sand filters, metering stations and sludge treatment facilities.