Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) has announced the receipt of an order from Russian steelmaker Severstal for the modernization of the latter's six-strand billet caster which is located at its Cherepovets facility.
The order was received following casting trials Severstal performed at a strand equipped with a Siemens DynaFlex Oscillator. During the test, which was performed on 100 x 100 mm billet, billet casting speeds exceeded seven meters per minute - i.e. more than one meter per minute faster than during normal operations with the existing facility.
On the basis of this successful high-speed-casting demonstration, Severstal has awarded Siemens with a contract for outfitting the remaining five strands of the billet caster with DynaFlex Oscillator technology and also to modernize Severstal's secondary-cooling systems to satisfy the requirements for higher-speed casting.
The upgrade of the billet caster, which is scheduled to be completed in early 2008, will allow Severstal to increase its billet casting speed and therefore its billet output.