Greater operational flexibility yields more tons/billet

Located in the Laracha, A Coruña, Spain, the Celsa Group bar and wire rod mill has a combined design capacity of 850,000 tons/year. Billets are brought in by truck to the site and rolled into reinforcing bar, coils and wire rod. The bar mill was built in 2002 and the wire rod mill in 2006. The bar mill was originally designed to roll 130 mm square billets. After the wire rod mill was built, the bar mill was modified to handle 160 mm square billets, which were used as input material for the new wire rod mill. 160 mm billets became the standard for both mills as a larger billet cross-section makes the steelworks and rolling mill production more efficient. With the 160 mm sized billets the speed of the wire rod outlet increased from 90 m/s to 105 m/s.

Celsa Atlantic was able to roll 180 mm square billets on both mills after the mechanical upgrade

Higher tons/billet output after mechanical upgrade

In 2018, Celsa Atlantic contracted Russula to provide a solution to increase the billet size from 160 mm to 180 mm. The mechanical upgrade builds on the principal of flexible production. After the upgrade, the mill would be able to roll with mutiple sized billets and easily switch production from one mill to the other.

Russula supplied two roughing mill RCS stands, by-pass roller tables, pinch rolls, toggle shear and a looper table. The two stands and a bypass roller table were installed after the bar mill reheat furnace. The bypass roller table is substituted in place of the two stands depending on the production schedule.

Russula supplied a movable trough, which connects the two mills. The trough was installed to reduce switching time. Included in the trough scope of supply were two guiding pinch rolls, a horizontal looper table, toggle shear, and electrical and pneumatic systems.

The mechanical equipment was manufactured in reputable workshops throughout Europe. Close proximity to the Russula headquarters allowed the engineers to make frequent visits for quality assurance.

November, 2018 startup

The equipment was installed during planned shutdowns in the fall of 2018. Commissioning occurred as scheduled on November 18, 2018. After the upgrade, Celsa Atlantic experienced greater operational flexibility and a higher tonnage output per billet. The ability to roll 180 mm square billets on both mills provides Celsa Atlantic with costs savings by vertically integrating production with its Celsa France steelworks.