Oman-based Moon Iron & Steel Company (Misco) has contracted Germany-based SMS Group to build a new rebar production mini-mill at the Sohar Industrial Estate.

The new $300-million steel complex is expected to commence operation in 2018, said a statement.

The steel mill, featuring a 140-tonne AC electric arc furnace, a 140-tonne ladle furnace, and a five-strand continuous billet caster, will be able to produce 1.2 million tonnes per year of billets, out of which 1.1 million tonnes per year are rolled into rebar from eight to 40 mm diameter, it said.

The fully-continuous rolling line will be equipped with 14 stands arranged in horizontal and vertical configuration followed by two high-speed finishing blocks with six “V” type mill stands each, it added.

The roughing and intermediate trains are designed as HL housingless stands. The “V” blocks are specifically designed for highly efficient and productive finish-rolling of rebar up to 50 m per second. The high-speed delivery system HSD enables to roll material at speeds of 41 m per second, it stated.

“Paramount among the requirements were the lowest possible energy consumption as well as minimal emissions," said Sasikumar Moorkanat, CEO of Misco.

SMS' developed CMT (continuous mill technology) mill meets this challenge. CMT has taken the basic mini-mill concept one step forward: The direct linking of the rolling mill with the steelworks guarantees short distances. Rolling takes place without time lag by exploiting the casting heat. Carbon dioxide-intensive reheating furnaces can be dispensed with.

Additionally, instead of an oil- or gas-fired furnace, an inductive heating system is employed. This system does not reheat the billets but only equalises the temperature profile. The induction heater gives perfect control of the starting temperature for the rolling mill - according to the billet speed. This solution requires much lower investment costs. By eliminating the complete reheating stage, energy costs and the impact on the environment are markedly reduced, said a statement.

Furthermore, SMS group's supply also covers the complete electrical and automation package that includes Level-1 and Level-2 process control. In addition to seamlessly integrating the process functional units, with the implementation of the state-of-the-art process solutions already highlighted, the automation system will allow Misco to meet all possible market demands with built-in capabilities for plant-wide production planning, scheduling, tracking and reporting, it added. - TradeArabia News Service