September 08, 2008

ABB’s new DC drives to boost TZ steel mill performance

It is reported that TZ selected ABB’s new DCS800 drives for its billet rolling mill in the Czech Republic for increasing productivity, improving energy efficiency and cost effectiveness

After comparing ABB’s DCS800 with the DC drives of another leading manufacturer, TZ selected the DCS800 to replace all 72 DC drives at the mill. ABB is executing the project in phases between 2006 and 2010 to ensure that downtime is restricted to planned shutdowns.

The DCS800 offers the same tools and options as ABB’s market leading AC drives, and combines best in class user friendliness with unlimited scalability and the highest power to size ratio on the market. Click here to read ARC’s recent assessment of the DCS800. In addition, the DCS800 offers capabilities like uniquely user-friendly operator control and commissioning functions, direct communication between drives via ABB’s high-performance DCSLink technology, and a powerful PLC integrated with each converter. The DCS800 also enables TZ to get the full benefits of the leading drives platform and avoid the costly exercise of ripping out its installed base of DC motors.

Located at Kladno in the Czech Republic, the mill produces 300,000 tonnes of steel bars a year from one blooming stand and three billet stands that were commissioned in 1982. Productivity at the mill has suffered in recent years from downtime caused by the existing DC drives, made by a local manufacturer, which were installed 25 years ago and for which spare parts are no longer available.