2014 - Boyacá, Colombia - Colombia
Mechanical upgrade for looper table
Russula was selected by Acerías Paz del Río, part of the Votorantim Siderurgia Group, to mechanically upgrade the looper table of the 350,000 ton/year wire mill. Loop formers have the function to produce tension free rolling by means of a cascade speed control of the stands.
This project was a continuation from a technical consulting assessment of the 2-strand wire mill that Russula previously provided. The Russula technical consulting team delivered concrete recommendations to improve the current mill configuration and eliminate mechanical failures. The new looper table was implemented in conjunction with an control upgrade of the whole wire mill, also supplied by Russula.
"I want to congratulate each and every one of you for this achievement, which was due to dedication, continuous work, operational discipline and teamwork."
Scope
Russula provided the design, manufacture, installation supervision and commissioning of a table for two horizontal loopers, one for each strand.
Technology
The table was mounted on a moving platform, operated by a hydraulic cylinder, which can move within a 300 mm range to compensate for groove changes.
The design included interconnecting channels for the rolled stock guidance upstream and downstream the existing equipment. Also, the loopers were equipped with entry end exit rolled stock guides which can be set off-line for maintenance and/or displacement purposes.
Looper table fabricated in one of Russula's workshops
New table for two hortiozontal loopers in operation
Project Execution
Delivery and installation occurred in January 2014. For 18 days, 13 engineers commissioned this Project. Six days after the complete shutdown, Russula’s technical team tested the first billet on one of the strands. On the 7th day, the other strand passed its first billet. Finally, control adjustments, operator and maintenance trainings and production supervision were performed.
Results
The impact of Russula's work reflected on the performance of the rolling mill, not only during the start-up month, but in the sustained operations of the rolling mill's life:
- Record shift production: 535 tons (May 29, 2014)
- Record monthly production: 30.346 tons
- Best mill utilization rate: 73.8%
- Highest metallic yield: 95.63%
