Votorantim Paz del Rio upgrades block drives

Votorantim Paz del Rio, the second largest steel producer in Colombia, contracted Russula to modernize the block drives of Line 2 of the wire rod mill. Existing ABB DCS 500 drives were replaced by two ABB DCS800 models. Russula provided the electrical equipment, hardware engineering, software engineering, integration with the existing HMI system, installation supervision, and commissioning support. The plant is located in Hacienda Belencito, Boyaca, Colombia.

The collaboration between Russula and the Paz del Rio plant began with an audacious project to optimize the performance and quality of the 2-strand wire rod mill originally built in the 1950s. In 2014, the Paz del Rio and Russula team performed a mechanical, electrical, and control upgrade. Russula supplied a new table for two horizontal grippers. After the upgrade, the plant saw sustained improvements in mill utilization rate and metal yield.