ArcelorMittal SA Vandervijlpark FFF System

ArcelorMittal SA Vanderbijlpark FFF System Design and Supply

World-class thickness tolerances with highest mill stability

ArcelorMittal South Africa – Vanderbijlpark | South Africa | 2001–2002

Over 98%

thickness tolerances within ¼ of ASTM A568M standard

No change

to finishing mill equipment

High

mill-stability improvements for rolling thin steel

Challenges

ArcelorMittal wanted to improve the quality and reliability of hot band steel from its wide hot-strip mill in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.
Clients in automotive, pipe-making mills and other specialized industries needed tighter thickness tolerances from the hot rolled steel.
The finishing mills had older, screw-down systems driven by electric motors and looper systems. Automatic gauge-control (AGC) upgrading solutions were evaluated based on performance, installation schedule, and capital expenditure.

Solutions

With high performance comparable to best-in-class AGC systems, the Hatch Fast Feed Forward (FFF) system provided the best value to this ArcelorMittal SA hot strip mill.
This low capital expenditure had a short implementation time, so no mill shutdown was needed.
This maintenance-free AGC system adapts to mill conditions continuously, so it eliminated the need to change any finishing-mill equipment.
The FFF system is able to switch between the old AGC and the existing one with a simple operator desk switch.

Highlights

Performance of the hot-strip-mill gauge improved from thickness tolerances in the mid-80% range and less, to over 98% of thickness tolerances within the ¼ ASTM A568M standard.
There were noticeable mill-stability improvements, with thinner steel able to be rolled with minimal amounts of operator intervention.
Instances of torn tails were reduced by over 40%.
A complete turnkey system, it was installed without any interruption in mill operation.
The complete project was delivered on schedule within 12 months.

"I feel positive about the system. It is the right way to go for a mill like ours."

Alfred Reid | Level 2 Engineer, ArcelorMittal Steel Vanderbijlpark Works, South Africa