Improved plates quality at NLMK Clabecq, Belgium

The purpose of the upgrade ordered by NLMK Clabecq to Danieli was to secure a key player position in the thin-gauge steel market, providing best-in-class surface, flatness and dimensional tolerance plates.

New Danieli technological packages were implemented at the plate mill in Ittre, Belgium, to improve plate profiles and mill-flatness performance.

Using a two-part shutdown strategy, hydraulic actuators for gap control (HAGC) for stands 3 and 4, a brand new hydraulic bending system, as well as new loopers for stands 1 to 4 connected to a new hydraulic power unit, were installed.

Danieli Automation upgraded the technological control system to the modern, HiPAC automation platform and integrated the control functions related to the new HAGC, bending and hydraulic loopers. Updates to the level 2 process control system originally supplied by Danieli Automation and a new flatness gauge at the finishing mill exit were applied as well.

NLMK Clabecq produces abrasion-resistant and ultra-high-strength plates with the prestigious QUARD® and QUEND® trademarks, and “thin-wide” formats thanks to its unique process layout with a 2,800-mm wide, four-stand tandem finishing mill.