• Annual production capacity to increase to four million metric tons of slabs
• Project includes 2 strand slab Caster, Twin position ladle furnace, alloying station and dedusting system
• Expanded product portfolio
• Cross-section heat-pacing solution to coordinate steel production with casting operation
• Reduction of dust content in cleaned gas

Primetals Technologies has received an order from Ukrainian steel producer PJSC “Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol” to supply a two-strand continuous slab caster, a twin ladle furnace with an alloying station, and the associated dedusting system. The previous orders for the basic and detail engineering, received in 2014 and 2015, have already been successfully executed by Primetals Technologies.The two-strand caster CC4 is designed to produce 2.5 million metric tons of slabs per annum. This will increase MMKI’s annual production capacity to around four million metric tons, as well as enhancing and expanding its product portfolio to include, for example, HC, UHC and ULC steels. A level 3 heat-pacing solution will coordinate the steel production with the casting operation.

MMKI produces steel with three LD (BOF) converters. A new 150 metric ton twin ladle furnace from Primetals Technologies and the associated alloying station will be used to help set the desired steel grades and the correct casting temperature. A transformer with a rated power of 28 MVA will provide the electrical energy for the ladle furnace, enabling a heating rate of 4.5 °C per minute. Primetals Technologies designed a dedusting system to clean the off gases from the ladle metallurgy facility. When implemented, the project will allow to improve the environmental situation in the city of Mariupol, where MMKI is located. After the commissioning of the new equipment, the ingot casting area will be taken out of operation and the blooming will be shut down. The dedusting system will reduce the dust content in the off gases to a level of 12 mg/m³ (maximum), whereas the Ukrainian standards require up to 50 mg/m³ and the European standards up to 30 mg/m³.

The equipment order for the continuous slab caster covers all the installations from the ladle turret and the tundish car through to the exit zone with its weighing, torch cutting, marking and deburring machines. The caster from Primetals Technologies will have a machine radius of nine meters and a metallurgical length of 29.8 meters. It will cast slabs with thicknesses of 170 and 250 millimeters in widths ranging from 900 to 1,550 millimeters. The maximum casting speed will be 2.2 meters per minute. It will process peritectic and peritectic alloyed steels, low, medium, high and ultra-high carbon grades, as well as medium-carbon alloyed steel. The caster will be equipped with automatic LevCon mold level control, a straight, cassette-type Smart Mold with the DynaWidth technology package to automatically adjust the width of the slab online, and the DynaFlex mold oscillator. The strand guide will be equipped with Smart Segments and I-Star rollers. DynaGap Soft Reduction, the Dynacs 3D secondary cooling model, and DynaJet nozzles will also be installed, making it possible for MMKI to produce a wide variety of high-quality grades with improved interior quality of the slabs.

MMKI is one of the largest iron and steel works in Ukraine. The company produces a wide range of flat products made of carbon, low-alloyed and alloyed steel grades for various applications. These include heavy plates for pipelines, shipbuilding, pressure vessels and the construction industry, as well as hot and cold rolled plates and coils. Primetals Technologies previously installed and started up the 1-strand slab caster CCM#3 at Mariupol, where it has been in operation since 2006.