TPT May 2014

Industry News

Pipe and tube conference THE Tube & Pipe Association, International (TPA), USA, and the International Tube Association

such as lubrication, degreasing, NDT, quality assurance and metallurgical services from both developers and end users. An exclusive tour of Boomerang Tube in Liberty, Texas, will also be offered.

‘Pipe & Tube Houston 2014 – Developing Technology for Enhanced Profitability’ will showcase innovative and engaging sessions that push the boundaries of tube and pipe technology across multiple industries, such as OCTG, medical and automotive, and will feature tube and pipe related services and enabling technologies

(ITA), Germany, are to host their fifth conference devoted to updating seamless and welded tubular product technology and processes, scheduled for 16-18 September 2014 in Houston, Texas, USA.

Pipe & Tube Houston – USA Website: www.pipetubeconf.com

Continuous galvanising line THE Chinese Pangang Group has given Siemens Metals Technologies an order to supply a new continuous galvanising line for its Chongqing plant. The line will process 450,000 tons of high-strength cold strip per annum for use in the automotive industry.

achievable coating thicknesses of both sides will be between 50 and 350g/m 2 . The scope of delivery from Siemens will start at the coil feed and the entry section with a double payoff reel, followed by a Siemens type LW21 laser welding system with strip centring. Both welding and cutting operations are carried out with laser technology. The laser beam is transmitted via fibre – no mirror is needed. Also, no mechanical shear is required, thus avoiding wear of cutting tools. This will produce a continuous strip, which will first pass into a 16-fold strip looper with a capacity of 430m. The strip will be cleaned in an electrolytic cleaning section, and then heated in an ART (all-radiant tubes) furnace. Hot- dip galvanising will take place in two coating baths, a common one for GI and GA coatings, and one dedicated to aluminising coating. An induction furnace located above

the air wiping system serves for galvannealing. The coated strip will then be tempered in a cooling section. This will be followed by an intermediate looper with a capacity of 280m. After that, the strip will be fed to a Siroll-4Hi temper mill with a roll force of 1,200 tons and a 25-ton tension leveller. The shiftable Siroll Roll Coater will provide additional protection for the coated surfaces against corrosion and fingerprints at the last stage of post treatment. The strip will run through a 400m exit looper before it is side-trimmed and the width measured. This will be followed by an inspection station, in which the strip surface quality is checked. The exit section will consist of an electrostatic oiler, a rotary shear and a single tension reel, as well as coil handling, strapping and weighing machines.

For the first time in a Chinese plant, strips will be able to be optionally hot-dip galvanised with GI and GA coatings or aluminised on a single line. The project is scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2015. Siemens will plan and supply the complete mechanical and electrical equipment as well as the automation for Pangang’s continuous galvanising line in Chongqing. The galvanising line will coat deep-drawing steels, hot-formed and high-strength steels, as well as dual-phase steels with strip thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 3mm, and widths from 800 to 1,600mm. The maximum coil weight will be 34 tons. The total

Siemens AG – Germany Website: www.siemens.com

Computer-animated view of the continuous galvanising line from Siemens in Pangang’s Chongqing plant

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M ay 2014