wiredInUSA January 2018

Cool approach to wire rod

Access restored after double damage

Image: www.sms-group.com SMS group will equip Xinji Aosen’s wire rod mills with the latest design in loop layers and pinch roll units. Xinji Aosen Iron & Steel Co Ltd, based in Shijiazhuang city, has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of high-speed equipment for its wire rod mills numbers 8 and 9. Both mills will be designed for an annual capacity of 700,000 tons, and will roll wire rod in sizes from 5.5mm to 16mm, and rebar in diameters from 6mm to 16mm at rolling speeds as high as 105m per second. The wire rod outlet of mill number 9 will be equipped with one six-stand and one four- stand wire rod block. Installing two separate blocks will allow Xinji Aosen to cool the rolling stock before and behind the blocks in such a manner that all sizes can be finish rolled at low temperatures and to close tolerances. Ten wire rod mills in China already use this mill concept. Commissioning will take place during the summer of 2018.

Zimbabwe lost almost all Internet access for nearly six hours during December when two of the country’s international fiber connections were cut. According to Liquid Telecom, customers in Zambia and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were also affected by loss of service. “We apologize to affected customers in Zimbabwe, Zambia and parts of DRC for the unexpected interruption of our Internet service,” said Liquid Telecom. “This was due to cuts on primary and secondary fiber routes near the South Africa-Zimbabwe border. Both fiber breaks are fixed and now back in service.” According to Zimbabwe local media, the first cut occurred when a tractor cut through a fiber in the Limpopo province of South Africa, close to the border. Shortly afterwards there was a failure to TelOne’s cable into Botswana, used as a back-up to the main Liquid Telecom connection. An Econet Wireless spokesman said the outage was due to a technical fault which has since been resolved. “Econet sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience caused.”

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wiredInUSA - January 2018