Mill stand for China
July 1st 2005

AK Heavy Engineering has been awarded a £2m contract to machine and test assemble a 5m wide steel finishing mill stand that will weigh more than 1000t and is destined for China.

Comprising two massive four-piece bolted housings, the finishing stand will form the centrepiece of a greenfield heavy plate rolling mill project for a Chinese steelmaker.

Each consisting of two 15m high legs and 6m wide top and bottom tie beams, the bolted housings are among the largest ever produced and will require extensive milling, boring, craneage and assembly.

With a total finished height of 17m and each weighing 525t, the housings will be test assembled in a 4m deep pit, using specially made concrete blocks and cast iron beds to support the vertical structures, before being dismantled for shipping to China where they will be erected on site using 300mm diameter pretensioned bolts.

The project, for which ABB supplied main mill motors and drives, will include automation systems, and the plant will eventually have a capacity of 1.5mtpa of hot rolled steel plate.