Driving down costs for steel maker

An ABB industrial drive is reported to saving nearly £10,000 a year on energy costs for the Tata Steel plant at Stocksbridge, which supplies steel for the aerospace, oil and gas industries.

An important part of the finishing process is the scarfer. Taking in lengths of steel ingots/blooms up to 6m long and weighing up to 5t, the scarfer uses a propane burner to remove impurities from the steel. The impurities, in the form of waste gases, are then removed by an exhaust fan, run by a 132kW motor.

As well as saving energy costs of around £9700 per annum, the new drive application also saves 82,500kg of CO2 and cuts energy use by 165,000kWh. Following installation, the ABB drive achieved a payback time of less than one year.