Sarralle S.L.

SARRALLE performed its first project for the ARCELORMITTAL steel plant in Ghent (Belgium) and consisted of dismantling the previous ladle turret of the continuous caster and replacing it with a new one. The turret is able to handle 2 ladles with average heat size of 330 Tons (470 Tons gross weight). As an extra enhancement the ladles are able to tilt for optimal emptying.

SARRALLE was able to keep the strict total lead time of the project within 15 months (between order and commissioning). Engineering was performed flawlessly with a good co-operation between customer and Sarralle. The dismantling of the existing turret and the installation of the new turret was established in an 18 days shutdown in December 2018.

From start-up until now, the turret was operating in full availability, without any failure or unexpected shutdown.

In the first quarter of 2019, SARRALLE executed the second project for ARCELORMITTAL plant in Ghent (Belgium) consisting of a slab transport system; from the slab yard to the furnace loading machine at the hot strip mill. The ultimate aim was to exploit the full capacity of the newest furnace, and at the same time, reduce the work load for the slab yard. SARRALLE handled the project for the mechanical part – from engineering to commissioning. This included manufacturing, logistics, assembly, and the field installation of the equipment. All executed without affecting the production of ArcelorMittal. The start-up of the slab loading installation has already taken place, after the necessary adjustments, without incidents.

The project was executed by SARRALLE in 18 months, in accordance to the client's fast track schedule, involving 30 people (engineering and assembly technicians) from both companies.

This is the second successful project of SARRALLE for ARCELORMITTAL Ghent, after the modernization in the same plant of the Continuous Casting Turret, and adds to the thirty projects that the group has made for ARCELORMITTAL in other plants and countries confirming the confidence of ARCELORMITTAL in SARRALLE.

SARRALLE has successfully completed the first of a three-phase project intended to upgrade and modernize the continuous caster at STEEL DYNAMIC INC. (SDI) Roanoke Virgina, one of the premier steel producers in the North American market. After completion, the upgrade will provide SDI with a state-of-the-art continuous casting machine that will be the key to new markets, not currently served, allowing them to produce higher quality steel grades.

The project awarded to SARRALLE by SDI will consist of critical process equipment modernization and automation which the American group intends to complete in three phases. The first phase, entrusted to SARRALLE entirely, includes engineering, manufacturing, assembly supervision, commissioning and testing. Work began in July of 2018, and the project will reach its completion after a very short two week outage this May. This first phase has been exclusively devoted to modernizing the mid-section of the machine to provide operational consistency and improved product quality. The associated automation support equipment will also be supplied in an environmentally controlled stand alone container, pretested, and installed in place prior to the outage. All the work is based on the SDI concept of building each of the three phases without back tracking or equipment redesigns.

This is the first significant project for SARRALLE in the United States, opening up possibilities to supply steel makers with SARRALLE designed melt shop and rolling mill equipment from their company owned fabrication shops in Northern Spain.

Sarralle has been awarded with two projects from the Megasa Group (dedicated to the production and distribution of long steel products), to renew the fume extraction system in the two plants that the company owns in Portugal, specifically in Lisbon (Seixal) and in Porto (Maia).

The new eco-technology Bluesky-Plant® offered by Sarralle is a technological advance since, with the filtering of the fumes and with the injection of paricles of various metarials, it guarantees the restrictive limitation of the European Environmental Regulations.

The aim of both systems of aspiration is to improve the extraction of fumes from both plants throughout the manufacturing process, which in practice will prevent the accumulation of exhaust in the facilities, improving the air quality and the health of the employees and minimizing emissions to the exterior contributing to the conservation of a cleaner atmosphere.

These are important projects developed with an eco-efficient management of the production processes, which means not only reducing the volume and pollution of the waste generated, but also increasing the competitiveness of our customers. Sarralle contributes to the sustainable economy by offering eco-friendly engineering solutions with the recovery of steel dust among others.

Turnkey projects
The fume extraction system Bluesky-Plant® from the plant in Seixal (Lisbon) is the one with greater scope. The installation was designed to be adaptable to future extensions of productivity, including a larger extraction capacity. The works will be completed in December 2019, month in which the new equipment will start up. On the other hand, the installacion and commissioning of the equipment at the Maia plant (Oporto) is scheduled for the summer of 2019. Sarrall will execute both turnkey projects, including engineering, manufacturing and assembly work and start-up.

The project will be equipped with the ATEX certificate for explosive atmospheres, which guarantees the equipment, environment and systems of protection of the site are suitable to work in explosive atmospheres, providing greater safety to the workers of the plant.

Sarralle’s relationship with Megasa Group began 13 years ago and since then, Sarralle has undertaken multiple projects for Megasa in plants in Portugal and Spain (Galicia). Sarralle is a clearly exporting company and exports around 80% of its turnover. Europe is its main market and the mentioned projects aggregate a considerable opportunity for the consolidation in the geographic framework in the steel industry with new environmental engineering solutions.

In recent years Sarralle has accomplished several projects in the area of fume extraction system, applying its new eco-technology Bluesky-Plant®.

Bluesky-Plant® is decisively contributing to the adaptation that many mills are undertaking to comply with the new environmental regulations, through new investments. These include the Winoa steel project in France, the one exceuted for Nervacero (Celsa Group) in Spain, or the one for OCL Iron and Steel in India.

The ArcelorMittal plant in Olaberria (Spain) has entrusted Sarralle with the complete modernization of its Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which will increase the productivity and improve the efficiency of the fusion process. It is a turnkey project that includes the complete revamping of the furnace, the combustion chamber and foresees the implementation of the Sarralle Level II Automation technology for this process, based on predictive models. The start-up is scheduled for September and the furnace will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology developed entirely by Sarralle, improving the performance of the ArcelorMittal Olaberria (Spain) production process while increasing productivity by 30%.

The renovation of the installation will adequate a significant reduction in the power off time, the time in maintenance shutdowns, the energy consumption and the electrode consumption. In addition, the post-combustion process will be improved, generating a more efficient fume treatment process and reducing the temperature of the steam at the outlet of the chamber by redesigning the installation through the use of advanced dynamic simulation tools of gases.

The Sarralle Level II Automation technolgy bases its operation, among other parameters, on predictive models, real-time data collection and the updated cost of materials and energy. This allows first, the definition and then, the adjustment of the process dynamically and automatically, according to the best possible strategy. Further, the Sarralle Level II Automation makes it possible to achieve in a short time and consistently the maintenance of the optimal procedure of the process. It facilitates the use and decision making by the operator and allows to achieve immediate benefits in the performance and cost operative of the merger process.

SARRALLE was awarded by Befesa; world leader in the recycling of waste for the steel and aluminium industry, for the construction of the new facilities in Turkey. The scope will consist on doubling the production capacity of the facility. The investment will amount to 25 million dollars.

SARRALLE Group lands in the Turkish market with this important project, which will allow Befesa to consolidate its position as a leader in the global market in its sector of activity. SARRALLE will execute a turnkey project for BEFESA which includes the design, engineering, manufacturing, assembly and start-up phase of the new facility.

With the modernization of the plant, Befesa will process 110,000 tons of steelworks powder annually, compared to the 60,000 tons it currently treats. This increase will allow to valorise more amount of dust to obtain zinc and slag. Both materials will be reused in other sectors, becoming a source of renewable raw material, contributing to the environmental sustainability of the planet, allowing to close the production process in a sustainable way, reusing all the elements of the process.

Zinc is used in the automotive, pharmaceutical or ceramic sectors, while the slag can be recycled in the cement industry or as an additive in bituminous products.

SARRALLE has been awarded two projects in France and Germany for the international APERAM Group consisting of the improvement and modernization of the plants dedicated to the transformation of stainless steel flat products.

APERAM France
The project for APERAM Isbergues (France) will allow the group to increase the capacity of its LC2I process line, virtually unique in the world in the treatment of hot-rolled stainless steel of continuous rolling, pickling and finishing of stainless steel. The installation processes continuously stainless steel, doing the pickling, rolling, normalizing, skin pass and flattened under tension, resulting in first quality coils ready for final sale.The start-up of this new line was carried out at the beginning of the current year and the work is the result of SARRALLE's engineering study to modernize the facilities of APERAM France.
 
APERAM Germany
The project for APERAM Haan (Germany) will allow this group to completely renovate its current facilities in Duisburg and transfer it to the new facilities located in Haan at 50 kilometres.

This is a complex project in which SARRALLE will manufacture new machines for APERAM, improve and modernize the existing ones and also renew the cross-sectional line of the APERAM Duisburg plant. Precisely this line will be dismantled from its current location plant and transferred to the new location, with a total change in the distribution of material flow allowing a very important logistics improvement.

The OCEVI cutting line is a stainless cutting line that manufactures sheet steel for multiple applications, such as the food industry, industrial processes, catering, elevators and stairs, and so on.

SARRALLE considers these two projects strategic, given that it involves the expansion of its metal coil processing division in the European market.