Fives selected for major revamping project of CGL in China

Ma’anshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Masteel) in China has been investing in upgrading production facilities and has now awarded Fives a turnkey contract to revamp a continuous galvanizing line (CGL) to produce new quality coated products.

The existing CGL №1 at the Ma'anshan-I site in the Anhui province of China is capable of producing 350,000 tonnes per year of zinc coated products. Once revamped, the line will be able to deliver the corrosion-resistant ZnAlMg (Zinc - Aluminum – Magnesium) coated steel sheets required in the home appliances and construction industries.

Fives will be responsible for coordinating and project managing the revamping project. The scope also includes the design and supply of a Stein horizontal furnace, as well as modifications of the after-pot cooling tower and a post treatment section which will be equipped with a new hot air dryer and air coolers.

The project faces a double challenge: integration of the revamped furnace with a heat recovery system into the existing line and design of the specific equipment to meet new coating requirements. Fives possesses the technical expertise and operation practice to overcome these challenges, which is why it was selected for this project.

“Fives was a pioneer to design and supply processing lines to produce multi-coated galvanized high-end products, as well as color-coated products on a single line. This revamping project will be our second reference in just over six months for the same type of the line,” says Olivier Grosse, Sales Director at Fives’ Steel business unit.

Fives will use a modular concept furnace to minimize the production stoppage and will provide a dedicated team for a start-up and a production ramp-up to reach quickly high-quality grades of new coated products. The project will be also supervised by Fives’ subsidiary in Shanghai, China, which will be responsible for manufacturing of the furnace local portion and supply of its electrical and automation parts. The first coil is scheduled to be produced by the end of 2020.

Fives and Masteel have enjoyed a long-lasting corporation over the last 15 years: three continuous galvanizing lines and a continuous annealing line have been equipped with Fives’ furnaces. Moreover, early this year, Fives was selected by Masteel to design and tune its proprietary thermal optimization solution for a continuous annealing line (CAL) and a hot dip continuous galvanizing line (CGL №3) to maximize performance.