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ENERGY CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY IN A STEEL ROLLING

MILL (HSL) BY USING VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE IN


DESCALER UNIT
1
PAVITRA, 2G. SUCHITRA
1
IVsem M.Tech Power and Energy System, EEE dept, BEC, Bagalkot
2
Professor, Power and Energy System, EEE dept, BEC, Bagalkot

Abstract- The energy conservation in steel rolling mills can be achieved mainly by focusing on descaler unit which
consume particularly large amount of energy. A rolling mill section (RMS) contributes a significant component to the
overall electrical load of a modern Steel Plant. Primary processes in RMS that are directly accountable to the production of
the end product includes the large electrical motors that drive the rolling mill. Secondary processes that are not directly
accountable to the production of end product includes large descaling water pumps that are involved in descaling of steel
billets, further these billets are rolled into final products. The majority of this secondary process have large water pumps
which runs with constant speed which is not necessary, resulting in energy wastage during no descaling periods. This paper
focuses on the efficient way of operating this secondary process to reduce energy consumption by Variable Frequency Drive
and actual results are discussed.

Keywords- Rolling mill section, Variable Frequency Drive, Energy Savings, Descaler unit, descaling and no-descaling
period.

I. INTRODUCTION particularly large amount of energy and for which


further energy conservation measures have to be
In a modern steel plant, production, from iron ore to applied.
hot rolled products, is achieved in as little as 16
hours. The typical steel plant consists primarily of This paper will introduce possibility of Energy
three units: Iron Making, Steel Making, and Rolling conservation opportunity at the secondary processes,
mills, as is schematically shown in Figure 1. focusing on the descaler unit that service the RMS.
Varying monthly production figures at the RMS will
have an impact on the monthly energy savings targets
to be achieved under the HSL contract. The
mechanism of an energy savings and Timing
Diagrams of the Mill Process by these plant-specific
variables will be discussed briefly.

II. ROLLING MILL – AN OVERVIEW

The descaling and Rolling are primarily responsible


for final product in the Bar mill. Billets of various
dimensions from the Continuous Caster are milled in
Fig.1. Schematic Layout of a Modern Steel Plant
the Rolling Mill section. Billet length typically vary
from below 2m to about 4m, with cross section
These rolling mill unit contain energy- intensive between 125mm to 200mm. Figure 2 shows a
processes, and consume large amounts of electrical schematic layout of the RMS.
energy and fuel gas per annum.
There are Decaler unit at the entrance of the Rolling
In the Rolling Mill unit, the largest consumption of Mill for quality control purpose. The descaler ensure
electricity is in the bar mill, typically contributing that scale that forms on the surface of the billet during
20% of the plant’s total electrical energy reheating in the furnace, whoch is not directly sent to
consumption. the rolling process. Descaling is done by forcing
water at a high pressure (typically 280 – 300Bar) onto
The conventional rolling mills in India are producing the material(billet), forcing the scale away from the
a major part of structural steel requirement of the steel. Before rolling process each billet have to pass
country. The energy conservation in these rolling through reheating furnace and descaling unit
mills can be achieved mainly by focusing on respectively. This process takes specified time,
secondary process (descaler unit) which consume a because billets have to be soaked properly in

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, Chennai, India, 08th June 2014, ISBN: 978-93-84209-26-1
83
Energy Conservation Opportunity in a Steel Rolling Mill (HSL) by using Variable Frequency Drive in Descaler Unit

reheating furnace at different zones of heating such as For HSL steel plant, the maximum hourly production
pre-heating zone, heating zone, soaking zone for rate will be determined by the peak production
proper product output. capacity of the process in its production line. Other
factors that will influence the monthly production rate
at a bar mill include the grade/quality and size of the
material that has to be produced (i.e. market
dependent), the number and duration of operational
delays (i.e. operations dependent), and the number
and duration of unplanned stoppages.

The average hourly production rate will affect the


energy savings potential on the rolling processes of
the bar mill, as will be shown in a later section.

The power consumed by the descaler pumps can be


decreased by:
The use of variable frequency drives (VFDs) to start
and stop pumps during operational delays such as
descaling time and no-descaling time respectively
Fig. 2 schematic layout of the RMS.
(currently they are not stopped due to damage on the
By considering all the process of rolling mill, motors with every start-up - damage occur due to
observation and considering time for each slab or high starting currents which will not take place when
billet output from the reheating furnace timing started with a variable frequency drive).
diagram is drawn. This timing cycle depends on
descaling time and no-descaling time. The duration of The use of VFDs to reduce the speed of pumps during
the gaps between descaling time and no-descaling the gap times between two cycles of descaling
time will be determined by the production rate of the periods (currently the pumps run fixed speed and
plant. For a HSL steel plant, the average hourly water is bypassed at the pumps).
production rate from reheating furnace will be taken
as 15 billets, for power consumption calculation of Only when descaling is on, two pumps need to
desclar pumps and cycle consideration. Figure 3 operate to deliver the high flow at ~280 Bar pressure.
shows a timing diagram of the milling process in the Now AC motor is running continuously independent
Bar mill at low production rates. of time periods with maximum speed.

Considering per hour billet output from reheating III. ENERGY SAVING OPPORTUNTY
furnace:
Descaler Pumps in RMS
 1 hr = 60min.
High pressure water jets are used to remove scale
 15 billets output for each hour from furnace.
from the steel billets before they enter the rolling mill.
 So 15 cycles per hour. The descaler pump runs at constant speed, and the
 By observation every 4min one billet will be high pressure water is bypassed to the water pit when
descaling. no bar or billet is present. Figure 4 shows the block
 4min(240s) = 1 cycle diagram of Descaling unit. Running the pump at
 Considering average descaling time will be constant speed wastes energy and heavy maintenance
10s. is required on the AC motor, bypass valves, and the
 Then average no-descaling time will be pump.
230s.
Solution
A solution is to use a variable frequency drive on the
pump to reduce the flow when the bar has left the
descaler unit area, thus reducing the load on the
motor and there by energy consumption.

The control system allows the bypass valve to be


activated at lower pump speed and pressure. During
mill delays the pump speed can be reduced, and
during a roll change the pump can be stopped.
Because pump power is proportional to speed cubed,
when pump speed is reduced to 70%, the power drops
Fig.3. Typical Timing Diagram of the Mill Process
to 35%, generating large energy savings. Control

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, Chennai, India, 08th June 2014, ISBN: 978-93-84209-26-1
84
Energy Conservation Opportunity in a Steel Rolling Mill (HSL) by using Variable Frequency Drive in Descaler Unit

system tests in a steel mill showed annual electrical IV. ENERGY SAVING ANALYSIS
savings of 311817.6 KWh/year.
The previous section illustrated by means of actual
By retrofitting ACS 800 variable frequency drives to case studies that energy saving opportunities are
the existing 110 kW fixed speed feed AC pump present at secondary processes of a Rolling Mill
motors which supply water to the descaler which can Section.The energy savings that can be realised from
supply peak pressure when needed, without using the above case that was discussed is directly a result of
return valve. Thus, the amount of high-pressure water the method of operation of the primary process
is supplied on demand. (milling/rolling).

It was explained by means of Figure 3 that the “on-


off” batch-like nature of the milling operation will
influence the utilization of utility water for descaling
and cooling purposes at the mill. It is this batch-like
nature of the mills that present an opportunity to stop
or speed down water pumps instead of bypassing
water back to the sumps.

To determine the economic feasibility of a project of


this nature to retrofit motors with VFDs and
integrating the control of these systems into the Steel
Plants’ existing control system, the potential energy
savings have to be quantified, as well as the project
costs. These figures together will then be used to
determine the economic feasibility, using a financial
Fig.4. Block diagram of De-scaling unit tool like the simple payback method.

When the descaling is not happening, AC motor This de-scaling solution has been characterised by a
always runs at a low speed of 600rpm as set by the combination of variable speed and fixed speed pumps
VFD to ensure that water is continuously pumped with high flow rates and the application of an
throughout the system and to keep the system charged optimised nozzle pattern. The benefits of this de-
to the minimum required level. When the descaling scaling package are reduced investment costs and
pumps start, VFD is used to accelerate the AC motor lower maintenance costs as well as substantial energy
in order to supply the required water to the descaling savings due to flexible operation according to the
pumps. process requirements"

HSL selected the ACS 800 as part of a program to The current electrical load profiles per motor under
upgrade its process quality and reduce energy and investigation should be obtained from historical data
water costs. Several distinguishing features attracted or measured during a measurement audit. The ac
HSL to the ACS 800. The technology used by the motor power can be calculated by using a data
ACS 800 means that it is suitable for direct fitting to collected from hourly average billet output from the
existing medium voltage AC motors. reheating furnace and by considering current, voltage
readings during descaling and no-descaling period.
Direct retrofit without matching the drive to the
motor is possible because the ACS 800 features a A comprehensive energy savings data is then used to
patented sine filter. This, by producing a pure sine calculate the potential energy savings for a given set
wave, avoids high voltage spikes and common mode of parameters. The parameters will include the
voltage, which can damage the motor insulation and various average time durations of the operational
bearings. processes and delays, average production rate, and
current process variables motor speed, frequency and
Other advantages of the descaler control system motor efficiency. From these analyses the expected
using VFD are: average kW reduction over calendar time can be
When the pump speed is reduced to 70%, the water quantified after the energy saving measures are
pressure is reduced to 49%. At the lower pressure the implemented. The kWh energy savings and energy
pump and valve life is dramatically increased. cost savings per annum can then be determined.

Variable speed drives avoid motor overloads during V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
on-line starting, and avoid the resulting large voltage
fluctuations which can affect other equipment in the Table 1 shows the potential average kWh saving over
plant. calendar time under average conditions (e.g. average

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, Chennai, India, 08th June 2014, ISBN: 978-93-84209-26-1
85
Energy Conservation Opportunity in a Steel Rolling Mill (HSL) by using Variable Frequency Drive in Descaler Unit

Production rate) for the steel plant under descaling system that service the mills. It is found
investigation. Note that these savings are only for the that billet desclar systems an average saving of
descaler unit that serve the RMS The production rate 311817.6 kWh over calendar time is possible by
of the steel plant is, apart from other factors, using VFD, which can convert to Rs 202681.4 energy
influenced by operational delay duration. High cost savings per annum. The device used (VFD) in
monthly delay durations will result in low production this having very low switching losses, and having
rates, and vice versa. At low monthly production very fast operating speed. Higher operating speed
rates, the expected average kW saving is higher than gives higher performance that is high starting torque
at high monthly production rates and good performance at lower speeds. By this drive
we can save the power up to the maximum limit by
 Drive cost = 650000 Rs controlling the speed of the motor by VFD.
 Power cost for one unit = 6.50 Rs/ unit.
 Unit saving × power unit rate = The project – for Hospet Steels Limited- is currently
311817.6 × 6.50 = 2026814.4 Rs implemented, therefore actual results are discussed in
this paper.
 Pay back period of drive =
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A Billet Rolling Mill in a modern Steel Plant presents Energy Conservation Center, japan.
energy saving opportunities, especially in the

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Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, Chennai, India, 08th June 2014, ISBN: 978-93-84209-26-1
86

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