ABB drives improves energy efficiency, saving GBP 68,000 each year for Tata Steel, UK.

The Tata Steel plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire,UK manufactures speciality steels for industries with demanding applications in aeros...

The Tata Steel plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire,UK manufactures speciality steels for industries with demanding applications in aerospace, oil and gas, power generation and steels for the industrial bearings industry. The steel plant production process involves hot steel billets which are cut by a gas cutter, generating scrap material that flakes off the billet. This process is driven by three 90 kW flume flush pumps which are used to flush water across the billet to carry this scrap away. However the process runs only two 90 kW flume flush pumps continuously with the third pump on standby. The filtration process removes the scrap and the filtered water is then pumped back into the process through a holding tank, termed as a clear well by two 75 kW filter feed pumps. All these pumps were originally driven by motors running direct-on-line, with no form of variable speed control. Tata Steel were looking for a safe, efficient solution to cut down on high energy consumption without compromising plant reliability. They got in touch with Halcyon Drives an ABB Drives Alliance member who in turn supplied, installed and commissioned three, 90 kW and two 75 kW ABB industrial drives to control the pumps. Rated at IP55 to stop the ingress of dust and moisture, the drives with in-built intelligent pump function, multi-pump control, ensured that the optimum number of pumps were running to satisfy the process demand, besides a backup pump would kick in online in the event of a pump failure. All this resulted in improved safety, reliability and efficiency of the steel plant with energy savings in excess of GBP68,000 each year. DOWNLOAD VALVE SOLUTIONS APP. WANT TO PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT? FEEDBACK @anand_rkrishnan