ABB upgrades drives control technology at AST Terni steel mill

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The solution will extend the product lifecycle and boost reliability while reducing downtime and operating costs at the Sendzimir Mill

Main data

Customer:  Acciai Speciali Terni S.p.A.
Site:  Terni, Italy
Customer requirements:  Expedited replacement of ABB legacy Tyrak drives solution to elevate performance and enhance reliability
Scope:  Drives control solution including the latest DCS 800 and DCS880 drives with PEC controllers.
Application:  Sendzimir mill 
Customer benefits:  
  •  Greater reliability and process stability
  •  Lower operating costs
  •  Improved energy efficiency
Commissioning year:  2019

Leading Italian steelmaker AST Terni manufactures stainless steel products, including semi-finished hot-rolled coils, hot white band and cold-rolled stainless steel, for the European and global market. Over the past 130 years, it has supplied more than 1 million tons of steel products from its facilities in Terni, covering  the entire manufacturing cycle, from melting to the surface finish treatment. 

To elevate performance, improve efficiency and enhance stability at AST Terni’s Sendzimir Mill, the steelmaker decided to replace ABB’s legacy DC drives solution, Tyrak, with the latest distributed control system (DCS) technology from ABB, DCS 800 and DCS880 drives with PEC controllers. 

Bernd Sachweh, Head of ABB Metals business
“ABB’s world No. 1 DCS technology will help AST Terni to increase productivity and sustainability at its steel mill while improving cost-efficiency and availability.”

Efficient, timely project execution

Highly skilled engineers from ABB’s Metals team seamlessly integrated the DCS880 and DCS800 drives systems at the mill, ensuring a comprehensive solution that will help streamline operations, drive energy efficiency and reduce expenses for the Italian steel company. 

The obsolete drives at the Sendzimir Mill were replaced within a mere three months from order and commissioning was completed in August 2019. 

Mr. Luca Onofri, AST Terni
“We were on a very tight schedule for this upgrade. The ABB Metals team in Italy and our engineers at the steel mill worked together to ensure a quick turnaround for the project, which we began when we placed the order with ABB in May 2019.”

End-to-end customer service

ABB provides customer service throughout the entire lifecycle of equipment and systems. The Metals team has in-depth experience and extensive technical expertise in modernization projects, ensuring that customers optimize ROI on existing assets and upgrade at the right time to promote the highest levels of operational efficiency.  

“With years of experience in automation and engineering, ABB has the ability to effect modernization for metals producers across Europe and worldwide,” remarked Sachweh.

Mukesh Jain, Metals Sales Lead for ABB in Italy
“ABB follows a proactive approach to maintaining our existing installations. We are constantly monitoring and analyzing our equipment and systems to maximize product performance.”

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