Global technology company ABB will provide electromagnetic brake systems (EMBR) for two compact strip production (CSP) casters at Tata Steel’s flagship plant in Jamshedpur in India. ABB will be under contract from engineering and construction organization SMS Group.

Jamshedpur, located in the eastern state of Jharkhand, is India’s first planned industrial city. The city came after the founding of Tata Iron and Steel Company by Jamsetji Tata and his son Dorabji Tata in the 1900s.

Higher Quality, Faster Throughput

ABB’s scope of supply in the project also includes DCS800 DC drives, dry type transformers, water cooling systems, commissioning services and metallurgical performance evaluation. Tata Steel contracted ABB through SMS, which specializes in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry.

The contract builds on ABB’s large installed base with premier steel producers globally. About 40 percent of thin slab casting strands worldwide installed ABB’s EMBR, enabling higher quality and faster throughput. ABB invented the technology in 1985. They enable steelmakers to achieve steel cleanliness like conventional vertical bending casters, improves casting speed and increases mold copper plate lifetime.

Provides Metallurgical Improvements

By generating a static magnetic field, which decreases meniscus metal flow speed and turbulence, the ABB EMBR provides a whole range of metallurgical improvements. They include elimination of mold powder entrapments, a more even molten mold powder layer, and a meniscus, which is flatter, hotter, and less turbulent.

“The project at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur is a key order for ABB,” said Raghu Badrinathan, Area Sales Manager – ABB Metallurgy. “It builds on our large installed base with premier steel producers around the world.”

“Tata Steel is a highly-valued customer for ABB. It is our continuous endeavor to provide the best-in-class technology and solutions to them,” said Vipul Gautam, Group Vice President, Global Account Executive for Tata Group, ABB. “We believe that our metallurgy solutions, particularly the ABB EMBR solution, will help them to achieve superior performance of their casters in minimum time. Lowering their cost of production while improving quality.”

EMBR has proven itself as a popular electromagnetic braking technology for thin slab casting. The EMBR achieves steel cleanliness similar to conventional vertical bending casters. They improve casting speed and enjoy further cost savings as the EMBR doubles the lifetime of mold.