Month: April 2021

The next, third casing of the blast furnace is being manufactured today by NKMZ, using the unique technological capabilities of the equipment which is installed in the workshops of the enterprise.

The casing is the main supporting body of the blast furnace. It is lined with appropriate refractory materials that make it possible to smelt cast iron in it.

The casing, which the NKMZ workers are making today, is a massive and large-sized structure, consisting of four shells installed on top of each other – three conical and one cylindrical. Their diameter is 12-14 m, the total height of the casing is 9 m and the total weight is 160 tons.

In the manufacture of tapered shells, the first most difficult task is to ensure their rather strict geometric dimensions during the segments’ rolling process. So, with a finished part diameter of 12-14 m and a sheet thickness of 70 mm, an accuracy of up to 5 mm is required. This task is solved in workshop No. 16 thanks to the use of a unique Haeusler machine, which allows rolling large shells of great thickness with high accuracy. And then in the machining-assembling shop No. 8 on a high-precision up-to-date boring machine with CNC from the Skoda, the finishing machining of the rolled segments is carried out. Here, the most difficult operation is to machine the places for the installation of cooling beds.

Today, the first stage of manufacturing of the third casing has been completed: four shells have already been finished in workshop No. 16. Soon they will be disassembled into segments and passed for machining.

Press relations service of NKMZ

NKMZ PJSC has started manufacturing of a unique overhead ore double grab car reloader for Azovstal Iron & Steel Works.

In recent years, NKMZ has manufactured, shipped and installed several coal grab reloaders for coal warehouses, including for Azovstal, as well as one ore reloader for the ore stock yard of PJSC Zaporizhstal.

“The uniqueness of the new reloader is provided by several characteristics,” says Sergey Martynenkov, deputy chief designer of chief designer department of the mining and press-forging equipment division at NKMZ. – These are gigantic dimensions: the span or the distance between the supports is 115 m with a total length of the beams of 185 m, the height is 49.7 m. It also has a significant weight – 2400 tons. But its main advantage is high productivity, which is achieved by the presence of two grab cars moving independently of each other. They will ensure a total capacity of this machine – 800 t / h. On the previous NKMZ reloaders, only one grab car was used.

The contract for the manufacture of this reloader was signed by NKMZ with Metinvest in 2019. The active phase of its production began in March this year. As of today, the necessary design and technological documentation has been issued for production. The production of a rigid support for the reloader and a mechanism for its movement, which includes 24 gearboxes, 96 traveling wheels and a system of balancing bogies, is already in progress.

The beginning of the installation of the reloader at the Azovstal Iron & Steel Works is scheduled at the end of this year, and commissioning – at the end of the next year. ”

Press relations service of NKMZ

At Novokramatorsky Mashinostroitelny Zavod a modern ladle turret of a new design was presented to the customers – metallurgists of JSC “Uzmetkombinat” (Bekabad, Republic of Uzbekistan).

Having looked at the work of the ladle turret, the Uzbek specialists were completely satisfied with it. As a result, an intermediate acceptance certificate was signed.

NKMZ has wide experience in the design, manufacture and replacement of ladle turrets of all types and various capacities. For almost twenty years, the enterprise has manufactured and delivered 19 such ladle turrets for metallurgists of Ukraine, Europe and Russia, each of them has certain peculiarities. The highlight of this 20-th ladle turret is mobility.

Another feature of this contract is that the customer has determined a rather tight time frame for the delivery of equipment, while the specialists of NKMZ managed to finish its production prior to the scheduled date.

Vladimir Chibishev, Deputy Head of the Electric Steel Smelting Shop for Mechanical and Power Equipment of JSC “Uzmetkombinat” shared the first impressions of the new ladle turret.

“The brainchild of the specialists of NKMZ is impressive. I think we were not mistaken in choosing the ladle turret manufacturer. As a specialist, I have been to many enterprises in the post-Soviet space. In comparison with them, NKMZ surprises with its large capacities and high potential. Your company has a great future.
The Uzbek Metallurgical Plant plans to increase production capacity, modernize and upgrade equipment. I think that we will find a common language with NKMZ in terms of further cooperation”.

Andrey Tsarev, Chief Designer of the Design department, Metallurgical and sinking equipment division of NKMZ, tells about the specifics of this contract.

“When concluding the contract, we managed to win in a tough competition, because in the process of preparing it we worked closely with the technical specialists of the Uzmetkombinat, and in the new ladle turret we tried to implement all the solutions they needed.

It has two independent lifts, the lifting capacity of each joist is about 200 tons. All ladle turrets previously manufactured by NKMZ were installed permanently. And this one will be installed on a rolling-out platform that has its own drive, which will move it at a distance of five meters from the casting axis. The need to move the ladle turret arose due to the impossibility of assembling it in the aisle space of the workshop, where it will be finally installed.

Previously, we already worked with the Uzbek Metallurgical Plant, now we have resumed our partnership. Now we are participating in a tender for the supply of a pump-and-accumulator station for the same Continuous Casting Machine. In the future, we will participate in the tender for the reconstruction of the CCM as a whole.”

The advantages of NKMZ ladle turrets in comparison with ladle turrets of other manufacturers are that more than 20 patents have been obtained for the new design solutions used in them. This circumstance allows them to be much more attractive in comparison with similar products of competitors on the market for this equipment.

Novokramatorsky Mashinostroitelny Zavod plans to ship three 15-ton rotor shafts to General Electric (USA) in the second quarter of 2021.

“NKMZ has been working with the GE Oil&Gas division of General Electric since 2013. At that time, our company was certified as a supplier of full-cycle finished machined parts for GE Oil&Gas, a global manufacturer of generators and electric motors for pumping gas and oil.

During this time, NKMZ has manufactured more than 3 thousand tons of products for GE Oil&Gas. Today, our strategy is aimed at further increasing the number of supplies – says Mr. Stanislav Zakharchuk, head of the rolls and power generating equipment laboratory.

The rotor shaft is a critical part, to which very high requirements are imposed on processing accuracy – value of the total mechanical runout, reflecting all the defects of its shape, should not exceed 9 microns.

Specialists of “General Electric” have developed a special technique for measuring the defect in the shape of the shaft bearing necks – runout, out-of-roundness, triangulation – with several sensors in several planes. Specialists from the rolls and power generating equipment division developed tooling and purchased the necessary equipment for this technique to ensure high accuracy of measurements.

Prior to machining, the rotor shaft blank had been subjected to a special heat treatment cycle to obtain fine and uniform grain in the metal structure, which will subsequently provide low electrical runout values, which means a low vibration when the rotor rotates in the electric motor.

The representative of the French branch of General Electric, David Thomas, carried out an expert assessment of the implementation by our specialists of the measuring technique for mechanical and electrical runouts of the rotor shaft bearing necks and gave a high assessment to the quality of machining at NKMZ”.