Method To Stop Tail End Lifting

Project report Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the completion of training

For Management Trainees

By

K.S.Druva
(Emp No: 125690)

Under the Esteemed Guidance of

Sri Preetesh Prakash,

A,G.M (O)

Wire Rod Mill

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

.
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation paper entitled “Method
To Stop Tail End Lifting” is a bonafide record of work done by
K.S.Druva, Emp.No:125690, Management Trainee, W.R.M, under
my guidance in partial fulfilment of the training for Management
trainees. This project work will certainly improve the productivity and
productive work culture of W.R.M.

Sri Preetesh Prakash,

A.G.M (O)
Wire Rod Mill
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project paper entitled “Method To

Stop Tail End Lifting” submitted to the Training & development
Centre Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Visakhapatnam, is an original
work and has not been submitted to any university / college any time
before for fulfilment of the requirements of course of study or to the
award of any degree or diploma. The opinions given and the
conclusions arrived are of my own, entirely of my responsibility and
the views expressed in the report do not represent the views of any
organization.

K.S.Druva
Emp No: 125690
WRM
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Project “Method To Stop Tail End Lifting” has been completed in
such a effective manner because of the able guidance, support and
help rendered by the whole W.R.M family.I am extremely thankful to
Sri A.V.Ramaraju DGM, W.R.M, for his support. Sri Preetesh
Prakash, Agm (O), W.R.M for his guidance and valuable suggestions
throughout the project and report preparation.
 Contents

1. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WIRE ROD MILL

2. Introduction

3. Reasons for Tail End Lifting

4. Why Lifting occurs in tail

5. Why tail end lifting occurs mostly in 12mm dia rebar

6. Method to stop tail end lifting

7. Conclusion
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WIRE ROD MILL:

The Wire Rod Mill of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is high speed four
strand twist continuous mill designed to produce 8,50,000 tons of wire rod coils.

The mill is designed to produce plain wire rods from 5.5 mm to 14 mm dia and
8mm, 10mm ,12mm dia rebars and weight is approx. 1200 kgs.

The mill is constructed at an elevated level of +5350 mm.Rolled billets from

LMMM of size 125 mm x 125 mm of length ranging from 9.8 meter to 10.4 meter
and weighing approx. 1235 kgs are used as input material.

The rolled billets received from billet mill are placed on charging grid 1 & 2 at +
0.00 m level in packets form with the help of EOT cranes.

The charging grid-1 is drive by one AC motor and charging grid-2 is operated by
one DC motor.

The cross transport receives the billets individually from charging grid-2 and
transfer them to the billet elevator which takes the individual billet to the mill
floor level.

At +5.35 M using billet transfer device and billet positioning device. The packet
of 4 billets is further carried forward to furnace entry by another 5 groups of roller
table arranged in tandem.

After the billets are positioned in front of walking beam furnace, the walking
beam of furnace will collect the billets from roller table & charge them into the
furnace.

The furnace is a combined type walking hearth cum walking beam furnace of
200T/hr capacity. The walking beam is operated by 180 bar pressure hydraulic
system. The furnace is approx. 42 M long and 11 M wide.
 The billets are heated to 1200 deg. Centigrade in 4 different zones using 60
flat flame and 6 long flame burners. The in plant generated mixed gas (mixing
of coke oven, blast furnace and converter gas) of calorific value 2300 Kcal/NM3
is used as fuel.

The mixed gas and combustion air is pre-heated to 250-300OC & 450-480OC
respectively in recuperators before combustion at the burners. The heating
time is approx. 71 minutes. Each walking beam cycle takes 72 seconds in which
a packet of 4 billets are moved by 900 mm.

The combustion products are let out in to atmosphere through a 45 M high

chimney. The complete process control is done by microprocessor based
instrumentation control system. Slight positive (10 Pascal) and oxidizing
atmosphere is maintained inside the furnace.

The homogenously heated billets are discharged by hydraulically driven

discharging device called peel bar into groove of mill stand no. 1.

A billet withdrawing machine is arranged between furnace exit and stand-1.

It uses pinch roll to feed or return billets from/into furnace. The four position
billet switch is provided in front of withdrawing machine to feed four strands
of the mill individually.

The roughing mill comprises of seven continuous 4-strand horizontal high

stands. The mill stand housing is of closed top design and roll neck are fitted
with morgan oil bearings for rotation through spindle, geared motor.

The roll of 600 mm dia and 1000 mm length are used at stand no. 1 to 5
placed at 21” mill housing and rolls of 480 mm dia and 920 mm length are
placed in strand no. 6 & 7 at 16” mill housing. The primary reducers and
spindles are used to connect DC motor drive and mill stand.
 The feed stock reduces to 46 mm square after reduction in roughing mill and
moves at approx. 1 m/sec speed. The average reduction in stands varies from 20-
30%. The pass design is oval – round sequence however stand 1 is box pass and
stand 7 is square pass. The ovals are twisted using twist guides at oval delivery
and fed to round pass through roller guide at round pass entry.

At all other places static guides are used to guide the stock into / from
groove. Four rotating cropping & chopping shears are provided after stand 7,
one each for each line. The cold & split front end of bar head is cropped
automatically before feeding to intermediate stand. In case of any
disturbances in upstream equipment’s / areas, the shear chops the current
rolling stock & preceding stock completely into small pieces.

The intermediate group comprises of 6 two high horizontal stands. Rolls of

480 mm dia and 800 mm length are used in 16” housing for stand 8 to10 and
rolls of 375 mm dia and 700 mm length are used in 12” housing at stand 11 to
13. The roll material is spheroidal graphite cast iron.

The roll necks are fitted with morgan oil film bearings for rotation. The stock
is reduced to 21-23 mm round and moves at approximately 5m/sec at stand 13
delivery. The primary & secondary reducers and universal shafts are used to
connect the motor drive & rolls.

The pass sequence is oval – square and stand 13 is having round pass. The
ovals are twisted by twist guides installed at each oval pass delivery and fed to
round pass using roller entry guides.

All other places static guides are used for guiding the bar. All the twist
guides and roller entry guide rollers in roughing & intermediate mill are
lubricated by oil-air mixed lubrication. Rolls are cooled by water at 3-4 kg/cm2
pressure to minimize fire cracks. Rolls are of cast iron. Material from stand 13
is fed to 4 individual finishing lines through rod guide / feed troughs.
 The 4-pre finishers, one at each line, are installed ahead stand 13, the rod feed
troughs guides the stock coming out from stand 13 to pre finishing block via
horizontal (stand 14) & one vertical stand (stand 15) in a closed housing driven by
one common drive.

The stock size is reduced to 17-19 mm dia round at this stage and speed goes
up to 8 m/sec. the tungsten carbide roll rings of 8” diameter are used in these two
stands of stock. These rings are mounted on a tapered shaft at 400 bar hydraulic
pressure.

A water cooling stretch called A1 water box is installed ahead of these pre
finishers to facilitate partial cooling of stock before final rolling in finishing blocks.
The facility is used mainly during rebar & high carbon wire rod rolling for grain
refinement and increased UTS in final wire rods.

Water cooling at 6 bar pressure followed by water stripping at 12 bar & air
strippers at 4 bar for complete removal of water droplets from stock surface are
provided in water box.

A crop & dividing shear is provided ahead water cooling stretch to crop cold
front end of bar before feeding to finishing blocks. Also, this gives a dividing cut to
bar in the event of trouble in forward stream equipment and bar gets diverted via
3-way diverter switch to chopper located at +0.00 m level.

There are two choppers one each common for line 1 & 2 and line 3 & 4. Snap
shears are provided at the entry of pre finishing block and finishing blocks to stop
further entry of metal into blocks in the event of cobbles or trouble with blocks.
Horizontal looper is provided before pre finishing blocks and 10-stand no twist
finishing blocks. The looper ensures tension free rolling. The height is controlled
automatically through computer using field signals from loop scanners provided
individually for each horizontal looper.
The 10-stand no-twist finishing block (stand 16 to 25) is driven by two 2000 KW
motor arranged in tandem and connected through 3-high speed increaser to the
common line shaft of block. The maximum speed of the block goes up to 76 m/sec
during rolling of 5.5 mm wire rods. The bar speed comes down as the finished
stock size increases. The strands are arranged at 45 deg. to rolling line and 90 deg
to each other to facilitate twist free rolling.

The tungsten carbide roll rings are mounted / dismounted on top & bottom
tapered shafts of each stand by hydraulic pressure. The pass sequence is oval-
round. The roller entry guides are provided at the entry of each round pass. Oil-air
mixed lubrication is used for guide roller bearings.

All the 10 stands of finishing block are used for 5.5 to 6.5 mm size wire rod
rolling. For 7 mm & 8 mm only 8 stands are utilized. 6 stands are used for 9 mm
to 10 mm whereas only 4 stands are used for 12 mm to 14 mm. and others stands
are kept as dummy.

The life of rolls and rings varies from 9000+ at stand 1 to 600+ at stand 25. After
rolling of specified tonnage the roll/ring or passes are changed.

After final rolling at finishing block, controlled cooling of wire rod starts using
retarded stelmor cooling system. Three water cooling boxes & in-between two
equalizing zones are provided ahead of finishing block.

The final wire rods coming out from finishing block are cooled down at
temperature required for the layer depending upon the steel quality.

One pinch roll unit is located ahead of water cooling stretch to carry the product
to 10 degree inclined laying head. The laying head lays the wire rod loops onto
stelmor roller conveyer tungsten carbide roll rings are mounted on pinch for
pinching of rods.
 Each stelmor conveyor conveys fanned out loops from each line across 10 air
cooling zones up to coil forming chamber located at the end of conveyor.

The vertically formed coil, inside the chamber on mandrel, is received by down
ender and loaded onto c-hook horizontally at down ender station the c-hooks are
carried by a power & free hook conveyer circuit. 180 c-hooks are carried in 5
interlocked hook conveyer circuits divided into two sectors. Each hook is having a
bar code plate which is read by reading units connected to production control
computer for identification of coil loaded onto hook.

Each sector is equipped with inspection loop, three automatic and compacting &
tying machines (which compacts the coil using 120 bar Hydraulic Pressure and tied
at 4 places by 6mm wire), three coils unloaded stations called turnstiles. The
QATD personnel take the sample at inspection loop to check size & mechanical
properties. The appropriate grade is fed to production control computer.

The wire rod coils are finally taken out from turnstiles by EOT magnet cranes
equipped in shipping bay. The identification labels are attached to coils at coil
labeling area located before coil unloading station. The coil identification details
like heat no., grade & size are available on the label provided on each coil.
Introduction:

In WRM now a days rolling of 8mm,10mm and 12mm dia rebar rolling is going on.
During rolling of 12mm dia rebar sometimes lifting of bar tail occurs,we have to
remove this tail otherwise lifted loop may struck in tractor chain or coil forming
chamber which may cause jam.

Delay occurs during clearing jam.Sometimes tail strucks in between stelmor rollers
and load on motors increases this causes stelmor trip,after stelmor trip if there is
any bar in Roughing mill then chopping of that bar occurs.

Tail End lifting causes delay in rolling,wastage of L.P.G gas and needs extra man
power.

Stelmor speeds during rolling time:

8mm dia Rebar - 0.45 m/s
10mm dia Rebar - 0.45 m/s
12mm dia Rebar - 0.45 m/s

FB exit speeds:
8 mm dia Rebar - 36-37 m/s
10 mm dia Rebar - 21-23 m/s
12 mm dia Rebar - 16-18 m/s

Laying Head moves with lead speed (1.01 to 1.04 * Fb speed)

Pinch roll speed (1.02 to 1.06 * Fb speed)
Stelmor

Reasons for Tail End Lifting:

-WRM designed in such a way that speed of the pinch roll,FB,IB,laying head
etc.,should increase during ending of bar(because material in tail end is
more).during tail of bar Pinch roll speed increases linearly and Laying head
speed does not increase linearly due to inertial rotary motion.L.H.speed
increases slowly.
- This causes formation of large dia loop at the tail end i.e., last but second
one. .This large dia loop requires a bit more time than normal loop to settle
on stelmore, but because of linear speed of stelmore that large loop gets
dragged on the stelmore causing the next two loops to lift.

-Lifting does not occur always,occurs only when,

1.Over cooling of bar.
2.Direct cooling(due to valve problems).
3.when Uncooled tail loops are less .
 Why Lifting occurs in tail:

1. Loops lift only in the tail not in the middle or front because when the bar is in
the middle or front,rollers in the Fb and pinch roll pushes the bar so that
loop will fall on stelmor easily without lifting.but in the tail there is no
pushing effect.

2. WRM designed in such a way that speed of the pinch roll,FB,IB,laying head
etc.,should increase during ending of bar.during tail of bar pinch roll speed
increases linearly and Laying head speed does not increase linearly due to
inertial rotary motion.L.H.speed increases slowly. This causes formation of
large dia loop at the tail end i.e., last but second one. .This large dia loop
requires a bit more time than normal loop to settle on stelmore, but because
of linear speed of stelmore that large loop gets dragged on the stelmore
causing the next two loops to lift.

Why tail end lifting occurs mostly in 12mm dia rebar:

Laying head speeds and Stelmor speeds of 8mm Rebar,10mm Rebar

and 12mm Rebar are given above. L.H speeds of 8R>10R>12R.this means the
time gap between two consecutive loops formation less in 8R more in 12R.
But stelmor speeds of 8R,10R and 12R are same.this causes dragging of new loop
,dragging force is more in 12R.so that tail end lifting occurs in 12mm Rebar.
Method to stop tail end lifting:

First method:

We can reduce tail end lifting by decreasing tail uncooled loops and we can
also reduce lifting by reducing water cooling.but by doing above methods
properties(strength) of the coil will decrease and we get off grades.

Second method:
To stop tail end lifting Electrical people of WRM designed a program and
written on Production control computers.
- The program main aim is to reduce the speed of stelmore just before
ending of bar(3 to 4 loops) so that front coil of same bar which is on
stelmore will not drag the new forming loop and it gives time to tail loops to
settle on stelmore so that lifting does not occur and new loop settles on
stelmor so easily.
-In the program, HMD of IB exit is taken as reference so that When the bar
exits from intermediate block(IB) exit HMD(hot metal detector), program
starts its function.
The Program designed is given below:
 -When bar tail end in IB sensed a flag will set and this flag will start the on delay
timer ton2 of duration 1 sec.this timer output is connected to stelmor reduced
speed.So,after 1 sec of the bar tail end sensed in IB stelmor will go the reduced
speed.

- ton2 output will start the on delay timer ton4 of duration 4.5 sec.so,after 4.5 sec
ton4 output will become high, ton4 output is connected to reset the above
flag.so,effectively after 5.5 sec when the bar tail end sensed in IB ,stelmor will get
back to the normal speed
- In this time of stelmore reduced speed tail loops settles on stelmore without
lifting.
CONCLUSION:

Laying Head,stelmor,Coil forming chamber these are the ares where we get
end product of the wrm .Smooth functioning of these areas will be good for
functioning of overal mill.From this project Method To Stop Tail End
Lifting I came to know that how we can stop bar tail lifting.