Hoa Phat successfully commissions the two converter meltshops supplied by SMS group, including environmental technology

At Hoa Phat Group, Vietnam, a consortium consisting of WISDRI Engineering & Research Incorporation Ltd. and SMS group has successfully completed the commissioning of the last one of a total of four new converters supplied by SMS group. Thanks to comprehensive remote support from SMS group, the commissioning went very smoothly despite the travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic which made it extremely difficult for people to be present on the site. The two converter meltshops last commissioned are designed for an annual production of four million tons of liquid steel.

SMS group has in total supplied four 120-ton BOF converters with oxygen lance systems, sublance systems, refractory lining devices, converter tilt drives, the maintenance-free lamella suspension systems developed by SMS group and P3S pneumatic slag stopper systems. All four of the converters are equipped with an SMS group-designed primary gas dedusting plant using dry electrostatic precipitators (ESP). The converters, trunnion rings, converter tilt drives and parts of the dedusting plant were manufactured in an SMS group workshop. The converter meltshop is equipped with X-Pact^® electrical and automation systems.

With X-Pact^® Process Guidance (https://www.sms-group.com/jp/expertise/electrical-and-automation-systems/ea-modules/steel-plants/x-pactr-process-optimizer-bof/), an intelligent operator guidance system, Hoa Phat has in place a new automation standard developed by SMS group, ensuring uninterrupted operation thanks to the effective process-orientation of the system. The core element of this system is the user interface designed to enable immediate interaction between the user and X-Pact^® Process Guidance.

The SMS group scope of supply also included engineering, supervision of erection and commissioning as well as training of the customer's personnel.

Hoa Phat Group, a listed company, is one of the leading manufacturers of structural steel and steel tubes in Vietnam. The new meltshops are part of an expansion program implemented in the Dung Quat Economic Zone close to Da Nang.

SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It has some 14,000 employees who generate worldwide sales of more than EUR 2.9 billion. The sole owner of the holding company SMS GmbH is the Familie Weiss Foundation.