Reversing rougher powered

The reversing rougher is a heavy torque application and as such demands two ABB 12.5 megawatt (MW) salient pole synchronous motors, together with two ABB MV drives rated at 36 mega volt-amperes (MVA), 3.1 kilovolts (kV), to power the slab between a set of rolls.

"With the old system the average cycle time was 95 seconds. Today it is 80 seconds,” says Steve Winkley, Tata Steel’s project manager for the roughing mill project. "When we change direction of the bar, it’s much faster than ever before. When we take advantage of the motors maximum top speed, this will result in an average speed of work increase of 30 tonnes per hour more steel; that is a staggering 200,000 tonnes per year."