Nucor Steel Marion, Inc., based in Marion, Ohio, U.S.A., granted SMS group the Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) of the supplied walking beam furnace shortly after successful commissioning. The reason for the quick acceptance by Nucor was the achievement of the guaranteed performance values, which were even exceeded by far. With this, Nucor operates the most energy-efficient furnace with the lowest emission values achieved within the Nucor Group. The NOx content of this furnace is close to 25 parts per million. The furnace is designed according to innovative pre-fabrication methods and features proprietary SMS ZEROFlame burners.

The furnace went in service to the existing bar mill, and is capable to deliver a 120 short tons per hour of hot billets at 2,255 degrees Fahrenheit (1,235 degrees Celsius), with less than 1.04 million British thermal units per ton. Scale loss saving has been also pretty remarkable, with a measurement of less than 0.5 percent in weight, compared with the 0.75 percent guaranteed: this represents a very solid performance and a significant cost saving for the process. “We are proud of the results achieved by this furnace. It represents the new industry benchmark in terms of reduced emissions in U.S.A. and in particular inside Nucor group” said Simone Zussino, Vice President Reheating Furnaces and Heat Treatments at SMS group S.p.A. This sentiment was shared by Nucor Marion management, congratulating the joint Nucor-SMS team for the results during the FAC signature.

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