CSP^® technology

The CSP^® Nexus concept is the new benchmark in thin slab casting and rolling with respect to productivity, flexibility and product spectrum. It takes full advantage of high throughput casting and the latest developments in hot rolling, and it utilizes batch and endless operation where this is beneficial. 

Key features include: 

• A caster with a throughput of 8 t/min and more
• The decoupled rolling process with additional powerful roughing mill stands
• A flexible furnace concept that is operated with natural gas, hydrogen, or electricity alone

CSP^® Nexus is a modular concept with maximum flexibility for a tailor-made solution and can be expanded with for example a second casting strand, lateral slab feeding, induction heating or a high-speed shear for endless operation. It can be designed to run fully electrical and is ready to produce emission-free, green steel. As a result, CSP^® Nexus increases and enhances the product mix compared to other combined casting and rolling plants in terms of steel grades and strip dimensions. 

Compact in design, CSP^® produces high-quality hot strip in a single manufacturing line that combines casting, heating, and rolling. Our proven CSP^® caster with its patented funnel-shaped mold casts thin slabs in thicknesses ranging from 50 to 90 mm. Next, the slabs go into the CSP^® furnace for temperature equalization. Straight after that, the CSP^® mill rolls them to final strip thickness. Starting with a single-strand CSP^® plant, you can cost-effectively produce around 1.5 million tons hot strip per year. Later, add a second casting strand to double your annual capacity.

Want to cut costs as well as harmful emissions? Then you'll love CSP^® technology for its low investment costs, low overheads, and high energy efficiency. It's obvious CSP^® saves you some real money because you no longer need a roughing mill. Fewer process steps also mean higher process stability. Plus: you reap the eco benefits in the form of 40% less energy consumption compared to a plant with a thick slab caster and conventional hot strip mill

This excellent product quality results from perfect temperature homogeneity of the thin slab. It remains constant over the entire length, width, and thickness when it leaves the CSP^® furnace before rolling. That guarantees more uniform mechanical properties across the whole width and length of the strip. You also achieve even conditions to ensure an extremely stable, smooth rolling process. This keeps the strip geometry within close tolerances.

Our CSP^® plants have proven they can produce an extremely wide spectrum of steel grades. Included here are almost all high-quality grades in demand today. Its homogenous production conditions make CSP^® ideal for high-quality grades and materials that require exact temperature control. That means you can produce hot strips made from micro-alloyed or multi-phase steels - much more easily, to closer tolerances, and with excellent metallurgical properties.

CSP^® technology offers optimal pre-conditions for the stable production of large amounts of thin-gauge products at low cost. Thin (< 1.5 mm) and ultra-thin (< 1.0 mm) hot strip can be used to substitute cold strip. Thus significant cost advantages can be attained. Some CSP^® plants have a share of 60% and more of thin hot strip in gauges between 1.5 mm and 0.8 mm.

Benefits

• Modern 3D engineering for improved training and easier maintenance
• Real time simulation for effective training and smooth commissioning in in-house test fields
• Steep ramp-up curve and shortest time of hot commissioning
• Highest availability supported by extra-long casting sequences and stepless thickness changes with LCR plus
• Long-term cooperations with renowned steel producers ensure reflow of operator’s experience into plant design
• Market leader for thin slab casting since the beginning with 29 plants and 51 strands, resulting in a market share of approx. two thirds
• Experience of building nearly 1000 casters with more than 2600 strands for flat and long products

Integral to the CSP^® plant, the roller hearth furnace is the logistical and technological link between continuous caster and rolling mill. The first zone in the upward of 1,100 °C furnace sets the thin slab temperature required for the rolling process. It does this using eco-friendly ultra-low NOx burners. To save energy, recuperators recover waste heat from the furnace. This energy then preheats the combustion air.

Next, the downstream homogenizing zone keeps the temperature at a constant level and harmonizes it over the cross-section and length of the slab. This ensures a homogenous temperature distribution. That's vital for optimized rolling and high-quality finished products.

Special water-cooled rollers transport the thin slabs through the furnace. They prevent heat dissipation, further boosting the energy efficiency of the furnace. Your customers demand excellent final product surface quality. This is where our newly developed calculation module comes in. It reduces the contact pressure between roller support rings and slab. Another stand-out feature in our CSP^® furnace is the SMS Dynamic Furnace Control (DFC) Level-2 process automation system. You benefit from uniform slab heating to the required target temperature without wasting energy.

X-Pact^® electrical and automation systems assure that productivity, production flexibility and quality of the final products meet customer’s requirements and ensure integrated process from caster to rolling mill. The applied concept and equipment provide a solid foundation for the digitalization of the plants and processes and for future-oriented extensions and applications. Diagnosis and visualization concepts for the entire plant assure and sustain effective and preventive maintenance activities.