Company News Feb 10, 2012 8:28 AM
Plus for the environment: Chemcoater on coil-coating line 3 Siegerland plant now in operation
The new chemcoater on coil-coating line 3 at the Siegerland location of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe significantly improves workflows on the coil-coating line – where paint and film coatings are applied to thin steel sheet – and actively contributes to protecting the environment.
Significantly less wastewater, reduced use of alloying elements and chemicals
The chemcoater is a piece of equipment used in the steel industry to apply chemical substances to galvanized flat carbon steel. These substances are water-based media with additives that pretreat the steel and increase the corrosion protection of subsequent paint and film coatings. The chemcoater carries out chemical pretreatment processes required for the subsequent painting process. A total of three different chemicals can be applied to the sheet via rolls. The unit operates on the basis of a reuse process so that no wastewater is produced except in the subsequent rinsing operation. “This six million euro investment virtually eliminates the need for chromium-based corrosion-protection pretreatments for organically coated parts,” says team coordinator Ralf Wittkowski. “By using zinc-magnesium hot-dip coated starting material, we achieve better corrosion protection results with thinner zinc coatings. Water consumption is also reduced: By using two five-stage cascade rinses we have reduced the amount of water we need by 8,000 liters per hour”.
Extensive modernization
The planning phase for the extensive modernization of coil-coating line 3 began three years ago, and the project was finally implemented last fiscal year. During the three-week shutdown when the chemcoater was installed, maintenance and cleaning work to ensure defect-free operation of the line was carried out. The paint- and film-coated steel produced on coil-coating line 3 is supplied in the form of coil, slit strip and cut-to-length sheets for use in the construction, appliance, garage door and auto industries.