Production Plants

Qatar Steel has embarked upon various projects with a systematic approach for improving the productivity of all its operations.

At present Qatar Steel has 4 UHP Electric Arc Furnaces of 80 tons capacity each; two of them are conventional launder type tapping, equipped with 50 MVA. The third EAF, is EBT type and split shell design, with a transformer capacity of 70 MVA. A ladle refining furnace (LRF3) has been installed for the EAF in order to produce quality steel as well as to increase productivity. LRF3 is in operational since November 2006, due to which the tap to tap time is reduced from 75 minutes to 60 minutes per charge. The installation of a HiJet for EF3 for carbon and oxygen injection further reduces tap to tap time. With the addition of this LF3 and HiJet the production figure of EF3 reaches a production capacity of 622,000 tons per year.

One more EAF (EF2R) started in May 2007 along with another Ladle Refining Furnace (LF2R), and a Continuous Casting Machine (CC2R). This ensures a production capacity of 666,000 tons per year.

The plans include also the installation one more EAF/CC of 160 tons capacity state of the art EAF in a green field adjacent to the new DR with an annual capacity of 1.25 million tons per year in June 2009.

• A Gunning Robot are installed in both EF2R and EF3 to enable Qatar Steel to increase the furnace availablity.

• Installation of PYTOM - the online measurement of temperature and molten steel analysis took place during the year 2007 to further reduce the tap to tap time thereby increasing productivity. The benefits are on-line control of the EAF process, possibility of on-demand temperature adjustment, less oiling re-blows molten steel analysis online, less stress on refractories because overheating can be prevented completely.