Indian state-owned SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has successfully commissioned a fully mechanized cleaning system at its plate mill, clearing a completely blocked scale channel during a recently completed capital repair shutdown.
The scale channel, which removes scale and burrs generated during rolling, had been severely obstructed after years of accumulation. The blockage had caused flooding in the hydraulic automatic gauge control cellar, resulting in unplanned stoppages, risks to sensitive equipment, and safety concerns, the company said.
The company added that the shutdown also included extensive overhauls of key equipment such as the reheating furnace, rolling mill stand, and finishing line. Several first-time and innovative upgrades were completed, including full mechanized scale-channel cleaning, emissivity coating of the reheating furnace, replacement of the scale pit crane trolley, charging-side lintel replacement, installation of new DSTS pinch rolls, and an upgrade of the finishing line Level-1 automation system.
India’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), inaugurated in 1959 in Odisha, is India’s first public-sector integrated steel plant and a key unit of SAIL. Located in a mineral-rich region with strong rail links, it has a modern capacity of 4.5 mln tons per annum hot metal and 4.2 mln tons per annum crude steel, producing a range of flat products including HRC, plates, silicon steel, and pipes for the oil and gas sector.
