The Chinese Tianjin No. 1 Iron & Steel Group awarded a contract for the installation of an HPH bell-type annealing plant for annealing cold-rolled steel coils to LOI Thermprocess, a company of LOI Italimpianti Tenova. The contract covers the supply of 17 bases, eight heating hoods and nine cooling hoods with water-spray cooling. The furnaces are to be designed for annealing stacks with weights of up to 125 tons, heights up to 17.7 feet (5,400 mm) and coil outer diameters of 6.9 feet (2,100 mm).

The plant, which will have an annual capacity of 308,000 tons, will be equipped with a Siemens S7-300 PLC control system and an advanced ProView control computer system. Commissioning of the new plant is scheduled for August 2010.