LOI Thermprocess, a company of the LOI Italimpianti Group, received a contract from Russian steel company NLMK for the supply of a new HPH® bell-type annealing plant. Under the contract, LOI is to supply 23 annealing bases, 12 gas-fired heating hoods and 10 cooling hoods, including all the necessary ancillary facilities for the company's Lipetsk plant. The HPH bell-type annealing furnaces will be used to anneal cold-rolled coils of low-carbon and low-alloy thin sheet up to a width of 1,850 mm (72. 8 inches) and a maximum thickness of 2.6 mm (0.1 inches). Each base will have a maximum stack height of 5,600 mm (220.5 inches) and a maximum stack weight of 150 tons. The capacity of the entire plant is to be 480,000 tons per year.            

NLMK is investing in the modernization of its bell-type annealing plant. The project is to be implemented in two stages, with the first stage due for completion in the first quarter of 2013 and the second in the third quarter of 2013. LOI Thermprocess is also supplying the complete control system for the plant, featuring a Siemens S7-300 PLC and the advanced ProView® system, which will control all 23 bases and optimize the throughput of each individual base and the entire plant.