Tenova started up the Consteel® EAF at the new plant of Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil (VSB). In addition to the 140-ton-capacity Consteel EAF, Tenova also supplied the dedusting system and other ancillary equipment of the meltshop. In the rolling-mill section, Tenova LOI Italimpianti provided the rotary-hearth furnaces and the shell furnaces. Tenova LOI Italimpianti also provided two walking-beam furnaces for tempering as well as one 100-ton/hour walking-beam furnace for hardening for the plant’s heat-treatment facilities.

VSB’s new seamless pipe steelwork plant will produce more than 1 million tons of steel annually and 600,000 tons of seamless pipe products. VSB committed to an environmentally friendly concept by selecting a blast-furnace technology that can use both coke and charcoal, which is considered a renewable source of energy. All furnaces are providing the best available technologies in terms of product quality output and environmental emissions. The Consteel EAF, for example, optimizes energy consumption and ensures a low level of noise emissions and pollutants.