A vacuum oxygen decarburization (VOD) plant with a capacity of 50 metric tons supplied by Siemens Metal Technologies commenced operation at voestalpine Giesserei Linz GmbH in Austria. This equipment gives the company additional capability for secondary metallurgical treatment of steel castings for applications in the energy and mechanical engineering industries. The plant uses a combination of electrically driven mechanical vacuum pumps to generate a vacuum. This includes roots blowers and screw compressors. Unlike the conventional steam injectors used in secondary metallurgy, these do not require any process steam.