As part of the Chinalco Group, Southwest Aluminum’s (SWA) new aluminum hot rolling line, installed by Primetals Technologies, has strengthened the position of Southwest Aluminum as the leading flat-rolled products producer in China, with the capability to supply a wide range of products to world-class quality standards.
Challenge
As the demand for aluminum increases in terms of quality and quantity, so do the demands on the equipment that produces the aluminum. Today’s rolling mills are, therefore, expected to produce high-quality stock without compromising production levels. At Southwest, the customer wanted to produce high-quality can body and lid stock at widths of up to 1,800 mm. Utilizing the portfolio of technologies from Primetals Technologies, we provided a solution to meet these needs.
Aluminum hot rolling mill line
Solution
Primetals Technologies supplied Southwest Aluminum with a state-of-the-art aluminum hot rolling line, featuring added technologies from our portfolio of products. The project was delivered to Southwest Aluminum in Chongqing as part of the company’s continuous expansion program. The new hot aluminum rolling line included a vertical edger, single-stand roughing mill, two crop shears, four-stand tandem finishing mill, mill exit equipment, coil handling equipment, and hydraulic, lubrication, and coolant systems. Primetals Technologies provided process support, ensuring the smoothest start-up and quickest production build-up, with the first slab being rolled ahead of schedule.
Bottom-mounted double-acting roll load cylinders on the roughing mill provide optimum positioning of the bottom work roll relative to the roller tables. This minimizes refusals and turn-down ends. Each roll load cylinder is fitted with a central internal position transducer for maximum protection and performance. The top work roll assemblies are supported by the top backup roll chocks. This highly sophisticated design improves the backup roll balancing system and helps prevent roll skidding. Independent direct drive to the work rolls eliminates the requirement for gearboxes and allows differential speeds of the top and bottom work rolls, e.g., to prevent turn-down of the slabs. The side-shifting work roll change system enables roll withdrawal directly into the roll grinding shop.
High quality aluminum coils
Results
Product data
- Feed stock: aluminum and aluminum alloys, including can stock
- Slab width: 800 mm – 1,800 mm
- Slab thickness: 520 mm – 610 mm
- Slab lengths: 5 m – 7.2 m
- Finished coil thickness: 2 mm – 8 mm
- Maximum coil weight: 20,300 kg
1 + 4 hot rolling mill
Benefits
- State-of-the-art aluminum hot rolling line.
- Market-leading tolerances achieved for thickness, profile, and temperature.
- Bottom-mounted double-acting roll load cylinders minimize refusals and turn-down ends.
Conclusion
- Southwest Aluminum wanted to produce high-quality can body and lid stock at widths of up to 1,800 mm.
- Primetals Technologies supplied a state-of-the-art aluminum hot rolling line with added features from their portfolio of products.
- Resulted in high product quality with market-leading tolerances achieved for thickness, profile, and temperature
