Tata Steel installs new switchgear system
17 Sep 2012
London – Tata Steel has installed a new medium voltage (MV) switchgear system as part of an upgrade to its hot rolling steel mill in IJmuiden, the Netherlands.
To meet growing market demand for high-strength steel, Tata Steel upgraded one of its reels in the hot rolling steel mill no 2 at its Dutch steel plant.
However, the production of high strength steel requires more power than standard steel and so the new reel also needed 120% more electrical power.
Tata Steel’s engineering centre, Projects & Training Consultancy (PTC), is responsible for all internal electrical installations at the company’s various facilities, ensuring that energy is delivered safely where required.
Denis Kramer, electrical project engineer at PTC explains: “We ensure that the various Tata Steel factories have the energy they require in the right place. Our work involves transforming 150kV to 50, 33, 24, 10, 6 and 3 kV and ensuring that users can work safely with it.”
Kramer’s colleague, At Keet, senior electrical product engineer, explains what was needed to provide the additional power for the new reel: “In reel 3 the DC Motors have been replaced by AC motors and a new 10kV substation has been installed. Our existing MV switchgear substations were at the end of their service life.”
After a detailed analysis and comparison, Tata Steel choose Eaton’s Power Xpert UX MV switchgear system because of its safe structure and the use of tried and tested elements, said Keet.
The switchgear uses SF6-free vacuum circuit breakers and moulded-resin technology used for the solid-state insulation and the bus-bar system.
With a view to planned conversion work over the next three years, Tata Steel chose to have five panels installed, consisting of one incomer complete with bus-bar side, truck mounted voltage transformers and four feeder panels, incorporating withdrawable vacuum circuit breakers.
