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POMINI Long Rolling Mills received from Union Iron & Steel Company LLC the Final Acceptance Certificate of the ERT-ERBOS billet welding system, whose contract had been originally awarded to Primetals Technologies Italy. Installed at Mussafah plant (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), the system is sized for a yearly production capacity of 450,000 metric tons. Billets with square side of 130 and 150 millimeters and length of 12 meters are consecutively welded and then processed by the rolling mill with sixteen Red Ring Series 4 rolling stands, which had been supplied by VAIPomini in 2004. The final product are bars for reinforced concrete with diameters ranging from 8 to 40 millimiters.

The ERT-EBROS scope of supply included the engineering of the complete project, the welding machine, the deburring station, the fluid systems, the electrical equipment and technology packages for the control of welding. Assistance services for installation and commissioning were also supplied.

The ERT-EBROS system welds consecutive billets together which are then rolled in an endless process with high and consistent product quality. The inter-billet time is removed and the hourly productivity increased. The increase of metallic yield is fostered by the major reduction of bar crops, short bars, out-of-tolerance bar ends.

Installed between the reheating furnace and the first rolling stand, the ERT-EBROS uses a flash welding process with fast and intensive heating. This results in optimal joining of the billets without the need of additional filler metal. A Dynamic Flash Control system helps to control all the process parameters in real time and thus ensures the high quality of the joint as well as reduced energy consumption and material loss.

After welding and head upsetting, joints are deburred in a self-cleaning station. The deburring station operates independently of the welding unit and so the cycle time is not increased. An effective system protection protects the mechanical and electrical equipment from welding spatters, which is crucial to obtain a high quality of the process, to extend the components' lifetime and to facilitate the maintenance operations. At the core of the electrical system are the integrated high-frequency transformers. These compact components are extremely reliable and can perform an indefinite number of welding operations without maintenance. Each transformer is equipped with diodes that convert the high-frequency square-wave voltage into stable DC voltage. A stable voltage and short control times are essential to keep a steady and repeatable process flow.

Union Iron & Steel is a private manufacturer of steel bars for concrete reinforcement. With expertise in delivering high quality products and technologies, the company aims to meet the region’s demand for quality steel bars while reducing the related import volumes. The company manufactures products that conform to international quality standards and can supply them as per the market requirements.

Primetals Technologies Italy and VAIPomini are preceding denominations of POMINI Long Rolling Mills.
Red Ring is a trademark of POMINI Long Rolling Mills.
EBROS is a trademark of Steel Plantech Co.