"Baku Steel Company" CJSC (hereinafter referred to as BSC), the largest metallurgical enterprise of the Caucasus region, has commissioned a Vacuum Degassing Unit (VDU) which reduces gases content in steel, to further improve the quality of its steel products.
High quality is achieved by reducing the amount of non-metallic compounds as a result of removal of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen after processing of liquid steel in VDU. It is primarily intended to produce high grades of steel that meet high quality requirements. Vacuum cleaned steel is casted into higher density billets that are used for production of seamless pipes resistant to high depth pressure used in the oil and gas industry.
The technological process of steel vacuum processing at BSC is fully automated and meets all technical and safety requirements of world standards. The obtained higher quality steel allows producing products used in machine building, military defense, aviation, and other industries.
Advantages of VDU include:
- Reduction of gas amount: vacuum reduces the amount of gases in the liquid steel. This is important to reduce potential gas pores in the product;
- Prevention of oxidation: vacuum environment does not contain oxygen, which prevents steel from oxidizing at high temperatures. The mentioned feature is necessary to preserve the purity, homogeneity and quality of the metal;
- Improvement of surface quality: absence of gases and oxides in vacuum cleaned steel allows to achieve a smoother and cleaner surface of casted billets;
- Minimization of defects: with a cleaner environment and more uniform casting conditions, vacuum casting helps reduce defects such as voids or cracks.
As the quality of the products produced by BSC increases, their compliance with world standards opens the door to new export markets. Presently, the company's products are sold in great demand in the local market and are exported to more than 20 countries around the world. The strategic geographical position of Azerbaijan and its role as a regional transport and communication hub create additional export opportunities for BSC, and the company is determined to value this potential with its quality products.
Pictures of VDU: