BT-Wolfgang Binder has been supp¬lying voestalpine with a wide range of products for 13 years now.

The first ore conveyor system was delivered to Linz in 2002. It was followed by re¬building bins, a va-riety of convey¬ing systems, coal processing systems and bin systems for transferring coal, vertical-sidewall-belt-conveyors and a new quarrying logistics system for the voestalpine lime works in Steyr¬ling. In addition, a REDWAVE XRF sorting machine (REDWAVE is a division of BT-Wolfgang Binder GmbH working in the field of mineral sorting), was delivered to voe¬stalpine Erzberg GmbH in 2012, for high-value ore sorting.

Based on the longstanding business relationship and the ongoing good service, voestal¬pine has also decided to entrust BTW Plant Solutions, a division of BT-Wolfgang Binder responsible for mineral processing and conveyor technology, with their latest fur¬nace project to build a new system of stock bins and conveyors for Furnaces No5 and No6 in 2015 and 2016.

The existing charge wagons have been in service in Linz ever since the 8m blast furnaces were built, for over 70 years now. This is why they are being consigned to a well-earned retirement. In the course of the rene¬wal (lining) of the blast furnace No5 in 2015, a new material handling system is being built and the renewal (lining) of the blast furnace No6 with the new material handling system, will be done in 2016.

"Everyone who has already experi¬enced a rebuilding job in an existing plant understands what a big challen¬ge it is to integrate a new system. This one was made more difficult by the fact that the ap-proval was only given in May 2014 and the project team had to prepare the application within just two months. Work on detailed engineering began immediately, and at the begin¬ning of November 2014 the whole sy¬stem was ordered from BT-Wolfgang Binder GmbH as the best bidder.

The charge wagons will be replaced by a system of dosing-belt-weigher, vi¬brating feeders, weighing bins, weig¬hing-vibrating-feeder, and belt con¬veyors. The charge material will be transported to the furnace by belt con¬veyors, similar to those on Furnace A, via two new intermediate charging bins and the existing skips", says the project manager Andreas Mairwöger of voestalpine Stahl GmbH in Linz.