Project Overview
On 20 June 2014, a Middle East smelting company in Iran signed an EPC contract with Shaanxi Chengda Industrial Furnace Manufacturing Co., Ltd. for a 12500kVA high-carbon ferrochrome smelting plant. The scope covered two complete 12500kVA submerged arc furnace lines with a 12-month warranty, including mechanical and electrical design, equipment manufacturing, packing, shipment, installation supervision and commissioning.
Scope of Supply
| Package | Content |
|---|---|
| Furnace proper | 2 sets of 12500kVA high-carbon ferrochrome submerged arc furnace |
| Charging system | Inclined skip hoist, batching and weighing system, control room |
| Electrical | Transformer, high-voltage switchgear room, electrical cabinets, short network |
| Tapping | Tapping hole damper, opening and plugging machine |
| Cooling | Water-cooled columns, cooling water pond and pump house |
| Gas handling | Second-floor hood, water-cooled cover plates, water-cooled flue duct |
Engineering and Manufacturing
Chengda's engineering team worked through several rounds of technical discussion with the customer to adapt the design to local site conditions, soil capacity, ambient temperature and available grid voltage. The final documentation package included general arrangement drawings, mechanical drawings, electrical single-line diagrams and site cable trench plus power cabinet layout drawings.
Key components were fabricated in Chengda's own workshop:
- Electrode holder pressure rings, dimension-checked before assembly
- Central water-cooled cover plates and water-cooled protection sleeves
- Brake units for electrode slipping
- Central frame beams and flue gas collection inlets
All water-cooled parts passed pressure testing before painting and packing. The furnace body was painted and dried before export packing to survive long overland transport.
Site Installation
Installation progressed in a planned sequence: plant building frame erection, overhead crane commissioning, shell assembly, second-floor hood installation, water-cooled cover plate lifting, transformer positioning, pressure ring and sleeve connection, flue duct welding, then water system and electrical termination. The inclined skip charger and batching system were installed in parallel so that cold testing could start immediately after mechanical completion.
Result
Both furnace lines were handed over with documented water pressure tests, cold commissioning records and operator training. The project demonstrates Chengda's capability to deliver a complete ferrochrome plant - not just a furnace shell - in an international EPC format, where design, logistics and site sequencing all have to be right the first time.
Quality Control Points
Every water-cooled component was flushed and pressure tested before packing, electrode pressure rings were dimension-checked against drawings, and the furnace shell was pre-assembled to confirm bolt-hole alignment. Packing was designed for multimodal transport, with components labelled for site identification, so installation could proceed without re-measurement.