Siemens to modernize aluminum cold rolling mill in Bahrain

Austria-based plantmaker Siemens VAI Metals Technologies has received an order from Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Co. B.S.C. （GARMCO） in Manama, Bahrain, to equip its aluminum cold rolling mill No. 2 with new automation and drive systems. The modernization is intended to improve plant availability as well as to ensure consistently high product quality. The cold rolling mill will be upgraded during a scheduled plant shutdown at the end of February 2011.

GARMCO was founded in 1986, and is a leading producer of rolled aluminum products in the Gulf Region. The company's two cold rolling mills have a combined capacity of 165,000 tons per annum. Its main products are series 1000, 3000 and 5000 alloys with thicknesses ranging from 0.15 to 5 millimeters. The four-high, single-pass mill in the cold rolling mill No. 2 has a rolling force of 21,000 kilonewtons and reaches a rolling speed of 1,200 meters per minute. The maximum coil weight is 10 tons.

In order to improve plant availability and ensure final products of consistently high quality, Siemens VAI will renew the entire automation equipment in the cold rolling mill and the associated secondary plants. The heart of the automation solution is the Siroll Alu TCS process control system specifically developed for aluminum rolling mills. It contains all the essential technology packages required for high product quality, including an automatic roll gap and thickness control, a flatness control, and presetting of the rolling mill on the basis of the production plan. The project also covers the replacement of the power modules in the stand drive, the two coiler drives and in most of the auxiliary drives. The consoles in the control centers will also be modernized.