In July 2008 after a construction period of three months Stollberg successfully completed test operations with the new spray tower and started the production of granulated casting powder ahead of schedule by the end of August 2008. The new spray tower of the Stollberg & Samil Joint Venture company, a member of S&B Industrial Minerals Group, Greece, is now operating at its design capacity of about 15,000 t/year.
The investment was mainly focused to serve the further upcoming demand of its regional customers, to stay competitive within the market environment and to enhance Stollberg’s technological leadership.
At the same time, Qingdao Stollberg & Samil also increases its capacities from today 20,000 tons per year to more than 35,000 tons per year of granulated material.
The fact that granulated casting fluxes are at such a high demand in the steel industry is not only due to the worldwide boom in steel production. Key factor is their environmental friendliness. In contrast to powdered materials granules can be handled and stored dust-free. A further distinct advantage is that granulated materials can be fed onto the steel bath surface by means of an automatic flux feeder. This improves process security and leads to a constantly high quality level. These are the reasons for an increasing number of customers to switch from powder to granulated fluxes.