ThyssenKrupp completes water treatment facilities for new Alabama mills

ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA and ThyssenKrupp Steel USA announced the completion of the process water and wastewater treatment systems at its new facilities in Calvert, Ala. The systems were designed and built by N.A. Water Systems, a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) company located near Pittsburgh. The water systems will be operated by Veolia Water under a long-term outsourcing contract.

The process water system is currently operating for the commissioning of equipment for the new carbon steel and stainless steel facilities. The carbon steel operations are building to a manufacturing capacity of 4.3 million metric tons of carbon steel products, with plans to start up its hot strip mill this summer and ramping up to include cold rolling and galvanizing processes. The stainless steel operations are building to a manufacturing capacity of 1 million metric tons of stainless steel products beginning this fall with cold rolling and finishing processes, and a later ramp-up of hot and cold forming operations and a melt shop. Total treatment capacity for the process water is 14.4 million gallons per day (MGD). The 5.8-MGD capacity wastewater treatment system also has been completed and stands ready for operation once steel production begins this summer.

Both systems incorporate VWS’ patented ACTIFLO Turbo sand-ballasted clarification technology. The wastewater treatment system also includes VWS’ AnoxKaldnes Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR) integrated with an activated sludge process for organics removal, and chemical conditioning using an innovative TURBOMIX reactor for metals precipitation. These technologies enable the treatment processes to produce high-quality water within a very small footprint as compared to conventional systems.

“Today’s announcement is a culmination of more than two years of extraordinary teamwork with Veolia Water, local contractors R.J. Baggett and Gulf Electric, and Crowder Construction,” said ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA construction coordinator John Hayden. “The plant is designed with the latest technology to safeguard the environment and provide flexibility for future growth, and builds upon ThyssenKrupp’s well known commitment to sustainability.”

N.A. Water Systems completed the design-build projects with value-added engineering and an exemplary safety record, on schedule and under the budget originally projected.

In May 2007, ThyssenKrupp announced that it would build the new state-of-the-art steel and stainless steel processing facilities in Alabama after a highly competitive site selection process in the U.S. Once operational, the facilities will operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Additional information can be found at www.thyssenkruppnewusplant.com or www.thyssenkruppsteelusa.com.

ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest integrated materials and technology companies. The group is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, with operations in more than 70 countries, over 187,000 employees and sales of more than $50 billion in fiscal 2008/2009. The eight business areas of the group are organized into two divisions – Materials and Technologies. Materials includes the business areas Steel Europe, Steel Americas, Stainless Global and Materials Services. The Technologies division is made up of the business areas Elevator Technology, Plant Technology, Components Technology, and Marine Systems.