Case history

16 June 2023

COOLING TAKE OFF

Dettagli del progetto

Divisione

Servizi 

Realizzazione a progetto

Location

officine VEXA

Data

Dicembre 2021

Carpenteria metallica

Realizzazione a progetto

officine VEXA

Dicembre 2021

The construction of a COOLING TAKE OFF for steelworks

VEXA builds components for steelwork plants, as this COOLING TAKE OFF, that our company made in December 2021 at VEXA’s workshops in Valle Camonica (Brescia, ITALY). Also known as “chiesetta” (literally “small church”), this component for metallurgic works plays an important role in the functioning of the fume suction system. The COOLING TAKE OFF is located next to the EAF, the electric arc furnace of steelworks.

Thanks to the experience of our highly specialised team, VEXA’s services range from steelworks production orders to metal framing works, also encompassing the designing and implementation of special equipment. These are the three main sectors where our Technical Department, the Workshop’s personnel and the Construction Site’s workforce have been operating for years. The skills that we have gained in the field of metal working empower us totake care of the construction of steelworks components. We do this with great attention to the final outcome of every piece and with a special eye for the timing agreed with the purchaser.

The construction of the piece COOLING TAKE OFF entailed the involvement of VEXA teamwork. We were asked to provide the steelwork plant with a component which had to be new and ready-to-install at the metallurgic plant. Hereafter we will enter into the details of how we made this piece.

The metal structure of the steelwork component
The ”chiesetta”, i.e. the COOLING TAKE OFF of the fume suction plant, is made of a metal structure of cooling panels combined to a frame. More specifically, every panel is composed of a cooling part and a metal framing section.
The cooling system of the panels makes it possible to reduce the steelworks fumes temperatures, thus contributing to carry out the important function of overall cooling at the suction plant. Instead, the metal framing part is needed for the supporting frame of the COOLING TAKE OFF. The frame runs along all the perimeter of the piece, thus creating a sort of exoskeleton for the “chiesetta”.
If we were to observe the piece once it is completed, installed and operational at the metallurgic plant, we would then see a metal structure with clearly identifiable panels. Watching the video of the working of the COOLING TAKE OFF, one can see how the panels are placed as to link and couple at the external frame. To build this steelwork component, we started from the drawings provided by our customer.
The construction of the COOLING TAKE OFF
VEXA has its own Technical Department with specialised personnel that is always ready to meet the customer’s requests. This means that, when a purchaser needs revamping operations or – as in this case – he needs new spare parts for steelworks, VEXA Technical Department is open for discussion on the drawings.
To make this COOLING TAKE OFF, VEXA’s technical staff started from the design that was handed us by the customer. It was then necessary to develop and translate that design into technical drawings for the Workshop personnel. The actual construction of the piece was then totally carried out at VEXA Workshops in Valle Camonica(Brescia, ITALY).
The first operation was the construction of the panelling. The cooling panels described above are made of tubes, elbows and cupels, all components meticulously welded together. After the welding, every and each panel underwent the 8-consecutive-hour hydraulic testing at the pressure of 20bar.
It is important to remind that all cooling circuits are linked to two collectors (in and out). For the collector’s tube, VEXA followed the design to prepare all pieces necessary to feed the panels. The welding between the circuits is of course water-proof and it was always with the welding that we made the frame of the metallic exoskeleton.  
The steelworks’ trust
During the making of the component for metallurgic plant, VEXA took care of staying in touch with the purchaser, the person designated by the steelwork. This contact increased the trust relation with the purchaser, a company in the steel sector with whom we have had the pleasure to work for years now.
This trust proved to be very important especially at the moment of testing the piece after its pre-assembly. As specified above, VEXA Workshops carried out both the test of the single cooling panels and also of a further check. This second check took place only after the pre-assembly phase. At the customer’s request, the COOLING TAKE OFF was not to be delivered as a complete structure, but rather dismantled into more single parts.
In order to avoid unpleasant surprises when the piece was delivered at the metallurgic plant, we decided to assembly the whole structure in a pre-assembly mode at our Workshops. This pre-assembly made it possible to run a further test, which this time was general and aimed at verifying that the piece as a whole could perfectly work. During this step we used flexible tubes to make the link, which were useful to notice some inconsistencies. VEXA promptly warned the purchaser and agreed on rapidly finding a solution. Once the right corrections were made and we checked that the piece could correctly accomplish its function at the steel plant, we then dismantled the piece again.
VEXA works for steelwork plants
To complete the making of the COOLING TAKE OFF for steelwork plant, VEXA proceeded with its painting with a RAL7033 finishing. At this point, our personnel took care of organising the transport to the customer’s steelwork plant, which was the final destination of the component. The piece was sent in two different moments, then installed by the plant’s personnel and made operational.
VEXA is satisfied with the making of this steelwork plant component, as it is also satisfied with the reinforcement of the trust relation with the purchaser. Our Technical Department and the Workshop personnel are always available for an ex novo construction, revamping operations and also for maintenance shutdowns at metallurgic plants.
For further information, consultancy and quotations on our services for steelworks, metal framing works and the making of special equipment you can find us at info@vexasrl.it