Donawitz ironworks

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The voestalpine steelworks in Donawitz, which has existed since 1837 (2007)

The Donawitz iron and steel works is a steelworks in Donawitz and Sankt Peter-Freienstein near Leoben in Upper Styria . It is an operating facility of the voestalpine Group and is particularly famous worldwide for the first application of the Linz-Donawitz process to steel production. The greater part of the steel production , which amounts to around 1.5 million tons per year, is processed into railroad tracks , making the plant the largest rail factory in Europe. The longest railway tracks in the world at 120 meters are produced here.

history

The origins of today's steelworks in Donawitz go back to the documented hammer mills from 1436, in which the mining of the Erzberg was processed. There is evidence of production since 1529. The ore smelting in wheel works was linked to the availability of hydropower, which also severely limited the amount of electricity generated. With the use of increasingly powerful steam engines at the beginning of the 19th century, it was possible to build much larger ironworks in places with good transport links. The first more important business premises here were a wire drawing machine in 1805 and a hammer mill in 1809. In addition, the Franzenshütte, named after its builder Franz Mayr , was created in 1837 from the previously relatively small puddling steelworks . Franz Mayr (II.) Von Melnhof expanded the plant in 1845/46 with the construction of the Karolihütte and in 1852 with the Theodorahütte .

In 1868, Donawitz experienced a strong economic boom when it was connected to the railway by means of the connecting line between the Südbahn and Kronprinz-Rudolfs-Bahn . Hard coal could now be brought in large quantities from northern Moravia and the hardware could be transported to customers faster and cheaper. In 1872 Mayr von Melnhof sold the entire Mayr'schen Eisenwerke to the main Innerberg trade union - just in time for the start of the crisis in prices .

From 1878 there was a Siemens-Martin steelworks , which before the First World War was the largest plant on the continent with 14 units for 30 tons each.

In 1881 the Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft  (OAMG) came into being through the merger of several iron and steel works in Styria - including Innerberger - and Carinthia , with their main plant in Donawitz. In the years that followed, the Donawitz plant underwent extensive expansion.

In 1891 the first coke oven with a daily output of 200 t was blown in Donawitz. The second blast furnace followed in 1899 with 250 t and in 1905 and the third and fourth blast furnace with 400 t daily output each in 1907. In 1911, the no longer up-to-date blast furnace I was replaced by a further 400 t furnace. The largest annual production of the blast furnaces with approx. 410,000 tons of pig iron was achieved in 1916 as a result of the armaments requirement during the First World War . A block and wire rod mill, a beam and rail rolling line and strip rolling lines were built for further processing.

With the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, a large part of the steel works in Donawitz lost its sales markets. The resulting drop in production was exacerbated by the global economic crisis. After several changes of ownership, the iron and steel works became part of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in 1941 . As a result of the stimulation of the armaments industry, pig iron production could be increased again to approx. 500,000 t in 1941. Due to the location of the factories in a narrow valley, surrounded by high mountains, Donawitz was spared large-scale bombing attacks, unlike the Linz smelter.

Partial view of the steel mill (2008)

After the end of the war in May 1945, the Red Army occupied Upper Styria and immediately began to dismantle production facilities. After the Allied occupation zones had been established, the British came to Styria at the end of July 1945 and the Soviets withdrew. The plant was nationalized and the company structure of the former ÖAMG was restored as part of the Marshall Plan . In 1948 the Austrian Iron and Steel Plan was drawn up, which determined the future development and expansion measures for the two large steelworks in Linz and Donawitz. The production of flat products, i.e. sheet metal, was to be concentrated in Linz (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen- und Stahlwerke AG - VÖEST ) and the production of hot-rolled profiles, beams, rails and wire in Donawitz.

In 1973 the ÖAMG merged with VÖEST to form VOEST-ALPINE AG .

In 1991, the Donawitz location was divided into three units, VOEST-ALPINE STAHL DONAWITZ GmbH for the smelter, VOEST-ALPINE SCHIENEN GmbH for the large rolling mill and VOEST-ALPINE AUSTRIA Draht GmbH for the long-drawing and wire rolling mill. Since 1999, energy generation for the plant has been outsourced to the Donawitz Energy Park  (EPD) of STEWEAG-STEG .

Companies

The company premises cover around 21  hectares . Today three companies are based in Donawitz:

  • voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH
  • voestalpine Schienen GmbH
  • voestalpine Austria Draht GmbH

All three belong to the Metal Engineering Division of voestalpine (former Railway Systems Division ).

The Donawitz smelter has been fundamentally modernized until recently and today employs around 2,300 people (as of 2009). The companies have a total turnover of over 1 billion euros and produce 1 million tons of iron and steel products annually.

Stewag-Steg  GmbH also operates power plants.

Business premises

The iron and steel works with its essential plant components:
1. Ore processing (sintering plant) with a 115 meter high chimney,
2. Blast furnace
3. Steel mill
4. Rail rolling mill
5. Rail storage facility
6. Wire rolling mill
(front left the Kerpely colony , right the foot of the Bärnerkogel )

Donawitz steelworks

One of the two blast furnaces in Donawitz
voestalpine Stahl Donawitz

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1837 as Franzenshütte (legal form 1990)
Seat Leoben- Donawitz , Styria
management Karl Ebner, Thomas Starzer, Günther Kolb
Number of employees 1300
sales € 758 million (estimate)
Branch Pig iron and steel production and processing, metallurgy research
Website www.voestalpine.com/stahldonawitz

The steelworks itself consists of a sintering plant, blast furnace and the actual steelworks.

  • At the core of the plant are the two blast furnaces , which have been in operation in this form since 2001 and 2002 (new lining): Here, around 1,000,000 t of liquid pig iron are produced annually from sinter, lump ore, pellets and aggregates (total daily production around 4,000 t ).
  • On the other side of the tracks (Leoben-Donawitz train station) is the ore processing (sintering plant) with the 115-meter-high chimney: It has been in operation since 1973 and produces around 1.45 million from fine ores, recycled materials from the smelter, aggregates and fuels. t / a lumpy material ( sinter ), the majority of which is further processed in the blast furnaces, where it is transported over a transport bridge;
  • In the southeast, on the Murtal side, is the steelworks for steel production . It was converted into a compact steel mill in 1999/2000.
    • Two LD converters with a batch weight (capacity) of 67 t produce liquid crude steel from scrap and pig iron. The plant works according to an environmentally friendly zero-waste concept: The crucible gas produced when the oxygen is blown in is used in the Donawitz energy park.
    • Further processing takes place:
      • in two ladle furnaces, a conditioning stand and a vacuum system;
      • and mainly in the two continuous casting plants : Here, blooms in round (up to 230 mm diameter) or rectangular format (up to 283 × 390 mm) are cast and cut to length with an oxy-fuel cutting device. The annual production is 1,300,000 t;
      • in the billet mill: Here the blooms are reheated in a walking beam furnace, cleaned of cast scale with a press water high-pressure descaling machine and rolled out;
      • In addition, two automatic high-pressure grinding machines are available for surface treatment and a cutting machine (semi-finished product finishing line)

Donawitz rail rolling mill

voestalpine rails
legal form GmbH
founding 1995
Seat Leoben- Donawitz , Styria
management Hans Pfeiler, Frederick Kübler, Karl Ebner
Number of employees 580
sales € 530 million
Branch Rail manufacturing
Website www.voestalpine.com/schienen

On the left side of the valley, facing Donawitzer Straße (B115a), there is the rail rolling mill : Here, semi-finished products with a volume of around 500,000 t per year are processed into rails of various profiles, including ultra-long rails up to 120 m. The production process includes:

  • Bloom storage, holding pits, walking beam furnace for reheating to rolling temperature (1280 ° C);
  • Rolling mills (profile roughing mill and finishing mill );
  • Head hardening device (capacity over 250,000 t / a);
  • Finishing : non-destructive testing of the rails, two saw drilling lines, visual inspection, two straightening presses for the finished goods finishing;
  • and then into the valley the rail store, which was put into operation in 1994 and is designed for the 60–120 m long prefabricated parts.

The rails are exported worldwide, the export quota is 80%. Ultra-long rails are particularly necessary for high-speed lines and apart from here in Donawitz were only produced in the Duisburg plant; this was closed at the end of 2013, the last rail of German production was rolled there on November 13, 2013.

Wire works Donawitz

voestalpine Austria wire
legal form GmbH
founding 1990
Seat Bruck an der Mur , Styria
management Gerhard Seereiner, Gerald Reichmann, Erich Meixner, Manfred Strecher
Number of employees 630
sales € 425 million
Branch Production of rolled and drawn wire
Website www.voestalpine.com/austriadraht

To the north, in the municipality of St. Peter-Freinenstein, is the wire rolling mill : Here wire , wire rod and drawn wire, in diameters of 5–32 mm, is also produced for around 500,000 t / a.

85% of the production is exported (EU, former Eastern Bloc countries, overseas), especially for the automotive industry, mechanical engineering and fastening technology.

Donawitz Energy Park

Donawitz Energy Park
location
Coordinates 47 ° 22 '49 "  N , 15 ° 3' 53"  E
Data
Type Electricity / district heating power plant with useful steam and wind
fuel Natural gas and furnace gas / crucible gas utilization
power 104 MW (combi boiler), 5.5 MW (2 external superheaters), 19.3 MW (2 HOVAL), 45 + 28 MW (GUD system: GT + waste heat boiler)
owner Stewag-Steg (Energie Steiermark)
Start of operations 1999
boiler Combi boiler ( CCGT system , superheated steam generator )

In 1999 Voestalpine spun off energy production and the Donawitz Energy Park  (EPD) was created, a subsidiary of Energie Steiermark .

It is a combination boiler with furnace gas utilization , a gas turbine waste heat boiler system (CCGT system) with crucible gas utilization, as well as natural gas-operated superheated steam generators and auxiliary boilers.

  • Combi boiler with superheated steam generator: 104 MW
  • two external superheaters total 5.5 MW
  • two HOVALs each 19.3 MW

In addition to the ironworks itself, the power plant supplies several other companies and Leoben with district heating .

However, as is necessary, the blast furnaces in the steelworks are mainly fired with coke .

Water supply and plant sewage treatment plant

Listed water reservoir

The usable water is taken from the Vordernbergerbach on the Theodora weir, the usable water requirement is 26 million m³ per year. A further 650,000 m³ / a of drinking water are taken further up with a cross filter well ( Donawitz water reservoir , access building is a listed building ). The water cycles in the plant have largely been closed in recent years.

The plant's central sewage treatment plant is located in the far east of the area. It was built in 1982, has a daily capacity of 172,800 m³, and feeds the water back into the Vordernbergerbach. The cooling of the cooling water requires a special effort, in some cases it is also recovered for the processes.

Donawitz dump

To the north-west above, on the southern slope of the Bärnerkogel , there is a dump that extends eastwards to the former Münzgraben mining area. It has been used for over 100 years.

In 1995 a state-of-the-art landfill was set up for industrial waste. 400,000 tons of non-hazardous waste and old materials are generated annually, around 300,000 tons of blast furnace slag alone, otherwise dust from the casting hall and furnace gas dedusting, furnace sludge and rubble.

The old landfill contains around 20 million cubic meters and has been successively rehabilitated in recent years with support from the contaminated site remediation fund to the extent of around 2.5 million euros.

literature

  • H. Schöllnhammer, G. Wolf, M. Erker, W. Brandl, H. Koll: The new LD compact steelworks at voestalpine Stahl. In: stahl und eisen 122 (2002), No. 3, pp. 37–43.
  • voestalpine Bahnsysteme GmbH (Ed.): Donawitz plant. Development and environment. 50 years of the LD process . Donawitz, 2002.
  • Umweltbundesamt / Federal Environment Agency - Austria: Cross-media environmental control in selected areas . M-168, Vienna, 2004, chapter 4. Donawitz , pp. 144–199 ( pdf , weblink , both Umweltbundesamt.at)
  • Stefan Wedrac: The 'Alpine Myth' - An Austrian memorial of the Second Republic. GRIN Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-336384570-9 .
  • Matthias Wieland, Obersteirischer Kulturbund (Ed.): Donawitz, more than one district of Leoben . Self-published by the Upper Styrian Cultural Association, 1994.

such as:

  • Susanne Leitner-Böchzelt: Leoben . “The” series of archive images. Sutton Verlag GmbH, 2002, ISBN 978-389702408-3 , chapter 5. Donawitz - heart of the Styrian steel industry , pp. 87–118 - numerous historical photos.

Web links

Commons : Hüttenwerk Donawitz  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

Commons : Donawitz steelworks  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  1. ↑ a b c lit. Cross-media environmental control , Chapter 4.2.1 Historical outline , p. 145 (pdf p. 2)
  2. ↑ In detail in Georg Goeth : Das Herzogthum Steiermark: geographically, statistically and topographically presented and provided with historical explanations . tape 2 . Verlag JG Heubner, Vienna 1841, 19th district of Leoben 2. Donawitz tax municipality , p. 313 f . ( Google eBook, full view ).
  3. ↑ a b c d Josef B .: Leoben / Donawitz - Hüttenwerk ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Quoted: Wolfgang Heitzmann: The Eisenstraße - landscape and history, everyday life and leisure . Landesverlag AG, Linz, ISBN 3-85214-476-0 . Paul Roth (ed.): ERZ and EISEN in the Green Mark , contribution volume to the Styrian state exhibition 1984.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geheimprojekte.at

  4. ↑ Lit. Cross-media environmental control , Chapter 4.1.2 Operating facilities in the Donawitz area , p. 144 f (pdf p. 1)
  5. ↑ a b c d company voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH in Leoben-Donawitz . Commercial register data Creditreform / firmenabc.at
  6. ↑ a b c d e company voestalpine Schienen GmbH in Leoben . Commercial register data Creditreform / firmenabc.at
  7. ↑ a b c d e company voestalpine Austria Draht GmbH in Bruck / Mur . Commercial register data Creditreform / firmenabc.at
  8. ↑ a b c d Lit. Cross-media environmental control , 4.2.2 voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH , p. 145 ff (pdf p. 2 ff)
  9. ↑ Lit. Cross- media environmental control , 4.2.3 voestalpine Schienen GmbH , p. 147 ff (pdf p. 4)
  10. ↑ Lit. Cross-media environmental control , 4.2.4 voestalpine Austria Draht GmbH , p. 149 ff (pdf p. 6)
  11. ↑ Lit. Cross-media environmental control , 4.2.5 Energiepark Donawitz (EPD) , p. 150 f (pdf p. 7)
  12. ↑ Lit. Cross- media environmental control , 4.2.6 Water management at the Donawitz site and 4.4 Wastewater emissions from relevant operating facilities , p. 151 f resp. 157 ff (pdf pp. 8, 14)
  13. ↑ Lit. Cross- media environmental control , 4.4.5 Central company sewage treatment plant of voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH , p. 159 (pdf p. 16)
  14. ↑ Lit. Cross-media environmental control , 4.6 Altlasten , p. 170 ff (pdf p. 27 ff)