Nippon Yakin to Expand High Performance Alloy Output Capacity

Nippon Yakin Kogyo announced on Monday the firm introduces new argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) furnace, named AVS (AOD with vacuum system for special alloy) at steel making ship of Yakin Kawasaki, which is plant to make high performance alloys including nickel alloy and special stainless. The firm expands the plant building to set alloy adding and water treating facilities and to transfer furnace building shop. The firm started the working in April starting the operation in January 2008. The firm expends 5 billion yen for the facilities under the 14.9 billion yen of expenditure plan under the mid-term plan. The firm tries to establish production ability to meet various needs by improving productivity for high performance products. The firm expands the high-value products output capacity for the target to increase the high performance materials sales to more than 50% of total sales of parent company by fiscal 2007 ending March 2008. The firm scraps the existing AOD after commissioning of new furnace.The AVS is AOD with vacuum system, which Daido Steel developed, to refine stainless steel and has merit of traditional AOD and VOD (vacuum oxygen decarburization) processes. The new furnace can refine ultra low carbon steel in an hour, which takes 2 hours by VOD process, enabling higher output. The AVS with 70 tonnes of capacity refines steel with oxygen, argon and nitrogen. The process decarburizes steel by AOD method, which has higher speed with oxygen in air, at the high carbon containing first stage. The process switches the method by setting vacuum cap to use oxide in slug and dissolved oxygen under decompression at the lower carbon second stage.