Innovation and technology
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe stands for innovations in steel. The company is a technology leader for high-tech steels, innovative finishes and tailored products. Its role as a pacemaker for key technologies is demonstrated by Europe's first casting-rolling line and “TAKO”, the world's most advanced cold rolling mill in Duisburg. This innovative strength is a key success factor in competition, as it allows us to open up new sales markets.
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Product innovations
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe is meeting carmakers' demands for weight reduction and increased safety with innovative steel products. We also work to improve existing production processes such as the hot stamping of high-strength, safety-relevant components and drive forward the development of new production processes such as T3 profiling technology. T3 profiling is a process developed by ThyssenKrupp for the production of tailored tubes and is considered a key technology for lightweight auto construction. With our forming technology subsidiaries we seek new design solutions for steel components to make even better use of the potential of our material.
Our high-quality flat steel products are used above all in body and chassis applications, but we also offer our customers a specially developed material for the drive systems of the future: The new electrical steel 330-30AP helps enhance the efficiency of hybrid and all-electric motors.
In the InCar® project, the ThyssenKrupp Group's research and development initiative for innovations in automotive construction, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe has contributed over 30 body and chassis innovations which demonstrate how steel helps enhance the performance, safety and resource-efficiency of future automobiles on a sustainable basis – and at competitive cost.
The energy sector also profits at many levels from material innovations from ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe: For example, a core component of transformers is our grain-oriented electrical steel, a soft magnetic material which allows the units to operate at efficiency levels of over 99 percent. In pipelines for the transportation of fossil fuels such as oil and gas, our tubular steels are indispensable. The new materials we develop for this help ensure larger volumes under higher pressures reach their destination safely.
Innovations for the construction industry include Solartec photovoltaic modules. We are currently also working on solar thermal collectors based on steel – a cost-effective solution which allows the sun's energy to be used for heating buildings or water. The DOC Dortmunder OberflächenCentrum (surface engineering center) develops innovative coatings, among other things for steel construction elements. Work here focuses on new functionalities such as scratch resistance and easy-clean effects.
Advanced technologies
Developments and innovations in the production of carbon steel flat products are characterized by steadily increasing demands on product properties and growing cost pressure on the markets. This has led to numerous new solutions in plant technology and instrumentation and control equipment, which as well as increasing product quality and productivity also significantly reduce energy consumption.
In Duisburg we operate Europe's first carbon steel casting-rolling plant in an integrated mill. An important step into the future was the startup of the world's most advanced cold rolling mill featuring a new high-tech tandem mill linked with a pickling line. It produces high-quality strip in extremely wide and thin dimensions.
Our hot-dip coating line 8 at the Dortmund facility is regarded as the most efficient of its type. Our shaft furnace represents a further step on the path to zero-waste production. The furnace recycles iron-bearing dusts and sludges from steel production into new hot metal using a process developed in-house by ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe.