On January 8, the 2017 National Science and Technology Awards Conference was held in the solemn Great Hall of the People. The second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award went to the project of the “new generation of controlled rolling and cooling technology and application of hot-rolled strip steel” developed by the 4,300-millimeter production line of Shouqin Metal Materials Co., Ltd., the 2,160-millimeter production line of Shougang Co., Ltd. and the 2,250-millimeter production line of Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. in cooperation with Northeastern University.

The technology aims to develop and produce resource-saving, low-cost and high-performance hot-rolled steel products through introducing a post-rolling ultra-fast cooling system. Since the trial run of the heat load of the ultra-fast cooling system, the 4,300-millimeter production line of Shouqin Metal Materials Co., Ltd., the 2,160-millimeter production line of Shougang Co., Ltd. and the 2,250-millimeter production line of Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. have been equipped with the stable capacity for producing thick slabs and hot-rolled strip steel based on the ultra-fast cooling process through constant optimization of the control system and process parameters of the ultra-fast cooling equipment. Moreover, they have significantly improved product productivity, reduced the cost of the alloy, produced products with stable quality and highlighted competitiveness.

In terms of heavy and medium slab: the low residual stress X70 pipeline steel is successfully developed. In comparison to the conventional laminar flow cooling process, when the ultra-fast cooling process is applied to pipeline steel production, the number of rolling block grows substantially. The qualification rate of slab shape in the first test is raised to 95% or more, reducing the production cost of steel rolling. Through the adoption of ultra-fast cooling and cooling speed, the alloy cost of 14mm-22mmX70 and X80 products has been reduced. After optimization, the precious alloys such as Ni and Mo are appropriately reduced, thus realizing the batch production with low cost and stable product quality. By using ultra-fast cooling, TMCP direct delivery of 20mm-50mm high-strength steel Q550 and high-strength steel Q690 is achieved, reducing the cost of a heat treatment tempering process as well as process costs, improving production efficiency and meeting the quick delivery requirements.

In terms of hot-rolled strip steel, Shougang Co., Ltd. succeeds in developing low-cost 18.4mm X80 thick pipeline steel and 25.4mm X70 ultra-thick pipeline steel by adopting ultra-fast cooling process. The products meets the quality requirements of steel for oil and gas pipelines. The application to key projects at home and abroad significantly improves product profits; Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. carries out the application of ultra-fast cooling cost reduction with actual orders. Through the continuous optimization of model accuracy, it has achieved the batch application of ultra-fast cooling process in thick pipeline steel, wheel steel and other varieties. The accelerated cooling in the thickness direction of thick strip steel under ultra-fast cooling high pressure mode reduced the addition of alloying elements such as Mn, Nb, Mo and the like, leading to a remarkable increase of the product profits.

The National Science and Technology Progress Award is one of the five grand awards of the National Science and Technology Awards set by the State Council (including the National Highest Science and Technology Award, the National Natural Science Award, the National Technological Invention Award, the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award).