| EPS Alpha System Construction Progress |
| The schedule we laid out for installation and testing of the EPS Alpha System was very aggressive, but we've been hitting our targets and are confident we'll be loading coils this month.
The "heavy lifting" is complete: The first-of-the-kind EPS cells are now installed and their 125 hp motors (four per cell) are being wired up to the drive controls. The cells sit atop the large slurry "hindering/filtering" tanks. This system of pure plumbing genius not only captures the scale and rust removed from the surface of the treated hot rolled coils, it also segregates the abrasive grit by size. Particles which become too small to continue using (they break down after hundreds of impacts against the steel surface) are filtered out while the rest is recirculated back to the slurry supply tank for continued use.
There's still some wiring and plumbing to be done yet, but we expect to load coils the week of June 11th and run them through the line "dry" to verify alignment, threading and all coil line control functions. Next, we'll gradually feed nearly 12 tons of 0.1 mm stainless grit into the slurry system for its initial charge. After a thorough checkout of the hindering/filtering system, we will EPS our first coils near the middle of the month. No, these won't be production runs . . . they are the start of the testing and "shakeout" of the entire line.
That might sound ambitious for a "first-in-the-world" system like the EPS Alpha Line, but quite honestly, the most challenging parts of the project - design, manufacture and installation - are now behind us. Sure, there will be a setback or two before we're complete, but our 'Alpha Team' has proven to be pretty inventive and determined to keep us on schedule.
Alan Mueth
TMW VP of Technology
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