Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has signed a contract with the German company Wepuko PAHNKE GmbH for the supply of two ‘sticky scale’ descaling hydraulic pump units.

In 2019, the companies agreed to conduct tests using a mobile Wepuko PAHNKE descaling hydraulic pump at MMK's mills 170 and 370. The main goal of the tests was to obtain a high percentage of water descaling on new grades of steel with a high content of silicon and chromium, with the so-called ‘sticky scale’ descaling unit.

The ‘sticky scale’ descaling hydraulic pump was still not fully understood at the time, so theoretically it could have led either to a low percentage of water descaling, or to high operating costs for its maintenance and excessive capital investment. With this in mind, MMK accepted Wepuko PAHNKE's offer to conduct tests at its plant. The tests involved the use of various types of jets, as well as changes to the insertion angles, water pressure and moving speed of the jet. As a result of these tests, a high percentage of water descaling was obtained, and the exact parameters of the ‘sticky scale’ descaling unit were determined.

Based on the results of the tests, MMK signed a contract with Wepuko PAHNKE in April 2020 for the supply of two descaling hydraulic pumps. This approach to solving non-standard tasks will allow MMK to reduce the cost of purchasing new descaling hydraulic pumps by more than 30% and significantly improve the quality of its long products.