SSAB Raahe mill’s new main laboratory is one of the largest in the Nordics – preparing for the fossil-free steel production

Photo: Juho Turpeinen

The Raahe steel mill’s new main laboratory, which has been gradually phased in, examines both the raw materials for steelmaking and the end products made at the mill. The fact that around 4.4 million assays are made from the some 240,000 samples analyzed each year gives an idea of the size of the fully automated spectral laboratory.

The new functional building, officially called the Mill Office and Main Laboratory, is located along the entrance route to the mill. The office part of the new building has meeting and visitor facilities as well as workspaces for about 100 office workers. The building has a total floor area of 7,836 m2 and volume of 42,930 m3.

Automation and equipment are controlled through workstations, which, in addition to the control room, are located in different parts of the laboratory. The laboratory has personnel on duty around the clock, every day of the year. Experienced and competent personnel investigate problem situations and maintain equipment and systems. Photo: Jaakko Mylly

“This has been a huge project. Our new main laboratory and office building is preparing us for the future production of fossil-free steel. State-of-the-art laboratory facilities can be used to analyze both raw materials and materials generated at different stages in the production process, as well as to conduct research related to product development,” says Jarkko Matkala, Site Manager at SSAB Raahe.

“The new facilities are superb and have been designed based on material flows and also for future needs. The new premises have taken into account, for example, dust removal, soundproofing, lighting, safety, storage of various materials and transport routes. In future, it will be possible to carry out analyses in fewer intermediate steps when the equipment is replaced. In addition, the equipment has been positioned for easy maintenance,” enthuses Minna-Maarit Valkama, Laboratory Manager.

The samples arrive from production by pneumatic tube mail to the sample receiving cell, from where they continue their journey through the sample tunnel to the sample processing cell, and from there to measurement. Photo: Jaakko Mylly

Unique research instruments

A lot of completely new instruments have been introduced. For example, a new instrumented impact hammer has been installed and calibrated in the development laboratories. This is a rare set of instruments both nationally and further afield. The impact test hammer can record the fracturing event of the material.

Steel fatigue testing, on the other hand, is carried out using a drawing machine, the foundations of which have been piled all the way down to the rock. The device must be detached from the building structures so that testing does not cause resonance with them.

The chemical composition of steel is determined by and optical emission spectrometer (OES). The photo shows a robot placing a steel sample into an analyzer. Several hundred samples are analyzed each day, with a throughput time of around a few minutes. Photo: Jaakko Mylly

SSAB’s own steels feature prominently in the building

As much steel as possible has been used in the building since it also serves as a showcase for the company's own products. The building has a steel frame and steel piles were used in the foundations. The façade was supplied by SSAB's subsidiary Ruukki Construction. COR-TEN and GreenCoat-coated Ruukki Sandwich panels were used for the exterior cladding. Different SSAB steel grades have also been used in the interior of the building, too. The building is energy efficient and has been designed to last a long time. The environmentally-friendly aspect of the steel primarily relates to the absence of a need for maintenance and the long life of the material.

Read more about the materials used in the new building here:

SSAB's own steels feature prominently in Raahe steel mill's new research and office building - SSAB - SSAB

FACT BOX

The laboratories are in operation 24/7
The analysis laboratory analyses around 240,000 samples, from which some 4.4 million assays are made
The testing laboratory tests around 500,000 samples each year
The research laboratory conducts around 900 research commissions each year
The material certificates’ office handles around 40,000 inspection documents each year

The new main laboratory houses

1. A spectral laboratory and sample handling
2. Development laboratories: sample handling, metallography (hardness measurements, microscopy, electron microscopy) corrosion laboratory and destructive testing (DT)
3. A systems and equipment team supporting laboratory operations: mechanical and electrical maintenance of laboratory equipment and IT development and support of laboratory systems
    

The Production Testing Laboratory and NDT (non destructive testing), the Chemiscal Laboratory, the Dimensional Quantities Calibration Laboratory, the Control of Sampling and the Material Certificates’ Office are located on the mill site.