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PST produces standard and head-hardened "Tee" rail to A.R.E.A., ASTM, ASCE, ARA and customer specifications in the following sections: 85AS, 90RA, 90RB, 100RB, 100RE, 115RE, 119RE, 132RE, 133RE, 136RE, 141RE
We also produce ASTM Crane Rail (CR104, CR135, CR171, CR175) and special section rails (GT126 and GT140) to Bethlehem Steel Specifications.
PST also produces joint bars, adjustable boltless braces, adjustable frog clamps and other companion sections to the appropriate rail sections.
You can reach PST Sales at 800-344-7245 or 717-986-2000, or FAX 717-986-2700.
Our process is listed below:
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1. DC Electric Arc Furnace Direct current technology provides PST
with the best available means of making steel. Advantages include large heats, more heats
per day, greater consistency and greater reliability. This results in significantly better
steel quality. Also, the eccentric bottom tapping promotes more efficient tapping and
cleaner steel. |
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2. Ladle Arc Reheating Furnace This furnace performs additional
steel refining by providing excellent temperature control and precise chemical adjustment
capabilities. It provides steel to the Jumbo Bloom Caster at the correct temperature,
chemistry and time. Argon stirring, through a porous plug in the bottom of the ladle,
promotes the homogeneous mixing of additives to the ladle, assists in temperature control
and promotes the flotation of non-metallic inclusions. |
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3. Tank Vacuum Degasser Most importantly, vacuum degassing lowers
the hydrogen content of the liquid steel. Argon stirring during degassing also assists the
removal of hydrogen and further improves steel cleanliness. Clean steelmaking practices,
combined with the benefits of the Ladle Furnace and Vacuum Degasser, means that the Jumbo
Bloom Caster receives steel with significantly improved internal cleanliness levels,
correct chemistry and correct temperature at the correct time. This results in improved
rail fatigue life. |
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4. Continuous Jumbo Bloom Caster The Jumbo Bloom Caster produces
the cleanest rail steel possible, because it eliminates reoxidation by completely
shrouding the molten steel from the atmosphere, which prevents the formation of harmful
non-metallic inclusions. Rapid solidification affects the inclusion distribution.
Those that remain tend to be small, globular and more finely dispersed. Also, surface
quality is dramatically improved. The resultant blooms are world-class quality, with a
sound interior and excellent surface the ideal starting material for rolling mills.
Special casting practices and processes, developed by a dedicated team of researchers and
caster specialists, have further improved the internal cleanliness of the blooms by
floating out additional remaining impurities. |
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5. Soaking Pits Our soaking pits enable the hot connection of the
continuous cast bloom to the rolling mills. Hot connection eliminates the potential
thermal cracking problems associated with cooling blooms to ambient temperature and
reheating. Also, the Soaking Pit Control System has been updated completely with the
latest computer control technology. |
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6. 44" Blooming Mill, 35" Rougher, 28" Rail Mill Three
separate mills are used to roll the continuous cast blooms into finished rail. Due to its
jumbo size, each bloom requires many passes to reduce it to the final rail section. The
resulting 25-to-1 reduction ratio is much greater than any other producer of rails from
continuous cast steel. |
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7. In-Line Head Hardening This unit, a 101-meter in-line process at
the exit end of the 28" Rail Mill, uses the latent heat from the rolling process. The
system is fully computerized and uses water sprays to slack-quench the rail. The resultant
product is composed of pearlite with fine inter-lamellar spacing, which provides rails
with excellent hardness and improved wear resistance. Residual stresses are low, and
straightness is excellent. The technology for this system comes from CRM (Centre de
Recherches Metallurgiques, Leige, Belgium) and MMRA (Metallurgique et Miniere de
Rodange-Athus, Luxembourg). Produced by this technology, rails used in heavy-haul service
in the U.S. are performing to world-class standards. |
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8. Controlled Cooling Rails are cooled in long-length, insulated
boxes to ensure the removal of any remaining hydrogen gas. While the reduction of
hydrogen levels through vacuum degassing reduces the need for control cooling, we continue
to use control cooling of the rails to further reduce the risk of hydrogen damage. |
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9. Roller Straightener Rails are put through a two-plane roller
straightening operation. Load levels are continuously monitored to ensure the production
of straight rails without mechanical damage. |
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10. In-Line Rail Inspection Includes utilization of the following
procedures and instruments:
Visual Inspection Station
Ultrasonic Twist Gauge measures elapsed time between two sound beams directed on
the base of the rail.
DAPCO 300 Ultrasonic Unit is state-of-the-art, fully computerized with an
automatic paint spraying system, and utilizes an array of transducers mounted in neoprene
wheels, strategically placed around the rail to monitor internal quality.
Laser Straightness Gauge performs a three-point measurement of deviations
throughout the rail body. Laser beams are directed at the head of the rail and data is
monitored continuously by a computer.
Optical Section Measurement Unit automatically measures key dimensions of the
finished rail. Data is continuously collected and analyzed by a computer to aid section
control and allow further reduction of section variability. |
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11. In-Line Bar Coding Application System This system
provides effective identification, inventory control and shipping control for all rails
shipped to customers. Bar code tags can be used subsequently by customers in their rail
inventory, rail welding and field inspection operations. |
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12. Shipping Rails are shipped in our own fleet of
long-length MTTX cars, specifically designed for shipping 80' rails without banding. This
reduces customer unloading time. We can also ship rails in customer-owned cars. |
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