Steel Sections 
in Power Plant Construction
      

for power plants
with hot rolled sections
Figure
    

contents
1. Power plants 5
2. Structural steels from ArcelorMittal 8
4. Advantage of HISTAR® steels compared to conventional
structural steels 13
5. Optimised construction elements for power plant construction 21
6. Foundations for high loads 24
7. Sustainable construction with hot rolled steel sections 27
Annex A1 28
Comparison of S235 rolled sections with HISTAR 460 28
AnnexA2 29
Comparison of rolled sections with ACB beams 29
Annex 3 30
Comparison of box section with cross-shaped section 30
    
Steel Sections 
in Power Plant Construction

5
1. Power plants
Introduction
The ever growing demand for energy, and 
investments in new power plants which 
have been postponed over many years, have 
recently led to a remarkable boom in the 
construction of power plants. This requires 
the use of enormous amounts of steel and a 
considerable amount of rolled sections. In the 
area of coal power plants, the proportion of 
rolled sections accounts for approx. 60% of 
the total steel volume. 
The need for short construction times and 
rising labour costs make the use of rolled 
sections attractive. With a wide range of 
rolled sections, ArcelorMittal offers the right 
solution for every opportunity.
Coal power plants
Figure 3 shows the functional units of a coal 
power plant. Most notable in such power 
plants are the large cooling towers and the 
boiler frame structures, which, however, are 
later enclosed by the boiler house.
But not only these large structures make 
up a power plant. A number of dependent 
buildings are necessary to accommodate all 
the necessary units, such as the power house, 
in which the generators are located, and the 
bunker for temporary storage of coal.
Figure 2 shows the boiler frame structure of 
a modern coal power plant. The staircases 
have been designed as solid constructions 
and will later provide access to all areas. In 
the upper part of the boiler frame structure 
the pre-installed boiler frame trusses can 
be seen that will later reinforce the boiler 
when in operation. In the bottom section in 
front of the boiler frame structure, the upper 
structure of the boiler house can be seen 
which, together with the bottom part of the 
boiler house, will fully surround the boiler 
frame structure once lifted in its final position. 
For this, a large number of rolled sections are 
used.