Digital intelligence makes steelmaking more efficient

Speaking of steelmaking, many people will picture scenes of master workers sweating profusely and dust flying into the sky. However, with the continuous improvement of the digitization and intelligence level of the steel industry, this scene has become a thing of the past. On the converter platform in the new dynamic area of the steelmaking plant of Shandong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Laiwu Branch, on the spacious converter platform, the floor is as clean as new and the equipment is operating efficiently, but there is no scene of busy workers in front of the furnace. Here is one of Shandong Iron and Steel’s most impressive new and old kinetic energy conversion projects - the digital intelligent steelmaking project.

The digital intelligent steelmaking project is one of the core sub-projects of the 2022 major provincial project Shandong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.'s major project to convert old and new kinetic energy. It has a total investment of 4.6 billion yuan and an annual output of 2.7 million tons of high-quality continuous casting billets. The project uses an internationally advanced six-machine six-strand continuous casting machine, and introduces domestic leading new technologies such as infrared imaging, intelligent tapping control, temperature measurement and sampling robots, etc., to realize the digitization of intelligent steelmaking modules and precise control of the entire process, and builds a A new digital steelmaking model of "equipment automation, personnel efficiency, management informatization, and intelligent decision-making".

On the converter platform, the furnace workers in the first steelmaking workshop silently observed the operation of the converter. The huge furnace dismantling machine used its working arm to beat the slag at the hot furnace mouth. The slag fell one after another, and sparks shot out in the furnace. After the slag is cleaned, the furnace foreman directs the overhead crane to dump the molten iron and add scrap steel. This work is one of the few in the workshop that comes into close contact with the converter.

In the smart steelmaking centralized control center in Xindong District, a whole wall of display screens clearly displays various pictures and related analysis data of the production site. Workers sit in front of the operation desk and stare intently at the computer display in front of them. Screen.

It is understood that at the end of 2021, the smart steelmaking centralized control center will be completed and put into use. With the help of network transmission and remote control technology, it covers the production organization, energy operation and environmental protection emissions of the entire plant, and can realize real-time scheduling of production without leaving home. and abnormal visual warning, becoming a centralized control platform that gathers all processes from the entry of molten iron to the delivery of cast slabs, realizing remote and intelligent converter smelting, which not only reduces the labor intensity of employees, but also achieves information sharing and high efficiency between different processes. Collaboration makes management more efficient and decision-making more scientific.

In recent years, a number of industry-leading new technologies such as accurate and intelligent supply of materials, dynamic intelligent steelmaking with flue gas analysis, and intelligent tapping control systems have been successfully applied in the plant, significantly improving various indicators of the steelmaking process. The total slag volume of the converter has been reduced from more than 90 kg/ton of steel to less than 70 kg/ton of steel now. The one-time carbon pulling rate has increased from 30% at the beginning of the furnace to more than 90% now. The bottom rate of one tank of molten iron has increased from 45.8 % increased to 94.6%...

At the same time, the environmental performance rating of the digital smart steelmaking project has reached the standard of a Class A enterprise, and various emission indicators are better than the requirements of Shandong Province’s 2025 planning indicators. After the completion of the project, the annual output of high-quality continuous casting billets will be 2.7 million tons, which will effectively assist Shandong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. in laying out an internationally leading 10-million-ton high-quality steel base, and strive to create a domestic first-class and internationally advanced urban steel plant green development model and industry transformation development model.