Robots on duty丨Smart torpedo vehicles, automatic charging hands, and inspection robots will greatly improve the efficiency of iron and steel transport

Hot metal transportation is one of the core elements of the iron-steel interface and the most important logistics link in steel manufacturing. For a long time, torpedo tank cars transporting molten iron have relied on locomotive traction and manual driving. The high temperature and working environment under the furnace have made many new drivers "daunted". In addition, the temperature drop of molten iron during the operation has caused a large loss, resulting in high energy consumption and high logistics costs. . Traditional manufacturing equipment has become a bottleneck restricting the efficiency improvement of the hot metal transportation industry. It has become inevitable to use intelligent means to transform and upgrade torpedo cars that meet the needs of green environmental protection and intelligent perception.

1. Smart torpedo car - special robot for transporting molten iron

The smart torpedo vehicle is the world's first special robot for transporting molten iron. It integrates new technologies such as green energy, autonomous navigation, and driverless driving, completely canceling the traditional traction locomotive and completely replacing manual driving. The new process model of "intelligent dispatching, dispensing when the tank is empty, leaving when the tank is full, and using it when it arrives at the station" not only brings a revolutionary improvement to the efficiency of molten iron transportation, but also effectively slows down the cooling of the molten iron and fuel consumption.

So far, 22 smart torpedo cars have been put into operation. In June 2022, the automatic operation function investment rate was 98.3%, the average turnover rate has increased, and the temperature drop of hot metal at the iron-steel interface has further decreased, which can save about 90 million yuan in energy costs every year.

2. Automatic charging hand - automatic power storage special robot

The automatic charging hand is a special electric robot that automatically charges the smart torpedo car. The smart torpedo vehicle eliminates the traditional diesel generator set and uses green new energy material supercapacitor to provide power. It needs to be charged to supplement energy between operations. Due to the large number of smart torpedo cars, the operating environment is subject to unfavorable factors such as high temperatures and furnace temperatures. If manual charging is adopted, it will not only increase labor costs and affect operating efficiency, but also pose safety risks.

The team innovatively uses an automatic charging hand to charge the smart torpedo vehicle. It is installed near the bottom of the blast furnace and adopts technologies such as automatic guidance and alignment, multi-axis motion, and charging safety detection. It can make full use of the gap time between working or waiting under the furnace and automatically connects to the torpedo car charging port for charging. The automatic charging success rate is up to 99%.

The automatic charging hand not only effectively replaces manual charging operations, but also makes the torpedo vehicle almost no longer need to wait for charging shutdowns, providing a strong guarantee for improving the operating efficiency of smart torpedo vehicles. At the same time, the application of automatic charging hands is expected to save about 5,000 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 10,000 tons each year, contributing to accelerating the construction of green steel plants.

3. Inspection robot - special robot for rail inspection

The inspection robot is a special robot for automatic inspection of railway tracks. It uses unmanned driving technology and can operate autonomously on railway tracks and automatically identify obstacles, with a detection speed of up to 10km/h. It can not only efficiently and automatically record problems such as falling off of fixing bolts and broken rails at crossings and platforms, but also can automatically detect and analyze the static geometric parameters of the track such as track gauge, superelevation, triangular pits and other data, providing a basis for in-plant railway inspection and maintenance. Provide scientific basis.

The total length of the process railway in the Baoshan base is 90 kilometers. With the trend of continuous optimization of labor efficiency, its daily inspection has almost become a "Mission Impossible". With the maturity and promotion of inspection robots, intelligent means of inspection have been effectively enriched. , reduce inspection load and improve inspection efficiency. Currently, the operation rate of rail inspection robots has reached 99%. At the same time, the follow-up team will also expand it with more functions such as track flaw detection and oiling.