EuroWire March 2022

Technology News

Steel melt shop smart factory solution ABB’sAbility™SmartMelt Shop is designed to increase melt shop productivity, save energy and improve employee safety. mous operations by eliminating manual coordination, with increased safety in hot zones due to lower footfall.

around $2mn per annum through 4 per cent higher casting speeds, time savings of one working day per month and additional output equating to 24,000 tons a year. “We’re proud to launch ABB Ability Smart Melt Shop – the first of its kind in the metals industry, enabling steelmakers to digitally connect all processes and moving equipment in the melt shop, achieving synchronised operations and removing bottlenecks in production capacity,” said Tarun Mathur, global product manager, metals digital, ABB. “The digitalisation of core processes will drive new levels of productivity, safety and sustainability outcomes for the metals sector.” The application uses all standard commu- nications protocols, and employs ABB’s multi-layered defence-in-depth approach to cyber security; it is compatible with both ABB and third-party systems. ABB Ltd www.abb.com

The thermal engine function uses ladle thermal history from the tracking engine and forecasted heat movement from scheduling engines to predict the thermal loss during ladle transfer and predicts the correct lift temperature at the ladle fur- nace. This results in better superheat com- pliance at the caster, eliminating caster slowdowns and increasing productivity. According to ABB, steelmakers can expect Ability Smart Melt Shop to help increase superheat compliance to enable 4-5 per cent higher casting speeds to improve productivity, and reduce arcing by 5°C per heat in ladle furnaces for increased energy and cost efficiency. ABB Ability Smart Melt Shop has already been installed by JSW Steel Ltd, where it has been integrated into a wider expansion at the Dolvi Works plant in Maharashtra state. It is expected to increase the company’s EBITDA profit by

Based on advanced digital algorithms, the new solution – which is claimed to be the first smart factory digital application of its kind for the metals industry – offers real-time ladle tracking, automated crane scheduling and a predictive thermal modelling engine. The tracking engine follows ladle move- ment via cranes and transfer cars in real time. Radar and laser positioning technologies provide accurate visualisation while re- ducing hardware footprint and mainte- nance needs compared to radio-frequen- cy identification (RFID) solutions. The automated crane scheduling in- cludes job forecasting, route planning and automatic acknowledgement of jobs. ABB says that the solution will enable steelmakers to move towards autono-

Guill introduces large die cart with crosshead

and isolation sleeve design. The tooling section features quadrant heating. The crosshead stand is equipped with an integral alignment station and concentric guide, as well as an integral cleaning station, so operators do not need to remove the crosshead for cleaning. The crosshead has “on-the fly” catenary adjustment and can be easily maintained with simple hand tools.

Guill Tool’s new die cart, with easy disas- sembly and reassembly, features a high- volume, adjustable centre accumulating crosshead, designed to produce a smooth linear bore and provide jacketing over various substrates. The crosshead’s maximum through core is 18", while its maximum die ID is 23". Built to handle thermoplastic applica- tions, the crosshead includes tooling

Guill’s new die cart

Guill Tool & Engineering www.guill.com

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March 2022