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NLMK Group implements E2E automation in steelmaking operations
NLMK Group transitioned to an advanced IT system for process management in its steelmaking operations, an MES. The MES enables planning and control of steel production, from the making of hot metal to the shipment of slabs to customers or into downstream processing.
The system is available to more than a thousand users through a convenient web interface. They are able to manage over 85 daily heats across 300 equipment lines, to track and optimize over 100 process parameters — metal temperature and chemistry, processing times, dosing of materials — and analyze more than 50 efficiency metrics.
Total economic grains from digital MES initiatives in NLMK’s steelmaking operations exceed RUB 500 million per year due to reduced material consumption, avoided metal loss, heat duration optimizations, and improved energy efficiency.
One example of an MES-enabled end-to-end processes is the “smart” requisition of hot metal and scrap for BOF smelting, which reduces metal losses. A mathematical model predicts the chemical composition of hot metal coming from BF shops and calculates the type and amount of scrap to be mixed into the heat in order to obtain steel of desired parameters.
Input scrap and hot metal are tracked through an RFID system, machine vision, and signal readings sent from process equipment into the MES. Several thousand readings are transmitted over the corporate pLTE network via a proprietary IIoT platform per minute.
Advanced web technologies embedded into NLMK’s MES and full wireless coverage of the shops allow for system operation from portable rugged tablets as well as stationary workstations. Video from 200 cameras fed into MES provides an efficient real-time overview of steelmaking operations.
The launch of MES at NLMK Lipetsk’s Hot Rolling Shop in 1H 2024 will complete the E2E automation of “ore to coil” process control. This will enable dispatching, and process and quality management throughout the entire chain from ore mining to rolled steel shipments to customers, all integrated on a single digital platform.
About NLMK Group
NLMK Group is a vertically integrated steelmaking company and Russia’s largest steel producer of steel products.
NLMK Group’s steel products are used in various industries, from construction and machine building to the manufacturing of power-generation equipment and offshore wind turbines.
NLMK operates production facilities in Russia, Europe and the United States. The Company’s steel production capacity exceeds 14.5 million tonnes per year.
For more information on NLMK Group, please visit our website.
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