Intelligent Scrap Yard Management (iSYM)
Tenova’s innovative iSYM solution is an engineered modular system dedicated to the management of all scrap yard operations. Effective management is achieved through the improvement and extension of the supervision, control and command functions. The system provides complete identification and tracking of all scrap materials used in the steel production process.
Overview
As modular system, the iSYM is designed to adapt to effective customer’s needs and is able to grow up with them.
iSYM is composed mainly by three modules, that cover three different functions:
The first module is dedicated to the Raw Materials Receiving at the plant entrance; another module is dedicated to the Raw Material Handling in the scrap yard area; a module is dedicated to the EAF Scrap Charge cost optimization.
iSYM is natively designed to be integrated with higher level information systems dedicated to the management of stocks and purchase orders of scrap and to extend and complete the functionality of the weighing systems present at the entry or exit stations of trucks or rail cars that supply the plant with ferrous material.
In addition to this, iSYM sends to the EAF process control systems the detailed information of the real metallic charge of the furnace, thus allowing the optimization of the melting process.
Technical data
The full automation of cranes present at scrap yard is the base for the digitalization of the scrap material handling.
Typically, each crane involved in the scrap handling dedicated to the EAF scarp mix charge; have to be up-graded by the installation of following equipment:
- Operator Panel
- PC
- PLC
- Positioning transducers (radars, encoder, limits switches )
- Video cameras
- Access points
At the same time, in order to guarantees the correct and reliable communication and data exchange between cranes and ground automation system, the entire scrap yard area needs to be covered by wireless network due to the installation of dedicated access point, in fixed position.
Innovation
Laser Scanners for scanning the surface of the scrap yard. In this way it’s possible obtain the 3D reconstruction of the shape of the materials present in the entire scrap yard.
The data acquired are pre-elaborate from the PC on board and sent to the ground server where iSYM is able to calculate the VOLUME and, by material density information, the WEIGHT of the scrap material stored in the scrap yard itself.
iSYM allows to accurately trace the path that the individual deliveries of materials make from their entry into the plant to the ladle ready to be sent to the continuous casting.
It is therefore able to carry out statistical analyzes on the data thus acquired and, by reconstructing the path of the materials backwards, to obtain the correlation between the chemical analysis of the liquid steel produced and the ferrous materials used for the production of that specific lot.
In this way it is possible to correlate the presence of polluting elements, such as copper, nickel, arsenic, ... with the suppliers of the materials used for the production of the batch in question.
Safety
The operator at the scrap yard, in charge of receiving and classifying the materials delivered, is equipped with a rugged tablet, from which he receives all information relating to the material delivered.
By the tablet, the operator has the ability to immediately identify the trucks, by the receiving of the image related to the several trucks waiting for the material discharge operations.
This means that by clicking on the image of the single truck, all information related to the material delivered are immediately available to the operator.
Automatic EAF charging system:
This is an additional module also, dedicated to the full automatic bucket charge in EAF sequences.
The crane operator is located in main operator room and from here supervise to all operations.
The iSYM is able to:
- Drive the EAF charging crane automatically from the bucket car position to the EAF position.
- Run the EAF discharge operation, with the guarantee of center position on EAF and vertical movement in order to reduce splashing phenomena.
- Back bucket movement to backed car position.
The cranes control software is completed by an anti-swinging function, based on gyroscope sensor installed on crane’s hook.
Automation
For every heat and for every bucket to load in EAF furnace the EAF process Control System (or Level 2 system) generate the scrap mix recipe.
By the operator panel, installed in every cranes, the operator automatically receives the detailed scrap mix recipe in the form of a list of instructions for the construction of the scrap basket.
The system is able to automatically recognize all cranes command and/or operation and, always automatically, confirm the quality of the material charged in bucket. Of course, in case of needs (for example if the scrap quality foreseen in the recipe is no longer available), the operator has the possibility to manual declare a scrap quality different from what present in the recipe.
By the weighing system mounted on bucket car or at cranes hook, the system automatically receive the quantity of material charged in the bucket and, in real time, goes to fill the bucket charge report, for every heat and every bucket number.
At the end of bucket charge sequence, the feedback of the material (in quantity and quality) really charged in the bucked is send back to the EAF Process Control System; in this way the Level2 system is able to calculate and up-grade the electrical and chemical EAF melting profile, based on the real scrap materials charged in the EAF.
In case of scrap yard area divided in differ bays and in every if these bay is stored a different quality of scarp material quality, this bays organization is managed by the system. The iSYM, automatically, by cranes hook position, is able to recall the scrap quality managed by the cranes and charged in the bucket.
Not only… With all information related to quantity and quality of the scarp material handled and charged in EAF, the system is able to calculates:
- Estimation of residual stock in the park.
- The Cost analysis.
- Automatic recognition of the material gripping and unloading position.
- Automatic recognition of the basket in use.
- Registration of all bridge wagon movements (for mainatenance for example).
- Linking of the bridge wagon movement history to backet number and heat number.
Digital
One of the more innovative and proficient features of the iSYM is the Automatic Material Classification. This functions is based on Machine Learning algorithms applied to the images took by the video camera at the entrance gates. This system is already installed and working in an Italian steel maker and has reached the result of more than 99% in accuracy.
As soon as it is installed, the system is born with the experience inherited from previous projects, based on a database of many tens of thousands of images already encoded. To these, are added the images coming from our client's new application which enrich the system with the information and experience of the client where the new system is installed. This means that, after only a few hundred images acquired and encoded, the system is already able to identify automatically the type of scrap present on the truck or railway carriage.
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