27-May-03 - A new blast furnace stove control system, designed to improve performance and reduce operational costs, has been installed by ABB at the Kremikovtzi Corporation's integrated steelworks in Bulgaria in just four weeks:
ABB was originally given a four-month window for engineering, delivery, installation and commissioning, which the customer considered extremely tight. However this was surpassed by a wide margin.
The new control system has reduced operational costs by completely eliminating the potential for human errors. Additionally, the plant now only needs one operator per shift and costs are further lowered through reduced maintenance and increased efficiency.
The new stove control system is based on ABB's IndustrialIT platform. The hardware includes four AC800M controllers with PM856 processor modules from the ControlIT product suite, power supply modules for 220/24V and 200 S800L I/Os for each controller.
This steelworks is one of Bulgaria's biggest industrial complexes and its 40 year-old production facilities are currently being modernised. This includes re-commissioning of the 11 year-old number one blast furnace.
A blast furnace stove control system has to meet very exacting stability and reliability demands. The blast furnace campaign can extend up to ten years without any interruptions and, therefore, it must be supplied continuously with hot blast from one of the stoves, while the others are being heated or are in the hot standby mode. The ABB stove control system is based on ABB's standard Ethernet protocol, which not only meets these demands, but also, because it uses a fibre optic network, provides protection against high electromagnetic disturbances.
A complete control system:
The ABB system provides real-time information and is also a complete control system, managing the entire operational sequence of the stoves. The blast furnace control room features two operator stations based on the OperateIT SCADA Portal. The control software, Control Builder, has been installed in one of the operator stations for supervision and maintenance of the control system.
Two PID controllers in each AC800M control the stove air and gas flows (gas/air ratio). Shown, in real time, are the technical and engineering settings, trend curves of important analogue signals, a list of alarms and a list of events. The AC800M controllers are also responsible for executing the changeovers between the different operating modes.
LV distribution equipment supplied:
ABB supplied the LV distribution and control equipment for the various stove auxiliaries. This includes incoming circuit breakers and bus ties of Isomax S6S type, with automatic changeover to ensure a UPS. Each object such as valves and fans is supplied and controlled via a relay-based feeder. This arrangement provides the necessary protection of the loads and cables, with co-ordinated discrimination between the upstream and the downstream breakers. It also ensures the reliable transfer of data to the control system. The LV equipment was assembled and commissioned locally in Bulgaria under the supervision of ABB.
Illustrated: the Kremikovtzi Corporation's steelworks.
ABB Limited
9 The Towers, Wilmslow Road,
Didsbury, Manchester M20 2AB
Tel: 0161 438 3204
Fax: 0161 448 1066
Email: enquiries@gb.abb.com
Web: www.abb.com
|
If you like this article and want to share it with friends, please use the social links below:
|
Back