Huaigang Special Steel has chosen Danieli Industrial Automation’s China-based branch for a comprehensive upgrade of their bar mill’s automation and drives control system, which was originally supplied by Danieli in 1999.
In order to ensure uninterrupted and reliable mill operation, Huaigang Special Steel sought a hardware and software upgrade for the DC drive system, automation system controller, and HMI/TWS & network system.
The drive system received an upgrade with 27 sets of controllers, while the power part was retained. The AC drives remained unchanged, except for an interface upgrade with the automation PLC. The main drives for the stand and shear (start/stop shear, dividing shear, pendulum shear) were upgraded from 6RA70 to 6RA80.
The automation system controllers were replaced with Siemens S7-400 models, along with the inclusion of remote IO modules. The upgraded automation system now encompasses various process areas such as the reheating furnace exit, continuous rolling mill, shears, cut-to-length area, and the bundling and collecting area. Notably, the system incorporates an optimized dividing shear function and an additional auto-billet call function.
The HMI/TWS & network system underwent an upgrade featuring a new, advanced 3Q graphic user interface, and the network was redesigned to accommodate a more powerful platform.
Despite limited access to the plant, Danieli Automation engineers provided remote supervisory services to support customers with wiring, dismantling, and installation activities.
Within a span of nine days, the entire network system was successfully established, and the hot test was completed in just over 10 days (including day and night shifts), surpassing the original schedule by six days.
