Digitalization Nears 90%, 5G Boosts "Smart" Steelmaking

Stepping into the Shougang Jingtang Company,one is greeted by a scene of real-time interaction between actual workshops and digital workshops.In the control center,a large screen spanning several meters displays data from over 4000 key nodes such as raw material intake,production control,equipment operation,energy and environment,transportation and logistics,and safety and fire protection,reflecting every aspect of the company's production and operation.With the empowerment of 5G and emerging technologies,the digitalization rate of production equipment exceeds 89%,and the concepts of "data coming up" and "intelligence falling into place" have given steel enterprises digital "wings".

Digital intelligence empowers steel manufacturing,allowing the application of "digital twins" in modern production scenarios.On the main control room screen of the steelmaking operation area in the steel rolling department,a large dynamic image of a simulated steelmaking converter furnace catches the eye of the reporter - the virtual molten steel continuously rolls,with an oxygen lance at the bottom simulating the smelting process,emitting a dazzling white light inside the furnace; on the left and right sides of the virtual converter,various steelmaking parameters such as "converter information," "flue gas information," "smelting information," and "auxiliary material information" are constantly changing.

"In the past,the steelmaking process required manual observation on-site with a steelmaking mirror.Now,with this 'digital twin' system,we can enter the virtual converter to fully analyze the entire steelmaking process,and the data is quite accurate!" Wang Dong,a steelmaking operator in the steel rolling operation department,told the reporter that information technology seems to have "opened" the "black box" of the converter production process,which reaches up to 2000 degrees Celsius,making it visual and transparent,greatly enhancing production efficiency and accuracy.

In the plate mill workshop,the fiery steel billets slowly slide on the conveyor belt,enter the rough rolling mill to be repeatedly "squeezed" like rolling dough,and then quickly pass through the finishing mill to be shaped; inside the centralized control center,four screen walls form a surrounding data control field - the actual production of the 3500mm production line,the actual production of the 4300mm production line,and everything is under control.

Tian Cai,deputy director of the equipment room of the plate mill department,pointed to the screen and told the reporter that in the past,the automation level of the production line was low,and production-related processes relied on manual labor and experience.Now,through automation upgrades,remote centralized control operations have been realized,automatic steel loading and unloading in the heating furnace,fully automatic steel rolling in the rolling mill area,and model optimization of water cooling and straightening systems,which have greatly reduced labor and effectively ensured process coordination,improving production efficiency and making production more "relaxed".

With the empowerment of emerging technologies such as 5G,digital intelligence is shaping new scenarios for the entire process of steel manufacturing in Jingtang.Yuan Tianxiang,deputy general manager of Shougang Jingtang United Iron and Steel Co.,Ltd.,said that in recent years,the company has carried out 173 informationization and intelligent manufacturing projects,and the "gold content," "innovation content," and "green content" of products are continuously increasing.

Behind the smart steel,the application of 5G private networks is indispensable.In 2020,Shougang Jingtang built a 5G private network; at the end of 2023,it jointly launched a 5G private network transformation project with China Mobile Hebei Company and ZTE Corporation to enhance the independence of the 5G private network.Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that five years after the commercialization of 5G,the application proportion of the top 20 coal and steel enterprises in the country has reached 95% and 85%,respectively.

"The 5G network effectively overcomes the disadvantages of inconvenient fiber optic laying and insufficient and unstable industrial WiFi capacity,providing support for precise system control.At present,the application of steel enterprises on 5G is extending from the 'shallow water area' of individual equipment to the 'deep water area' of linkage systems,empowering the industry to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement,and quality upgrading,creating conditions for sustainable benefits and cultivating new quality productive forces." said Liu Guohua,a 5G steel industry expert at ZTE Corporation.

It's not just the manufacturing process,from the entry of materials to the exit of finished products,digital applications have been deeply integrated with steel production.

For Guan Yuhang,a crane team leader who has been working for more than 20 years,he used to sit in the cab for 8 hours and didn't dare to drink more water; now,the unmanned crane starts automatically,runs independently,and lifts the designated cold-rolled steel coils according to the information,and Guan Yuhang and his colleagues only need to sit in a quiet and clean control room,with the help of monitoring screens and control computers,to complete remote precise lifting,bidding farewell to the working environment of "climbing up and down,cold in winter and hot in summer".Liu Guohua introduced that the 52 cranes in the steelmaking department of Shougang Jingtang have achieved efficient and stable operation of crane services in complex wireless coverage and high-temperature harsh working environments by introducing a computing power base station.

From "5G+unmanned cranes","5G+fully automatic control of ship unloaders","5G+unmanned stacker-reclaimers",to "5G+intelligent logistics",currently,more than 500 heavy freight vehicles and non-road machinery in the road transportation operation area of Jingtang Company have been included in the platform control,achieving intelligent dispatching of road transportation tasks,and creating an economic benefit of more than 12 million yuan per year.

"Cost reduction,quality improvement,and efficiency enhancement are the driving force for technological progress and management innovation in manufacturing enterprises." Yuan Tianxiang said that the enterprise is introducing cutting-edge technologies such as 5G to further intelligently transform the core control of on-site equipment to cope with the manufacturing of high-quality products and personalized production.