NLMK Verona Charge Optimization
Electric Steelmaking Charge Optimization
NLMK Verona SpA is part of the NLMK Group. The Group’s core business is to manufacture and market steel products.
Verona factory is addressed to produce high-quality material with a thickness range from 15 mm up to 1100 mm. Equipped with an innovative continuous casting line for thickness up to 400 mm, the only one of its kind in the world, the plant is now also a major manufacturer of forging ingots. With the aim of increasing the market share in the international scene, the objective is to meet customer demands through the technical competence of the staff and a production flexibility among different formats, unequaled among competitors.
In 2014 the company NLMK Verona, in parallel with the decision to install a monitoring system (Level 2) to service the Electric Steelmaking Area, chose to install the optimization model of the scrap and ferroalloys charge provided by Iso Sistemi.
The solution proposed by Iso Sistemi foresaw to integrate the Level 2 system and the charge model, so as to achieve the best results through the synergy of the two systems.
Thanks to this system we were able to overcome the old practice of charging based on the “standard recipes”, replacing it with a solution that optimizes cost and quality casting by casting.
Francesco Venturi
Steelmaking Area Manager, NLMK Verona S.p.A.
The Optimet Model and the results hitherto achieved
The OptiMet system is based on the combination between a metallurgical process model, which carefully represents each step of the steelmaking process, and a mathematical optimizing procedure, making use of this model to link the output to the input quantities, capable to handle non-linear constraints. Moreover, the system suggests the best filling sequence of the different scrap baskets in agreement with user-defined rules
A key feature of OptiMet is its ability work either as a predictive or as a real-time application.
Thanks to this new system, NLMK Verona could replace the old charging practice based on the so-called “standard recipes”, with a heat-by-heat cost and quality optimizing solution.
Cost reduction is the most impressive but not the only benefit arising from the OptiMet application in NLMK Verona. Other advantages are a more accurate approach to the materials management policy, a straightforward way to assess the feasibility of new steel qualities, and a constant reference to detect anomalies in plant equipment or operation.
The solution
Il modello OptiMet può essere utilizzato in due modalità:
– on line, per ottimizzare la carica reale dell’Acciaieria e le aggiunte; in questo caso utilizza dati provenienti dal Data Base real time aggiornato dal Supervisore dell’Acciaieria;
– off line, per test e studi di miglioramento; in questo caso utilizza informazioni off line, su cui l’operatore ha il pieno controllo.
The Steel Solutions Suite
The system installed at the NLMK Verona Steel Making Area is the personalization of the Optimet component of the Steel Solutions Suite, an Iso Sistemi product for the steel industry.
Use of this product has helped to reduce design and development time and to provide the customer with a system that – after thorough tuning made in the commissioning phase – fully meets the needs of plant management.