Use of computer systems and process information for blast furnace operations at U. S. Steel, Gary Works
- USX Corp., Gary, IN (United States)
US Steel Iron Producing Div. consists of four operating blast furnaces ranging in process control capabilities from 1950's and 1960's era hardware to state of the art technology. The oldest control system consists of a large number of panels containing numerous relays, indicating lights, selector switches, push buttons, analog controllers, strip chart recorders and annunciators. In contrast, the state of the art control system utilizes remote I/O, two sets of redundant PLC's, redundant charge director computer, redundant distributed control system, high resolution video-graphic display system and supervisory computer for real-time data acquisition. Process data are collected and archived on two DEC VAX computers, one for No. 13 blast furnace and the other for the three south end furnaces. Historical trending, data analysis and reporting are available to iron producing personnel through terminals and PC's connected directly to the systems, dial-up modems and various network configurations. These two machines are part of the iron producing network which allows them to pass and receive information from each other as well as numerous other sources throughout the division. This configuration allows personnel to access most pertinent furnace information from a single source. The basic objective of the control systems is to charge raw materials to the top of the furnace at aim weights and sequence, while maintaining blast conditions at the bottom of the furnace at required temperature, pressure and composition. Control changes by the operators are primarily supervisory based on review of system generated plots and tables.
- OSTI ID:
- 7136817
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9409223-; CODEN: IRSEA5
- Journal Information:
- Iron and Steel Engineer; (United States), Vol. 71:9; Conference: 1994 Association of Iron and Steel Engineers (AISE) annual convention, Cleveland, OH (United States), 19-21 Sep 1994; ISSN 0021-1559
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
BLAST FURNACES
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
PROCESS CONTROL
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
INDIANA
CONTROL
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
FURNACES
NORTH AMERICA
ON-LINE CONTROL SYSTEMS
ON-LINE SYSTEMS
USA
010500* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Products & By-Products
320303 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Equipment & Processes