Automation's whole-process intelligent robot temperature measurement and sampling system

In recent years, intelligent manufacturing has gradually entered the public eye and has become a breakthrough for the steel industry to implement innovation-driven development. Temperature measurement, oxygen determination, and slag breaking are important links in the iron and steel metallurgical process. At present, most of them are done manually. The labor intensity is high, the working environment is harsh, the temperature measurement accuracy is not high, and the sampling success rate is low. The "warm sampling robot" is of great significance to promote the intelligentization of China's steel industry.

WISDRI Automation takes the lead in adopting an integrated intelligent temperature measurement and sampling program that closely cooperates with robots and automatic feeding systems, which completely replaces manual labor. While improving the operating safety factor and effectively avoiding safety accidents, it ensures the accuracy of temperature measurement and sampling data. The real-time nature has improved the efficiency of on-site operations and realized unmanned and intelligent operation of temperature measurement and sampling, which has taken an important step towards the realization of fully intelligent production in the steel industry.

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• System equipment based on the whole-process intelligent design concept

Based on advanced control concepts, MCC Automation's full-process intelligent robot temperature measurement and sampling system integrates innovatively designed automatic feeding system equipment and six-axis robot control technology, and makes full use of the flexibility of the robot to drive the temperature measurement and sampling gun. The automatic feeding equipment performs temperature measurement and sampling and probe removal and replacement. Information interaction is seamlessly connected, and the functional structure is coordinated, so as to complete the entire temperature measurement and sampling process with high efficiency and high precision.

The operation cycle of the system is fully automatic. The operator can start automatic temperature measurement, oxygen determination, sampling, and slag breaking with one button. The intermediate process does not need to intervene again. The operation time of a single temperature measurement and sampling cycle can be controlled within 50s, and the laser measurement The distance meter accurately measures the liquid level depth of the ladle, calculates instantly according to the feedback data, and dynamically adjusts the depth of the robot to ensure the accuracy of temperature measurement and sampling. According to the project site data feedback, the measurement rate of molten steel temperature is ≥98%, the success rate of molten steel sampling is ≥98%, the success rate of probe automatic clamping and removal is ≥99%, the detection accuracy of molten steel level is +20mm, and the probe is inserted into molten steel to repeat positioning deviation ≤2mm, each index of the temperature measurement sampling system is at the leading domestic level.

1.1 Fully automatic intelligent silo with advanced functions

Different from other simple "storage cabinets" or "shelf-type" silos, the automatic and intelligent system silos pioneered by MCC Automation are controlled by PLC and are controlled by the silos, distribution mechanism, and screening The mechanism, the probe automatic positioning and pushing system and the electric control system are composed. According to the appearance error prevention, feature recognition and the signal of the measuring gun system, the material qualified and positive and negative monitoring can be judged, and the internal and external unqualified probe recovery mechanism of the material warehouse can be used to recover or reject the unqualified or negative materials under different conditions of the equipment. At the same time, check whether the probe set is in place during the installation of the probe and automatically adjust it. Figure one

The silo can store various types of probes according to project requirements, adapting to different process requirements such as temperature measurement, sampling, oxygen determination, hydrogen determination, etc. It can store up to 200 or more at a time, and can automatically divide materials according to job requirements. Push and install different types of probes, and identify the margins of various probes, and provide timely feedback of material shortage alarms.

In addition, the silo adopts a double discharge port design, which can discharge materials at the same time or alternately. It can not only ensure the high frequency discharge efficiency, but also can be mutually redundant systems. When one of the discharge devices fails or is overhauled, the other discharge mechanism will complete the production work.

1.2 Domestic original temperature measurement sampling gun

The temperature measurement and sampling gun barrel system independently designed and developed by MCC Automation can be compatible with functions such as temperature measurement, sampling and oxygen determination according to different functional requirements. The system adopts a split design and is installed at the front end of the sixth axis of the robot, which is convenient for installation and maintenance. It can cooperate with the quick-change mechanism to realize automatic replacement of gun bodies with different functions. (figure 2)

 

The surface of the temperature measuring gun barrel is made of nano materials, which is resistant to high temperature and can reduce the adhesion of steel slag. The gun body is made of high-quality steel and has high temperature resistance, strong grinding and high hard grinding. A unique mechanical structure is set on the straight rod of the gun body to effectively prevent the probe from falling off during temperature measurement and sampling. At the same time, the gun calibration reminder function has been added to the electronic control system. After receiving the reminder, the field maintenance personnel can manually calibrate the gun. The technology of the system is domestically original.

• Good scalability can meet various process requirements

In order to meet various process requirements on site and fully consider the integrity of system functions, MCC Southern Automation fully considers the actual needs of temperature measurement and sampling processes in the design and system integration process, and adds "menu-based" service items, including: robots And protective clothing, automatic silo, gun measuring system, laser distance measurement, robot anti-collision system, gun body quick change device, gun barrel cleaning device, automatic pulling mechanism, probe fire extinguishing device, waste probe automatic collection device, gun calibration Tips, probe anti-skid fall, etc., can be selected according to various working conditions and environments to ensure the stability and reliability of the system. For example, an automatic collection device for waste probes is added, which can sort multiple types of waste probes such as temperature measurement, oxygen determination, sampling, hydrogen determination, etc., to facilitate subsequent processing; the gun barrel slag cleaning device can effectively remove the steel slag attached to the gun barrel for a long time. , Effectively ensure the accuracy of the follow-up probe set.

Based on the integrity of the system, the system can be applied to LF furnace, RH furnace, tapping platform molten iron detection, converter argon blowing station, continuous casting platform and other areas, and can realize temperature measurement, sampling, hydrogen determination, oxygen determination, slag breaking, etc. Features. Based on the better expansibility of the platform, a system can be added according to process requirements to realize functions such as automatic addition of covering agents and automatic sample delivery, and further promote the unmanned and intelligent construction of the entire process platform. (Picture Three)

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• Technological innovation to ensure the safety of the system

Safety is no small matter. For steel mill applications, in addition to system performance, safety is the priority. MCC Southern Automation has carried out technological innovations in three aspects: personnel safety protection, equipment safety protection, and fire safety protection, and has implemented safety throughout the entire design process.

 3.1 Safety protection of personnel

In the project layout design, rationally plan the main area of the equipment work and the personnel passage to realize the separation of man and machine. Configure area safety sensors, electronic fences, and alarm prompts in the robot working area to prevent safety accidents caused by passers-in. When a person enters the work area, the control system will automatically recognize it according to the security level (such as: warning area, deceleration area, shutdown area, etc.), and the robot's movement is limited to ensure the safety of the personnel. In extreme cases, if the area safety sensor fails, the emergency stop button near the person can be pressed to make the system stop running.

3.2 Safety protection of equipment 

In order to ensure the safety of the system, fully consider the impact of the on-site environment on the equipment. The robot is equipped with a heat-insulating suit made of special heat-insulating materials to effectively prevent damage to the robot due to splashing of molten steel. A circulating air cooling system is installed inside the suit to ensure the safe and stable operation of the robot. The automatic storage bins and robot control cabinets are equipped with dust-proof cabinets and thermal insulation materials to improve the protection level, effectively avoid the adverse effects of the charged dust on the work site on the components in the cabinet, and ensure the safe operation of the equipment.

For the different working areas of the robot, a multi-zone emergency stop method has been developed to ensure the safety of the equipment while taking into account the safety of the personnel. Time stopped in the ladle. At the same time, in view of the collisions that may occur during the movement of the robot, a multi-condition detection and anti-collision mechanism has been developed, using torque detection and running time detection to determine whether the robot is moving normally, and return to the original position in time if there is an abnormality.

3.3 Fire safety protection

In the actual operation process, after the temperature measurement sampling probe leaves the molten steel, the paper rod of the probe may catch fire or carry a flame. These probes are likely to ignite other objects on the scene and cause fire hazards. The fire extinguishing mechanism designed in the robot temperature measurement and sampling system of China Metallurgical South Automation, cools down the probe after the robot completes temperature measurement, oxygen determination, and sampling to avoid fire.

• Leading technological advantages are fully recognized by steel companies 

With the continuous deepening of the market, the technical standardization of MCC Southern's automated temperature measurement and sampling system has been continuously improved, and successful experience that can be promoted and replicated has been formed. The project implementation and commissioning speed has been gradually accelerated. Yegang 4#LF furnace, Baowu Group Echeng Iron and Steel 1#, 2#, 3# converter argon blowing station, Baowu Group Echeng Iron and Steel billet continuous casting platform, HBIS Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel LF furnace and other processes have been successfully promoted , The system application effect has been widely praised. (Figure 4)

 In the wave of the country's vigorous promotion of intelligent manufacturing, "dazzle", "big", and "fast" seem to be the direction that technology follows. MCC Southern Automation insists on the craftsman spirit of "doing a project, building a monument" is particularly valuable. The road ahead is long and long, and we look forward to MCC Southern Automation's continuing to take solid new steps on the road of intelligent transformation to help China. Intelligent manufacturing move from concept to practice and build a better future.