The Steel Mill of Ternium Brazil is already operating a new machine that increases the security of workers and the whole operational process.
The New Relining Machine is a new refractory machine, developed by the Engineering, Process, Refractory and Maintenance Teams of the Steel Mill, which eliminates the substitution of refractory material by suspended load, thus eliminating risks of accident. It also allows for parallel work in the lower part of the converters, the so called zero floor.
Built in Europe, the machine has an innovative technology and tends to be a benchmark in the steel industry for providing more security to workers and having the potential to reduce the total time of refractory material replenishment.
The equipment seen from the outside.
The Steel Mill of Ternium Brazil has two converters, each with a 340-ton capacity. The converter is a type of furnace, lined with refractory bricks, which are responsible for transforming pig iron into steel. The Steel Mill needs to change the refractory material of the converters approximately every three months due to the end of their useful life.
The New Relining Machine project provides several types of advantages for the Company, both in terms of security and productivity. In terms of the collaborators’ security, the work with suspended loads is eliminated, and access to the inside of the converter is regulated according to the security standards.
Previously, the changeover of refractory material in the converters was carried out in a process that started from the bottom up, which required more time, since, for security reasons, no activity could be performed in the bottom area.
The General Manager of the Steel Mill, Leonardo Demuner, is optimistic with this new acquisition. “The new machine is a big project, we have invested in innovation and technology to ensure the security of people, added to advantages in productivity and efficiency,” he said.
According to the engineer Willian Correa, current Maintenance Coordinator at the Services Management of the Steel Mill, and who was the specialist engineer at the time of the project's deployment, the equipment offers an advantage in terms of people's security, process and productivity, and aims to be a benchmark in the refractory process.
USER'S OPINION
According to the equipment end user, Mario Neto, Supervisor at Reframax, the equipment work is based on three pillars – security, quality and productivity.
“This project supports these pillars. In terms of security, the work with suspended load is totally eliminated. In terms of productivity, the project allows for better allocation of the bricks' qualities as it has four distribution points, unlike the machine previously used, which had only two points. This speeds up and organizes the work environment, besides enabling to supply two pallets at a time, thus streamlining the whole process", he says.
Also, according to Neto, the machine allows for the assembly of a less complex refractory project, with gains in quality and operational security.
For the Refractory Coordinator of Ternium Steel Mill, Bruno Calazans, this project was very challenging due to the construction concept of the plant that has reduced space between the converter and the boiler system. “The success was only possible due to a very large involvement of the whole team,” he says. Also, according to Calazans, the security of people and operations was the main objective of this project.