Tata Steel Europe produces raw products for the world market from steel plates to railroad tracks and steel wire. In the steelworks in Scunthorpe, steel is produced from the raw material iron.
The liquid pig iron is transported from the blast furnace to the LD plant in a torpedo car, where it is refined to steel in the Linz-Donawitz (LD) procedure. In the plant the liquid iron is emptied into 300-ton capacity ladles and the converters are filled from there. At the end of the conversion process the liquid steel is poured back into the ladles.
The distance from the top edge of the ladle to the molten metal surface is an important parameter, but determining this distance exactly and repeatedly, particularly during filling, is very difficult. After the steel has been poured into the ladle, it is mixed with an argon lance to prevent stratification and to homogenise the additives. If the level of the molten steel is too high, any turbulence could cause dangerous overflows. The capacity of the ladle should nevertheless be used to the full: each and every filling contributes to the profitability of the plant and even a few centimetres represent several tons of steel.
In the past, the operator always judged the level of the ladle filling by eye. The levels varied greatly due the different ladle forms and the visual judgment of the individual operators, and, for safety reasons, the filling level was always kept well below the maximum upper limit. Today, thanks to reliable level measurement technology using radar, the capacities of the ladles can be optimally utilised and production yield increased.
Tata decided in favour of the non-contact radar sensor Vegapuls 62 for precise detection of the maximum upper limit in the ladle. The radar sensor is mounted some 8 m above the lowest filling level and measures the level with a reproducibility of 2 mm – even during filling.
For this application, Vega installed radar sensors with an angled antenna extension that keeps the electronics away from the hot area. A rinsing air system was also installed to prevent dust from accumulating on the antenna over the course of time. If required, this system can also be used for cooling.
Thanks to the precision and reliability maintained during filling, Tata achieves on average a 10 cm higher level with every ladle charge, which corresponds to 10 additional tons of steel per filling. This improvement at all three transfer stations is contributing towards a package of production savings of £12m per year.
Vega not only provided the sensors, but comprehensive after-sales care as well – from technical support to setup and commissioning and on-site training for the technicians.
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