Challenges
Detection of guide jamming & choking in wire rod mill
Short Description:
Steel billet is hot rolled to produce wire rod of desired diameter. After hot rolling of multiple billets, burr and/or chips get deposited in the entry, and exit guides of the rolls and can result in scratch marks on billets and eventually lead to cobbling of billet. We are looking for an automated solution which can detect burr/chip within the guide and alert the operator.
Challenge Details
A billet of steel with dimensions (130 mm x 130 mm) and a length of ~9 meters is reheated to a temperature of 1050oC and hot rolled. There are 27 sets of rolls which reduce the billet to a wire rod (5.5 to 14 mm diameter). Hot rolling of billets is almost a continuous process with a gap of ~ 3 to 5 seconds between two successive billets. Guides (refer to Figure 1) are attached at the entry and exit of each set of rolls to ensure smooth entry and exit of the billet during rolling. Over a period of time, burrs and/or chips get deposited in these guides (generally found entrapped up to a length of ~ 600 mm in the entry and exit guide) and can result in scratch marks on billets and eventually lead to cobbling of billet. This build-up of burrs or chips is not visible due to the continuous splashing of water. These defects lead to the rejection of wire rods and require mill shutdown (in case of cobbling) to remove the burrs/chips from the guides.
We are looking for an automated solution which can detect burr/chip within the guide and alert the operator.
