A new centralised control centre, built on a massive scale for Baosteel Zhanjiang’s continuous caster 1 to 4, is now operating with upgraded safety, efficiency and stability.

The centre integrates previously separate controls for the four casters and their north and south finishing operations.

Relocation, switchover and commissioning took five months.

Higher standards and closer integration of the casting automation and intelligence systems have also been achieved.

Improving safety has been a top priority in the design of the centre. Safety features include a multiple-system power supply, automation control, network and data securities.

The safety, reliability and stability of this long-distance centralised control centre is attributed to a number of CISDI’s innovative expertise and equipment:

-       Remote casting

-       Smart casting

-       A robot at the casting platform

-       Smart scarfing machine.

Their applications mean workers no longer have to operate dangerous, dirty and difficult posts, which protects lives, reduces labour requirements and improves productivity and quality control.

The casting’s finishing procedure is producing acceptable, defect-free strands; CISDI expertise is helping to remove defective strand from entering the downstream rolling production. Savings on casting finishing and rolling costs are being achieved.

The centre provides a platform for implementing remote ops management across all casting plant production units and more stable and economical maintenance.

More centralised control and management has been achieved at the centre via an upgraded, more efficient organisational structure for meltshop operation, management and maintenance.

Thanks to the centre’s all-system intelligent integration and ergonomics design, the responsibility matrix for the casting plant has been further integrated, reducing the labour requirement while improving productivity.

The centre had to be built and commissioned during a brief period when the caster was being modified. The schedule was extremely tight and the overlapping of the rebuild projects caused complications and safety risks.

But the CISDI team focussed on the commissioning process and made great technological breakthroughs.

Their skill and dedication won high praise across all Baosteel Zhanjiang’s teams - from shift and workshop to executive level. CISDI’s specialists were described as being capable of ‘fulfilling the toughest and most formidable of tasks.’

Zhanjiang’s new control centre and its remarkable enhancement of production quality, safety and efficiency has become a benchmark across the Baowu Group.

Baosteel Zhanjiang’s CCM centralised control centre in operation