EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

To further reduce process times and increase availability at the LD converters in the high-performance steel mill of voestalpine Stahl GmbH in Linz, Austria, the old hydraulic sublance manipulators were replaced with three new robotic sublance systems by Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH. The main criteria for the project were: high availability of >98 %, short cycle times in sublance-probe handling of less than 60s, fully automatic probe replacing in confined spaces, fully automatic probe supply from customized exchangeable containers, monitoring, testing and calibration of sublances, low maintenance, latest safety standards, and ergonomic design. The old manipulator was dismantled and the new robot solution installed during a 5-day converter relining. Performance was excellent already during the first days and an availability of already 95% was achieved in startup period. The system sets new standards in automation and follows the voestalpine philosophy of being one step ahead. Keywords: BOF process, sublance, robotic, fully automatic probe manipulation, high availability, new plant system,