Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works has launched a system for automatic recognition of gas doors and exhaust risers of the upper structures of coke batteries in the coke shop of coke chemical production. This was announced by the company.
The main purpose of the system is to improve the environmental situation and increase the safety of production processes. It is based on machine vision technologies and neural networks used at the industrial site. The project was implemented on coke batteries No. 7 and No. 8. Each of them has 130 doors of coke ovens - 65 on the machine and coke sides. Due to various reasons - breakage or violation of the seal - gassing can occur through these doors - unauthorized emissions of raw coke oven gas containing, among other things, such a toxic compound as benzapyrene.
Previously, the control of leaks of raw coke oven gas was carried out by specialists of the coke shop only visually. The lack of a systematic approach did not allow timely elimination of the foci of gassing, which led to an increase in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and deterioration of the condition of workplaces.
The automatic gassing fixation system with video cameras installed both on the battery itself and in the immediate vicinity of it, as well as a complex software unit, makes it possible to quickly detect the leakage of toxic coke oven gas. More than 30 video cameras, capable of "seeing" many times better than the human eye, monitor and record the gasing of doors on coke batteries around the clock online. The neural network, in turn, allows you to detect malfunctions automatically without human intervention.
At the slightest deviations from the norm, the hardware and software complex records the event, enters it into an interactive log and sends an alert to the dispatch post with a photo and indication of the time, battery number and furnace where the gasing occurs. Information about the strength and frequency of gassing on coke batteries is entered into a database, where its statistical processing is carried out, on the basis of which a number of additional conclusions can be drawn: about the wear of the door itself, the need for its repair or replacement, the efficiency of the personnel who seals the doors.
Not only chambers are used to reduce coke oven gas leaks into the atmosphere. The replacement of coke oven doors played an important role. More than a hundred doors of increased gas density manufactured by the Japanese company Bluesky have already been installed on batteries No. 7 and No. 8, which allow almost completely eliminating or maximally localizing unorganized emissions. This significantly reduces emissions of gases and dust into the atmosphere, reduces coking of doors, and also reduces operating costs by increasing the service life of coke doors.
The use of modern equipment in the technological processes of coking allows MMK to reduce the impact on the environment, both at the industrial site and in Magnitogorsk. In addition to improving the technological discipline of personnel and the condition of workplaces, as a result of the measures taken, the plant has achieved a reduction in gross emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, in particular, benzapyrene emissions, according to environmentalists, have decreased hundreds of times.
Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works PJSC (TIN 7414003633) is one of the world's largest steel producers and holds a leading position among the ferrous metallurgy enterprises of Russia. The company's assets in Russia are a large metallurgical complex with a full production cycle, starting with the preparation of iron ore raw materials and ending with the deep processing of ferrous metals. MMK produces a wide range of metal products with a predominant share of deep processing products with the highest added value. As of March 3, 2022, 20.24% of MMK's shares are in free circulation.
MMK's profit under IFRS for 9 months of 2021 increased almost 8 times to $2.33 billion from $291 million a year earlier. Revenue increased by 86.5% to $8.47 billion from $4.5 billion, EBITDA increased by 3.26 times to $3.32 billion from $1.02 billion.