Gwangyang Steelworks Establishes AI-Based High-Efficiency Hot Metal Supply System

Scheduling System Automatically Assigning Tugboats Transporting Molten Metal and Their Destinations

AI Model Completed for Predicting Molten Metal Production Volume and Operation End Time

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik] POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks (Director Kim Jiyong) announced on the 23rd that it has developed a ‘Hot Metal Scheduling System’ using AI, taking a step closer to realizing a smart factory.

Hot metal is the molten iron produced in the blast furnace, and it must be supplied from the blast furnace to the subsequent steelmaking process. Although most of the steel production process has been automated in scheduling, the hot metal supply task remains manual, which has imposed constraints on the progress of the subsequent process.

To produce high-quality steel, it is very important to supply the molten iron quickly without temperature loss and with consistent composition to the steelmaking plant.

However, since the tapping time and quantity of molten iron vary by each blast furnace tap hole depending on the blast furnace conditions, and composition deviations must also be considered, previously, the steelmaking plant was only instructed on the destination after the hot metal transport car (TLC) had fully received the hot metal. Therefore, the steelmaking plant could not know the quantity and composition of the hot metal in advance.

The Production Technology Department of Gwangyang Steelworks collaborated with POSCO’s Information Planning Office to solve this issue by developing an AI-based hot metal scheduling system. They completed an AI model that predicts the amount of molten iron and the end time of operation for each blast furnace tap hole using big data collected from past blast furnace operations.

Based on this AI tapping prediction model, they linked it to the steelmaking process operation schedule and built a scheduling system that automatically assigns the hot metal transport car (TLC) dispatch and destination.

Through this, Gwangyang Steelworks can supply customized molten iron on time according to the operation schedule of each steelmaking plant, enabling the steelmaking plants to prepare in advance and greatly improve work efficiency.

In particular, it is more meaningful as it minimizes waiting time that occurred before the steelmaking plant arrival due to the previous manual process and reduces hot metal temperature loss. In the steelmaking process, the hot metal must be raised above a certain temperature, and the amount of auxiliary materials used for this was reduced, resulting in cost savings.

A representative of Gwangyang Steelworks said, “We believe the greatest achievement of this project is that we can proactively respond to stabilizing material supply for each process through systematic hot metal supply,” and added, “Through this technology, efficient and accurate hot metal transport is possible, and we expect to improve productivity.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik hss79@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.