JP Steel Plantech Co., the steelmaking plant engineering manufacturer (head office in Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa; President and Representative Director: Keiji Wakahara), has completed the renewal work for an electric furnace for stainless steel at the Chita Plant of Aichi Steel Corporation. The facility is now smoothly operating.

This work modified and renewed mechanical equipment such as aged furnace shells as well as replaced the accompanying control system with a state-of-the-art system.

Regarding the mechanical equipment, we made the furnace diameter as large as possible, made the furnace cover larger, and modified related parts. We also carried out many other modifications and renewals, including partial renewal of the electrode lifting device and the tilting mechanism as well as replacement of the piping around the furnace and the deck.Since the existing equipment was installed long ago and some information such as drawings had been lost, we fully utilized three-dimensional point group data that had been obtained by measurement prior to the work. High-precision design of the entire furnace system was carried out with the help of 3D CAD software, which helped us to complete and deliver the work smoothly.

For the control system, we constructed a system (IoT platform) that can accumulate and analyze operation data as part of DX and integrated all control functions on monitors (HMI).
In addition, we introduced an automatic control function, AUTO-ARC (automatic operation system). Applying our original Smart Hot-spot Control, which makes the system efficient by supplying best-fit electric power, improves the unit power consumption, contributing to achieving carbon neutrality. 

We have rich knowledge of electric furnaces, including the eco-friendly high-efficiency arc furnace ECOARC™ Series. By integrating this knowledge with the latest technologies, we will respond to customers’ needs and provide more environmentally friendly electric furnaces.