October 14, 2008

SDI orders for 3 zinc coating mass control systems

It is reported that Steel Dynamics Inc has placed an order with Industrial Automation Services to design, supply and commission three zinc coating mass control systems. Two systems will be delivered to the Butler Indiana plant in the USA and the third to the Jeffersonville plant.

Engineering for the three systems will be executed in parallel with commissioning of the Butler systems occurring first. For control of the zinc coating, Industrial Automation Services will install the system, which utilizes a proven physics-based coating mass model to generate accurate references and control the knife to strip distances and stripping gas pressure.

During order transitions, advanced signal processing algorithms enable the controls to estimate coating thickness during order transitions within one coating gauge scan. Resulting control actions minimize the generation of out of spec material and the minimized coating standard deviation allows for zinc savings and a typical return on investment within a few months.

The open architecture control system incorporates Industrial Automation Services's graphical programming interface, and takes advantage of Industrial Automation Services's considerable process know how and local support. The new control system will operate in concert with existing Sentek coating gauges to provide improved strip coating performance. Industrial Automation Services will execute engineering design, project management, installation assistance, commissioning and operator/maintenance training from IAS's offices in Pittsburgh, USA and Newcastle, NSW, Australia.