Extreme heat and dirt are the harsh conditions in a steel mill. In this harsh environment, workers take material and temperature samples - until now mostly by hand - to ensure high product quality. Specifically, a sample is taken from the molten steel at 1,600 degrees Celsius using auxiliary equipment. A steelworks in southern Europe now wants to improve this working situation by controlling the sampling process using robots and grippers. The contracted plant manufacturer SMS Mevac is aware of the associated requirements and is therefore using an automation cell from IPR (Intelligent Peripherals for Robots). It takes over the physically strenuous manual work of the steelworkers and thus significantly improves ergonomics at the workplace.

In order to protect themselves from temperatures of around 1,600 degrees Celsius, the employees have so far been equipped with special protective suits for taking samples and also handle the measuring probes, which are around one meter long, on a long metal lance. A work situation that is extremely stressful from an ergonomic point of view due to the work clothing at high temperatures and carrying and moving the rod on an outstretched arm.

Centering station that perfectly aligns the lance for immersion in the melt. (Pictures: IPR)

SMS Mevac from Essen was awarded the contract to develop a robotics solution with significantly improved ergonomics. As an engineering company, the company specializes in steelworks. It offers its customers engineering services and equipment supply as well as installation and commissioning, training and customer service. Using an IPR gripper specially equipped for high temperatures, the robot picks up temperature or material probes stored in a magazine cabinet. However, these are far too short to be immersed directly into the ladle. A metal lance traversing unit is therefore also used. At around ten meters, it has a length that makes it possible to take samples of the hot pig iron. As the lance traversing unit would be too imprecise for the subsequent processes, it has to be aligned in a centering station that IPR developed specifically for the extreme environment in a steelworks. Once it has reached its exact position there, the measuring probe is pulled onto it by the robotic gripper with a defined force of 100 kilograms. This unit can then plunge precisely into the molten metal to take the sample.

It also positions itself in the centring station for precise alignment when it is extended, and an integrated nitrogen station extinguishes the flames of the measuring probe, which consists of a flame-retardant cardboard tube and a non-flammable sand core. Finally, the measuring probe is placed in a discharge chute by the robotic gripper. Here, a worker exposes the material sample inside and sends it to the laboratory by pneumatic tube. The cell is firmly bolted to a metal frame - a design that reduces the installation time on site at the steelworks. This is because everything can be precisely programmed in advance in the test situation of the automation unit at IPR in Eppingen. Once the cell has been delivered and set up, it can be put into operation quickly.

For 28 years, IPR has specialized in the development and manufacture of products for industrial robots. In addition to a wide range of pneumatic, electrical and hydraulic components and applications, the company's automation solutions ensure smooth processes in assembly and handling technology as well as in loading and unloading units. It took eight months from the initial project inquiry in autumn 2016 to the implementation and commissioning of the automation cell for sampling in the steelworks; this rapid implementation of the project went smoothly thanks to the productive cooperation between SMS Mevac and IPR.

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