An Intelligent Maintenance System to Improve Safety of Operations of an Electric Furnace in the Steel Making Industry

Abstract

Steel making industry represents a sector in which maintenance can be considered a key process. In this paper the development of an intelligent monitoring system of the electric furnace of a steel making company is presented. The furnace is a relevant asset in terms of safety issues; due to the characteristics of the furnace – running continuously at high temperatures and in harsh environmental conditions –, many elements and components cannot be visually inspected, thus an intelligent maintenance system, with real-time monitoring capabilities, represents a proper solution to keep under control the asset health status. The intelligent maintenance system, herein presented, can be considered an E-maintenance tool, integrated within an existing industrial ICT infrastructure.