Pioneering steel industry solutions Danieli Automation

PIONEERING STEEL INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS

The Danieli Group is headquartered in Buttrio, north-east Italy and was founded in 1914 when two brothers, Mario and Timo Danieli founded the Angelini Steelworks in Brescia, Italy. Based upon the intuition of Mr Luigi Danieli, Danieli Automation (DA) was founded in 1969. This vision soon became reality when a team of electrical engineers began to work with their mechanical counterparts, thus starting the design and production of electrical systems for the steel industry.

Today the company supplies complete electrical and automation equipment for every type and size of plant in the metal industry.

Broad spectrum

Danieli’s mission is to provide process automation and control systems to the steel industry that cover the broad spectrum of Danieli technology, which ranges from iron ore to long and flat products. In addition, the company produces special instruments and sensors to meet the growing demand from steel producers for sophisticated controls, quality certification, cost optimisation and fast adaptation to the latest systems.

Today the company is entering the market with a new family of smart and flexible devices based on the use of industrial cameras and image processing systems. The latest contribution from Danieli Automation involves the development of modular hardware and software architecture, called Q-VID. One of the many new applications of this novel architecture is a system that combines the use of four cameras that monitor the external diameter and length of round, hot billets or pipe shells in the intermediate phase of the rolling process.

Furthermore, the outstanding performance of the company’s latest QDRIVE MV System was also realised when the company completed a major shipment of MV cabinets for the Qdrive MV drive system for the Hot Strip Mill Roughing Stand for the major Dunaferr revamping project. The large motor supplied by DA has a shaft height of approximately 2500mm and weighs around 170 tonnes.

Danieli ranks among the world’s top three suppliers of equipment and plant to the steel industry. Danieli Automation is a leading company within the Danieli Group and responsible for the transfer of technological knowhow from other Danieli divisions. It also provides the interface between the plant process and the plant operator. Philip Yorke looks at a company that has pioneered the design of automation equipment and electrical systems for the metal foundry industry.

Expanding global markets

Danieli Automation continues to increase its global presence in more ways than one. Earlier this year the company announced the merger of its US division in Pittsburgh PA, with the independent systems integrator, Taranis Inc. which is located in Birmingham, Alabama. The newly formed Danieli Taranis LLC began operating in the North American market in July this year and provides electrical engineering and equipment, as well as automation and process controls for the North American steel industry.

On the other side of the world in Indonesia, Danieli Automation has provided a new ‘Hi-profile’ for a ‘Multistrand rebar’ system in Jakarta. The company will replace the

armature and the field regulator cards of six DC converters for six stands of the rolling mill. For each drive the existing cards will be replaced with a new digital regulator, whilst maintaining the existing power pack. The latest digital regulators will exchange all the reference signals with the mill speed control via a profiBUS connection.

Danieli Automation has also consolidated its capabilities in Russia this year with the start-up of the OMK Russian minimill. This has been equipped entirely with Danieli Automation process controls and electrical equipment from scrap to finished coils. In the central highlands of Vietnam, Danieli Automation is also working with Dana-Y Steel, which is the region’s largest manufacturer of construction steel.

This latest contract follows two primary contracts awarded to DA for the supply of control automation for the new mill, which will promote improved yield and plant performance.

The latest automation systems supplied by DA will provide all the controls needed to optimise the performance of such an advanced, high-tech mill, including inter-stand tension control, lead speed, automatic cobble detection and ghost rolling for realistic billing rolling simulation.

Technological strength

The technological areas covered by Danieli Automation are unrivalled in their breadth, depth and strength. From blast furnaces to metal shops, billet, bloom and beam blank casters and a diverse range of mills and processing lines, DA covers them all. The company’s technological superiority is based upon its 3Q concept: Quality, Quantity and Quickness. Quality in the excellence of its products, Quantity in terms of optimised productivity, and Quickness in its response to its customers’ needs. Thanks to its synergistic relationship with its clients, and the technological background that it shares with its parent company, Danieli can offer an unrivalled range of products and services to its international clients.

Today the optimisation of both tailor made and standardised solutions from Danieli Automation produce results that meet the precise needs of its customers. In each project the company delivers best in class performance and quicker plant start-up. For example, its motors and drives division designs and selects the best possible solutions for motors and their respective drives, depending upon the technical requirements of each individual customer.

Furthermore the company designs and supplies complete electrical distribution systems. This includes full turnkey solutions for the steel industry with installation engineering based on the company’s extensive experience and high standards. n

For further information about Danieli Automation products and services visit: www.dca.it