Running a metals business is a constant competition. This is certainly true for metal strip production, where demands are increasing on productivity, product quality and tighter thickness tolerances. The companies that can keep ahead of the competition by improving their production processes make profit. So, why not find out how the new gauging technology from ABB can make your business more competitive.
Gauge control is crucial in strip production. The thickness gauge itself is the most critical component in the gauge control system. Important qualities of a gauge are high accuracy, high availability and low maintenance costs. Concerning accuracy, it is the total accuracy in the mill that matters. Tight thickness tolerances will minimize costs for non-conforming material and will also give the flexibility to produce closer to the tolerance limits of the actual product. A robust and reliable gauging system will minimize mill downtime and maintenance costs and will increase productivity.
Designing and developing a gauging system is like building a house - you have to start with a good and stable foundation. For a thickness gauge, the foundation is a robust measuring concept. A perfect sensor has a measuring signal that is influenced only by the physical parameter to be determined and nothing else. In the real world nothing is quite perfect, but the closer to the perfect concept you can get the better the accuracy and reliability of the sensor will be.
The Millmate Thickness Gauge (MTG) from ABB is based on the patented Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) technology. It is a non-contact gauge without the drawbacks of common systems based on X-ray, isotope or contact measurement. The PEC technology is totally unaffected by any material but metals. The MTG will therefore measure true strip thickness even in the harshest environmental conditions. It is also insensitive to changes in material properties and does not require any information about the rolled alloy. Closer thickness tolerances are made possible by this new gauge that measures as accurately in production as in the laboratory.
Companies around the world have installed the MTG system and have realized that this gauging system opens new possibilities to improve their competitiveness. Strip thickness accuracy is improved and as a bonus the costs for calibration and maintenance are significantly reduced. A number of these companies have decided for a general change in gauging technology and have already installed several MTG systems in their plants.
Example:
Outokumpu Copper Products Group is the second largest supplier of copper products with many productions facilities worldwide. The company is also a technically leading company, with a strong focus on improving their products and their production processes to serve the customers as good as possible. Outokumpu Poricopper Oy in Finland started using the first MTG system more than two years ago in their reversible cold mill. The main reason for testing a new gauging technology was a strong ambition to further improve the already narrow thickness tolerances.
In tests made by Outokumpu and ABB in cooperation during year 2001, the new gauge proved to be the tool needed for tighter thickness tolerances. In February 2002 two more systems were installed and in August 2003 Outokumpu again placed an order for two systems, this time for their breakdown mill.
During more than two years of operation the MTG systems have consistently promoted a more accurate and stable gauge control. This fact was also independently observed by one of Outokumpu’s customers, who did not know about the change of gauging system, but had noticed an improvement in the thickness tolerances.