Viper customer case study:
Steel mills worldwide use refractory-lined ladles to store and transport molten steel. Over time, the refractory linings degrade or develop cracks which exposes the outer shell of the ladle to excessive temperatures. If not caught in time, a molten metal breakout can occur, threatening the lives of plant personnel and causing downtime and significant damage to equipment. It is for this reason an EAF/AOD Area Electrical Engineer for an international steel company specializing in high-performance steel production contacted Viper Imaging. Traditional monitoring methods had proved ineffective in preventing breakouts, so they needed a solution that would provide complete and constant temperature monitoring.
This case study was conducted with the cooperation of an integrated stainless steel mill that employs nearly 1,000 employees. A leader in sustainable production, this company follows science-based targets and has strict chemistry process standards. With the end product of stainless steel slabs, the mill takes in raw material, melts it with alloy additions for stainless and removes any carbon. Customers for this high-performance stainless steel product cover a broad spectrum - from automotive products to appliances to structural steel. Monthly production at this mill is 80k+ tons with an annual forecast of about 900k tons. With this kind of production, one can clearly see the need for minimizing downtime as well as reducing transformation and maintenance costs.
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