Steel & Materials

Material quality and energy
efficiency, secured together

Challenges on
steel sites

Recurring problems in heat treatment, forming and coating.

Small process shifts decide quality

Heat-treatment furnaces, compressed air, cooling water and forming equipment run continuously, and a slight difference in conditions stays in the product.

Heat treatment needs equipment stability and energy control together

Temperature, hold time and cooling conditions set the material properties, so getting only one of them right will not reproduce the result.

Complex energy flow, frequent peaks

Energy is scattered across processes while high-temperature, high-power equipment runs together, making both over-consuming segments and peak demand hard to pin down.

How the problems are solved

What Refinery actually does
on a steel site.

Peak demand monitoring and target-based load control

Problem
Peaks driven up by high-power equipment running together
Approach
A target demand is set and peak usage is held inside it, with an alert raised before the target is exceeded.
Outcome
Lower electricity charges and reduced peak risk

Demand-based compressed air control and monitoring

Problem
Compressed air equipment running hard regardless of actual demand
Approach
Power draw, header flow, temperature and humidity are measured together so supply is controlled to match demand.
Outcome
Lower energy use and longer equipment life

Heat-treatment temperature and time analysis

Problem
Process deviations confirmed only after the piece comes out of the furnace
Approach
Heat-treatment furnace temperature, hold time and cooling curves are overlaid batch by batch and compared with the normal pattern.
Outcome
Steadier material quality

Energy flow visualized by process

Problem
No visibility into which processes are eating up the energy
Approach
Processes and assets are connected through an ontology so energy flow gathers into one structure, and use by process can be compared on equal terms.
Outcome
Over-consuming segments identified and process efficiency improved

Remote cooling water control and monitoring

Problem
Cooling water equipment that has to be checked in person on site
Approach
Cooling water temperature, flow and pump state are monitored remotely, and any departure from the band is raised at once.
Outcome
Steadier equipment operation

Vibration-based equipment monitoring

Problem
Rotating-equipment anomalies that surface only after a stop
Approach
An AI agent reads anomalies in vibration trends to catch early signs, and proposes both the likely cause and the next action with the history behind it.
Outcome
Failures prevented and maintenance made more efficient

How it fits together

How field data gains meaning and turns into a decision.

Site
  • Heat-treatment furnaces
  • compressed air
  • cooling water
  • forming equipment sensors
Connect
  • SCADA
  • PLC
  • Plant EMS
  • Modbus TCP
  • CAN
  • LTE-M
Refinery
  • Ontology
  • AI agent
  • rules and automation
Use
  • Process dashboard
  • peak alerts
  • quality history

Where PLC or a plant EMS already exists, a layer sits on top of it and integrates bidirectionally rather than replacing it. Where none exists, collection is built from the ground up.

Systems we connect to

The systems and protocols commonly used on steel sites.

SCADAPLCPlant EMSMESModbus TCP⁠/⁠IPCANOPC UALTE-M

Systems not listed here can still be connected over standard protocols and APIs. Get in touch and we will walk through it.

What you gain

Benefits across operations, engineering and management.

Steadier heat-treatment quality

Temperature patterns are recorded batch by batch so the same result is reproduced.

Compressed air matched to demand

Only what is needed is supplied, cutting waste and leaks.

Peak demand caught early

Load is lowered before peak demand is reached.

Energy variance by process

Energy is split process by process to pin over-consuming segments.

Failures prevented

Vibration catches anomalies early, making maintenance more efficient.

The Refinery team will work with you to find
the answer that fits your steel operation.

Request a demo