Industrially adapted measurement technology

Swerim has longstanding experience of performing measurements for the steel industry and of measuring parameters under difficult conditions. A spectrum of measurement-technology solutions and flexible, proprietary systems/applications for logging of process parameters online give customers different possibilities for monitoring their processes.

Different measuring technologies for different applications

• In furnaces, off-gas composition and temperature are recorded using various temperature measurement technologies e.g., laser and IR.
• During rolling, shape and dimensional deformation, surface defects, etc. can be identified with the help of camera systems and image analysis.
• Mill scale formation in heat treatment and reheating furnaces can be compared under different heating conditions with a large thermoscale or measured online with lasers/cameras.
• Light optical technology can be used to follow and control combustion during injection to the blast furnace.
• By measuring and sampling dust from blast furnaces, low shaft furnaces and electric arc furnaces, etc., dust generation can be controlled and analyzed.
• Cost-effective measurement of flatness under different conditions on production lines, for example, straightening and cut-to-length lines, roller levelling machines and continuous lines, can be done with the flexible flatness measurement system Mefplan, which has been developed by Swerim.
• Non-destructive testing of surface finish on metal surfaces can be performed with e.g., electromagnetic methods or digital imaging with laser light.

Measurements can be followed up and assessed with the help of statistical analysis/modelling, and Swerim has the capacity to handle large volumes of data in its own Linux cluster.

In addition to conventional technologies, they also work with applications that employ radar, muon technology and acoustic emission. The latest addition is a newly built muon detector that can be used to study blast furnaces and low shaft furnaces. The equipment is portable and can be used for testing in an industrial setting. By using muon technology to study furnaces in operation, the hope is that better process control and thereby, better energy and material efficiency, can be achieved.