The Modernization of a steel mill’s video equipment

Mediatrade has been the main equipment supplier in two modernization projects of the SSAB Raahe steel mill’s video equipment. In the projects, the video equipment of the production facilities has been updated with up-to-date solutions to meet today’s needs.

About the customer

SSAB is a Nordic steel producer operating worldwide.

SSAB has factories in Sweden and Finland, of which Raahe is the largest in Finland. It has several production facilities within the same area. Raahe factory has two blast furnaces for the production of pig iron, a steel smelter for the production of steel blanks, and rolling mills for the rolling of blanks.

The factory area also has a coke plant, its own harbour and a power plant. SSAB invests strongly in fossil-free steel production.

SSAB saaristosta. Kuva: SSAB

The challenge

Steel production involves many processes with high temperatures and otherwise dangerous conditions. Technology has developed and analog signals cause many problems in a factory environment due to their susceptibility to interference. A lot of cameras have been used in production for a long time, but the old cameras and devices based on analog technology began to be obsolete. In addition, new replacement analog devices and their parts may no longer be available at all.

Production-related camera images are mainly used in control rooms, where the operation of each process is controlled and monitored. Camera images are also important, which are used to control a crane, for example. The lack of delay has been an advantage of analog systems, and it had to be preserved also when moving to new solutions.

How the challenge was met

Mediatrade has long experience in the design and implementation of various video systems, so we were able to tackle the customer’s challenges and understood the special requirements of the factory environment. Fiber solutions that work especially in challenging environments and with long signal distances are our specialty. Understanding different signals and device control solutions were important issues when making device choices. The product range included device options for all video needs.
Some of the Raahe factory’s production facilities run 24/7, so minimizing disturbances is an important part of the system and equipment selection. Here, we largely relied on choices that have proven themselves in use.

The modernization of the hardware has received positive feedback from users, especially regarding the significantly improved image quality.

Kuva: SSAB

Total solution

SDI-based solutions

In the modernization of camera systems and video signals, the lowest possible latency of the signals and the possibility of interference-free signal transmissions were key. Because of the latency, we decided on SDI-based solutions. The absence of interference and problem-free cable lengths in a large factory area, on the other hand, is achieved with fiber cabling.

Routing

Large enough and scalable solutions were chosen for the routing of video signals, where the possibility of versatile video interfaces was realised. In the factory area, we are quickly talking about tens or even hundreds of video signals per production process.

Fixed and controllable cameras

The cameras are available as both fixed and controllable PTZ cameras. The cameras are often in difficult and hot places, so all the cabling and the cameras themselves are properly protected and encased, taking into account the weather conditions of the factory and Finland. The enclosure and protection is largely designed and implemented by SSAB’s video team.

Control and monitoring

Control and monitoring is divided into different control rooms. The required camera signals are available in each control room as single images and also as multiple images on large monitors. Control rooms also have controls for both selecting images and controlling PTZ cameras. Attention has also been paid to latency in monitor selections. The control system can be versatilely configured to meet the needs of each control room. The control system was designed in cooperation with the team responsible for SSAB’s video equipment.

Images: SSAB