Development of Integrated Process Control System at JSW Steel Ltd.

Abstract

Process industries in today’s highly competitive global market require a robust and reliable system to continuously monitor and optimize the operational control and strategies to achieve sustainable and economically efficient production. The IPCON (Integrated Process Control)system at JSW is designed as a real time system using process simulators and custom components with an extensive functionality covering monitoring, advanced control simulation and multi-objective optimization. The system design is created for the existing plant configuration and future process modifications. The integrated approach avoids sub-optimization. The combination of the wide range of functions accounts for product quality, economical performance and environmental values. The IPCON system is focused on the production chain from coke production, iron making and steel making process including casting. The simulation models are based on a combination of mass and energy balances, empirical correlations, forecasting techniques and estimates. It includes commodities, energy, products, by-products, pricing and environmental performance. Due to the complexity of the plant units, the system is designed as a multilayer dynamic system containing up to four nested levels of sub system.IPCON system is a valuable tool for evaluating, monitoring and control of plant operating conditions. The design and approach of IPCON system at JSW are copyright protected. This paper presents the design and development approach and applications of a high fidelity dynamic control system.