Major refractory manufacturer Krosaki Harima announced that they have received an order from a Japanese electric arc furnace steelmaker to deliver a robot which automatically replaces fire bricks of steelmaking facilities. The robot was developed in-house by Krosaki Harima, and this is the first time that the company received an order for the robot. The robot is scheduled to begin operations from fiscal year 2025.
The robot is designed to replace the refractory called ‘SN Plate’ attached to the bottom of molten steel ladles. Normally the replacement work is carried out by people, but using Krosaki Harima’s robot called ‘REX-ROBO’ will enable all the work related to replacement to be fully automated. The robot will improve the safety of the work since there will no longer be a need for staff to conduct the work while being subjected to high temperatures.
The SN Plate is used to adjust the amount of molten steel that flows from ladles. SN Plates are consumable materials that need to be frequently replaced. Krosaki Harima succeeded in automating the replacement work by combining the robot with the molten steel flow control system placed at the bottom of the ladle.
In addition to conducting sales of refractories for the steel industry, Krosaki Harima has been strengthening their engineering technologies related to the use of refractories. As part of this endeavor, the company developed in-house the robot that automatically replaces SN Plates.
