The Chilean steel producer Siderurgica Huachipato announced it will commission German firm SMS to implement a package of digital services.
Aiming at optimizing efficiencies, along with reducing both production costs and operational risks, SMS will implement four applications at the plant: BFXpert, Viridis Dispatch, Viridis Carbon and Viridis Performance. Such applications will optimize gas flows and reduce the consumption of natural gas, by means of the tracking of energy via artificial intelligence (IA).
The BFXpert blast furnace technology was developed by Paul Wurth, also belonging to the SMS group. Jan Krull, VP of Paul Wurth, said that the technology applied to the company will save up to five kilograms of coke per MT of hot metal, reducing CO2 emissions by 14,000 mt per year.
The package of services will become operational in March 2023, with immediate improvements and higher quality of the steel produced.