INNOVATIVE SOLUTION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND MANAGEMENT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ALUMINUM WIRES

References: 14th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2014, www.sgem.org, SGEM2014 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7105-15-5 / ISSN 1314-2704, June 19-25, 2014, Book 4, Vol. 1, 315-322 pp

ABSTRACT
From the analysis of manufacturing process flow of aluminum wires, carried out on the rolling mills at ALRO Slatina Company, in Romania, the authors of this paper have found that significant losses in end product occur, in shape of wire coils, because of the conceptual shortcomings of the machine located at the flow output – the winding machine. These shortcomings lead often to a variable winding pitch, around the drum, of the wire coming out of the rolling mill. Thus, a rate of 5 ... 10% of wire coils resulted from flow are remelted and returned into the fabrication circuit, because they do not fit the gauge and mass specified for the end products, which are to be delivered to the beneficiaries. The authors propose an innovative solution for energy efficiency and management of manufacturing aluminum wires, based on cutting such losses in end product down by half. The classical reference system for drive of the winding machine is characterized by: electromechanical drive of the drum, with adjustable speed electric motor and reducer; electrohydraulic drive, without control loop, of the reeling device, which moves linearly, along the drum, the wire coming out of the rolling mill. This drive system has the disadvantage of lack of synchronization between the drum rotative speed and the linear constant travel speed of the reeling device, the random variations in the travel speed of the reeling device being the cause for variable pitch of wire winding around the drum. The proposed solution consists in the development of an electrohydraulic digital control system for driving the reeling head, which enables control of the position and speed of the latter by means of an electrohydraulic control loop. The system provides a reduction in the positioning error of the reeling head by at least one order of magnitude. Additionally, the proposed solution can provide the management of predictive and centralized monitoring of the entire production of wire. To materialize the proposed solution, the authors have used the next working methods: completion of the schematic diagram of the reeling head drive; development of a prototype of this drive system (through numerical simulation, design and construction); monitoring the operation over time of this new drive system, installed on an aluminum wire winding two-ply machine, existing at Alro Slatina Company, using SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system technology.

Keywords: energy efficiency; aluminum winding machine; electrohydraulic digital
control system; SCADA system.