On June 13th, CCTV’s “Morning News” aired “Green China: ‘Adding and Subtracting’ Green! Maximizing Technology Innovation to Reduce Consumption”, while “Xinwen Lianbo” broadcasted “Accelerating the Green Transformation of China’s Manufacturing Industry”. Both programs spotlighted Shougang Group’s commitment to green, energy-efficient, and low-carbon development, reflecting widespread societal recognition and affirmation of its efforts.

In recent years, as the first steel enterprise in China to achieve ultra-low emissions across all processes, Shougang Group has integrated green environmental protection into its corporate DNA. Keeping pace with the “dual carbon” strategy, Shougang has deeply explored the energy-saving and emission-reduction potential of each process in the entire production cycle. In the hot rolling process, Shougang is pioneering a new dual-furnace production mode, innovating with green initiatives, and setting a benchmark for the industry.

Shougang Group’s two hot rolling lines are equipped with 4 and 3 heating furnaces respectively (known as the “4+3” mode). As green development enters a new phase, Shougang is focused on long-term growth, adapting to changes, liberating thinking, and boldly innovating. The company is progressively exploring new dual-furnace production modes on its two hot rolling lines, addressing bottlenecks to enhance production efficiency, and promoting energy-saving and low-carbon practices. From “4+3” to “3+3”, then “3+2”, and now “2+2”, this is not merely a simple quantitative change process; it requires unlocking the potential of each process to achieve a qualitative leap in the entire production cycle.

Leading by technology is the magic weapon for breaking through barriers, and collaborative innovation is the key to overcoming bottlenecks. With the hot rolling production line as the core, multiple departments of Shougang Group, including Manufacturing Department, Technical Center, Steelmaking Operation Department, and Zhixin Electromagnetic Company, collaborate to tackle critical challenges. They have established the correlation between slab laying time and furnace entry temperature, formulated rules for mixed cold and hot charging, and promoted batch production, resulting in a 35% reduction in cold and hot charging ratio on the 2160 production line. They have optimized the thickness of extreme steel grades and specifications to further advance low-temperature rolling technology, achieving a leading domestic level in low-temperature furnace output. Through measures such as optimizing steel grade segmentation, furnace temperature setting parameters, and developing inter-stage temperature control linkage functions, they have optimized the automatic steel heating model, increasing the proportion of automatic steel heating on the 2160 line by 51% year-on-year. By conducting online experiments with temperature reduction models and optimizing temperature control standards in the pickling process, they continuously improve the rate of hot loading and delivery, reduce heating furnace fuel consumption, and lay a solid foundation for exploring dual-furnace production modes.

Martial arts under the heavens, speed is the only way to break through without destruction. To break the traditional production modes of 4 furnaces and 3 furnaces, production lines need comprehensive efficiency improvement, seamless integration, scientifically and reasonably scheduled operations, and more efficient and high-quality production. The two hot rolling lines have embarked on tackling challenges in production organization optimization, process technology improvement, and tapping equipment potential, supplemented by lean management tools, seeking breakthroughs from lean reports, and empowering efficiency with a culture of speed. They refined the disassembly and replacement steps of rolling mills, conducted step-by-step research and analysis, continuously optimized the timing of roll changes, refined management measures, and achieved a proportion of “breaking nine into eight” for precision rolling mill roll changes, with over 50% efficiency. The shortest roll change time was achieved by “breaking eight into seven”. The 2160 production line accelerated the steel output rhythm by setting the optimal steel throwing distance in the rough rolling area and implementing dynamic water distribution functions in the finishing rolling area. The 1580 production line combined the characteristics of rolling varieties and downstream material planning, concentrating production scheduling for two main products, pickled plates, and silicon steel, fully utilizing advantages such as high silicon steel hot load rate, concentrated specifications, and large batch sizes, and implementing a dual-furnace production mode.

In May, Shougang Group’s 2160 hot rolling line achieved dual-furnace production for 15 days, and the 1580 hot rolling line achieved dual-furnace production for the entire month, reducing fuel consumption by approximately 3 cubic meters/ton and 7 cubic meters/ton respectively compared to the first quarter, resulting in a reduction of 0.35 million tons of carbon emissions. Under the new organizational modes of “3+2” and “2+2”, both production lines achieved reduced furnaces and emissions without reducing production, as well as decreased consumption and costs without compromising effectiveness. Next, Shougang Group will continue to aim for energy-saving, low-carbon, and green manufacturing goals, continuously enhancing the overall process of ultra-low emissions, and accumulating energy for enterprise and industry green transformation.