Reliable and quality power for Kuwait Steel Rolling Mill with Hitachi ABB Power Grids' digital transformer

The TXpertTM Enabled digital distribution transformer by Hitachi ABB Power Grids will power Kuwait Steel Rolling Mill -1, Transformer No-2 and help it to obtain valuable data analytics preventing power failure, optimizing operations and increasing up-time.

The mass-scale production of steel was instrumental in the second industrial revolution which began since 1860s. Today, steel is ubiquitous and omnipresent. But its contribution in our life is often overlooked. Similarly, in Kuwait, one of the enablers for the growth of economy and industry is its steel production. Contributing to this steel production and eventually to Kuwait's economic growth is United Steel Industrial Company or Kuwait Steel as it is known popularly. 

Kuwait Steel is the single-largest manufacturer of steel rebar and billets in Kuwait and has been in operations since 1996. Kuwait Steel aspires to constantly achieve excellence, leadership and value within the domestic and global steel industry and to be a leading company in the reinforcing steel bar and billet manufacturing industry. It aims to continually serve, lead and satisfy the local and international market with high quality products and to guarantee the utmost level of customer satisfaction. Kuwait Steel’s Moto is A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GENERATION.

Manufacturing such large quantities of steel comes with its challenges. The entire process of steel manufacturing is dependent on continuous and reliable supply of electric power with the required power quality to run various production lines and machines in them. It is the distribution transformers installed at the manufacturing facility that help in supplying this important element in the production process - quality power. Any fault on the electrical system could lead to power failure and the operations coming to a halt. This can cause expensive downtime and losses which could include wastage of work-in-process material and delay in meeting customer’s order.

The need for digital transformers

When Kuwait Steel planned replacement of its distribution transformer, it envisioned the various challenges traditional distribution transformers face and the operational and maintenance demands they have. The lifespan of distribution transformers extends to over 20 years and Kuwait Steel wanted its new transformers to not only meet the demands of today but also be future-ready.

Additionally, the lead time of replacing a transformer or even repair is quite long compared to other equipment of the electrical system, making monitoring its performance to prevent failure of paramount importance.

A senior personnel from the Electrical Maintenance team of Rolling Mill 1 at Kuwait Steel explains, “Digital transformers can monitor, collect and analyze various key parameters and data trends that help in assessing health of our transformers as well as of the power system. They give us visibility of our operations and assets, enabling us to take the required preventive and maintenance measures at the right time to prevent downtime."

The solution – TXpertTM Enabled digital distribution transformer

Hitachi ABB Power Grids had the right solution for Kuwait Steel - the TXpertTM Enabled Digital Distribution transformer. It is a perfect combination of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ trusted reliability in transformers with the latest in digital technology. “Considering the specific requirement of Kuwait Steel’s operations and their vision for leveraging digital technology, we recommended our new solution, the TXpertTM  Enabled digital distribution transformer for Transformer No-2. This transformer not only collects, collates and processes transformer data, but its powerful suite of analytics provides actionable insights that eventually help the customer to save costs and increase revenue” said, Dr. Mostafa AlGuezeri, Managing Director of Hitachi ABB Power Grids business in the UAE, Gulf and Near East.

How will the TXpertTM Enabled Digital Distribution Transformer benefit Kuwait Steel?

With TXpertTM Enabled Digital Distribution Transformer, Kuwait Steel will be able to -

• Identify failure modes that may occur between currently scheduled inspections (e.g. DGA tests and visual inspections). Without TXpertTM, these can go unnoticed and turn into an unplanned outage.
• Optimize maintenance schedule based on their condition so that high-risk transformers get the attention they deserve while maintenance for low risk transformers can be deferred to a more opportune moment – thus reducing maintenance costs.
• Get additional, reliable, data-driven visibility such as total consumed life of the transformer. Data such as unbalanced load, over/under voltage can also be used to optimize business processes.

The TXpertTM Enabled digital transformer works cohesively with the TXpertTM Ecosystem of powerful digital technology developed by Hitachi ABB Power Grids. This ecosystem for digitalization of transformers is open, scalable and manufacturer agnostic with a complete suite of products, software, services and solutions.

The new TXpertTM Enabled distribution transformer by Hitachi ABB Power Grids will be commissioned at Kuwait Steel's facility in its Rolling Mill -RM1. 

As the world moves into Industry 4.0 era where processes and operations will get automated and digital, TXpertTM Enabled transformers are ready to write the future of power industry.