In high-temperature industrial sectors such as iron and steel and metallurgy, electric furnaces serve as core smelting equipment. The integrity of their linings directly determines production efficiency, product quality, and operational safety. For a long time, electric furnace linings have been prone to damages like spalling and erosion due to continuous exposure to high-temperature smelting, mechanical impact, and chemical corrosion. The traditional manual gunning maintenance method not only suffers from pain points such as low efficiency, unstable gunning quality, and harsh working environments but also struggles to meet the needs of continuous production in modern industries. Against this backdrop, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine has emerged. With its advantages of intelligence, high efficiency, and precision, it has become a key equipment driving the technological innovation of electric furnace maintenance.

The spraying system of the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine adopts the principle of high-pressure air atomization. The spraying pressure enables gunning materials (such as magnesia and alumina-magnesia refractory materials) to be sprayed onto the damaged parts of the furnace lining in the form of uniform particles. The material adhesion rate exceeds 90%, which is much higher than the 60%-70% of manual gunning. In addition, the equipment is compatible with various types of gunning materials. Based on the smelted steel grade of the electric furnace, the lining material, and the damage condition, suitable materials can be flexibly selected to meet maintenance needs under different working conditions.

Compared with traditional manual gunning and semi-automatic gunning equipment, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine demonstrates significant advantages in efficiency, quality, safety, and cost control, completely changing the operation mode of electric furnace maintenance.

Manual gunning of a 100-ton electric furnace usually requires 2-3 workers to operate collaboratively, taking 4-6 hours. In contrast, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine only needs 1 operator to monitor the equipment, and the single gunning time can be shortened to 1-1.5 hours, increasing efficiency by 3-4 times. For metallurgical enterprises that require continuous production, the reduction in equipment downtime is directly converted into increased production capacity. Calculated based on an average of 10 furnace charges smelted per day, the annual steel output can be increased by approximately 15,000 tons.

Manual gunning is affected by the operator's technical level, physical state, and working environment. The gunning layer is prone to problems such as uneven thickness, voids, and peeling, which shorten the service life of the furnace lining (usually 300-500 furnace charges). Through precise positioning and uniform spraying, the fully automatic gunning machine ensures that the gunning layer has high density, tight bonding, and no obvious defects. This can extend the service life of the furnace lining to 600-800 furnace charges, and even more than 1,000 furnace charges under some working conditions, significantly reducing the frequency of lining replacement and the consumption of refractory materials.

During electric furnace gunning operations, the temperature inside the furnace can reach several hundred degrees Celsius, and a large amount of dust and harmful gases are generated. Manual close-range operations face safety risks such as high-temperature burns and dust inhalation. The fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine realizes "human-machine separation" operation. Operators can complete all operations in a control room far away from the furnace body, completely avoiding the harm of high temperature, dust, and harmful gases to the human body, which is in line with the modern industrial production concept of "safety first and people-oriented".

In terms of long-term operating costs, the advantages of the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine are equally prominent. On the one hand, the equipment reduces the demand for labor and lowers labor costs. On the other hand, the improvement in the utilization rate of gunning materials and the extension of the lining service life reduce the procurement and replacement costs of refractory materials, saving enterprises approximately 100,000 to 300,000 yuan in material costs annually. In addition, the automatic control of the equipment also reduces the rework cost caused by manual operation errors, further improving the economic benefits of enterprises.

With its flexible adaptability and stable performance, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine has been widely used in the maintenance of electric furnaces in multiple fields such as iron and steel, metallurgy, and non-ferrous metals, becoming a "maintenance tool" under different working conditions.

In the iron and steel industry, for different types of electric furnaces such as converters, electric arc furnaces, and LF ladle furnaces, the fully automatic gunning machine can accurately repair key parts such as the furnace wall, furnace bottom, and furnace mouth according to the damage characteristics of the furnace lining, ensuring the continuity and safety of the smelting process. For example, after a large iron and steel enterprise introduced the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine, the service life of the lining of its 150-ton electric arc furnace increased from the original 450 furnace charges to 780 furnace charges, reducing the number of lining replacements by 2 times per year and saving approximately 450,000 yuan in maintenance costs.

In the field of non-ferrous metal smelting, electric furnaces for smelting metals such as copper and aluminum also face the problem of lining erosion. Due to the high requirements for lining purity in non-ferrous metal smelting, the fully automatic gunning machine can use high-purity alumina-magnesia gunning materials, which not only ensures the gunning quality but also avoids the introduction of impurities, ensuring that the purity of non-ferrous metal products meets the standards. After an aluminum company adopted the fully automatic gunning machine, the maintenance cycle of its aluminum alloy smelting furnace was extended from once a month to once every two months, and the production efficiency was increased by approximately 15%.

In addition, in the field of special metallurgy, such as electric furnaces for smelting stainless steel and special steel, the fully automatic gunning machine can meet the strict requirements of special steel smelting for high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance of the furnace lining by precisely controlling the thickness of the gunning layer and the material composition, providing a guarantee for the stable quality of special steel products.

With the advancement of Industry 4.0 and the "dual carbon" goals, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine is developing towards a more intelligent, greener, and more integrated direction.

In terms of intelligent upgrading, future fully automatic gunning machines will integrate digital twin technology. By building a digital model of the electric furnace, real-time simulation and predictive maintenance of the lining status will be realized. The system can predict the damage trend of the lining in advance based on smelting data, automatically formulate gunning plans, and no manual intervention is required. At the same time, the equipment will support 5G remote control, allowing managers to monitor the gunning process in real time through mobile terminals and realize remote operation and maintenance across factories and regions.

In terms of green development, the equipment will use more environmentally friendly gunning materials (such as recyclable refractory particles) to reduce solid waste emissions. At the same time, the spraying system will optimize the energy consumption design to reduce the consumption of compressed air and achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. In addition, the equipment will also add dust collection devices to further reduce the dust concentration in the working environment, complying with environmental protection regulations.

In terms of integrated application, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine will realize data interconnection with the smelting control system and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) of the electric furnace. Gunning data can be uploaded to the production management platform in real time, providing data support for the enterprise's production scheduling and cost accounting, forming an integrated closed loop of "smelting - maintenance - management", and improving the overall production efficiency and management level of the enterprise.

The emergence of the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine not only solves many pain points in traditional electric furnace maintenance but also promotes the intelligent innovation of maintenance technology for high-temperature industrial equipment. With the continuous upgrading of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, the fully automatic electric furnace gunning machine will become an important support for industries such as iron and steel and metallurgy to achieve efficient production, safe operation, and green development, injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of the industrial field.

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