Nucor Steel's plate mill in Tuscaloosa, Ala., recently needed a more reliable recording and reporting system to accurately monitor water resources used at the mill, but the existing reporting system wasn't reliable, its network connectivity was poor, and technical support was lacking.
As a result, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. replaced its old, point-to-point wireless system in operation during 2009-13 with a new, mesh-based wireless solution. Also, rather than hiring an outside engineer or contractor, the plant's engineers and technicians found they could do almost all of the design and installation of their wireless replacement project on their own.
Well, the new mesh and WirelessHART solution not only provided more reliable reporting about the plant's water system, but it also delivered a cornucopia of other benefits to Nucor's operations. In fact, the new wireless system achieved so many gains that the Tuscaloosa mill has won the FieldComm Group 2014 Plant of the Year Award.
Protecting electrical controls and equipment within food and beverage plants presents unique challenges due to the sanitation requirements of the hygienic environment.