Severstal Wheeling, the US’s fourth largest integrated steel producer, has expanded its use of Emerson Process Management’s Smart Wireless technology to improve process, fire safety, and environmental monitoring at its fully integrated, 80in hot strip mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio. Emerson’s Smart Wireless solutions, initially employed by Severstal Wheeling to monitor production, prevented roll failures valued at USD 300,000 and improved mill efficiency. The company has deployed three additional Emerson wireless networks to further fine-tune process control and to monitor its fire safety system and oil storage tanks. One of the additional applications uses Rosemount wireless temperature transmitters to check bearing lubricant on backup rolls in the plant’s finishing mill. A second application uses Rosemount wireless pressure transmitters to monitor the water pressure of the fire safety system, protecting the plant’s oil cellar. The network has detected two water leaks, enabling repairs that returned water pressure to a safe level. In the third Smart Wireless application, the company installed Rosemount wireless transmitters on 11 oil storage tanks located inside and outside its facility. The devices are connected to and convert the 4-20 milliamp signals from existing hard-wired pressure transmitters that measure tank levels. Environmental managers are alerted if oil levels are high or if a spill occurs. Two Smart Wireless gateways receive data sent continuously from these robust, self-organizing networks and relay it to the plant’s Pi historian. Some transmitters are located as far as 600ft away from a gateway.