As mining operations pursue reliability and energy efficiency, global refractory and industrial solutions provider DGC Africa is rolling out its Vision AI platform to turn camera infrastructure into a 24/7 thermal surveillance layer for furnaces, kilns, boilers and other refractory-lined assets.

The move comes amid sustained demand for platinum- group metals (PGMs), chrome, manganese and gold producers to improve performance without full equipment replacement.

Vision AI is designed to give operators earlier warning capabilities that manual inspections often lack.

The platform uses continuous thermal surveillance of furnace shells, kiln surfaces, boiler systems and critical hot zones to track temperature profiles in real time, says DGC commercial director Justin Nothnagel.

Depending on its application, Vision AI can support earlier detection of abnormal heat patterns, refractory distress, process instability, flame irregularities and developing maintenance issues.

This applicability aligns with DGC’s aim to improve the performance, reliability and efficiency of existing furnace, kiln and boiler assets.

“Our current service offering includes furnace and boiler rebuilds and inspections, hotwork services, refractory materials and refractory performance support, and thermal solutions. These capabilities are particularly relevant in demanding 24/7 operating environments where refractory wear, thermal cycling and heat losses can materially affect production performance,” he explains.

DGC’s Vision AI platform supports predictive maintenance initiatives by improving visibility of operating conditions and maintenance priorities, by identifying trends that are often overlooked during manual inspections, says Nothnagel.

Thereby, customers can im- prove visibility and data-driven decision-making, while simultaneously reducing variability, improving turndown performance, lowering specific energy use and supporting more consistent product quality, he adds.

Additionally, where digital monitoring tools are used, operational visibility can help teams identify process deviations earlier, including unstable flame conditions, thermal inconsistency and developing process upset scenarios, thereby enabling faster corrective response, says Nothnagel.

Avoiding Heat Loss

In its current deployment of Vision AI, DGC Africa is focussing on helping clients reduce avoidable heat losses through furnace and boiler inspections, refractory performance support, shutdown maintenance and thermal condition management.

“Addressing issues such as damaged linings, leakage paths and degraded thermal performance can often provide meaningful efficiency benefits before major capital expenditure is required,” says Nothnagel.

While Vision AI’s applications have supported energy cost reductions by identifying abnormal heat zones and operating inefficiencies earlier, the business case for full-scale heat recovery still depends on use and energy price, he notes.

“The commercial case for broader heat recovery projects depends on plant design, use, capital requirements and local energy costs,” says Nothnagel.